Living Church of God Hierarchy

Man-made traditions of the Church of God results in the power structure illustrated above.  The higher up the chain of command the more in touch with God the ordained are.  This kind of silliness demonstrates the chain of command present in the Living Church of God. 

The first fallacy above is the idea that Herbert Armstrong is directly under God the Father.  Next you will notice that in the chain of command HWA is right there beside Jesus Christ and the upper echelon ministers.  HWA and crew are on par with Jesus Christ because HWA gets far more mention than Jesus Christ ever does in the Living Church of God.  That inconvenient man named Jesus is usually relegated to one sentence or a small paragraph at the end of an article, letter, booklet or sermon.

The next fallacy is that men ordained through Herbert Armstrong received a higher degree of consciousness than the lay members possess.  These men possess all scriptural and doctrinal knowledge that the LCG deems fit for its members.  These men are far more enlightened than any of the lowly LCG members.  That's part of the reason LCG has instituted a new policy that LCG members are not allowed to congregate together to study the Bible on their own.  One of the elite ministers has to be present to give the OFFICIAL version of things.

Then you have the big tithers in the LCG.  These are the ones that get by with all kinds of indiscretions and never are punished.  The regular members always are at the bottom of the heap are held to a higher standard and pay the consequences quit severely at times.

This is also what has led to McNair and Meredith telling members that they are NOT to question the ministry on anything.  God works with them personally and they are incapable of making a mistake.  Even if what they tell you is 100% wrong, God will bless you if you do what they say.  Its all about submission.

That threat of submission also intimidates members into sending in more money to LCG HQ.  LCG members are reporting lots of sermons lately on money.  Income in the LCG has dropped and they are scrambling to keep the money flow coming in.  Certain lifestyles need to be maintained!  Lil'Jimmy needs to decorate his office again.  Brethren there ARE priorities!

The cash cow for the LCG and other Church of God's is the Festival season. With Trumpet's, Atonement and the Feast, money freely flows into the coffers.  They foolishly make people believe they are required to give offerings and turn over a tithe of the tithe to LCG at this time of year.  If you are an LCG member reading this it would be in your best interest to keep that tithe of the tithe for use by your OWN family and have the best feast possible and enjoy it to the fullest, because if Meredith dies in the next year the LCG is going to be ripped apart by division and you will never experience another Feast like this one.  Besides, why are your giving a tithe of the tithe to the LCG ministry when they are all getting $4-6,000.00 in ministerial benefits to travel to and from Feast sites, stay in expensive hotels or condo's and enjoy the finest wines and delicacies while you and your family are eating at Hardee's.  You are paying for Lil'Jimmy's trips to Hawaii and Rod McNair's trips.  Why?

It's Satan brethren!  Satan is attacking the church!  Satan is causing the drop in income!  Satan is casing members to leave!  Satan gets far more air time in the Living Church of God than Jesus Christ ever does.  I have always wondered why they never included Satan in their organizational charts.

Living Church of God: Forbidden Bible Study

The Living Church of God not only FORBIDS its members to study the Book of Enoch, it now also forbids its members to study the Holy Bible.

LCG has had the policy that its members are not permitted to have private Bible studies with "10 or more  people without a minister" for some time now. Their justification is that studying the Bible without one of "God's ministers" present could potentially lead to a wrong understanding which could in turn lead to potential problems and "divisive ideas". Several Charlotte members have been suspended and/or put out for participating in "private Bible studies".

Of course it's far better for the controlled to be spoon-fed their information from those in control. After all, lay members are probably too stupid to understand the written Word all by themselves. The control of information is always the best way to maintain one's authority over the people.

Gone are the days of HWA pounding his fist on his desk shouting, "Don't trust me! Look it up in your own Bible. Prove these things to yourself brethren!".

They have been fully replaced with, "If you don't understand our doctrinal upgrades, perhaps you aren't fully converted" and "is it your job to question God's ministry?". And the ever popular, "you may not fully understand it brethren, but if you have faith that we are God's chosen ministers, you should have the faith to do what we say, even WHEN you don't fully understand it".

Apparently not trusting or even questioning a LCG minister is akin to not trusting Christ Himself. Who knew?!

All that was crazy enough but LCG has tightened the reigns EVEN MORE of late. Now the private Bible study rule has been extended to ALL groups regardless of size. Even a group of two constitutes a forbidden offense in the Charlotte congregation.

