"Get Over it!"

Printed with enthusiastic permission!

Getting over "Get over it"

April 24, 2014 by Sylvie King Parris in Fundamentalism

I belong to a wonderful private Facebook group. What makes this group part of my daily social networking addiction is what we all share in common. We are all former members of a fundamentalist Christian cult.

We share our stories, really bad jokes, get brutally and often profanely honest, connect with old friends, and generally support one another as we all work through what growing up in a very controlled and toxic environment has done to us. Personally, it has helped me finally have a place to share with those who truly understand what my past was really like, something I’ve not been able to do completely until I found this crazy cavalcade of cult survivors.

Every so often someone joins our group, and is dismayed by the raw and painful emotions they encounter there. They don’t quite understand the anger and the pain displayed, often by people who escaped the cult years ago. And so they usually end up offering the same advice: Get over it.

I really hate that platitude.

How does one “get over” discovering that everything they’d been taught about God and religion since childhood was a lie? How does one get over needless deaths or prolonged illnesses brought on by church teachings? How does one get over being inculcated into a “religion” that fostered rape, child abuse, spousal abuse, forced divorce, abandonment of every sort—that created and insisted upon poverty?

How does one “get over” losing family members who will no longer have anything to do with you, because you walked away from “God’s True Church”?

How does one “get over” all the things, and all the ways, that have nearly broken us, when patching and sewing back together all the cracks, rends, and damage done to us is such an agonizingly slow process?

While it is true that time can soften the memories and ease the pain of past traumas, “getting over it” is an impossibility. Life-altering events forever change us—even positive ones. But it seems to be the negative events that we have such a hard time with. Maybe it’s because we suppress the emotions they bring up in us, and don’t share our stories, because we’ve encountered too many “get over it” responses. Maybe it’s because our culture and our churches tell us that we must forgive, must be strong, must move on, must stop “living in the past.”

So we try to do those things, by hiding our anger and anguish. Which only leaves us feeling fragile, stuck and alone.

Everyone wants to feel like they belong, even just a little bit, that they matter, that they are understood, that they are cared for who they are right now, where they are, how they are. Everyone needs compassion—or its more personal sister, empathy.

I sometimes wonder if being empathetic is becoming a lost art. Other people’s pains and struggles can make us feel uncomfortable, yes. And hearing of the pain of another can also make us prideful, insofar as we make the terrible mistake of assuming that we know what they really should be feeling and doing.

When that happens, the other person—the person who only needs to be heard and maybe even a little respected—finds themselves dismissed. Declared (however subtly) lacking and weak, they turn away, feeling just as bad, if not a good deal worse, than they did before they reached out.

Empathy does the opposite. Empathy doesn’t cower at the brutal honesty of pain. It doesn’t write off the sufferer as immature just because they fail to take pre-formulated steps to wellness.

Empathy embraces the person and the pain they are wracked with. It lets the sufferer have freedom to heal in their own way and time: it does not rush them, or immediately formulate a solution for them. It allows him or her emote, to vent, to feel like someone finally gives a damn about them.

People who are empathetic—empaths—often understand suffering up close and personal. They are coming from a place that is true to Jesus’ ancient and beautiful teaching of “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” They know how to do that. They know what that means.

All of us need empaths in our lives. They are, to me, a divine blessing, tools in the hands of a loving God, gifted to us so that we can feel less alone, less afraid, less misunderstood, less like giving up. Their examples of kindness and patience, and their capacity for loving so beautifully, are something that I strive to emulate.

I want to show others the love that I have been shown. If you would join me in this nurturing and passing along of empathy, maybe together we can bring a little bit of healing into the world.

---

Sylvie King Parris is an admin on the Unfundamentalist Facebook page.She blogs at It’s a Mis-fit.

"Wormwood" Has Been Identified and is a Church of God Member!

Forget everything you ever heard Herbert Armstrong tell you about "wormwood" from the Book of Revelation.  He was wrong!  Wormwood is alive today!  He has been identified and is a Church of God member!  Who knew??????

The THIRD TRUMPET ANGEL sounded on September 5, 2004 when Mrs. Barbara Flurry died. But someone may ask, Why would the death of Mrs. Flurry be connected with this “great star” in verse 10? Remember that the HEART is a symbol for the PCG ministry and someone specific from that ministry is being described in this prophecy as “a great star from heaven” who is being identified by God to be the root cause of the spiritual congestive heart failure of the PCG.

Who is this “great star from heaven”? We know that a “star” signifies a “member.” So this is referring to a MEMBER of the ministry in God’s Church. Who is this minister from the PCG being mentioned here?

