Sabbath Musings for Adults: Why does Mark have NO good ending and John has TWO?

One of the most interesting realities found in the Gospels is that the Gospel of Mark has no good ending to the story of Jesus crucifixion, while the Gospel of John has TWO.

The true ending of Mark is found at Mark 16:8 which says...

1 And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. 2 And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulcher at the rising of the sun. 3 And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulcher? 4 And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great. 5 And entering into the sepulcher, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted. 6 And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him. 7 But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, (FOR THE FIRST TIME) as he said unto you. 8 And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulcher; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid."

(END OF ORIGINAL MARK)

Scholars agree that the rest of Mark was added later to correct this obvious problem of no real good ending that reflects the events in the Gospel of Mark. There is no real account of the resurrection, women telling anyone and certainly no story that has the disciples meeting Jesus for the very first time after the resurrection in Galilee. It also seems a story concerning Peter is missing, but it is interesting that the Angel makes a point of telling the women to tell the disciples AND PETER to be there. Since Peter was a disciple, it is obvious that Mark has a need for Peter specifically to be there. Why and why does the Gospel of Mark have no story ending this way with Peter specifically needing to be in Galilee to meet Jesus? There is none.

Mark 14:27 notes...

27 And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. 28 But after that I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee. 29 But Peter said unto him, Although all shall be offended, yet will not I. 30 And Jesus saith unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice."

So here we have, in Mark, Jesus telling them that they will all be scattered but he will meet them for the FIRST time in Galilee after he is risen. Peter is told that, inspite of his bravado, he will deny knowing Jesus three times before the rooster crows twice.

What's going on here? A story that promises the disciples that after he rises, Jesus will meet them in Galilee, not in Jerusalem, for the first time, and yet, does not include such an ending having the women come to the tomb, not find Jesus body, panic and flee telling NO ONE. Not much inspiration of resurrection here! Mark plainly has a missing ending. Where is it?

First of all the idea that Jesus would meet the disciples for the first time after his resurrection is not unique to Mark. Matthew also has this tradition but also has an ending that includes it.

Matthew 28 says...

8 "And they departed quickly from the sepulcher with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word. 9 And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshiped him. 10 Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me."

So as in Mark, there is not sighting in Jerusalem, but the women here at least afraid, did tell the disciples that Jesus said they were to go to Galilee to meet him the first time, minus Judas. Remember Mark said to be sure to bring Peter.

Matthew goes on to say...

16 "Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. 17 And when they saw him, they worshiped him: but some doubted."

So, in fact, Matthew has a story of all these things happening as Mark said too, but Mark did not tell how it ended as Matthew did. Mark had no positive ending to his Gospel.

Luke edits the story a bit because he wants his story to take place immediately in Jerusalem after the resurrection and not in Galilee as Mark and Matthew said...

Luke 24 says...

5 "And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee.  7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” 8 Then they remembered his words."

(Notice how Luke changes the message of Jesus meeting them in Galilee for the first time to the message of verse 7.  Luke then reminds us that they "remembered his words" to cement in his bait and switch of topics for his own writings.

 Here we see how Luke cleverly said in effect, not that Jesus said he'd meet them in Galilee after he was risen, but that the disciples should remember that Jesus told them in Galilee that they would see him risen in Jerusalem. Luke had stories in Jerusalem the others did not have that needed to be told evidently and going right to Galilee would not help him do that.

Now the interesting part. Mark has no ending to his Gospel, but the Gospel of John has TWO.

The first ending of John is in chapter 20.

24 "This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true. 25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen."

The "Amen" signifies the first end as does the wrap-up topic that more could be said but would take too many books.

But then we start again in John 21 with...

"After these things Jesus shewed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and on this wise shewed he himself. 2 There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples. 3 Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee."

Here we have a story, a second ending of John that starts "after these things." After what things? Certainly not the things of John 20 as they don't fit. The "again" in verse 1, I believe to have been added to make this look like a second or third appearing when in fact it is the real first meeting but not in John as John doesn't need it. I believe that the 21st chapter of John is the original missing ending of Mark. "After these things" is really the women leaving the tomb perplexed and fearful, telling no one about Jesus rising. John 21 shows a disheartened group of men who simply went back to fishing not having seen Jesus at all! How soon they forgot the events and sightings of Jesus in John 20! The reason is that this ending is the second nonsensical ending of John that is really the missing ending of Mark!

John has no fishing motif until this last chapter, where Mark is nothing but a fishing motif. John had an ending already and doesn't need this second one. Mark needs this chapter to make sense of his whole Gospel non-ending!

Remember how the Angel made a point of telling the women to tell the disciples AND PETER to show up in Galilee? Well of all things, this second end of John has a story about Peter being restored by Jesus to the fold. Three times he denied Jesus and now three times, PETER, is sent to feed the sheep, meaning the Church and followers of Jesus. This also fits very well as an ending of Mark story as Mark made of point of being sure Peter was in Galilee where John doesn't need it.

