James Malm: Is It Sin To Eat The Ox In The Ditch On Saturday?

Malm comes up with some real mind-bogglers every once in a while and this is that time.

It seems a group of COGWA member decided to have an ox roast at a Church members farm this past summer.  What better way for a small group of people to fellowship than around a shared meal.  There is one problem with this picture for the Apostle Malm and his acolytes.  These idiots (in Malm's eyes) apparently cooked this ox on the sabbath and every TRUE believer knows that no one is to cook anything on Saturdays. Even worse Malm accuses these members of digging the ox up from the pit on Saturday.  Oh they misery! Oh the sabbath breaking!

The Malm writes:

This year 80 people from at least five different states attended the annual ox roast held on June 30, 2012, at the Harper farm in Parkersburg, West Virginia. Not even the furious derecho (ugly storms with tornado-force winds), power outages and low gas levels could keep the determined ox-eaters away this year. Despite the lack of electrical power, everybody enjoyed themselves, the ox and the fellowship.

Services began when Ron Kelley, the guest speaker who pastors the Greensboro, Hickory and Raleigh, North Carolina, congregations, asked the attendees if they had a fire in their belly.

Then local pastor Bill Jahns gave a sermon about confronting the challenges of life.

After services were over, everyone prepared to eat! When the ox was finally out of the ground, where it had been roasting in a fire pit, everyone was able to partake of the excellent food. There was no doubt in the minds of anyone attending that this year’s ox roast was a great success! Josh Travers

After using Isaiah 1:13-20 to beat them up with he has this to say to the apostate sabbath breakers.

The people who trample all over God’s Sabbaths and sin by compromising with the commandments of God are at best lukewarm for God and his law and at worst complete apostates.

Jesus Christ is going to spue such people out of his body and corrrect them until they repent.

Repent quickly my dear friends, the beloved of the Lord; lest he correct you and turn your pride into angish.

Malm's small group pf acolytes are equally appalled at the sickening behavior of these COGWA members:

Very fitting that it was an ox. Literally throwing an actual ox in the ditch so that they could pull/dig it out and then eat in on the Sabbath.

Another adds:

James, I see this sentence was inserted in your posting about the ox roast, “On the Sabbath, they dug a pit and roasted an ox in it”. Now, I see some of that sentence in the caption of the picture in the article, but not the ” on the Sabbath” part. You inserted those words, which is misrepresenting. In my knowledge of how this process works, all the preparations are made on Friday; the ground is prepared, the meat layered, etc. in the ground where it cooks all night and into the day. It is removed and served at the meal. Careful attention must be given to what is stated, contrary to what that implies to you, lest you influence through deceitful words.

Apostle Malm responds accusing them of digging the meat out to eat.

Your concern to detail is appreciated. However they had no concern about the impression they were giving that ALL of this was on Sabbath, so should not be startled if they are seen as doing this on Sabbath when they implied that they were. It is up tp them to clearly state what they are doing in order to abvoid any appearance of sin. 

And this does not mitigate the deed of digging the meat out and breaking the command against the matter Lev 16:23 And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the Lord: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning. James

Another acolyte is incensed at these sinners actions so The Malm responds:

Even if they did make all the preparations on Friday, it cooked on the Sabbath, which is still prohibited. How clear does it have to be? It is one of the “loopholes” created by Jewish tradition to think that, so long as the cooking fire was started before Sabbath that it is then ok to cook on it….really?

This was buried in the earth. It was not only cooked, it was dug out of the earth on Sabbath.

The Malm is so pissed at COGWA and UCG that he has this to say about how God is going to destroy them in his soon coming tribulation.

It is COGWA and UCG etc, that is wickedly sinning in shopping on God’s Holy Time and polluting God’s Sabbath. As God destroyed Israel for polluting the Sabbath; he will also destroy COGWA, UCG, LCG and the other corporate COG Groups [in the very soon coming tribulation] for committing the very same sins. James

Thiel: Pray and Fast For The Lesser of Two Evils To Be Elected

Bob Thiel has up a ridiculous posting today encouraging LCGers to pray and fast that God places the right person in office.  Thiel feels both men are evil and that God apparently is going to place in office the lesser evil one. 

