Living University - The Thorn In Many LCG Members Sides

Several LCG sources have sent things to me over the last several months complaining about Living University, the "educational" arm of the Living Church of God.

It looks like Living Church of God's mind-boggling "university" does not sit well with many LCG members.  LCG, as does several other COG splinters, is attempting to mimic Herbert Armstrong's three campuses that were here in the United States and in England.  No matter how much any of these groups try, they still cannot nor will ever measure up to anything HWA inspired.  As anyone who has ever had any ties to the Worldwide Church of God and all of its hundreds of harlot daughters knows, HWA had a vision, regardless of how it was implemented, that hundreds of thousands bought into over the decades.  Today in 2017 the top four Church of God groups, no matter how hard they try, CANNOT recapture anything that Herbert Armstrong envisioned.

Even naming their one-room schoolhouses as "universities" have not helped these groups.  Only Gerald Flurry has a campus and probably comes the closest to mimicking HWA, while UCG and LCG are lucky if they can occupy a floor or two in their denominational HQ's.

Living Church of God members are particularly perturbed at the "university" they are paying for, that in their eyes is not producing any good fruits.  Most of its "student body" is made up of church members in remote locations "auditing" classes online.  The 20 or so full-time students in Charlotte are an expensive drain on LCG resources.

When you look at the "mission" of the LCG University, notice one group pf people they claim to be touching: "society."

double click to enalrge

The purpose of Living U is to "provide instruction relevant to the changing needs of the Individual, the church, and society."  What relevant things is LU doing that is relevant to society?  LU is geared inwardly towards the church and LCG members know this.  It does nothing for society and has had zero impact.  While it may look good on an IRS tax form, LCG members are not happy with LU's mission.

Nor, are LCG members impressed with the rampant nepotism in the hierarchy of Living U.

double click to enlarge

This should be nothing new to LCG members.  This is how the Church of God has functioned for decades.  Family members always received priority in hiring, promotions, ordinations, etc.  God forbid if any lay member was ever appointed to the board of any of these entities!  Lay members have always been considered too stupid to help run any of the church entities.  Only the sons and relatives of the top leaders qualified, no matter how stupid or abusive they are!

The hierarchy of the Church of God has always been "incestuous" in the way all of the top families intermarried and kept control of the family business (the church).  Nepotism was the rule of the day in the old Worldwide Church of God and remains so to this day in EVERY one of the larger COG splinters.

Church of God In Wales On The Importance Of Apostles

The Church of God in Wales holds staunchly to everything that Herbert Armstrong wrote and said. There is a reason for that. In their eyes, Herbert W Armstrong was an apostle through whom God communicated directly to with all of the spiritual knowledge that he dished forth. Because of that, no ordinary church member or minister could every receive spiritual knowledge that they could share with the rest of the brethren.

According to the COGinW, the disunity in the COG today is the result of busybodies pretending they are modern day conduits of knowledge from God. Thanks to the false prophets of Armstrongism, men like Almost-ordained Bob Thiel, Pharisee James Malm, Dave Pack, Gerald Flurry and many others have set themselves up as apostles and teachers of blasphemies, pretending to be conduits of God's word. These liars are the reason behind the great disunity in the church today. All of these petulant little men took it upon themselves to set themselves up as apostles and prophets.

Unity is a vital and eternal quality that God insists is present within each of His potential sons and daughters. Without it, there can be no True Church of God; God and Christ and those within the Family of God are all to be one (John 17:21). If unity is lacking between different organisations that all claim to be the True Church, it indicates a grave sickness. “The people judge or decide” – the very meaning of the word “Laodicea” – gives rise to such an antithesis of unity. It produces a myriad of different interpretations of the same scriptures. But scripture is not for private interpretation (II Pet 1:20). 

God has given His Church the means whereby the unity He insists upon can be achieved. To be in harmony under God, each of God’s people must have the humility to grow according to the grace given and not attempt to take something that is not theirs. The grace to lay foundations within the Church is specifically given to apostles – not the general ministry or membership. Only by aligning our teachings and beliefs with such foundations can the unity God wants be produced. Going in any other direction takes us away from God’s revelation and will produce chaos and confusion – the utter antithesis of what God insists must be found within His Family.