Of course many continue to study their Bibles with friends. Just don't get caught by LCG Gestapo or you will have Rod McNair to deal with! Guess who's name will turn up as the next "Visiting Minister" prize winner???

The old-timers aren't happy with the new rule and are having a difficult time understanding how a church feels it has the right to tell its members NOT to study the Bible. When questioned, McNair spouts non sequiturs like, "you might be strong enough to study the Bible by yourself, but what about the babes in Christ and what about the teens? Should they be able to do Bible study without a minister?"

It's convenient to use the "we must have the same rules for everyone" line when it suits them. Only, everyone has seen that the same rules do not, in fact, apply to everyone in LCG where favoritism and unbalanced scales abound.

If you are an LCG member reading this and you don't believe it true, don't trust me, go ask you minister.

Or don't. Sometimes not knowing how tyrannical the church you've pledged allegiance to is easier than the change that acknowledgment will likely foster. 

The Church of God Obsession With Creepy Sock Puppets

This is Jelly and his "handler" in one of many of United Church of God's creepy sock puppet campaigns to brainwash their kids with aberrant doctrines.

Not to be outdone is the Church of God International with Buckaroo Bob and the Roadkill Cafe. 

 

Dave Pack and the Restored Church of God Face Another Year of Epic Failure

The Feast of Tabernacles will soon be upon us, again.  We are now heading into the third year after David C Pack's epic announcement that his god was going to strike down three Church of God leaders and in turn lead all the members of their  respective churches over into Dave's flock.  Two years have passed and not one single leader  has died.  Nor are any members of  any of the splinter groups joining up with Dave.  In fact, Dave is LOSING members!

Dave has no large Feast sites this year ready to accommodate new members.  People are not packing their bags to go to Dave's Feast. No splinter group is in negotiation with Dave to change their allegiance and festival sites turning them over to the Restored Church of God.

This is what Dave wrote that keeps coming back to bite him:

Details may begin (and only begin) to come into view on the first of the month of Elul (in God’s calendar—August 7 in the Roman Calendar). A more complete picture will emerge by Elul 24 (August 30). Right now, all are urged to have in their thinking that they will be reassigned to a new nearby Feast site, and those who choose to return to the Body of Christ will attend with what becomes a much bigger organization—probably significantly bigger than the largest splinter! (Crucial Questions—Important Answers! July 19, 2013, http://rcg.org/sep/crucial-questions-important-answers)

Which three leaders are the greatest obstructionists to God’s stated purpose in Haggai—returning HIS people to doing HIS Work? (The Final Announcement. August 2, 2013, http://rcg.org/sep/the-final-announcement)

Next, the 2013 Feast of Tabernacles: This will also be among the most special and inspiring times in Church history. It will be a Feast of unity and harmony among all of God’s people. Everyone will keep this joyous occasion as members of The Restored Church of God in scores of sites across the world. At this time, we have 21 sites, but we anticipate adding many more. In some areas, former splinter brethren will attend our current sites. In other locations, we will have to quickly add new ones. In still other areas, splinter sites will simply become Restored sites. The total number of Feast sites, and where they are, will depend entirely on how many brethren answer the “stirring” of Jesus Christ to return to His Church, and in what areas they live. Details may begin (and only begin) to come into view on the first of the month of Elul (in God’s calendar—August 7 in the Roman Calendar). A more complete picture will emerge by Elul 24 (August 30). Right now, all are urged to have in their thinking that they will be reassigned to a new nearby Feast site, and those who choose to return to the Body of Christ will attend with what becomes a much bigger organization—probably significantly bigger than the largest splinter! (Crucial Questions—Important Answers! July 19, 2013, http://rcg.org/sep/crucial-questions-important-answers)

It must be humiliating to be seen as such an epic failure in the eyes of his own members.  Its no wonder they are leaving.  Those tens of thousands of new members never jumped ship with their money, which Dave was greedily claiming as HIS. 

Dave now is struggling to keep the money flow coming in.  His mini-me auditorium yearns to be built.  Dave's master plan for his campus is stagnating.  His epic gardens look  out of place crisscrossed by high tension lines  while being squeezed in between the busting freeway and the big lot store across the street with its expansive parking lot.. His magic garden that Dale Schurter was supposed to be setting up as the epitome of agricultural genius has been pushed to the sidelines.

Dave's big dreams have turned out to be big dud's!