Rod Meredith Disgusted By Traditional Christian Hymns

Songs of Praise at the Royal Albert Hall. 

Living Armstrongism has posted an entry about a sermon that Rod Meredith preached in 1953.  Meredith was fresh out of the "college" headquartered in Pasadena at that time. The sermon shows that Meredith's arrogant dismissive disdain for anything outside of the Church of God was formed at an early age and is retained to this day.

Many of the traditional Christian hymns that have been passed down over the last several centuries are magnificent pieces of music praising God in ways that hymns in the Purple Hymnal never did.  Armstrongism prefers hymns that sing about a vengeful god ready to squash and kill all those who are outside the Church of God.  Armstrongism sings it hymns to a god who is a god of war, violence, pestilence, and death. These hymns are usually the ones that are sung the most and with gusto.  Anything that smacks of grace or love from God towards creation or humanity are rarely sung.  If a hymn that is in the LCG hymnal is "protestant" based you can be guarantee many words have been changed to fit Meredith's theology.

Below is summary notes take by the blog owner on the things Meredith said in his sermon.

Condemning Non-Armstrongite Hymns

Now Meredith begins to discuss hymns. Meredith talks about how disgusted he is by the hymns of the other churches because they contain ideas that contradict what HWA has said, (or as he puts it in Armstrongite jargon "lies".) 

You (the Radio COG lay members) were finishing "Praise Him" which he approved of. Must "not let paganism come into this church". Thankful and congratulates Dwight Armstrong for writing the Bible Hymnal. (13-14 minutes.)

The more he listens to other hymns the more thankful he is that Dwight Armstrong has made the hymns in question. Other hymns have been edited.

Onward Christian Soldiers speaks of a cross. This has been changed to a sword. Nothing loving about the cross. Despicable cross. Not to be "worshiped" in any form.

Singing Hymn 33. Have to watch it regarding what is sung. Meaningless poetic language. Draw me to the cross. Offended that it talks about Christ bleeding. Not the Christ preached in the Bible. (17 minutes.)

Talks of how Protestants believe in "Little Lord Jesus", in mocking tone.

Christ did not have long hair. Protestants have pagan pictures -- idols -- of Jesus. With effeminate features. Portrayed as "sickly individual." He was a "he man". Not a sissy. Not a sissy. (He uses that phrase twice very quickly.)

HWA is preaching the word of God. Soundly. Sober.

Not just telling about the person of Christ.

LCG Lied About 2013 Income Claiming It Was Up 5% When It Was Really Down 9.1%

From the current issue of Living Church News:

Estates and Accounting

In the last couple of years, God’s Work has been particularly blessed by the estate donations it has received.  Those who can make such donations are indeed leaving a lasting legacy that can do great good for those whom God calls and to whom He wants to send a message of witness.  So we are very grateful for these donations as they come. Of course, this brings some accounting challenges, as those of you familiar with generally accepted accounting principles will recognize. For instance, our auditors last year required that some estate donations that were made in 2013, but not yet received in full until 2014 or even 2015, would be booked as “income” for 2013, because they were considered to be “receivables.” As a result (as you may remember from the article accompanying the 2013 audit, published in the September-October 2014 Living Church News, p. 20), this had the effect of “overstating’’ our 2013 income. Also, some estate receipts in 2013 were held over so the funds could be spread out for additional TV stations in 2014 and 2015. This had the effect of increasing our stated 2014 expenses and creating an operating deficit for that year.  So, even though we were blessed in 2014 with about a 5 percent real increase in regular income over 2013, the auditors’ statement for 2014 will show a paper decrease in income of about 9.1 percent in total income, largely because of these generous estate donations. The good news is that the reported income decrease and operating deficit will be due largely to established accounting rules.

