The Pastor God

Check this out.  The blog seems to be no longer updated, but has a perfect description of the ministry in the Church of God.

Why Churches Suck

When the church is at its healthiest, many people contribute to the life of the body with gifts they’ve been given.  One of those gifts is “pastoring”, or care-taking.  Mixed with all the other gifts in the body, the whole community is healthy, alive, free, and an expression of God’s love in the world that is obvious and undeniable.

But this is very rare among church gatherings.

Much more often, the group is dominated and defined by the personality of one person: the Pastor-god.

The Pastor-god is not merely a contributor within the body; he is the voice, the face, and the authority in the church.  He is the boss, the CEO, the example, the teacher, the father-figure.

In the Cult of the Pastor-god, they are called “God’s anointed”.  They are the one who communicates God’s word to the followers.  They are the mouth, while the church is the ears.  Their part is to provide care and discipline to the people; the people’s part is to listen, honor, and follow.

And in many churches, this model works flawlessly.  People really want someone to lead and protect them—without it they feel vulnerable and lost.  And of course there are no shortage of people willing to assume this role of the Pastor-god.

The Pastor-god claims to not want adulation and adoration from the people, but inwardly they crave it.  The people claim they don’t believe their pastor is a god, but they treat him like he is.  When the pastor makes them proud, they heap accolades.  When the pastor does not live up to his god-like standard, they look for ways to take him down.

When the Pastor-god is there, the people feel safe.  When the Pastor-god goes away, the people are devastated. 

Of course this is nothing new—people are afraid to be leaderless, as was the nation of Israel when they demanded a leader:

But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.” (I Samuel 8:19-20)

God reluctantly gave them their leader, an outstanding young man named Saul.  Their craving for a leader was satisfied, but it was wrong; what resulted was anxiety, strife, war, madness, and death.

One of the reasons churches suck today is because they are much less like the body of Christ and much more like the Cult of the Pastor-god—or "the cult of personality."  More and more within the church are recognizing this disturbing reality:

“...evangelicalism is not so much a religion as a series of fast-moving personality cults.” ― Frank Schaeffer 

Thinking about this, I could not get the image of an old Star Trek episode out of my mind.  It’s called Who Mourns for Adonais and it’s about the Enterprise crew coming face to face with Apollo, one of the gods from earth’s ancient culture. 

Remember this one?

As the episode goes, back when the gods (turns out they were actually aliens) came to earth, the primitive people saw their power and naturally fell down to worship them.  Under their authority, people felt cared for--and the gods were happy to have the attention.  It was a comfortable, but immature and ultimately dysfunctional relationship.  The gods’ part was to provide care and discipline to the people; the people’s part was to listen, honor, and follow…

…just like in the Cult of the Pastor-god.

In those days, to defy the gods was a fearful thing—as Captain Kirk discovered when he dared to defy Apollo’s authority:

Kirk: “Apollo, we’re willing to talk, but you’ll find we don’t bow to every creature who happens to have a bag of tricks.”

Apollo: “Agamemnon was one such as you, and Hercules--pride and arrogance.  They defied me, until they felt my wrath.”

Have you ever been called “proud” or “arrogant” by a pastor-god when you questioned their authority? If you have, you have come face-to-face with the Cult of the Pastor-god.

Apollo expected these people to fall down and honor him just like people did in the ancient days.  But Kirk, recognizing the dysfunction of such an authoritarian relationship, continued to defy—and the conflict escalates:

Apollo: “I could sweep you out of existence with a wave of my hand, and bring you back again. I can give life or death. What else does mankind demand of its gods?”

Kirk: “Mankind has no need for gods. We find the one quite adequate.”

Apollo: “We shall not debate, mortal.  I offer you eternal rest and happiness according to the ancient ways. I ask little in return. But what I ask for I insist upon.”

The one thing he cannot handle outright defiance; he can only insist on its authority, and promise judgment upon the one who dares defy them.  If you do decide you need to escape the cult, understand one thing:

There is no gentle way to get out of the cult of the Pastor-god. 

If you are struggling to get free from a pastor-god cult, please re-read that last sentence a couple more times. This will be a battle of wills.

Eventually, Kirk and his crew had use force to disable Apollo’s source of power.  Apollo was reduced to his true, powerless nature.  

 In the end, Apollo lost everything and is reduced to tears:

Apollo: “I would have cherished you, cared for you. I would have loved you like a father loves his children. Did I ask so much?”

Kirk: “We’ve outgrown you. You asked for something we can no longer give.” 

And there’s the thing.  Even people who have been raised life-long in a pastor-god cult are realizing they can no longer give outright honor and obedience to a religious authority figure.  And they shouldn’t.  Our leader is Christ, not the one up front with the loud voice and the big platform.

