Dennis Says: "Forget All the COG Drama...How Are YOU Doing?"

Forget All the COG Drama...

How Are YOU Doing?

If it is one thing I recognize in myself it is the rather profound effect being both member an minister in the WCG has had on me.  I discovered WCG at 14, believing it to be a better alternative, more Biblically accurate and honest about the contents of the Bible than the Presbyterian box I was born into.  In hind sight, I was a weird kid.  Always wanting to know "why" and always intrigued with the Bible.  I still am and give up on that ever changing. 

It is now 14 years after being out of the WCG loop.  I have written about it, spoken about it, debated about it and had regrets about the whole experience.  I also recognize the good things that came from up as in family and some few remaining friends.  Very few however. 

This experience has pushed me relentless to know what it was I was not taught.  Where did the Bible really come from?  Who really wrote it and why?  Why does it contradict itself and why do people say it does not.  Which parts are myth and which parts historical?  Is it for us or was it for them?   All incredibly fascinating topics to me and I feel that , at least for me, I have done my homework and am currently satisfied with my present truth.  I am not so bold as to think I know how it all is, but the journey is more inspiring than finding anything which I suppose would only launce me on another journey. 

I have lost relationships, found them and lost them again.  I'm not an easy person to live around I suppose at times.  I have done the depressed thing, the anxious thing, the confused thing and the angry thing.  I think there must be more things to be and do but they don't come to mind at the moment. 

I know I don't share these emotional views alone.  Those of you here on this site know in down to your toes how this experience has affected you and I imagine it is not all that different from how it has affected me. 

But when it is all said and done.  When all the sarcasm and anger, when all the rancor and scoffing is done...how are YOU doing?   I have three former minister friends who ended their lives over  the confusion in WCG and "the changes."  I have minister friends who sank into alcoholism trying to blot out the pain of their good youthful intentions gone so bad.  I know people who would like the simple pleasure without the penalty of handing some people their teeth in a bag.  I probably have a few that would like to do the same to me.  Reckless change and human stupidity as seen, in my view, among the WCG "leadership" is painful and hard to forget when it impacts on you long after it occurs. 

At my mom's memorial service last week in Rochester, NY, I couldn't sing the hymns chosen and my sisters noticed it big time.  On the other hand, I sobbed quietly when they sang "How Great Thou Art" because that is a favorite and one that I had always hoped was so.  "When Christ shall come....in shouts of acclamation...I scarce can take it in..."  did me in.  I am not oblivious to the duality of hope and knowledge or myth and reality.  My mind knows I am a hairless ape of the genus homo and my heart wants to be a spirit trapped in a limited five sensed, carbon based wet suit...for now. 

But back to the question.  How are YOU doing?

Are you stuck?  I was/am stuck depending on the topic.  Stuck is ok if it is stuck and not a permanent position to be in.  Stuck in bitter or stuck in angry is not going to serve you or me very well.  It will shorten your life and cloud your progress.  This is why I refer to my own life as just a story that could have gone so many different ways.  It just happened to go the WCG way.  Had I not missed that flight from LA to Salt Lake to Boise on June 6th, 1971, it would have been a different story.  

Some symptoms of stuckness is our repeating the same lines and comments over and over.  I do it and so do most of you.  It is because we think we have not been heard or understood, so we say it again.  But we have been heard and it is understood so being stuck in it is not helpful to your own growth and life.  Admitting you might be stuck is the key to getting unstuck.

I'll stay to be helpful to those progressing in their journey, but I can't stay to just be stuck.

How's your anger level?  I have a boat load of anger but in time you come to see that the people you are angry with are probably out to dinner not thinking one bit about you.  I have little use for certain WCG administrators and fake theologians and they know it, but it will not change them and only hurts me, as far as I can tell.  The Reconciliation Dept at WCG told me they wished me well and would pray for me.  Gee thanks guys.  Best example of "be warmed and be filled" I have ever heard.  However, I can not change them.  I can only change me.  Anger serves a purpose, but not for very long and I find it is simply my pain body, believe in the concept or not, wanting to feed and make me miserable for a time until it is happy again. 

Have you learned to think for yourself?  Hope so.  Churches like Dave Pack's Restored Church of God, or Flurry's Philadelphia Church of God or Weinland's Pre-Packaged Church of God can thrive in an environment of people who don't think for themselves.  They exist because people don't and won't think for themselves.  They thrive because their followers truly are followers.  Few churches can survive the light of day when it has members who insist on thinking for themselves and coming to their own conclusions about all things theological.  I have said before I personally don't think "all speaking the same thing," is possible in reality, but it is a goal for organizational thinking and one that is needed to hold it all together.