Update and "Thank You" from the Business Office

LCG Business Office

 A reader here writes:

Ok, wait, I'm confused. So you lied about how much tithe money you brought in in 2013 to make the numbers look good and to profess your all so important "growth" thereby "proving" that LCG is being blessed as God's one and only true church so the deficit that you are running in for 2014 isn't really as bad as it looks because 2013 wasn't really as great as you said it was? And then you "held receipts" so you could spread out TV stations in 2014 and 2015? And the takeaway is supposed to be the income is down 9.1 percent  on paper but it's really up 5 percent?! Sounds like deception to me but what do I know.

As usual, it's likely that a large number of sleeping sheep won't even question this insanity because if headquarters says it, it must be real.

Rod McNair Lashes Out At Discontented LCG Members Blaming Them For Their Bad Attitudes

One of the biggest tools of intimidation that the Church of God has always used against is members is "stop whining" scenarios.  Discontented members where not allowed to voice their frustrations.  Doing so was direct rebellion against God.  That method of spiritual terrorism was used particularly well by Rod Meredith.  I see that it still used to this day.

April 08, 2015  LCG Weekly Update

God Is Faithful: One of the striking themes of the Exodus story is the extreme negativity of the Israelites.  They complained when they were in Egypt (Exodus 3:7).  They complained when they were coming out of Egypt (Exodus 14:11).  They complained when they had no bread (Exodus 16:3).  They complained when they were given bread (Numbers 11:6).  They complained against the authority of Moses, and tried to incite a revolution (Numbers 16:3).  Others complained when God struck down those who had rebelled (Numbers 16:41).  And they even complained when God told them to enter the Promised Land (Numbers 13).

Were they especially bad sinners?  Of course not.  The Apostle Paul shows that a spirit of negativity is a trap for all human beings—even those with God’s Spirit!  And thus, he wrote to the Corinthian church: “Nor let us... complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer.  Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come” (1 Corinthians 10:9-11).

Paul then continued his instruction with one of the most encouraging passages in all of Scripture:  “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

As these Days of Unleavened Bread draw to a close, it is good to remember God’s care and love for us.  He does not condemn us for having difficulty with an obstacle.  He knows what we’re going through!  And because He is faithful, He will always help us when we cry out to Him and seek His strength, mercy and deliverance.  That is one of the enduring lessons of the Exodus.
 
Have an inspiring Sabbath,
Rod McNair

  From a reader here:
 

MY OBSERVATION:

Me thinks Rod McNair protesteth too much. It's interesting that in addition to all the sermons on obeying and submitting (to LCG government) McNair is now chastising the unhappy LCG members even in the weekly update which is read as an update from headquarters in congregations worldwide each Sabbath. Notice how he tries to scare them about complaining against the authority of Moses and those that tried to incite a revolution. It's sickening that he would even try to draw a parallel between the corrupt, completely absent of humility, tyrannical LCG authority, himself included, and Moses. Translation: "You stupid sheeple need to sit down and shut up. Quit complaining about the fact that we are changing church doctrine, ruling unjustly, spending millions of dollars on university expansion and prying into your private lives. We have been given this authority over you by God Almighty and we can rule however we see fit. To question us is to show a lack of faith for which you will be punished".

Interesting how he completely leaves out the part  where God punishes Moses for not following His instruction and for exalting himself before the Israelites in Numbers 20:8-12
 

“Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.” 9 And Moses took the staff from before the Lord, as he commanded him. 10 Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” 11 And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. 12 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”

 
McNair must is either stupid or counting on the fact that his audience isn't all that familiar with scripture. Either way, it made for an entertaining read.

Penetrating the Indoctrinated Mind

If as a child you were taught for years, until you were an adult to believe a certain way about certain things, then later in life your mind becomes a wall and a barrier that cannot receive alternative ideas to what you have thought for years to be true (for most people).

For example suppose that you were taught by your parents, your school teachers and through the "news" media and through movies that God spoke to a man long ago, by the name of Santa Claus and that this Santa Claus said that God told him 700 rules that humans are to live by.   What if millions of people all around you believed the same way?  How do you overcome this myth, which has been pounded into your mind for thousands of times over the years?

