NOW THAT WE'RE IN CHARGE.... NO MORE DISSENT!

NOW THAT WE'RE IN CHARGE.... NO MORE DISSENT!

As Dave Pack is busy recuperating from the inexplicable failure of all COG splinter groups to meekly coalesce under him last fall, the current story of the day seems to be the meltdown of another group of another Dave, i.e. David Hulme.

It's an interesting exercise in group herding psychology to read dissenting  ministers' arguments vs. establishment-supporting ministers' arguments.

Bemused and amused, I found a sermon by a supporting minister, Eric Keefer, to be particularly interesting, not simply because of the at-the-door-brain-checking aspect ("obey authority!") but yet more so because of the blinding hypocrisy of some of the arguments.  The sermon audio is here (sermon given on Dec. 28, 2013):  http://pabco7.com/~pabco/20131228KeeferE.mp3

All the background one needs is to recall the general history of COGic.  Hulme (with followers) left WCG sometime in the 1990s, forming UCG, and the sometime later left UCG to form their current group. In other words, COGic exists because they were willing to rebel against "God-appointed authority", not once, but twice. But now we see what happens when the rebellion becomes the establishment.

Things get unbelievable at around the 25 minute mark. After reading from (you've got to be kidding me!!!) HWA's Mystery of the Ages (which should immediately on-the-spot destroy any speaker's credibility), Mr. Keefer sets forth his argument as to why dissenters are wrong to speak up.

[Transcripted]:

"If Mr. Hulme has disqualified himself by leading us away from God, that would be one thing, but he has not...  This is a matter of some deciding they know better, and God has not put them in a position to make those kinds of decisions, and ... they're rebelling against those decisions.  I don't think God's arm is too short to put whoever he wills in that place to make those decisions.  I just don't believe that God said "Oops I made a mistake, put David Hulme there, I should have never done that, but now I'm stuck with him so now I've got to create a rebellion to overthrow him".  That's not the way God works, brethren.  If God has a problem with Mr. Hulme, God will take care of it.  If God wants us to change our approach, he certainly could have placed one of these ministers in his spot, but guess what?  That didn't happen.  He would have certainly done it without appealing to what amounts to be a public rebellion.  God does not work that way.

However, if you still have questions and doubts, that's ok.  I completely understand why you might not be as confident as I am.  But my advice to you, as it always has been, is to remain calm and wait on God.  Let God fix it, if there's a problem, let God fix it.  Let God deal with it.  If there's something hidden it will be revealed in time..."

Yeah.... right.  God always fixes leadership problems in COG, doesn't he?  :-)  Double smiley :-)  No,  make that a triple :-)

Mr. Keefer, do you have any idea how bizarre and hypocritical those words sound?

That is of course why half the church had to leave into various splinters against the "God-appointed" Joe Tkach (appointed personally by HWA, for Pete's sake!  How much more validity do these HWA-acolytes want?)

So, Mr. Keefer (and Hulme supporters), this implies that you took exactly the wrong course of action, whereas the proper response should have been "C'mon now, if God has a problem with Joe Tkach, God will take care of it! Remain calm and wait on God".  After all his arm is longer than Joe Tkach's arm.  Or was God simply no match for the mighty Tkach?

We all know that the WCG splinter ministers/members were patient and relied on HWA's God to set things straight, don't we? 

Keefer later argues that differences in how the gospel is to be preached (i.e. minister and member dissatisfaction about Vision magazine) should not be grounds for dissent.  Yet when COGic formed from UCG, that was one of the stated reasons for the defection, at least according to http://theshininglight.info/?p=14233:

"David Hulme, used two  doctrinal issues  (better governance and being more proactive in proclaiming the gospel) as his justification for leaving UCG and starting his own organization."

So, instead, shouldn't you have submitted to the authority that UCG's God had supposedly established? Why didn't Hulme & Co. take a more humble approach and realize that "that's not the way God works"? and if he had a problem with it, "He would have certainly done it without appealing to what amounts to be a public rebellion."

Well, I understand it's all different when you're the one being rebelled against, but it's the blatant hypocrisy that is so dazzling.

Of course, this is all very, very human-like behavior and simply accentuates the fact that all of this drama has nothing to do with some God and His Work(TM), but simply humans and their contrived beliefs and power-plays.

Michael

The Holy Golden Oil of Gerald Flurry

The sickness spreads:

Just turned on my laptop after getting up from my knees this morning when I read about this event concerning Mr. Gerald Flurry. Had to go back down on my knees to petition our Father, the Great God in Heaven, to restore our beloved Apostle’s health back to normal again. We truly need to back up and support our Apostle with more of our prayers for his health and continuing vitality during this more challenging times as we get closer and closer to the very climax of the last hour. We need to hold up his arms more steadfastly as the war we are fighting against Satan and his minions continues to heat up.

 Golden oil?

Praying for your speedy recovery Mr Flurry . We love you and really look forward to receiving more golden oil through you .

The good news is that Geralds sermons are soooooooooooooooooooooooooo bad they are enraging Satan: 

My prayers are and thoughts are with Mr. Flurry I have asked God to give him extra protection especially now when he delivers these exceptional sermons that enrage Satan.

Eric King's 2014 Predictions Claim White House May Need To Be Moved

Eric is out with his new prophecies for 2014.

Among the many things he predicts is the following:

On the world scene we will witness many assassination attempts and assassinations in the year 2014. This is all due to major global power shifts which will begin to occur in 2014 due to how the world economy is being affected by population, weather changes, and natural disasters. Record heat temperatures in 2014 all around the globe to be expected. I have warned about earth shaking events…including literal earthquakes. As our weather continues to do funny things so will the surface of our planet. A major volcano incident is likely occurring in 2014 as we watch our earth shift. The animals in our oceans will exhibit strange behavior.

I will continue to share more as God directs throughout the year 2014. I would like to share one more issue with you: The White House will face new security issues and we will perhaps see talk of relocating the White House. These are just some of the sad facts due to the result of the fallen human condition as we approach the Second Coming of Jesus Christ our LORD.