 

More and more people in the body of Christ are finding true “body life” outside of the Cult of the Pastor-god--but it hasn’t come without a price.  The emotional turmoil that comes from separating from an old authority figure can be intense, even devastating. 

I’ll repeat: There is no gentle way to get out of the cult of the Pastor-god. 

Van Robison: If Jesus Had A Web Site

If Jesus Christ Had a Website

 

Would Jesus have a button for donations, $cash partners, financial support, contributions, asset donations upon death, info for willing your home, property or business to Jesus?    No of course not, but many preachers do.

Begging for $cash is the primary reason for most "ministry" and church websites.  In fact begging for $cash or in many cases demanding false tithes, is the primary reason, for the existence of many churches, large and small.  All such sources deny that $money is their reason for preaching, while
they smile all the way to the bank with your $cash donations.

Preachers and website ministries will weep and wail, when they are accused of being $money motivated and that their real reason for existence is your bank account.  The pretense is always "great concern" for the salvation of lost souls and that it would be impossible to minister without your
pocketbook.

Preachers like to say, that you have a problem with Jesus Christ if you think that tithing is not a New Testament doctrine, because it is the means by which Jesus preaches the Gospel to the world.  NOT SO!  Jesus is blamed by $money hungry preachers for advancing the fake doctrine of tithing,
when in realty Jesus never had anything to do with ordaining "pastors", implementing organized churches or promoting Jesus Christ, Incorporated, which is a man-made institution (501C3 organizations are man-made, not God made).

If Jesus had a website, He would denounce man-made church organizations, such as splinter groups of the WCG and all other groups, spearheaded by self-"anointed" pastors, who pretend to speak for God/Jesus Christ.  Jesus speaks for Himself and has no need of a fake "apostle" Paul, a fake "HWA" or a fake WCG splinter group overlord.


Van Robison

The Creed of the Greedy Shepherds

The loot is my shepherd, I shall not work

It maketh me to lie in  green pastures

It leadeth me beside the Riviera waters

It restoreth my bank balance,

It leadeth me in the paths of crookedness for my fame’s sake

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of debt I will fear no evil, 

for my movers and shakers are with me

My Rolexes and fundraising staff, they comfort me

Thou preparest a table before me at a ritzy restaurant in the presence of my executives

Thou anointest my head with hair gloss; my champagne cup runneth over

Surely goodies and Mercedes shall follow me all the days of my life, 

and I shall dwell in my mansion with the tennis court forever.

From:  Ban Preacher Greed

Norbert Link: Is Bigfoot A Descendant of the Giants and Nephilim of the Bible?

Armstrongism has always had the deep seated need to have all the answers to everything.  WCG produced hundreds and hundreds of booklets and official letters on a myriad of topics.  Members were never expected to think for themselves or do their own research.  A more "educated" pseudo-theologian in Pasadena was supposed to determine the official stance on all topics. The various splinter personality cults of Armstrongism still do this to this day.  Most have done nothing more than plagiarized WCG authored material.

Global Church of God's very own man of all knowledge, Norbert Link,  has come out with a statement that there is a possibility that Bigfoot really exists and that it is a descendant of the giants of the Bible or maybe even the nephilim.

We need to note that the Bible does not say that ancient powerful giants—the “heroes of old,” as mentioned in Old Testament times—were totally extinct and that they all died out. We do read that they were “dispossessed’ from areas which they once inhabited, and that they appeared in subsequent times in other areas. Therefore, can we rule out that “giants,” as described in the Bible, could exist today?

Speculation abounds regarding encounters with tall hairy creatures around the world, which are referred to as Bigfoot, Sasquatch, the Russian “Abominable” Snowman or Yeti. Many consider these stories as mere fabrications and fairy tales, while others believe that not all of the many independent reports over many centuries (some of them highly reliable) could be simply made up.

Some who believe in the accuracy of at least some of the eye-witness accounts conclude  that they might be “demonic illusions”—but even though some “encounters” might very well be of demonic origin, this could not explain all witness accounts and findings (including unexplained huge footprints, hair samples etc.). Others see in them huge ape-like animals, which could be a distinct possibility. Still others view them as missing links between pre-historic men-like creatures and modern men—a totally wrong idea, as humans did not evolve, and therefore, such missing links did not and do not exist.

Still others view them as fully human—modern representatives of homo sapiens, albeit perhaps in a wild, savage and degenerated state. This is also a distinct possibility. Hunters who had alleged close encounters with Sasquatch reported that they were determined to shoot and kill “the beast,” but refrained from doing so, when they looked into its eyes which were perceived to be “distinctly” human.