What if you were schooled to believe all your life anything a certain way, such as belief that the Bible is the infallible and inerrant word of God?    Others have been taught that their "Holy" books are inspired by God and they have been schooled to believe that their books are true, even though their books differ with yours.

You read in the New Testament that "all scripture is given by inspiration of God", but how did the person who said that, thought that or penned that,  know that?   Had you been standing there by the source that penned that and asked them what "right" they had to make such a claim, would that person have been embarrassed because he knew it was not true?

When certain men long ago said "God commanded", how would they know that, unless of course God literally appeared to such persons and spoke with them?   Some may claim that God actually did speak to them, but since God does not speak with anyone today in a verbal since, why should
we believe that God ever spoke with anyone throughout all human history?  And why should we believe them?

The fact is that human beings are programmed and indoctrinated to believe things, for which they have no real clue as to its truthfulness or validity.   People who hear something through the lying "news" media or movie industry thousands of times, have been so inundated with that information, that it becomes nearly impossible for people to comprehend that anything contrary could be true, even though what they have believed to be true may not be true at all.

It actually is a long process to unwind false information and false knowledge that has been deeply embedded into the human mind.   Humans have been used and abused since the beginning of time, by other humans whose motives in life are less than altruistic.

How often I have heard people recoil at the idea of "conspiracies", as if they admit they believe in a conspiracy, they will be looked upon as a kook.   Well, for Christians if the Devil comes as an angel of light, does that not tell you that Satan IS a liar and a deceiver?   What is a conspiracy other than deception?   Of course you believe in conspiracies and if you don't then you don't believe there is a
devil, provided you are a Christian.

You know why people are skittish about admitting to belief in conspiracies?   Simply, because the "news" media makes you think you are an idiot if you believe in alternatives to the status quo.   They want the public to believe what they tell the public and without questioning.   You are far better off to never trust the "news" media for anything and dig for truth and answers for yourself.   In fact take your television to the landfill if you want some peace of mind.

Had you lived on another planet and never been exposed to all the information that has been funneled into your mind for a lifetime, you would most likely not believe anything that earthlings believe.  If you were God and you could witness everything on planet earth, understand all languages and have the ability to be behind closed doors and see how humans plot and scheme, lie and cheat and deceive, then you would know the truth and not be a party to an indoctrinated mind because of the lying "news" media or religious liars.

Sad to say but adult human beings are rendered childish in their knowledge and thinking abilities, because of the relentless programming into their minds by innumerable sources. Ever wonder why the public is bombarded and assaulted with 24/7 advertising?  Virtually everyone wants you to believe something is true or good or you can't live without it and why? :-) $Money?

One of the main and major reasons why so many people are bankrupt in knowledge about so many issues, is the fact that they DO NOT READ and if they read, they only read what they may agree with or what agrees with their pre-programmed mind conditioning.   Want a clue to learning?   Read from sources that challenge.

Want the truth about "Biblical" archaeology?   Then read books or articles from sources that challenge the status quo and not just from sources that have hidden or ulterior motives to make you believe the bible can be proved by archaeology.   It can not!   And you will learn that Ron Wyatt an amateur archaeologist supposedly discovered more "biblical" truths through archaeology than all others for hundreds of years.  He did not.

No matter the subject, read from sources that challenge and you will learn how the bible really came into being and you will learn the truth about many other types of subjects.

The best way to penetrate the indoctrinated mind is to challenge people to prove their own beliefs and stop listening to and reading only what agrees with their preset beliefs.

Unfortunately most people are willing to live in the bliss of ignorance, because they don't want to spend the time to learn, they just want to be told by some preacher what to believe, even though the preacher himself knows next to nothing.   And they want to be told by the "news" media, the government or the movie industry what to believe, as if these primarily atheistic sources tell you truth.

Van Robison