Has this experience left you depressed  (unresolved anger that you feel you have no right to expressed, or the price of expressing is simply too high.)?  That demon has trailed me since some of the first WCG scandals unfolded.  I was and am a rather naive and idealistic soul so those crazy things, like the Receivership of days gone by, left me puzzled and addled.  Meds aren't the answer to depression.  Facing reality  and letting go is.  All suffering is some form of non-acceptance, as is all negativity.  Clinging to what we thing should be or fussing over what we think should not be is simply useless.   "It is what it is," is the truth.  Grow with it.

How about anxiety?  Whoa...I'm the expert here.  Laugh, scorn or mock all you want but having no support in older years from WCG , when they said not to be concerned about it, is my problem and not yours.  But it is real.  However, all I can do is accept reality and do the best I can.  Kodak still helps out my 97 year old dad but the wonderful world of religion has left me with a very bad taste in my mouth for those that lied about such matters.  It is not a surprise to me that the current WCG leadership,  well I guess I mean Grace Community...park their cars behind locked security gates at their office.  I imagine they sometimes look around as well before going to their cars.  You can't abuse and offend the spiritual life and hopes of tens of thousands and not expect a few to not wish you well.

I probably have had GAD (General Anxiety Disorder) all my life or at least it bloomed early in my WCG ministry.  How nuts it was to hope for relief by picking one of the most stress filled religious orgahttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqnEGu8VF8Ynizations on the face of the earth!  lol.  (Head Slap!)

The cure, for me, and I would expect for those that still have this emotion as left over baggage from WCG is to simply learn the skill of letting go and accepting things as they are.  I don't know if there is meaning in all these experiences, but there is education.  It is Earth School at its finest. 

Some of Tolle that helps me.  He simply brings Buddhism to the Western mind. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqX5IFKYFWk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0TMxz9BNDY

Some other more in the realm of science done well that helps.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqnEGu8VF8Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHEmymfHCKw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IVqMXPFYwI

These give me perspective and somehow it helps to realize...that is make real, the fact that we are all a part of the one grand thing.  It works for me.  Perhaps not you.

Some say we choose our story before we arrive or are living this life to have experiences.  If so, I must have been drunk when I wrote the script before showing up!  lol.  But , it is what it is. 

So how are you doing?  For everyone that actually comments or writes on this site, I think a thousand merely observe.  That's fine.  I want to ask you how you are doing through all this?  Are you growing through?  Do you think more for yourself?  Are you rightfully less trusting of the one man show who wants you to follow and believe as they or he believes.  Can you think critically about the sermons you are presented with or the interpretations your minister puts on the Bible...which some would call spin?  Are you brave enough to question?  Can you look your pastor in the eye and say, "that's your opinion and we'll see."?    Can you see your church may actually live in a very small and unreal world that is not helping you as much as you think? 

It's a simple question.  With all that has transpired.  With all that has happened and all the drama.  With all the disappointment.  With all the emotions.   With all the various splinters and slivers that have arisen to claim ownership of the truth.  For all the pain this process has caused. With all you/we/us have been forced to face and admit...  How are you doing?

 denniscdiehl@AOL.com 

UCG Admits It Still Cannot Impress The World

Poor UCG.  Try as they might, they still cannot seem to make much of an impact in the world.  Even though they are now a streaming presence on Roku they still are an unknown church.  It seems that the Roku viewers tune out after the first 6 minutes or so.

From the Council of Elders report

The dedicated Roku Beyond Today (BT) channel went live on Jan. 29, and we’ve had 25,000 video views with an average of 6.19 minutes each. About 4,600 people have the Beyond Today channel installed on their Roku boxes. We’re finding that people are willing watch video on an internet connected television longer than they do on their computer or Internet browser.

More from the UCG Council of Elders report:

Mr. Eddington stated that the Church works every day preaching the gospel. He said that, as a job for us, outside of God and family, it is the most important thing we do. We have a disciplined staff and a systematic plan to deliver a stable and consistent effort to preach the gospel. There is no single defining action to get to the world but hard work and varied approaches, like radio, TV, and Internet.

The process can be likened to a giant concrete flywheel that is ever so hard to get turning, and yet with years of pushing it slowly gathers momentum—until eventually it turns powerfully, hard to even stop, with just a push every revolution. One day, by consistent work in preaching the gospel, we would hope to find ourselves catapulted onto the world stage—suddenly in the public eye as the Church of God makes a mark on religion.

