Are "Scumbag's" Welcome in Your COG or Church?

A church in Florida has taken the radical love that Jesus brought into the world and is attempting to put it into practice.  Of course the self-righteous indignant Christians are having a hissy-fit.

"Calling people scumbags, that's just not right. I was raised in a Christian home and I was raised not to insult people," said passerby Bradley Lord.

Residents of the telephone area code do not like it either and have complained mightily.  It resulted in the city checking the sign  for code violations.  None were found and the sign stays, much to the dismay of angry residents.

The City of Tavares had code enforcement take a look at the large message after the city received complaints from residents. A spokeswoman said the church is well within its right of free speech and had no other comment.

Armstrongism has never liked scumbags wither.  In Pasadena we used to have guards on all the doors of the Auditorium, College gym and the Imperial gym to keep out scumbags.  The only people allowed in were the righteous, the chosen ones, the special ones.  At one point in time we even had a super deacon who carried a gun.

Walk-in's were never permitted.  You had to have special dispensation from the minister or had spent several months reading all of HWA's materials before you were allowed in.

That all came to a crashing end when Tkach Sr. said to stop it. Some of the super-deacons were not happy and still tried to do it, till JT forced them to stop.  These guys soon jumped ship to Flurry and Meredith's cults where they continue to do this to this day.

We have seen in the last several weeks the abject rage James Malm has towards the grace of Jesus.  Like all legalists he claims grace is a license to sin over and over and  over and over and over.

Brennan Manning has some great comments about grace:

Jesus spent a disproportionate amount of time with people described in the gospels as: the poor, the blind, the lame, the lepers, the hungry, sinners, prostitutes, tax collectors, the persecuted, the downtrodden, the captives, those possessed by unclean spirits all who labor and are heavy burdened, the rabble who know nothing of the law, the cowards, the little ones, the least, the last, and the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

In short, Jesus hung out with ragamuffins (Scumbags).

The saved sinner is prostrate in adoration, lost in wonder and praise.  He knows repentance is not what we do in order to earn forgiveness; it is what we do because we have been forgiven.  It serves as an expression of gratitude rather than an effort to earn forgiveness.  Thus the sequence of forgiveness and then repentance, rather than repentance and then forgiveness, is crucial for understanding the gospel of grace.

The sinners to whom Jesus directed his messianic ministry were not to those who skipped morning devotions or Sunday church.  His ministry was to those whom society considered real sinners.  They had done nothing to merit salvation.  Yet they opened themselves tot he gift that was offered them.  On the other hand, the self-righteous placed their trust in thew works of the Law and closed their hearts to the message of grace.

Because salvation is by grace through faith, I believe that among the countless number of people standing in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palms in their hands (revelation 7:9), I shall see the prostitute from the Kit-Kat Ranch in Carson City, Nevada, who tearfully told me she could find no other employment to support her two-year-old son .  I shall see the woman who had an abortion and is haunted by guilt and remorse but did the best she could faced with grueling alternatives; the businessman besieged with debt who sold his integrity in a series of desperate transactions; the insecure clergyman addicted to being liked, who never challenged his people from the pulpit and longed for unconditional love; the sexually-abused teen molested by his father and now selling his body on the street, who falls asleep each night after his last 'trick', whispers the name of the unknown God  he learned about in Sunday school; the death-bed convert who for decades had his cake and ate it, broke every law of God and man, wallowed in lust an draped the earth.

"But how?" we ask.  Then the voice says, "They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of hte lamb."

There they are.  There we are-the multitude who so wanted to be faithful, who at times got defeated, soiled by life,and bested by trials, wearing the bloodied garments of life's tribulations. but through it all clung to the faith.

My friends, if this is not good news to you, you have never understood the gospel of grace.

From The Ragamuffin Gospel

I am glad to know a God who loves scumbags, the ragamuffins, the despised and the rejected!

Why After 70 Years the COG's Still Have Zero Impact in the World

The following was posted as a comment on the "What's On Your Mind Today" entry.  The response by Douglas sums up perfectly;y what is wrong with Armstrongism and the myriad of Churches of God.  Even with WCG's 60 some year presence in Pasadena and all the 'good work's that it did, it was till looked upon by the community as weird. Living in Pasadena, you soon got in the habit when you picked up the Star News and saw an article about the Church you cringed, knowing that there would be some idiotic comment or story about something stupid that the church or a chruchmember had done or said.

Douglas Becker said...

Armstrongists don't seem to understand what fools they look like to the outside world: No one is going to consider them credible with their infighting, silly ideas, failed predictions, blatant heresy, abuse and generally bad behavior.

If the Armstrongists want credibility, they need to set boundaries, abandon their crazy ideas, rethink their positions, stop the narcissism, quit the greed, take responsibility, stop setting a terrible example, quit the abuse and generally get their act together. They seem to think that their behavior is isolated and no one that matters can see their evil doing.

Wrong.

The couple being stalked in the UCG got a restraining order from Superior Court. That Boy in the Box thing hit the newspapers. The Orthodox Jews aren't happy about British Israelism. The Church of God Seventh Day isn't going to consider keeping the Feasts because of the entirely accurate reports of drunkeness and alcoholic behavior at the Feast of Tabernacles. The Seventh Day Church of God calls Armstrongism idolatry. Failed prophecies make the venue look really ridiculous to the general populace. The "church wars" are nothing but entertainment for stable Christian Churches -- and as evidence of the lack of viability the entire Armstrongist community has. The values and behaviors are laughable and panned at every turn. Psychiatrists who have learned of their behavior evaluate the Armstrongists of having multiple mental disorders.