John 21 says...

15 "So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs." In other words, Peter is forgiven and restored. It was important for Peter to be here in Galilee as Mark said, but never reported.

Let's just see how it fits.

Mark ends...

16:2 And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulcher at the rising of the sun. 3 And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulcher? 4 And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great. 5 And entering into the sepulcher, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted. 6 And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him. 7 But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you. 8 And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulcher; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid."

Now add John 21 and continue...

1 "After these things Jesus shewed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and on this wise shewed he himself. 2 There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples. 3 Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee....15 So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.

John, the editor makes this an event that happens "again" or "the third time," but these are added to make it solve the problems it's being appended to John causes as it shows the disciples disheartened, dejected, depressed and just going back to fishing as if Jesus didn't rise and they forgot the sightings of John 20.

In all probability, the 21st Chapter of the Gospel of John is the missing ending of Mark! Now Mark, as Gospel with no good ending, has one that fits and John that needs only one ending and not two is restored to normal. 

This taking of the ending of Mark which contained a restoration and forgiveness of Peter for denying Jesus is added to John, which all through its pages compares Peter to Judas as in "Judas betrayed Jesus.  Peter denied him... Don't follow Peter!"  Later and evidently, someone thought it good to add this "Feed my sheep" ending to John to fix the problem of dissension in the ranks over Peter and John, smoothing it over, and making them look like the friendly to each other Apostles they evidently were not in life. This was done just as Acts was written to make the Apostle Paul more in tune with the Jewish Christian apostles than he actually was, by his own admission, in Galatians 1-2.   

Thus, today,  we have Mark with no good ending of faith in Jesus resurrection and instead,ending with fearful women telling no one anything (except the author of the Gospel evidently) and John with two endings the second one of which does not fit the context but restores Peter from his denials of Jesus so the later Church can get on with business all speaking the same thing that there be division between them as there really from the start. 

....and now back to the drama brought to us by the Splits, Splinters, and Slivers (Bob Thiel and Dave Pack) of  COGdom.

United Church of God: Trouble in Paradise With Mark Mickelson

Updated 6/30/17

God's most unified church is struggling to maintain control of its ministry and its ability to change doctrinal teachings.

Recently the big boys in Cincinnati tried to work through by vote a policy where 2/3rds of those present members at the conference voting could vote in a new rule that 3/4ths voting members PRESENT could change rules and doctrines instead of 3/4's off ALL the ministry. It failed miserably.

UCG has also been having to do damage control over one of its ministers, Mark Michelson. He has been preaching a lot recently that the God of the Old Testament (YHVH) was known exclusively as God the Father. The name YHVH cannot, according to Mickelson, refer to Jesus His sermons have been circulating around UCG like wildfire. Some agree with him and many do not. What brought it all to light was the fact that his sermons were being posted to the Spokane website which allowed all UCG members access.

The boys in UCG were none too happy.  One of the excuses that UCG has used for two decades was that the nature of God doctrine was their reason to leave the Worldwide Church of God.  While WCG was moving to a trinitarian position, which many present-day UCG ministers supported while still receiving a WCG paycheck, they could not stand the fact that the Holy Spirit might also be God.  Entrenched in Herbert Armstrong's understanding after his 6-month study in the Portland library, the men quickly abandoned the trinitarian position once they started getting paid by UCG.

Now the UCG is having to defend its self once again over the nature of God with Mark Mickelson's stance that there is only one God, God the Father (YHVH).  Jesus is not YHVH, contrary to what Herbert Armstrong had always taught.  Many of the things Michelson teaches is similar to  Ken Westby and The One God Seminars.

Vic Kubik and Don Ward came out with a letter, signed by them both, about the present confusion of many UCG members on doctrines that they are expected to believe.

Do you understand what we teach regarding God the Father and Jesus Christ?

Some sermons have recently created confusion about the nature of God the Father and Jesus Christ. Do all of us fully understand what we believe and preach on this subject? How long has it been since you reviewed the study papers and other Church publications on the topic in question? In many cases it’s been too long. The nature of God and Christ was one of the topics of controversy that led to the formation of the United Church of God.

The questions surrounding the nature of God have been debated for centuries. The only valid source we have is the Bible. We must use sound principles of exegesis in reaching our conclusions. Below are resources that we encourage you to read and study deeply regarding the nature of God and Christ. 

Can they seriously believe what they wrote in the paragraph above?  They seriously believe they use "sound principles of exegesis?   Seriously?  When has the COG EVER used sound exegesis?