Armstrongism has always had a love/hate relationship with voting.  HWA was against it and the diehard followers still are to this day.  They are appalled that some other COG groups do allow voting, or at least leave the matter up to the individual.  There has been discussions on Facebook recently about UCG members who said they vote.  Some condemned them for doing it saying the Bible told them not to.

The Church also allowed voting when it came to local concerns that would have an effect on the local community.  This allowed WCG members to run for office in Big Sandy and eventually helped allow the sale of alcohol in the area.  On a side note: It's funny how you can't mention the name Church of God without alcohol getting into the mix.

Bob Thiel writes:

Tomorrow is the US presidential election.  If Christians are not supposed to vote, what should we do about leaders?

Pray for them!

Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior (1 Tim 2:1-3).

Notice that we are to pray for worldly leaders and those that have authority over us so that we may lead a quiet and peaceful life.

Both candidates have promoted various forms of evil, and as I wrote before Voting for the Lesser of Two Evils is Still not Good (for specific details by candidate, please see the article Romney and Obama on ‘Social Issues’).

Many people, however, apparently are not satisfied with the biblical admonitions to trust God to chose political leaders.  This is not new (1 Samuel 8:6-7).

And while I can certainly understand that people often feel that they should do more, people often forget that God inspired Jeremiah to write:

O LORD, I know the way of man is not in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps (Jeremiah 10:23).

 Of course there are those reprobates and wanton sinners in the Church of God who do vote, always have and always will.  Thiel has this to say to them:

Some of those that vote seem to forget what God said:

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts…”(Isaiah 55:8-9).
‘This decision is by the decree of the watchers, And the sentence by the word of the holy ones, In order that the living may know That the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, Gives it to whomever He will, And sets over it the lowest of men.’ (Daniel 4:17).

It may be of interest to point out that Jesus suggested that people would take matters in their own hands thinking that they are doing God a service (John 16:2).  And while this referred to killing, the principle is still that one should not violate what God instructs and justify it by thinking that God wants one to.

Bob also wants you to know that whoever gets voted in will lead to the decline of this nation and is soon coming occupation by Germany:

No matter who wins, I believe they will lead a nation in decline and will almost certainly increase the rate of ultimate decline of the Anglo-American powers.   The USA needs true repentance and neither candidate has really called for that.  God can decide who, when, and why we should get particular leaders.

Since we are getting closer to the time of the end, I believe that tomorrow’s winner (even if it is not clear tomorrow) will help fulfill the following:

12 As for My people, children are their oppressors, And women rule over them. O My people! Those who lead you cause you to err, And destroy the way of your paths.” (Isaiah 3:12)
16 For the leaders of this people cause them to err, And those who are led by them are destroyed (Isaiah 9:16).

Thiel wants to make if very clear on what he is doing.  As the Official face of the Living Church of God, he has to set the right example for the wayward LCGer who might have dared to vote.  I know quit a few in LCG who do vote and will ignore Thiel's advice. As they should!

Blast From the Past: John Trechack on Fleecing The Flock

It was February 18, 1970. A small group of ministerial students were spending an evening with Herbert W. Armstrong, the founder of the Worldwide Church of God. Those of us who had been invited were given a glimpse of a life-style which in today's world only a very few are able to afford. At his home, a small mansion on Pasadena's South Orange Grove Boulevard (once nicknamed "millionaire row"), we were surrounded by rare antiques, expensive paintings, and Steuben crystal. The carpets were luxuriant; a Steinway grand stood in the corner of the drawing room.


The gourmet cuisine served at dinner was excellent as were the European wines-all four of them. We had been shown a large number of expensive paintings and objets d'art and, as was his custom, Herbert would relate what he paid for each and what they were now worth. That theme carried over into the conversation at dinner. Then, as the servants began to clear the table, he turned to one of the guests and said, "What do you think all of these beautiful things on the table are worth?" Of course, none of us had even the slightest idea. And so, he was able to proudly proclaim, "Over $125,000!"