UCG Finances Still Taking A Hit

FYI to any splinter groups that needs some HQ property.  UCG still is trying to sell the land boondoggle in Texas

Finances—Aaron Dean
As treasurer, Mr. Dean reported that the current income fiscal year to date   totals $11.5 million and expenses are at $11.9 million. Expenses have not come down as quickly as expected, as people are renewing their Good News subscriptions   at a higher rate than we anticipated—mostly in areas outside the U.S. However,   our financial situation is a lot better than what it was a few months ago.

We expect that gap to continue to narrow so that our expenses come in line.   We are putting together a balanced budget for our forthcoming meetings.

There has been no development on the sale of the Texas property. Financial reports at the GCE will have a slightly different layout, to be more easily   understood and will include projected cash flows.

Mr. Dean expressed his thanks to our employees for the financial hit they   had to bear to help balance the books, and thanked the members for the special offering, which is now in excess of $730,000.

The Laodicean Church of God

Here's a splinter group that I missed out on joining.  It is called the Laodicean Church of God.  It was started in 2001 by Jim and Peta McGinn

In 1999 they discovered "new" knowledge and attempted to educated the folks at United Church of God about it.  UCG did not listen, so in another tempter tantrum they set out to start their own group.  That is how easy it is in Armstrongism to start a splinter cult.  Gain some "knowledge," present it to your church leaders, get slapped for being so arrogant and then leave and start your own group.  That is a time tested way that the 600 some splinter cults of Armstrongism formed since Big Daddy did it to the COG7 in the 1940's.

It always seems to be about new understanding or knowledge that they discover.  God deliberately kept that knowledge hidden till they discovered it.  What a weak god they follow if that is how they think it operates.

They seem to be part of the "one god" crowd and say Jesus Christ is a created creature, but most important of all you must agree and acknowledge that Hebert Armstrong was a faithful servant of God.  Since when has ones salvation been dependent on acknowledging HWA?

To be a member of God’s flock you would have to agree that Mr. Armstrong was a faithful servant of God. 

The new knowledge of the Father is that He is the one true God and that He alone has existed for eternity.  There is ONE TRUE GOD.

The new knowledge of Christ is that He is the born Son of God before creation.
Christ has not existed forever He was born of the Father before anything else was created.

If the above new truths can be accepted then you are one of God’s flock.

Did you know that Jesus and Lucifer are brothers and that Lucifer is actually Jesus' son? 

Jesus Christ is a Morning star.

Rev 22:16  "I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star."

Lucifer is a Morning Star also. The correct translation for Lucifer is Morning Star. Morning Star, son of the Morning [Jesus Christ.] Lucifer is the son of Jesus Christ.

 About Jim and Peta McGinn

 

We began attending Worldwide Church of God in 1978.  In 1979 we were baptised and continued in Worldwide until 1995 when we joined United Church of God.

 We had always been interested in bible study and bible discussions amongst the members.

In 1999 my wife and I had been shown, by a member, plain scriptures that proved Jesus Christ was the born Son of God from the beginning, {prior to creation}.  Our friend had also showed us that God the Father and God the Word were on Mt. Horeb when the Father gave the Ten Commandments.

The implications of this knowledge were not immediately apparent.  After an in depth study into the Passover and the nature of God, I realised I was learning new knowledge, which had been hidden since the time of the Apostles.  As John 17 v 3 became clear, I realised God was revealing the knowledge of the truth, which is the true gospel of the Kingdom, the words of eternal life.  My wife joined in the study and we have believed, loved and obeyed this new truth as we have learned it.

This plain knowledge has been resisted fiercely by forums, and churches and individuals.

Toward the end of the year 2000, we had good understanding of what we now know was the knowledge of the truth.  The exodus from the Passover to the entering of the Promised Land was a direct type of our calling from carnality to eternal life.

The Philadelphian era, with Mr. Armstrong as the physical leader was not given this knowledge.  They had to hold fast to what they had, and were to be kept from the end time events.

We sent this new knowledge to the council of elders of the United Church of God, and the ministers in Australia, on the 1st January, 2001.  It was our desire that the United church would believe the bible and adjust their doctrines accordingly, and teach this plain new knowledge to the membership.  They rejected it out of hand, and after we had a discussion with our minister, and elders, we were asked not to attend church in April 2001. 

The Laodicean era of God's church began on the 1st January, 2001, when my wife and I acted positively to the new knowledge and with a correct heart and attitude we forwarded the precious treasures of new knowledge to the elders of the United Church of God. 

We had the understanding of the revealed knowledge that Jesus Christ is the Son of God from the beginning {before creation}.  This era has started as a mustard seed and will eventually fill the whole earth.  Jesus Christ, at the time of writing, is building His church with the end time knowledge.  Jesus Christ will decide when to add membership to His church.