Kubik and Ward both feel that members continue to be swayed to and fro by doctrinal issues due to not being grounded in what they are expected to believe. Part of the problem with UCG members is that summer is here. Seriously! Summer! The summer is now warming up and church members are becoming lazy in their Bible Study and reading. Once again the members are too stupid to know what they are supposed to believe.

The purpose of this letter is to encourage all of us to continue to fight the good fight of faith and be settled in the faith. Here in the Northern Hemisphere we are now entering the long, hot summer, and it’s a time when there can be a let-down in our spiritual lives—as there are so many distractions in the world today. It is a time in which people travel, go on vacation and young people go to camp. All this is coupled with the perilous times in which are living.

It is also a time in which we can easily become lax in renewing the inward man on a daily basis. We often need to be reminded of the exhortation that the apostle Paul gave the Hebrews: “Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away” (Hebrews 2:1). We are committed to guarding those precious truths that God has revealed to us. And at the same time, we are admonished by the apostle Peter to grow in grace and in knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We should always keep in mind that the Church of God is the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Timothy 3:15).

From time to time some brethren have become troubled by sermons or conversations in which they get the idea that the Church is going to change doctrine. So let’s be reminded of the process necessary for changing the official doctrine of the United Church of God (UCG). Even though there is a rigorous review process in place for sermons and articles that appear on our website or in our Church’s publications, some few sermons may not properly represent the official doctrine of the Church.

It seems the fine folk in Spokane have been very negligent in posting Mark Mickelson's sermons. The Boys in Cincinnati are not happy. The veiled comment below is directed at Mark Mickelson, even though they do not mention him directly. While the Spokane UCG has removed Mark's sermons from their website, Mark still has not stopped preaching his understanding.

Some congregations are not as vigilant as they could be in monitoring sermons placed on their local church website. And some few sermons do not properly reflect the official doctrines of the Church. So let’s be reminded of the process necessary for changing the official doctrines of the Church.

Kubik then makes a hypocritical statement below on how all UCG ministers must tow the line and teach only what UCG wants to be taught. He seems to forget he failed to do this exact same thing while still employed by WCG as he sat in 360 South Orange Grove plotting and scheming to started UCG. While doing this he paid lip service to WCG's new doctrinal stances, even disfellowshipping those that did not agree with WCG's new direction. Kubik does not want any of his ministers doing likewise now that he is in charge. 

Our ministry, and all who speak for UCG, should remember the teaching of the apostle Paul when he said an elder must “[hold] fast the faithful word as he has been taught” (Titus 1:9). Paul also said we are to “hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 1:13). We have been entrusted with a sound doctrinal heritage. Our messages to God’s people should always be grounded in the truth of Scripture and the doctrinal teachings we hold.

How long will we have to wait till Mickelson is fired as a minister and removed from the Council of Elders and he starts his own splinter group? What would the Church of God be without yet one more splinter group?


See: Letter from the Chairman and President, June 28, 2017

Rod Meredith FORCE Me, FORCED Me I Say, Into Holding Him Accountable..Oh, Did I Say FORCED Me?

The other day an LCG source sent me a little blurb on Almost-arrested Elisha, Elijah, Amos, Habakkuk, Joshua, doubly cursed Bob Thiel.  As usual, God's most righteous end time prophet has suffered major butt-hurt.  I have to admit I have never seen such an insecure COG leader in my life.  Is it because deep down he knows he is a fraud?

This morning, apostate Bob had a meltdown and said some really fun things and as usual had to take a slam aginst his "dad and mentor" Rod Meredith.

The LCG source sent this:

Rod Meredith spent many years having to listen to his self-important "son" wax prolific on hundreds of prophecies his "son" claimed to know more about than he did. Every time Meredith turned around his narcissistic "son" had had a new revelation and was demanding that the LCG change its "understanding."

The apostate one took great exception to the statement and went on to claim that Rod Meredith FORCED him to say and do the things he did.

That is not the case. Dr. Meredith is the one who forced me, over my objections, to promise to tell him if I felt he was 'pulling punches.' The fact that I strove to live up to that promise is not a negative. Furthermore, years after Dr. Meredith made me promise that, he appointed me as an advisor to he and the Charlotte-based evangelists on doctrine and prophecy. That was also his idea. It should further be pointed out that I did not "demand" that LCG change its understanding on matters. I pointed out issues and the LCG the evangelists often agreed. The closest thing to a demand I ever made while there was reminding them to keep their word and make the corrections they promised to do. LCG leaders, like Richard Ames, have known what I have written is true, but have sadly been unwilling to publicly rebuke those that slander me.

Rod Meredith expected his men to be manly men.  Men with fortitude and cajones.  Apparently delicate Thiel had neither.  No man who claims to be a follower of Jesus would ever let another man bully him like that.  Apparently, we now see that he is not a follower of that inconvenient dude, but rather kowtows to men, thus he submitted to being FORCED to tell Meredith he was going astray.

