COGWA Rules and Regulations For Feast Attendance

Those fine upstanding, church hopping, back stabbing folk at COGWA have laid down the law on how they expect the serfs in their kingdom to act at the Feast this year.

It is no mere coincidence that they are using the analogy of a King ruling over his serfs.  Like feudal kings of ages past, the present Kings of COGWA are making similar demands:

Be Ready to Listen!

Rabison Shumba, a young African entrepreneur and motivational speaker, wrote about the expected behavior of people who come in contact with kings and influential people in his book The Greatness Manual. Mr. Shumba explained that a king deserves your attention. He noted that it is a privilege and an honor just to be called into the king’s palace. When the king speaks, you must listen intently, which means you have to sharpen your listening skills.
There is nothing more insulting or frustrating to a ruler than to have someone take the meeting for granted by focusing his or her attention on other “nice to see” things in the palace. In short, Mr. Shumba says, “You must pay attention.” Giving the speakers, special music performers and songleader at the Feast your undivided attention gives you better opportunities to rejoice and be informed. This principle is also important when we fellowship with others.

The gift of gratitude (i.e.  Because you are grateful you are expected to empty your wallets to show your gratitude to your Kingly leaders.  You will not be able to worship God correctly and fully unless you give more money...)

Being grateful is defined as “being appreciative of benefits received” (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary). When we express gratitude toward God and His people, our outlook will be profoundly affected. It will impact the way we worship God and interact with those of like mind. There should be an appreciation for all the planning and work that goes into every aspect of a Festival site. Many hours are volunteered in hopes that everyone will benefit from keeping the Feast. Say thank you to those who serve you.

In order to maintain his kingdom, a good king recognizes that things must be done decently and in order. This is also expected of those who work with the king. If we are to walk by the same rule so that everyone will profit from the Feast, we must be accountable in areas such as:

It’s always a bit awkward asking brethren to stand up during a message so you can get to an empty seat in the middle of the row. So strive to be seated before the service begins. This will allow you to fully participate in singing hymns—an opportunity to express your love and gratitude to God the Father for all of His many benefits. This part of the service should not be taken lightly, as it shows respect for God and His authority over us.


My technology! (Don't play with your smartphone during one of your Kings mind-numbingly boring sermons!)
 To show honor to God, as well as to those who are speaking or performing, please turn off your electronic devices during services. If you’re concerned you may have an emergency phone call, please put your phone on vibrate. Of course, an exception to foregoing electronic devices would be if one were taking notes on a netbook or laptop.

Communication during services. (Keep your big fat mouth SHUT!)

Talking during services should be kept to an absolute minimum.

Being on time for services/meetings.
It is quite important that we are ready when services begin. How many times have we arrived a few minutes before services only to find ourselves engaged in conversations in the lobby, knowing that we have yet to find a seat, run to the restroom and pull out our notebooks and Bibles?

Eating during services. It is discourteous to your Church family to eat in services

Unhappy children. As parents, we need to be aware that although we may be able to tolerate a little fussiness or whimpering, others may not be able to maintain their concentration.  Take them out of the meeting room if necessary, so others can focus on the message. For this reason, many Feast sites have a parents’ or mothers’ room, and some of them even pipe the audio of the message to this room.(i.e. this is the appropriate place to beat your kids out of the publics eye)


Loitering  it is inappropriate to be fellowshipping in the halls during services. (But pastor, your sermons are incredibly BORING!)

The more education people receive, the more religious they become?

Here's another take of religion from The Daily Mail

The more education people receive, 

the more religious they become?

By Daily Mail Reporter

Most people assume that as individuals become more educated, they become less less religious.


A new study however suggests that the opposite may be true.


By analyzing data from a large national survey, sociologist Philip Schwadel of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln found that people tend to become more religious - by certain definitions - as they further their education.


Mr Schwadel said: 'It all falls down to what you consider to be religious.

'If it’s simply attending religious services, then no, highly educated people are not less religious. In fact they’re more religious.'

Religious non-believers: The caveat was that when these people arrived to religious service, they were less likely to take scripture literally.

Mr Schwadel found that with each additional year of education the likelihood of attending religious services increased 15 per cent.


The caveat is that when these individuals arrive to religious services, they're less likely to take scripture literally.


'If it’s saying the Bible is the literal word of God and saying that only one religion is the true religion, then they are less religious,' he said.

His research will be published in an upcoming edition of the journal Review of Religious Research.


The study also found that the likelihood of reading the Bible at least occasionally increased by 9 per cent with each additional year of education an individual received.

Religious thinker? Einstein famously said: 'Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.'

The survey also qualified what concept of God or a 'higher power' individuals held, as well as whether they had any doubts.

Mr Schwadel said that: 'With more years of education, you aren’t relatively more likely to say, "I don’t believe in God," but you are relatively more likely to say, "I believe in a higher power."'


Mr Schwadel concluded that: 'It's clear that though the religious world-views of the highly educated differ from the religious world-views of those with little education, religion plays an important role in the lives of highly educated Americans. And religion remains relevant to Americans of all education levels.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2025166/The-education-people-receive-religious-become.html#ixzz1UqZdrr9i

"Does Secularism Make People More Ethical?"

Here is an article in Der Spiegel International that may resonate with some here: Going Godless: Does Secularism Make People More Ethical?

Non-believers are often more educated, more tolerant and know more about God than the pious. A new wave of research is trying to figure out what goes on in the minds of an ever-growing group of people known as the "Nones".

The most surprising insight revealed by the new wave of secular research so far is that atheists know more about the God they don't believe in than the believers themselves. This is the conclusion suggested by a 2010 Pew Research Center survey of US citizens. Even when the higher education levels of the unreligious were factored out, they proved to be better informed in matters of faith, followed by Jewish and Mormon believers. 

Two Different Thinking Styles

Boston University's Catherine Caldwell-Harris is researching the differences between the secular and religious minds. "Humans have two cognitive styles," the psychologist says. "One type finds deeper meaning in everything; even bad weather can be framed as fate. The other type is neurologically predisposed to be skeptical, and they don't put much weight in beliefs and agency detection."

Caldwell-Harris is currently testing her hypothesis through simple experiments. Test subjects watch a film in which triangles move about. One group experiences the film as a humanized drama, in which the larger triangles are attacking the smaller ones. The other group describes the scene mechanically, simply stating the manner in which the geometric shapes are moving. Those who do not anthropomorphize the triangles, she suspects, are unlikely to ascribe much importance to beliefs. "There have always been two cognitive comfort zones," she says, "but skeptics used to keep quiet in order to stay out of trouble."

Only a small portion of secularists are as radical as the "strong atheists" championed by British evolutionary biologist and author Richard Dawkins. The majority are more likely to be indifferent to religion or mildly agnostic, according to Kosmin's analysis. There are also secular humanists, free thinkers and many other factions. "One problem of atheism research is that we simply can't agree on a unified terminology," notes Kosmin. "Every researcher thinks he is Linnaeus and invents his own labels."

Then he tells of a meeting of secular groups last year in Washington. They were planning a big demonstration. "But they couldn't even agree on a motto," he says. "It was like herding cats, straight out of a Monty Python sketch." In the end, the march was called off.

While this was not associated with the above site, this may also interest some here:  Going Godless: Rediscovering Spirituality in the Material World

A Musical Treat For Those Of You Longing For The Good Old Days

Warning!!!!!

You may need one of these: