The Eternal Church of God is one of the many hundreds of little splinter personality cults that has popped up over the decades. It is also one of the more uber-legalistc groups out there that seeks to control much of everything its members do, in much the same way that James Malm does with his Pharisaical lies.
One of the ECG biggest pet peeves is COG members who dare to eat out on the Sabbath. This is utter blasphemy and is equivalent to jabbing the spear into Christ's side at the crucifixion. Every time you eat out on Saturdays, God puts another black mark in your book of life. There can be no greater blasphemy.
Apparently Eve ate that apple on the Sabbath and when you eat out at Denny's on the Sabbath you too shall die.
Warning
Nearly 6,000 years ago Satan told Eve to disobey
God and “you will not surely die” (Gen. 3:4). She ate the
forbidden fruit and ultimately perished. Today there are some who teach God’s people that it is acceptable to go to
restaurants on the Sabbath. In other words, eat and you
won’t die. However, God clearly stated that if we choose to
violate His Sabbath we will pay the ultimate consequence.
Having a Big Mac is also condemned by Nehemiah:
Engaging in business with food services, as either the
retailer or the consumer, is the very conduct that inspired
Nehemiah’s righteous indignation. With this in mind, here is
a question to consider. Would Nehemiah think differently
about buying and selling today?
Later this comment is made:
Those who dine out on the Sabbath are breaking
every aspect of God’s command with respect to eating and
resting on His sacred day. Consider what they do. They
acquire food on the Sabbath. They have it prepared for them
on the Sabbath. They go outside the community of faith to
procure the food as well as to consume it. Then they engage
in a business transaction by paying for the meal and tipping
the server. Tragically, many of God’s people rationalize
every one of these practices. Even more tragic is the fate that
awaits them if they fail to repent of this sin.
Yep, the lake of fire is ready to fry those poor hapless fools that stop by In-n-Out for a burger.
Those that dare to eat out are accepting the Mark of the Beast.
The question is which mark do we carry? One of the
most obvious displays of God’s mark is our behavior on the
Sabbath. The Church of God must realize that when people
choose to frequent restaurants they are rejecting God’s
authority, they are refusing to accept His mark, and giving
way to the mark of the beast!
Then they attempt to use Jesus, that most inconvenient man to ever confront the Church of God. Jesus obviously would have cooked for his family, but the New testament never mentions that he did, therefore you should not cook for yours on Saturdays! That is perfect Church of God logic for you!
Although Jesus undoubtedly provided meals for His
family during His lifetime on earth, there is no example of
Him doing so in the New Testament. However, one example
does appear in the Old Covenant that speaks volumes about
how God approaches that which is holy.
Herbert Armstrong never considered eating out on Saturdays to be an issue. Nor did he feel it was an issue to pay his cooks to cook him breakfast, lunch and dinner on Friday nights and Saturdays. This is a major burr under the saddle of professional Judaizer's like James Malm and the ECG. To get around that mess the ECG attempts to blame lazy ministers for starting the trend.
Members once knew that eating at a restaurant on the
Sabbath was wrong, but many have compromised this truth. It
occurred slowly at first. The ministry once suggested that
there might be times when eating out on the Sabbath was
appropriate. No doctrinal studies were done, no papers were
produced, and no official changes were ever made. As time
went on, more and more people began dining out with greater
frequency. Men began to take their wives out to dinner Friday
night. Eventually this practice became habitual.
Then the ECG tries to explain how Herbert Armstrong was wrong and he had been "tripped up" by a question he had never had time to think about, take to the Council of Elders for advice, nor have time to study deeply into at home...or apparently at the library in Eugene, OR.
One large organization published an article stating
that dining out on the Sabbath has always received a stamp
of approval by the Church. They claim that the Church of
God has “consistently taught that eating in a restaurant on
the Sabbath was permissible.” In an attempt to justify this
belief, they quote Mr. Armstrong who said the following
prior to a Bible study.
“Now if you go out to a restaurant on the Sabbath,
that restaurant is going to be there and that food is
going to be prepared whether you go or not and
the other people are going to be working anyway.
They don’t keep the Sabbath. They pay no
attention to that. Now I had never thought until .this evening when the question was brought up
to me about whether it’s wrong to go to a
restaurant to eat. I know when I travel, I have to
do it or do without. And so I do.”
Before anyone can claim that Mr. Armstrong approved
of this practice, we must first understand the context of his
statement. When asked about this issue, it was five minutes
prior to a Bible study he was to give on a separate subject. His
reply came from an “off the cuff” perspective. He did not take
the question home and study it before responding. He did not
present it to the council of Elders and produce an article to the
Church changing this doctrine. This fact is obvious from the
words “I had never thought until this evening when the
question was brought up...”
In addition, Mr. Armstrong traveled the world visiting
various leaders and dignitaries. In his case, he believed it
was necessary to occasionally visit restaurants during the
Sabbath or he would have to do without any food. Therefore,
because he did it on occasion, he felt that it was probably
permissible under certain circumstances. His unusual set of
circumstances likely motivated his statement. However, over
the years, these words led many brethren to believe that they
can do business at a restaurant any time they want. This is
simply human error.
We must recognize that the only man who was ever
perfect was Christ. While Mr. Armstrong was an apostle, he
was not faultless. All of the apostles have made mistakes.
God's apostle obviously made a mistake, even though Jesus personally worked through him 24/7. The dance that COG member make to get around things and justify their stances are actually quit comical at times.
In like manner, the apostle of our age modified his
teachings as he came to a more complete understanding.
Over decades he made changes to the church position on the
doctrines of government, the destiny of mankind, divorce,
remarriage, and Pentecost.
The Church of God is one of the only churches that
admits wrong and changes when it finds the truth. We are
told to prove all things, and hold fast to what is true (1Ths.
5:21). Our process of growth and understanding was not
meant to stop when a leader died. Therefore, we are
convinced that if Mr. Armstrong would have lived to this
day, he would have changed on this doctrine. Eternal Church of God: The Sabbath Test
No he would not have! To say so is a lie! Cooks, housekeepers, chauffeurs, secretaries, Auditorium stage crew, support staff on church jets, and those that travelled with him all did work on Saturdays, bought things whenever the boss said to and were paid. Even his Doctor was paid to visit him on Saturdays! The Ambassador Auditorium was allowed to be built on Saturdays as were many other campus buildings. Feast sites were also built on Saturdays.
Certain COG leaders have this same issue because they can't get past the physical etched stone 10 commandments. Their entire emphasis is placed upon the law and obedience while they ignore everything about Jesus and the new covenant. Legalism puffs them up so they can feel superior to everyone else. They are God's called out. The Chosen. Kings and Priests. Afterall, THEY have the "truth." Legalists are always looking at the outward visible signs of obedience. It is important to be seen doing "right" so they can click their tongues at those stopping off at the DQ for some ice cream.
All of the Malm's, Thiel's, Meredith's, Pack's, Flurry's and others out there infecting COGland with their needless rules and regulations need to do us all a favor and follow Paul's exhortation to emasculate themselves. Maybe then they would shut up and stop lying.
Grumpy Legalists
Why Jesus Hates Legalism (Luke 11:37-54)
The Naked Gospel: The truth you may never hear in church
The Sabbath in Crisis
Twisted Scriptures: Breaking free from churches that abuse
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