 Then they bring in "hairy" Easu to get their biblical point of view across:

One might ask how “hairy” creatures could qualify as humans. Even though the Bible does not specifically say that the ancient GIANTS were hairy, it does include a few examples of “hairy” men. For instance, we read that Esau, when he was born, was “like a hairy garment all over” (Genesis 25:25).

The Pulpit Commentary remarks that literally, it says, “‘all of him as a cloak of hair’… the fur cloak, or hair mantle, forming one notion...  the child's body [was] covered with an unusual quantity of red hair…”

Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible adds: “his body was all over full of hair, which stood as thick as a garment made of hair…”

Esau’s condition did not change when he grew up. In fact, it increased. He is referred to as a “hairy man” (Genesis 27:11). Gill's states that Esau “was covered all over with hair; as with a hairy garment; so he was born, and so he continued, and no doubt his hair increased.” This condition was so severe that his blind father, Isaac, was tricked in believing that Jacob was Esau, when “skins of the kids of the goats” were placed on Jacob’s hands and on the smooth part of his neck, so that Isaac did not recognize Jacob  (Genesis 27:16, 23).

Then he moves on to "werewolves."

In addition, cases are known of people with the so-called “werewolf syndrome” or “hypertrichosis,” who might even pass on their condition to the next generation. One website describes this condition as follows:

“Hypertrichosis is a rare genetic condition that results in extreme hairiness… There is some speculation that Esau, son of Isaac and twin brother of Jacob, may have had hypertrichosis. He was described in the Old Testament as born covered in red hair, and was referred to as a hairy man by his brother as an adult.”

Life Science reported on June 6, 2011, that “Scientists have discovered a genetic mutation responsible for a disorder that causes people to sprout thick hair on their faces and bodies. Hypertrichosis, sometimes called ‘werewolf syndrome,’ is a very rare condition, with fewer than 100 cases documented worldwide. But researchers knew the disorder runs in families, and in 1995 they traced the approximate location of the mutation to a section of the X chromosome (one of the two sex chromosomes) in a Mexican family affected by hypertrichosis.”

Next Norbert wraps it all up with Bigfoot and the ancient legends of the American Indians; whom we all know to be descendants that walked over the land bridge from Canaan and settled here. Or were they part of the lost 12 tribes?  Only Armstrongism feels they need to have the answer.

Based on all of the foregoing evidence, we cannot exclude the possibility that giants exist today. Some of them could even be hairy people. They could be, but would not have to be, descendants of ancient Canaanite giants as described in the Bible. If they were, this would mean that not all of those ancient giants were totally extinct, but that some might have survived and procreated over the centuries and millennia, and that remnants with a hairy genetic disorder —perhaps known as Bigfoot or Yeti— might still live today in remote wilderness areas and in secluded high mountain terrains.

It is interesting to consider that many sightings of Bigfoot or Sasquatch have been reported in North America (California, Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho) and Canada (British Columbia), and that these reports include ancient “legends” told by American Indians. Although many American Indians descended from Tiras, a son of Japheth (one of the three sons of Noah), some historians feel that “Native American” tribes might also be, to an extent, descendants of ancient Canaanites who migrated to North America.

In light of the biblical and historical evidence of very tall people as well as hairy people with genetic disorders, including hypertrichosis, which seems to run in families and for which there is still no known cure, it is not totally unreasonable to assume that mighty and powerful human “giants” known as Bigfoot, Sasquatch or Yeti might exist today in fairly inaccessible terrains in different parts of the world.

Dennis Muses on: Important Closure

Just a short posting to bring some closure to a thread to be found at:

http://armstrongismlibrary.blogspot.com/2014/07/wayne-turgeon-i-sat-up-for-hours.html#sthash.CuobLINu.dpuf

Sometimes we let the hurt, pain and experiences in our life run our life. I certainly have done that myself.   Emotions are the body's reaction to the thoughts of the mind.  For all our differences, we all share and process our experiences with WCG, here on Banned,  as minister, member, family , male, female, children and friends differently because each experience is unique and experienced in their own unique settings.  Reading this site and eventually being invited to help grow it has been very therapeutic for me personally and have been grateful for it.  It got me through some dark times and serious self doubt and pain.  Let's face it, if I can get through the " Former Ministurd" label,  and not take that personally, I can get through anything!  

  It's a journey and a story but we are not our story.  We have a story but it's not our identity.  It's easy, however, to confuse the story of our lives with who we are.  It is a deception but most never see it or journey out of it.  

I won't post the apology given nor my response here, but you can find it at the end of the thread at on the above posting .  It was both encouraging to me and gives me hope that all can progress and keep moving in positive ways along the path to wherever it really goes...  Sure beats getting stuck in the mud for the rest of one's life.

Dennis