The Apostle on War Brides and Marrying Those You Rape

The stupidity continues.  The Apostle Malm's words are in black:

The following law of war is meant to mitigate the actions of the nations in their abuse of captives, especially female captives.  This is in reference to captives of nations “far off” and not to Canaanites.   The instruction here is to take in proper marriage and not simply use and abuse female prisoners in rapacious lust.  The putting away is consistent with Moses allowing a bill of divorce because of the stony hearts of those in a merely physical covenant and not by and large having God’s spirit.  Divorce of a couple married in the faith is absolutely forbidden and any remarriage after a divorce of a couple married in the faith has been declared to be “living in adultery”  by Jesus Christ.  many including some elders in the COG are today living openly in adultery; an action which should get them immediately disfellowshipped.  No person living in such adultery is worthy of any office in the faith or of fellowship with the brethren.

¹⁰ When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the LORD thy God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive, ¹¹ And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife; ¹² Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails; ¹³ And she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thine house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife. ¹⁴ And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she will; but thou shalt not sell her at all for money, thou shalt not make merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled her.

Now comnes in the law concerning rape,  A virgin shall not be considered guilty if she has cried out and fought her attacker.

²⁵ But if a man find a betrothed damsel in the field, and the man force her, and lie with her: then the man only that lay with her shall die: ²⁶ But unto the damsel thou shalt do nothing; there is in the damsel no sin worthy of death: for as when a man riseth against his neighbour, and slayeth him, even so is this matter: ²⁷ For he found her in the field, and the betrothed damsel cried, and there was none to save her.

If a man rape a virgin not married or betrothed then he must marry her with her father’s consent, as well as pay a penalty which is the usual value of presents given at a betrothal.  Tghis is because she may be considered tainted in a society that values marriage to virgins and may be unable to find another husband.  More about this

²⁸ If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found; ²⁹ Then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife; because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all his days.

Apostle Malm: Adulterers Should Be Killed

Here is another great reason for the demise of Armstrongism.  There are still idiots out that that take this as a command.  They will not tear their houses down with mold in them, but will gleefully kill anyone who commits adultery. It's ok not to wear tassels on your garments but is totally appropriate to kill another human being.

Thank God these idiots will NOT be ruling over some world or kingdom in the millennium as they think they will.  It would be better to be condemned to hell than to live in their sick worlds!

Apostle Malm writes:

Adultery is punishable by death: This leads into the punishment for spiritual adultery [loving and obeying first, anyone other than our espoused Husband], which is also death.  Those who exalt any man or organization above our espoused husband; who say that “we can do this because some church says its ok” and do not base their conduct on a passionate love for the scripture and the things of our Husband: Will not be  joined with Christ in marriage to him.  They are showing how little they love him by not diligently studying the scriptures and not passionately obeying him;. By obeying another and exalting that other above their Husband they are committing spiritual adultery and are worthy of death, if they do not repent.
²² If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away evil from Israel.
²³ If a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto an husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her; ²⁴ Then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they die; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the man, because he hath humbled his neighbour’s wife: so thou shalt put away evil from among you.

Spiritually Unclean Asses

Apostle Malm has this to say about your ass:

God cares about his people far more then about asses.  This is a practical physical law since the two are of different strength and inclinations.  This is also a spiritual principle that we are not to yoke the spiritually clean with the spiritually unclean.  We are not to knowingly marry an unconverted person, nor are we to take part in unclean unconverted actions polluting ourselves with the evildoing of others by participating with them in their unclean activities such as christmas, birthdays etc..
¹⁰ Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together.

Prophet Thiel: Occupy Wall Street A Sure Sign of Endtimes

The Prophet speaks!  Heed his words! 

Armstrongism still needs to find the bogeyman in all world events.  It's no wonder their little cults are not growing!

When I watched some o of the “Occupy Wall Street” protesters/leaders interviewed, the following sections of scripture came to mind:

1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! 6 For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, 7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. (2 Timothy 3:1-8) 8 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles. These are the beginnings of sorrows. (Mark 13:8)

We are living in the last days and at least some of the protesters seemed to be fulfilling much of the above. The London riots and the flash mobs in the USA this past summer also brought these verses to mind. The sorrows and troubles are just beginning (Matthew 24:5-8) and will get much worse (Matthew 24:21-22). I believe that class warfare and other protests will help weaken the USA and other Anglo-nations and may also be a factor in them being vulnerable to real warfare: invasion by the Beast. (I also suspect that protests and civil unrest in Europe will be factors in the actual rise the Beast, as he will be a militaristic leader cf. Revelation 13:4.) As Jesus said:

Dennis On: A Final Realization About Forgiveness

A Final Realization About Forgiveness

If it is one concept that religious people are familiar with, either by choice or by force,  it is FORGIVENESS.

Here is what I wrote about the topic the last time I faced this demon believing I had reached the final stage in dealing with my own perspectives, consequences and losses in pastoring in the World Wide Church of God.

"There is one solution that seems to be the last one we really want to employ. Somehow, we inherently know that if we apply it and mean it, it will free us from all the drama/trauma. Mostly we don't know how to do it and find that what we intend to be a permanent solution to the painful life experiences we have, is merely temporary. The ultimate solution to our perverse chemistry of reliving, over and over the negative emotions that hurt mainly ourselves is FORGIVENESS.