Readers will also note that doubly-cursed Thiel is still suffering butthurt because various COG leaders will not defend him in any manner anymore.  Richard Ames takes the heat this time from Elisha Thiel.  Even worse, Gaylyn Bonjour said that he did not in any manner doubly bless the self-appointed false propeht so that he could go out and start another church.  Apostate Thiel's "double blessing" is a major doctrine of belief for his splinter cult along with the demand that people recognize he dreamed about himself.   It is no wonder that LCG leaders will not back apostate Thiel up in any manner. Why would any of them want to be associated with someone so unsound?

You can read the rest of Thiel's's spiel here.

Job Opening At Greatest Church of God On Earth In This End Times!

Here is your chance to get in on the ground floor of the greatest Church of God ever in human history!  No church has ever been this awesome nor lead by a prophet who is as great as this one.  Being doubly blessed does has its perks! Even Dave Pack is trembling at the magnificence of this global enterprise.

Not only will you get to be handling materials for the improperly named "continuing" Church of God, you will also get to handle the books for the holistic pill-peddling enterprise of the holy end time prophet himself!  These pills are so miraculous because they have been touched by the doubly blessed prophet!  Awesome!

Just think how much fun this will be.  Decades from now you can say you were in on the ground floor of the greatest work ever imaginable.  Can you imagine how great it will be to see the end time witness correcting nations with homeopathic pills!  Super awesome!  Even Herbert Armstrong will shake your hand in the millennium in awe.

Act quickly on this major never before seen opportunity before the job is offered to the public.

Mind you though, this job is "more complicated" than other office jobs due to the fact you will be working for a fake Doctor who got his diploma from a diploma mill in India, who is not licensed to practice in California and who is also a prophet of his god.  Nope, not complicated at all!

Office Worker 

We have a need for someone who wants a job handling a variety of tasks in an office. This job is located in Grover Beach, California and the employing company would be Doctors’ Research, Inc. 

Before looking at local people outside of the Continuing Church of God, I thought that perhaps someone in the Church may have interest. 

The ideal candidate would have office and computer skills (QuickBooks, Microsoft Word), and at least some interest in computer graphics and natural health. The job would include church and non-church work, telephones, lifting, packaging, mailing, and editing, etc. and is more complicated than many office positions. If you are interested, please email me your resume. My email address is cogwriter@aol.com 

LCG Is Expected To Correct "Errors" That Self-appointed False Prophet Says Are Wrong

From an LCG source:

Rod Meredith spent many years having to listen to his self-important "son" wax prolific on hundreds of prophecies his "son" claimed to know more about than he did.  Every  time Meredith turned around his narcissistic "son" had had a new revelation and was demanding that the LCG change its "understanding."  Eventually, Meredith got tired of the self-serving nature of his "son" whom he had stroked and petted for many years, much to his chagrin.

Various Charlotte employees went to Meredith over and over and told him to get rid of Bob Thiel because he was creating dissension in the church.  Meredith soon started ignoring Thiel which forced Thiel to start planning his escape into his own church where his word would be heard and he would have the final rule.  Before his departure, Thiel deliberately conned Gaylyn Bonjour into giving him a blessing.  Thiel had already started thinking he was a prophet, thanks to Meredith's stroking.

As time went on Thiel got weirder and weirder in the things he was professing.  HQ staff started getting really perturbed at the constant stream of things coming from Thiel and they essentially shut down his channels to the church. If HQ ministers thought Thiel was weird, the church members found him offensive and off-putting.  Thiel became to be intensely disliked by members.

Thiel continued to stick his head in the sand and kept going to Meredith with things he thought needed to be changed.  As usual, Meredith ignored him and finally had to publicly denounce Thiel.

Now that Gerald Weston has taken over LCG after Meredith's death, Thiel thinks he can influence Weston into making changes that Meredith ignored.

Thiel writes:

06/23/17 a.m. This morning, LCG sent out its TW News & Prophecy, which had the following statement:

To better understand what is happening in Europe, be sure to watch our insightful telecast “Four Prophecies for Germany.” 

The reason to bring that up here is that there is an error in that telecast that I pointed out a little while ago. That error is now number 45 from the list of "Doctrinal Differences between LCG and the Continuing Church of God" in the article What About the Living Church of God? Are there Doctrinal Differences with the Continuing Church of God? and it reads as follows:

WWIII is not related to the battles between Europe and Eurasia as LCG asserted in its Tomorrow's World telecast Four Prophecies for Germany in March 2017, but has to do with the destruction and takeover of the USA and its Anglo-Saxon allies by a European-led force who will then conquer the Middle East (see also World War III: Steps in Progress).

Perhaps, under Gerald Weston, LCG will correct some of its errors. He and others in LCG remain in my prayers.

There is no way Weston is going to listen to Thiel.  Thiel has burned his bridges and will be ignored, as he should be.