He was quick to point out, however, that art objects of this quality were so rare that they were in fact "priceless." The sculptured, foot-high, solid-gold saltcellars were, for instance, the only known copies of those once owned by Louis XIV. (They had been specially made for Herbert by Harrod's of London.) The crystal goblets were identical to those found on Queen Elizabeth's table. The supremely crafted cutlery was of solid gold. The tablecloth was made of the finest Belgian lace. The gold-covered china was of the finest craftsmanship and formerly belonged to Czar Nicholas II of Russia.


As we sat there sipping our four different wines and eating off the czar's china, I couldn't help but think of the incredible contrast all this presented to the meager existence of so many members of Herbert's church-the very ones who were, through their tithes and offerings, making all this possible. I had personally known many Worldwide Church of God laymembers who were barely able to keep their families fed, let alone properly clothed, because of the large amounts they felt compelled to contribute to the Armstrong organization.


Ironically, just five days after the above occasion, one such beleaguered church member, a dedicated employee of the organization, wrote his minister and outlined the tragic financial straits he had come to as a result of obeying the church's teachings. The following excerpt, though a bit lengthy, shows in detail the type of deprivation inflicted on many who have come under the influence of the Armstrong organization and its teachings:

1. Automobile: The automobile is unsafe to drive.

A. The brakes are in poor shape; sometimes they lock the right or left front wheel, and to unlock it one must back up. This happens while driving.
B. The engine is too heavy for the front suspension, and I am in fear of the front suspension collapsing.
C. The exhaust system is leaky and fills the auto with oil smoke and fumes while driving.
This automobile must be replaced. I risk my family's life every time we drive in it; I had Mr. Schreiber check it, and he said to replace it this year before the Feast.

2. Clothing

A. My wife has no underwear, has had none for a year or more. She has only one brassiere and one slip and both are in very sad shape, ripped up, etc. She has no nylons and only one pair of socks.
B. She only has one good dress and with constant wear it is going fast. She has only one pair of shoes, and they are one size too big. When she stands in them, there is a one-half inch gap at the heel, she only has one coat, and it is all ripped up inside. My wife needs clothing badly.

3. Clothing

A. My clothing is in sad shape also, but better than my wife's. I have only one suit I can wear. It is a summer suit I got from used clothing, and when the seams go, I will have none. I have no pants I can wear anywhere. If it were not for the uniforms at work, I would have none at all; to change clothes I have a choice-a uniform from work, my suit, or one pair of levis with holes in them. My shoes need repairing. My socks are all full of holes at the heels; I do have three or four sets of underwear that are good.
B. My children's clothes: If it were not for used clothing, they would have none. We do good to keep them in shoes as they need them. Their feet already have corns because of the wrong shoes in the past; we are finding that used clothing is not able to supply their present needs. They are growing to a size that is not available. There is no money available to go to a Thrift Shop.

4. Our Furniture

A. Most of what we have will be usable for some time, but some items need replacing.
B. The bed my wife and I sleep in is 23 years old, and we are continually being cut by springs coming through the mattress. I woke up one night with a spring stuck into my thigh and had to lift myself straight up off of it. We cut out an average of one or two springs a week; I feel it is also a cause of my constant back problems, but I have no money to replace the bed.
C. We have only two dressers for seven people and this is not enough; because of this we keep the children's clothes in cardboard boxes in the closets. The rest I feel we can get by with.

5. Entertainment

We rarely go any place through the year except to the Feast [of Tabernacles]. I have taken my wife out to dinner once in the past five years. I don't recall that I have ever taken my children any place except at the Feast of Tabernacles. We have gone to the zoo with the children once since being in the Church and that is 10 years or so.

6. Medical/Dental

My wife needs dental work badly. We owe Dr. Howell $35.00 now, but we don't have any money to pay him. My children have never had a dental or eye checkup and they need it. I need glasses. I went to the eye doctor two years ago and was told this but no money. I also need some dental work, but mine is small.

7. Imperial Schools

We owe Imperial [the Worldwide Church of God's now defunct private schools, offering grades 1 through 12] $577.20, and it will take $65.00 per month to pay them off by next school year. We are currently paying $40.00 when we have it. We will have another child in school next year, plus our three.