Forgiveness is either the easiest thing on earth to do and we just don't get it, or it is the most difficult. I sometimes feel that if I forgive whoever or whatever it is that still plagues my mind at times, they or it will be getting away with something. If I forgive them, they will for sure! 

If I FORGIVE, they will win. So not forgiving ensures they don't. My ego, my "little self" will want to get even, or be right, or get an apology or just keep on fighting on and on what is or was. On the other hand, allowing things to be as they are is really what we call GRACE. The rest is all just memories and chemistry in MY head. It is not real.

I remember when a past Pope forgave, very publically, the man who put a near fatal bullet in him. I remember thinking that since the Pope is a professional forgiver, or has to be, it was not the magnificient example it was meant to be. The Pope has to forgive you! Now if the father of Nick Berg, the first American beheaded in Iraq, forgives that evil act done by those evil men, that is real! I undestand that Mr. Berg is just such a remarkable person, or wants to be inspite of the pain of those events.

 If you offend your pastor , or friends in the church in some way, just tell them "well forgive me." They have to!  He's a minister and it's a Church!

I want to forgive for my sake. Of course, there are a few things in life I want to be forgiven for as well as there is a chemistry of guilt or shame set off when I think of those things and don't stop and accept myself as just human like everyone else. Many ministers feel they have to give the impression they are past all that and do no wrong, or admit to little wrongs to appear human, but everyone has "the other side." Every minister I know wears at least one mask...

Forgiving comes in stages. I suppose it can be instant and final but mostly it comes in increments in practical fact. We forgive so that what eats us doesn't destroy us. We forgive because somehow we know that we all can be just as foolish or hurtful as we feel others have been towards us. We forgive because what else is there is to do and have a real life. We forgive to see how life can bless us for doing so and that things do work out exactly as they should for us.

Forgiving has to be specific and not generic. You can't forgive an organization or an all encompassing Church denomination. Abused Catholics can't forgive the Catholic Church or even the Pope. They must forgive the specific abuse, priest or member. I can't forgive the Worldwide Church of God. I have to forgive the players who created it, took advantage of my good intentions and spiritual seeking and changed it from something I could relate to, when I took the Bible as literally true, and returned me to a theology I found wanting as I grew up with it. I have to forigve them for the idea that reinventing the wheel, for me, was new and exciting. It was not and I lost my heart for it all.

Our forgiving others cannot depend on whether others forgive us first. If that is true, then we are at the mercy of others and probably dead in the water on this topic until others give us permission to forgive and move ahead in life. We can only do our part and we can only do it when we are able and understand deeply the benefit of forgiving to all concerned. That can take time, or not, depending on how willing we are to let it go and get out of the past into a more real and loving present."

That's where I left this topic a few years back. I thought it was about the best answer I could come up to move on.

I think I left out the last stage or perhaps this is the only stage for an open and enlightened mind that really wants to move on and finally answer "how does forgiving or not forgiving serve me?"

Think very carefully on this next sentence...

"Forgiveness, in my experience, happens when the NEED to forgive or be forgiven IS LET GO OF. When we realize that everyone ..EVERYONE...does the best they possibly can under the circumstances of conditioning, there is  no need to forgive or be forgiven.  Forgiveness is THE LETTING GO OF THE NEED TO FORGIVE."  author unknown.

I can't improve on that. Forgiveness is the letting go of the NEED to forgive.  That's it.  If I no longer need to forgive and fighting all the "but they got away with it," or "somehow I don't feel good about forgiving," falls meaningless.  I have been told that forgiveness is not for "them" but for me.  I can go with that, but somehow it never feels like it's over.  Giving up the need to forgive is very liberating. Getting over the idea that someone has to say, "you're right, I was wrong" before I am satisfied, is as well.  Besides, we always suspect people say they are sorry only because they just want us off their backs and don't really mean it or care what you think ultimately.  It simply never seem finished.

I have never heard an Armstrong or a Tkach say, "I'm sorry" about anything.  I cannot live my life waiting for their lights to go on.  I made my choices as well and I have more of a time forgiving myself for being so gullible or stupid or naive than saying I forgive "them."  It is more peaceful to come to the conclusion that I don't even have to struggle with forgiving myself.  I have no need to forgive myself. I was doing the best I could at the time and wild horses could not have taken me out of the church at that time.  Today, that is all over with. 

So perhaps the final stage is losing the very need to forgive.  Stage one is "I'm mad as hell and I'm going to foam out my rage."  Stage Two is "I forgive."  (Most never get this far from what I can see).  and Stage Three may just be, "I don't have a need any longer to forgive."  It was what it was and is what it is and resisiting it all is insanity and hurting my body, mind and spirit. 

I will not give anyone the power run the contents of my mind or emotions again by their actions whether noble or profoundly stupid. I will no longer struggle over finding that forgiving feeling that seems to ellude.

I simple give up the need to forgive .

Forgiveness truly is the letting go of the need to forgive.

Dennis C. Diehl
DenniscDiehl@aol.com