The Philadelphia Church of God has been shrinking in numbers over the last several years, as have all the COG's. From its aberrant doctrines, and appalling treatment of members by the ministry, to its demands for more money has slowly been forcing members away. Church members have always been used as chattel in the PCG to provide financial resources and to volunteer their hours. This is evident at the Feast time when the membership has basically run Feast sites volunteering since Edmond Ok staff feel they are above doing any dirty work.
Lil'Stevie has an article up that he did in 2001 today. In it, he says this:
Of all the words that describe the meaning of the Feast of Tabernacles for God’s people, perhaps one of the best is service. It is through service that we picture the fulfillment of the World Tomorrow—when God’s Family will serve the world to bring it peace, education and ultimately salvation into God’s Family.
In fact, the Feast undoubtedly would be a disaster were it not for the innumerable men and women in God’s Church who voluntarily serve to make God’s Feast of Tabernacles the best possible every year.
Lil'Stevie is like Bob Thiel, neither has broken a sweat in their lives or worked so hard they got calluses on their hands. Being the highly chosen ones of "god's work" they sit back and write articles and produce mind-numbingly boring sermons to entice their followers to give more money for the never arriving "final push". While the elitists sit back and watch they expect their followers to do their dirty work for them.
The Revised Standard Version renders it, “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.” This verse inspired Herbert W. Armstrong’s use of the term co-worker. We are all working together as a team.
3 John 8 refers to us as “fellowhelpers to the truth.”
Think about it. The amazing growth of God’s Work over the past several decades has been possible only through the combined efforts of thousands of voluntary co-workers!
The PCG no longer has amazing work. Its membership is declining. Money is down. The concert series, silly Celtic productions, Old Covenant stage plays, and the jet is draining resources as fast as members can send it in. Flurry has never shared any "gospel message" or warning to the world, heck, he can't even share a message with Church of God folk that is of any relevance!
In the Philadelphia Church of God’s (pcg) early days, we were only able to reach a select few—mostly those in the Worldwide Church of God for whom we had addresses. But look at the power and scope of the pcg’s work today! This Work needs co-workers! On a worldwide scale and at the local level. Each local congregation and each Feast site needs co-workers, or volunteers, as well.
The PCG, like the United Church of God and Global Church of God, stole member lists from the Worldwide Church of God to try and recruit new members to their organizations.
Granted, part of being a Christian is that as followers of Christ, people do good works because they have been blessed by Christ and his message. Not so in Armstrongism, people are expected to work and work hard for church organizations as a matter of salvational importance.
As usual, in Church of Godland the next step in any article after demanding hours of work from embers is to demand their money. Ultimately, their salvation rests upon financing the church.
Giving Beyond Our Means
“We want you to know brethren, about the grace of God which has been shown in the churches of Macedonia, for in severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of liberality on their part” (2 Corinthians 8:1-2; Revised Standard Version).
Why such an abundance of joy while yet under “severe test of affliction”? Verses 3-4: “For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own free will, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints” (Revised Standard Version).
Christians will sacrifice freely, of their will, if they are benefiting from the real gospel message, not when it is forced tithing of 30-40% of your income. If you do not give money to the church you are quickly shown the door and told not to come back. Your salvation is now at stake because you are outside the so-called "one true church"'
These brethren in Macedonia really wanted to help. They were giving to the brethren at Jerusalem who were suffering through a drought.
Notice, the Macedonians gave according to their means, and, when the urgent need arose, many gave beyond their means.
Paul was telling the Corinthians this because, a year earlier, they also had volunteered to support the members in Jerusalem. For whatever reason, they did not follow through with their commitment.
Have you ever done that? Volunteered for something and then, as that day grew closer, hoped people would forget about it? “And this, not as we expected, but first they gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God” (verse 5; Revised Standard Version). Paul was concerned about more than just the material offerings he thought the Corinthians would give. He was concerned that they hadn’t fully given themselves to God!
The one sure sign of a cult is how much it demands of followers to be constantly doing something for the cult, whether it is giving money, attending multiple meetings a week, holding moneymaking fundraisers, selling 10 Commandment plaques or cases of oranges. Keep the members financially drained and physically exhausted and they will cling to the church.
The Macedonians, in contrast, gave. And as we give in love, God gives back. That’s why the joy!
“I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine” (verse 8, Revised Standard Version). There were certain things that were commanded of the brethren. But Paul could not command them to go “above and beyond” in their service.
There is nothing special about just serving where you are commanded to serve. God expects more.
“For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich” (verse 9). If we follow this example, with the attitude of sacrificing everything if need be, we will become rich!
The COG version of the property gospel, which unfortunately does NOT have a good return on members' investments, but instead misery, broken relationships, financial ruin, and untimely deaths.
In the coming months and years, perhaps even at this year’s Feast of Tabernacles, you can be sure that God will test us to see whether our love is genuine—whether our heart is really into serving.
Paul continues “Now therefore perform the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of that which ye have” (verse 11). Yes, the Corinthians had the desire to serve, but they did not have the will to carry it out.
Everything in the Church of God is always a test. Its god is an angry scorekeeper ticking off the black boxes of members who never measure up. Compare that to New Covenant followers of Christ who are at rest never having to worry about not making the grade or having to measure up. Never having to be constantly "doing" something to appease Angry God.
Ask yourself, does the performance of your service match your desire to serve? Do you give with the attitude of the Macedonians or the attitude of the Corinthians?
“For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not” (verse 12). If your heart is in it, then the service will be acceptable to God, no matter how small. But no service is acceptable if you do not follow through with what you have committed to.
Verse 13 states, “For I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened.” God is not trying to burden us. He is not asking us to give more than we can give. He is asking us to give all that we can give.
“But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality: As it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack” (verses 14-15). The point here is that we must give of the abundance God has given us.
Come on brethren! Do the work we are too privileged to have to do.
Once you do your dirty work for us, you need to realize that you need to be doing MORE!
Doing More Than Required
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1). What is our reasonable service? To sacrifice!
To sacrifice means the “surrender of something for the sake of something else.” In this case, surrendering yourself to better help someone else.
Mr. Armstrong said, “If we do only what is required and what we’re supposed to do, in God’s sight, that is not enough. God requires that we do a little more than that. Many of us think if we do just what is required, we’ll get into the Kingdom of God. We’re still thinking of how much we can get.As long as you’re thinking how much you can get, you’re probably not going to get into the Kingdom of God.”
Pure unadulterated crap theology. 👆
God does require certain basic things from us. To sacrifice, however, is to do more than what is required.
“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (verse 2). Notice again the emphasis on attitude. You obtain the right attitude by the renewing of your mind (see also 2 Corinthians 4:16).
Moffatt translates Romans 12:2, “… be transformed in nature, able to make out what the will of God is.” God’s will is that we never lose that humble, serving, footwashing attitude.
“For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith” (verse 3).
God is training us for leadership positions, and this is how we train!
1 Corinthians 10:12 reminds us, “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” When you are in a position of leadership, one of two attitudes comes to the surface: either humility or self-righteousness. Leadership in God’s Church is a position of service, as we saw earlier.
Mr. Armstrong had tremendous ambition as a young man, but it was all, as he describes it, “pure vanity—a swelled up self-exaltation.” God had to humble him, which He did by stripping him of business success, on several occasions. The jolt made Mr. Armstrong do an about-face in attitude.
Once he was in a right attitude, God began to work with him. What then did Mr. Armstrong do? He sacrificed for the rest of his life!
Yeah, right. Living in a mansion furnished with fine art, gold, silver, antiques, tailor-made suits from Hong King, an endless supply of expensive liquors and wines, having servants cook, clean, and do your laundry, having a personal chauffer and jets available at your request, besides the millions of dollars at your fingertips for your executive decisions. Sacrifice, humility, and fleeing from vanity were never attributes that people attributed to HWA, other than those who constantly bow at his feet instead of following Jesus.
“For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another” (Romans 12:4-5).
God’s people need each other. The members of the body are all interdependent upon each other. The success of our Feast of Tabernacles is dependent upon our service and the service of others.
Church of God members were never actually real members of any of the incorporated COG's. The only members listed in the articles of incorporation were certain high-ranking officials and sometimes the Board of Directors, who were actually nothing more than castrated Yes Men. The Ambassador Reports covered that a lot.
“Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching” (verses 6-7).
Despite the fact that there are different areas of responsibility that we all have, there is one thing we can all do: “He that giveth, let him do it with simplicity” (verse 8). We can all give! “With simplicity” is referred to in the margin as “liberally.” We must give, and give a lot.
Proverbs 11:24-25, in the Moffatt, states, “One gives away, and still he grows the richer: another keeps what he should give, and is the poorer. A liberal soul will be enriched, and he who waters will himself be watered.”
Luke 6:38 backs that point: “Give, and it shall be given unto you.”
Acts 20:35 states, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” The Moffatt translates it: “To give is happier than to get.”
There you go, boys and girls! Give and give and give till you are drained dry and then give some more! You will be sooooooooooooooooooooooo much more happy!
If you do, you will reap many wonderful, bountiful blessings. Giving yourself in service brings lasting happiness. Doing so at God’s Feast of Tabernacles will make it the most joyous Feast you could imagine!
