Cocoons and Wombs

Cocoons and Wombs

by Miller Jones

Ed Suominen recently posted a piece on his blog entitled "Community." Of particular interest to me, he made reference to the fact that many Fundamentalist groups effectively encase themselves in a cocoon. They separate themselves from the outside world to reinforce the group's beliefs and protect those notions from being corrupted by the heathens without.

This phenomenon is not foreign to the Armstrong Church of God culture. Herbert Armstrong taught that the church (meaning the now defunct Worldwide Church of God) was the mother of the saints. The church served to protect the developing embryos (church members) until they could be born again into God's Kingdom. Moreover, this notion continues to be expressed by the numerous splinter groups which have succeeded that organization.

Bruce Ritter of the Restored Church of God underscored the continued importance of this analogy in his article "Is the Church Our Mother?" Speaking of the church, he stated "she carries her unborn child in her womb." According to Ritter, this is done to protect, feed and nurture the embryonic Christian.

However, as with many other features of Armstrongism, the analogy doesn't hold up under closer scrutiny. In short, we should be asking ourselves whether or not this is what God intended for "His" people. Did God design "His" Church to be a cocoon or womb to protect and nurture the saints from the evil influences of this world?

In attempting to answer that question, a few other questions come to mind:

• Didn't Christ engage folks with religious views that differed from his own? (Pharisees, Sadducees and Samaritans)
• Isn't he portrayed in all four of the gospel accounts as being in the habit of asking and/or answering questions?
• Weren't many of his sermons delivered in response to questions/challenges from his disciples and opponents?
• Did Jesus withdraw from sinners?
• Did he instruct his followers to withdraw from this world or did he encourage them not to allow themselves to be polluted by it?
• Didn't Christ ask God to protect his followers IN the world?
• Was Jesus isolated or exposed?
• Did Christ face and do battle with his adversary (Satan)?
• Why did Paul instruct the Christians of his day to put on the armor of God?
• Is armor necessary inside a womb/cocoon?
• If the truth is the truth, why should we fear or avoid challenges?
• Is the truth that fragile and delicate?

What do you think?

The Perfect Bible For The Churches of God

A revised version of the Bible is out that fits perfectly with the god of the Church of God.  This should delight Gerald Flurry, Rod Meredith, and James Malm, since is this is the god they follow.

That god was always eternally pissed at us for something.  Jesus has had to delay his coming so many times now that we have all lost count.  All because we were not ready.  We needed more time to be corrected and spanked.

Its no wonder so many have left the church over the decades when this is the only god they ever heard about.

Vengeful and angry and ready to strike us down for being such worthless worms.

God is Disappointed in You

God Is Disappointed in You is for people who would like to read the Bible... if it would just cut to the chase. Stripped of its arcane language and its interminable passages of poetry, genealogy, and law, every book of the Bible is condensed down to its core message, in no more than a few pages each.

Written by Mark Russell with cartoons by New Yorker cartoonist Shannon Wheeler, God Is Disappointed in You is a frequently hilarious, often shocking, but always accurate retelling of the Bible, including the parts selectively left out by Sunday School teachers and church sermons. Irreverent yet faithful, this book is a must-read for anyone who wants to see past the fog of religious agendas and cultural debates to discover what the Bible really says.

David C Pack: Claims RCG members will be "raptured" to Jerusalem to help angels rebuild temple

If we had previously thought that Dave Pack had mental issues, this further confirms that.  I have not listened to all of Dave's latest sermons, so had not heard this one.

The quote below is from Exit and Support. 

February 8, 2016
I want to tell you just how crazy David Pack is. It seems he loves to praise himself. He has declared that he is the real Elijah. He is now predicting a weird type of Rapture (he doesn't use that name) in which the members all will go to Jerusalem and help three angels build the Temple. Then Jesus reigns the world for three and a half years. After that, Jesus leaves the world to the Tribulation, but He also leaves the members here! He is beating down the members with twisted scriptures and sermon after sermon on the same subject. He is quicksand! --Anonymous

I assume this happens soon after his god strikes down three COG leaders and all of their members come over to Dave's empire with their tithe money.  However that prophecy has failed for three years straight now.  This is one more lie that Dave has uttered that will NOT happen.

Ingrained Negativity in the Churches of God

A comment on UCG: Even though ship is sinking we love spending money

The basic problem with the way Armstrongism works on the human mind is that it conditions people to consider all possible outcomes to variable situations, and then to focus in on the worst or most negative scenario as being the probable outcome. Under such thought patterns, even the blessings for living a Christian lifestyle can’t be enjoyed in this lifetime as an example to others, you have to wait for the next life to enjoy them. Also, don’t even expect loving encouragement if you go in to counsel with your minister, expect a serious ration of crap, instead. And especially expect the worst if you need to interface with someone from “the world”! 

When they are writing articles for their recruitment magazines, this negativity is just so ingrained, that they can’t suppress it! That is what flows outward as the takeaway. Who in their right mind would want such negativity in their homes, and in their minds? The people who don’t renew are most likely the positive thinkers who realize that mankind is capable of high level problem solving. 

One of the aspects which makes churches grow today is a positive message, a message that people can influence the surrounding community or culture towards good. The example of Lot is cited, in which God promised to spare the majority for the sake of a small number of righteous, or where Israel and Judah had punishment postponed multiple times when God saw even encouraging signs of partial obedience. You just don’t walk into an ACOG sabbath service and hear a message about winning the community for Jesus Christ. Instead, the messages are about how minorities are going to start race wars for no reason, or how the homosexuals are going to convert everyone to their “lifestyle”, and then outraged and morally superior Germans are going to need to come over here and mop everything up for God. Droughts, floods, new diseases, and demon activity. They have all manner of toys or tools to use on the unsuspecting. People just do not respond positively to such negative coercion. Nobody wants to live in circumstances of entrapment. That is not what makes the human spirit thrive!

BB