Summary
I am sorry to be a burden to this work, but I do have a large family to feed; my children eat like adults, and they do wear clothes. If we lived on a ranch in Arizona, we could probably live cheaper, but we live in Los Angeles and there are just more expenses here. I am not demanding. I am only showing you my condition as it is. I will get by as long as I can, but we are getting close to the end of our rope. Please advise me!!

This poor member's dedication and "good attitude" cannot be denied. But he shouldn't have been suprised by his poverty. Not when you consider that he was giving away nearly 40% of his net income in first tithe, second tithe, third tithe, regular offerings, holy-day offerings, special emergency offerings, church emergency loans, building fund contributions, and Spokesman Club dues! And this doesn't include the income he lost by passing up employment opportunities to keep the Old Testament sabbath and holy days, as the Worldwide Church of God teaches.


The Armstrong organization has always been quick to publish letters from individuals claiming all kinds of financial success ("blessings"), divine intervention, and good luck that supposedly resulted directly from obedience to the church's teachings concerning tithing. However, letters such as the one we have quoted above somehow never made it into print. In our Letters section in this issue we have included a number of letters that describe some of those cases the Armstrong neglected to mention.


This Is the Life! The $60,000,000 per year tax-free income that the Armstrongs are able to garner and that they exclusively control attests to the effectiveness of their methods. As Herbert has often stated, "Tithing pays off!" On of his editorials was once titled, "This Is the Life!-Real Abundant Living!" True, for the one receiving the tithes tithing does pay off. But life has been a lot less abundant for thousands of those who have diligently applied Herbert's tithing laws as found in his booklet Ending Your Financial Worries (often jokingly referred to by some WCG higher-ups as "Ending Our Financial Worries").


You can read the rest of this eye opening article here:  Fleecing the Flock

Van Robison: "Sheep Like Church Members Only Allowed"

Sheep Like Church Members Only Allowed

Churches love sheep-like members.  Anyone who challenges the status quo is generally shown the exit door.  Anyone who makes waves or upsets the applecart is not allowed.  I can well remember many years ago when at Friday night "Bible study",  church members were allowed to write down questions on paper and send those forward via the ushers or deacons.  The minister conducting the service would answer the questions, as if what his answer was, was God speaking and that was the end of the matter.

Of course that was silly, because there are actually different views on anything.  There are thousands of different views about the Bible and it is interpreted in as many different ways, as there are people who have opinions about it.    Friday night Bible study ministers of the Worldwide Church of God, were not God, but they gave the impression that they were infallible and inerrant and spoke for God, every time they opened their mouth.  Sheep are always fleeced and their wool used by the shearers.  In the case of the WCG, the ministers were the shearers, who fleeced the flock and the bah bah sheep were clueless.

No pastor of a church wants sheep-like church members to THINK for themselves, because they are all bottle fed.  Any church member who does think for himself, will eventually exit the doors where he has been captive and never return, because living in the confined quarters of a box, called "church", is a prison of the mind.  The prison guard is the pastor, who is also the gatekeeper to what you are allowed to think.  Every minister is limited in his thinking by his denominational indoctrination and his mind travels in an endless circle to nowhere.

All WCG splinter group leaders travel down the same road of thinking they have God-like status over their sheep-like members.  They are all extremely self-deceived.    If the only input into your thinking over a long period of time, is that of the "pastor" of your church, then you are a clone.  Clones cannot reason or think,  they only imitate or react on how they have been cloned.  Even the ministers of the WCG splinter groups themselves are clones and they parrot how they have been schooled to think.  It is a road that travels in an endless circle of stunted mental growth and never coming to the knowledge of truth.

The whole organized church system, which is the pastor-dominated control church world, is a world of anti-intellectual, anti-thinking, anti-reasoning world of pastor worship.  For pastors of churches it is always "my way or no way." I guess preachers never read Matthew 23 and even if they do, they always apply it to everyone but themselves.