My beloved husband Jim died on 27th March, 2011, this being 12 years after we first began to understand the knowledge of eternal life.  I will continue on with the work that the Holy One of Israel puts before me.  Our son Jesse McGinn is now studying with me and together we will continue this great work of God and His Son Jesus Christ. 

So many of the Armstrongite groups would make good Gnostic's. The Gnostics were all about possessing secret knowledge that the unenlightened could not understand.  There is so much newly revealed hidden knowledge out there that there certainly cannot be much left to find out.  600 some groups all with some secret revealed "new knowledge" that makes them more special than the other.

The watchman is the person God will use to restore the knowledge to the church and to warn the nation of Israel.   The end time church will also see Elijah, the two witnesses and the resurrection of King David, and the saints, the return of the Father and Jesus Christ. 

The membership of the Laodicean church will come out of the Philadelphian church.  The Laodicean era has far and away the best reward, but it will be far and away the hardest era to be in.  Some members will be deceived by the beast into instigating the abomination of desolation.  Self righteousness or lukewarmness will be a characteristic of this church.  As in all the church eras, there will be overcomers.

Each era of Gods church has had different knowledge and different rewards.  The Philadelphian era had to hold fast to what they learned.  Their reward is to be pillars in God's kingdom.  The genuine Philadelphians were to be kept from end time events.

With each era, old teaching from the previous era is loosed in heaven, and new knowledge is revealed and bound in heaven.  Scriptures that were right for one era have a different understanding for the next era.  We believed that “beginning” meant eternity when applied to the nature of Christ.  That teaching was correct for that time, but it is not correct now.

Since Jesus Christ has started building His church in 2001, the world has changed dramatically.  The English speaking nations are under constant threat of terrorist attack, and are gradually being alienated from the rest of the world.  Arab hatred is increasing, as God the Father stirs up the nations to punish Ephraim and Manasseh for their sins.  Homosexuality is rife in the English speaking countries.

What an exciting and dangerous time lies yet ahead for us in this last end time era of God's church.

UCG: Dennis Luker Announces He Will Not Accept A Second Presidential Term

February 27, 2013

Dear Fellow Ministers and All Brethren,

I am writing this personal letter to you to make you aware of an important decision that I have made in my life. My three-year term as president is nearing its end and the question has now become whether or not I should continue as president of the United Church of God, an International Association—if the Council of Elders so accepts.

The decision that I have come to, with advice and counsel from my wife and others is that I should not seek nor accept a second presidential term. Here is why. While it is not well-known outside of my family and some people here in Cincinnati, my health has taken a serious downturn in the last few months because of complications from an enlarged prostate gland. This is common among older men and for years I have privately struggled with this, doing my best   to maintain my health with proper nutrition, exercise and medical advice.

Most important of all, I have been anointed and put my faith and trust in God for healing. My healing and my life are in God’s Hands and I want His Will, not mine.

Serving as the president is a 24/7 job. At this time I do not have the energy or strength to fulfill the responsibilities of president of UCGIA for another three-year term—which would begin on July 1 of this year. I have discussed all this with the Council of Elders and they have accepted my decision to decline from seeking a second term as president. The Council was very gracious in accepting my decision and expressed much support, gratitude and encouragement.

When I was named president by the Council nearly three years ago, our Church was facing severe challenges. I am profoundly grateful that the living Head of the Church, Jesus Christ, has led us through the past crisis and has now blessed us with growing strength, stability and unity. The Council is already preparing to place into motion our systematic and thorough process of selecting another president. You will be hearing about this shortly from Robin Webber, chairman of the Council of Elders.

What are my plans from here? God willing, I do plan to complete my term, which ends on June 30. Afterwards, LeeAnn and I will return to our home in Seattle, Washington, and spend more time with our family. Our son lives in Portland, Oregon. Our daughter is in the Seattle area where we also have five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. So, we will be returning “home” to our family whom we have greatly missed.

If I am unable to complete my term, per the Church’s bylaws the chairman of the Council will serve as interim president until a new president is selected.

I will not be returning to pastor a church (I will be 76 years old), but I will continue to serve as an elder in every way possible. LeeAnn and I have served together in the ministry for 50 years this coming June. We will continue to serve God’s people to the best of our ability as long as God gives us health and strength.

I will close this personal letter with a heart-felt thank you for your incredible faith and dedication to God and His Church. Your love, prayers and support are very encouraging to all of us here at the home office in Cincinnati. LeeAnn and I send our love and gratitude to you all!

Sincerely, in Christ’s service,     

Dennis Luker