Congratulations on bringing darkness (and dorkness) to the (spiritual) Gentiles. Do you claim to be of God? It sure doesn't look like it to an objective eye.

Congratulations for setting a terrible example to the whole world.

The ACoGs are much like an obstreperous drunken couple arguing at a restaurant, seeming to believe that no one around them sees or hears them because they are so focused on each other in their anger. They should be aware that if they continue and the Manager returns, they may be ejected after paying for the damages they caused.

March 6, 2011 8:11 AM

What's On Your Mind Today? UFO's, Atlantis, Robots, Food Riots?

Being part of the Worldwide Church of God or one of it's 700 splinter cults we were/are surrounded by every imaginable conspiracy theory there was.  Pasadena was filled with those who saw the Illuminati behind everything, the new world order, new money systems, Zionist Jews, Bilderbergers, and on and on the list can go.  When you free your mind from this silliness you see a world  filled with wonder about you.  However, those still entrenched in Armstrongite thought still think about these things.

On one of  the ultra far right HWA loving Yahoo sites these are the topics of discussion.  I must add that in hardly any of the 26,000 some entries do you find people discussing Jesus and his radical message.

This is just a sampling of the topics these people feel are important to their spiritual lives:

Germany's new generation of female political leaders

Germany is beginning to proclaim herself as a leader in Europe

Intermarriage in the US is destroying our bloodline

UFO flies over Temple Mount

First Gad, now Dan, build tunnel to Assyria - for future captives?

Google finds Atlantis!

A mysterious, pale green figure seen in televised news coverage of the Egyptian riots has prompted some viewers to ask, "Could this be the Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse?"

Robot's are attacking us.

For what it's worth, my thoughts are that the Laodicean era started when Mr.
Armstrong died. Both Philadelphia and Laodicea continue today. Those of us in
Philadelphia are striving to"...hold that fast which thou hast..." Rev. 3:11.
The Laodicean attitude is the predominate one now.

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica is only legit encyclopedia

Hidden underground cities for 2012 survivors

Hidden underground military bases

The Georgia guide stones

Sociologists claim 225 of Russians are Israelites

There will be another Hitler someday

Super moon on March 19 will cause huge earthquakes and other extreme weather

Massive food riots this spring

Upcoming civil war in the USA that will cause the country to break apart.

Bill Swanson Forced Out of UCG

Al Portune's Story

Someone sent me a great link to Al Portune's story of his life.  It is fascinating reading and brings back many memories of life in Pasadena.  Names and places that have meaning to so many people. 

Al's story begins with meeting his wife, heading off to War serving in the Coast Guard and then finding Ambassador College.  He tells about his rise up in the organization with HWA and GTA's encouragement.  Then he tells about his time as manager of the finance department.  Being exposed to the use of money and having to sign the checks started opening his eyes.  Confrontations with HWA over his begging for money started to seal his fate.

He tells of his leaving the the employ of the church and has quest for expanding his knowledge.  Too few in Armstrongism have ever dared to question religion, life, where we come from, etc.  Far too many prefer to have someone else tell them the answers.  It alleviates any responsibility for accountability on their part.

Al has obviously advance far beyond COG thought into something far more meaningful to him.

Astounding as it may be, on honest investigation, the basis of religion has little changed from the religion of primitive man. It is still belief in gods who control everything, even life and eternal life itself. Most of mankind still feels it cannot be safe and have any kind of secure present or future without serving, worshipping, placating one or more of those gods. Religion has become more sophisticated as MAN “tweaked” it, added to it, embellished it and tailored it to the benefit of power centers, profitable institutions and self aggrandizement. However, sacrifice of one kind or another is still a requisite, predominantly sacrifice of money for those who have found that religion is a lucrative business. Promoting their religion as the “salvation for man” requires money and is perhaps the most prominent sacrifice to enable the “preaching of the gospel or “good news” to the world . One could list thousands of sacrifices and offerings threaded through manifold religions, but it is still that same primitive motivation – that sacrifice, offerings, sacraments and worship bring existential advantage.

The grandeur of religion’s leaders, their robes, their churches and cathedrals, the pomp and “sanctity” displayed, the rituals so “elegantly” displayed and on an on create the illusion of a sanctity and relationship to “god” that even those in those exalted positions are looked to as actual vicars or representatives of god himself. The desire to be recognized and acclaimed as the leader or founder of a church or religious movement is great. It even was thousands and thousands of years ago in the preeminence of being “the Medicine Man.” But it all goes back to the first primitive placation of existential apprehensions and those who devised methods of placation.

For me it has come down to an elementary acceptance of what this earth and its long, long history has brought forth naturally and spontaneously based on the “forces” at work upon it going back to a “beginning” beyond the comprehension of mankind. What those forces or “a force” has brought forth on this earth has followed a pattern. Not a religiously defined pattern but a natural pattern, verified by the “natural evidence” that has progressed from the very first elements of life down to the present highest form of life extant on earth – man. Religion ignores or seeks to refute that natural process and replace it with various creation stories that establish a power basis that is nowhere evident in the natural evidence on this earth. Creation by fiat establishes a god concept and therefore a power that controls all things and must therefore be served, placated, obeyed and worshipped according to a methodology devised by “religion” that was created by man.  

Check out his story here:  Religion and WCG  or the Index here: Index of Memoirs