If you are a sheep-like church member, then your thinking is a product of the man or woman who stands in the pulpit and writes upon your brain what he or she says "truth" is, even when they are often very wrong.    The bah bah chorus of church sheep is deafening.


Van Robison

Jonathon McNair and His Angry God

We are a few days after hurricane Sandy.  Death and destruction lie in it's wake with damage into the hundreds of millions if not much higher.

Every time there is some major storm, some large weather pattern, some violent outburst, the Churches of God start screaming "...prophecy coming alive!"  God is really, really pissed and he isn't taking it any more.  Or, maybe it is Satan let loose upon the world to thwart the message of the true church of God.

Johnathon starts out letting everyone know that not a single Living Church of God member suffered any damage.  Our members are blessed and preserved from calamity because we are special while the rest of the world are sinful losers.

As a pastor of congregations in the region hit by Hurricane Sandy, I was thankful to learn that the Church members in my area were safe and unharmed. Yet some of the harm caused by Hurricane Sandy may not yet be evident, as the damage caused by the “storm surge” is further evaluated, and the cleanup continues.

McNair naively believes that Americans think things of this magnitude happen else where.  What a load of rubbish!  We know we have large hurricanes, tornado's, earthquakes etc.  The problem now is that more people live in the larger metropolitan areas than they did when Herbert started.  That, combined with instantaneous news coverage and disasters quickly become major stories.

For many of us, flooding, earthquakes and famines are disasters that are supposed to happen in “other places”—perhaps Bangladesh, Haiti or Ethiopia, not the prosperous and modern and efficient United States. We take “survival” for granted; we watch other nations struggle with it, and the closest many of us have yet come is to watch Survivor on reality television.

History books tell the story of natural disasters through the years. Storms and floods and droughts and famine are not new to human history. But for the better part of a century, we have enjoyed a time of unprecedented prosperity in the United States, allowing us to assist other nations with their disasters.

He goes on to talk about global warming, and other contributing factors:

Yet it seems that times are changing, and even in the complacent U.S. many are beginning to take notice. “The number of weather-related catastrophes has been rising dramatically since 1980 on all continents, with the steepest rise in North America. Insured losses on the continent soared from an average of $9 billion a year in the 1980’s to $36 billion a year in the 2000s,” according to Munich Re, the world’s largest reinsurance firm.

Why?

Some suggest that human-induced “global warming” is the culprit. Yet others dispute this idea, pointing to New York’s major hurricanes in 1821 and 1938. Are we simply in a normal cycle of the earth’s atmospheric conditions, or have we done irreparable harm to our world? Certainly we can take Hurricane Sandy and similar great disasters as a learning experience in preparedness—but should we see them as something more?

Only in one sentence did McNair mention Jesus.  He did however have lots to say about his angry God that is ready to dish out some whoop-ass.  His god is filled with wrath and anger.

The words of your Bible reveal that there is a God, and He uses the weather to teach and warn. In a prophecy directed to ancient Israel, He says, “I will break the pride of your power; I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze. And your strength shall be spent in vain; for your land shall not yield its produce, nor shall the trees of the land yield their fruit” (Leviticus 26:19-20). How many today realize that the United States is identified in Bible prophecy as the modern descendant of ancient Israel’s tribe of Manasseh (to learn more, order a free copy of our booklet, The United States and Great Britain in Prophecy)?

God warned the Israelites—and He warns us today—that He would use the weather to show His wrath against their evil. In Genesis 7, we read that God used a flood to destroy most of the world’s inhabitants, not just the Israelites, for their wickedness. To learn more about how God works through these dramatic events, order a free copy of our booklet, Who Controls the Weather?

 Be ye warm and filled with the law.  Only then will you receive a chance at salvation.

 Hurricane Sandy is a powerful reminder that the storms on our nation’s horizon are bigger than any man. So, will our nation repent of its evil ways, turn its focus to God, and obey Him? Thankfully, no matter what direction the U.S. and other nations may take, Jesus Christ died so that you, individually, could repent, be baptized, and live a joyous life in harmony with His laws and His ways, preparing for the day when His Kingdom will rule the earth. God speed that day!