And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter. (Revelation 8:11)

What is “Wormwood” in the Bible?

Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood; (Deuteronomy 29:18)

The introduction of paganism in God’s Church is “Wormwood” in God’s eyes.

But God is giving the name “Wormwood” to a minister in God’s Church in this last end. But why give the name Wormwood?

From The Philadelphia Trumpet, November 1995, Simon Magus History—Prophecy for Today

Here is what The New Concise Bible Dictionary states about Simon Magus: “In Acts 8:9 a pagan wonder-worker who had amazed the local Samaritans. He claimed to be a manifestation of God (v. 10)…when he saw Philip’s signs and wonders, and the Holy Spirit given when Peter and John laid hands on the converts, he offered cash in return for the gift (vv. 17ff.)… he was obsessed with the idea of power” (p. 517, 1989).

There is another type in this last end who was so obsessed with the idea of power. He is this Wormwood being prophesied in Revelation chapter 8. 

This last end Wormwood also thought to become a GREAT ONE just like his first century predecessor, Simon Magus. That’s why this spiritual Wormwood is being described by God as “a great star from heaven” or “a great member of the PCG ministry.”

That future is pertaining to this last end we are living in today. So another type of Simon Magus has infiltrated God’s Church whose influence far transcends his local region. This is the how paganism such as Mother’s Day, Irish Dance and Cremation was introduced to the PCG, because of this minister’s influence.

Who is this minister? 

Here is the 2017 version of "wormwood."  We all knew that the Philadelphia Church of God was evil to its core and now it has been confirmed!

John McDonald is "wormwood!"  This evil man is satan personified and has brought in such appalling evil as Irish Dance, Mother's Day observance and cremation!  Shocking!  Just shocking!

McDonald is also combining forces with Satan's other agent, Stephen Flurry.

Stephen Flurry and Brad Macdonald is already seeing their spiritual SICKNESS in the context of the Edstone work wherein it added nothing to the work of the PCG. At first when they went there, they thought that they would be able to acquire the Stone of Destiny in Scotland for themselves but God did not bless their efforts. So what have they done to save face or avoid humiliation? They concocted a plan to replace the real “Jacob’s pillar stone” in the minds of the PCG membership and came up with a very bright idea of making Mr. Armstrong’s supposed “Prayer Rock” as the new Stone of Destiny. Then to perfectly implement their plan, Stephen persuaded his father to give a sermon last January 2017 that made Mr. Armstrong a type of Jacob or Israel, while his father would claim the throne of the current physical royal household in Britain for himself, thus becoming its new king until Christ’s return.

You can read the full story of Wormy McDonald here:  THE SEVENTH SEAL: The History and Prophecy of the Philadelphia Church of God

Does God Let People Deliberately Die In Order To Save Them From Future Calamities?

Texas church shooter, 26, who killed at least 26 people - 

including eight members of one family

Today a Lutheran pastor and a conservative has set off a firestorm after he wrote the following concerning the church shooting in Texas this past Sunday:

"For those with little understanding of and less regard for the Christian faith, there may be no greater image of prayer’s futility than Christians being gunned down mid-supplication. But for those familiar with the Bible’s promises concerning prayer and violence, nothing could be further from the truth. When those saints of First Baptist Church were murdered yesterday, God wasn’t ignoring their prayers. He was answering them.

We also pray in the Lord’s Prayer that God’s will be done. Sometimes, his will is done by allowing temporal evil to be the means through which he delivers us from eternal evil. Despite the best (or, more accurately, the worst) intentions of the wicked against his children, God hoists them on their own petard by using their wickedness to give those children his victory, even as the wicked often mock the prayers of their prey."

"We also pray in the Lord’s Prayer that God’s will be done. Sometimes, his will is done by allowing temporal evil to be the means through which he delivers us from eternal evil. Despite the best (or, more accurately, the worst) intentions of the wicked against his children, God hoists them on their own petard by using their wickedness to give those children his victory, even as the wicked often mock the prayers of their prey. "

"So when a madman with a rifle sought to persecute the faithful at First Baptist Church on Sunday morning, he failed. Just like those who put Christ to death, and just like those who have brought violence to believers in every generation, this man only succeeded in being the means through which God delivered his children from this evil world into an eternity of righteousness and peace."

“We do not need to fear the day of persecution that’s coming to the church, because God said it’s going to come. He warned us over 2,000 years ago the day was coming. And rather than fear it, He said just endure it. Now ‘endure it’ is a hard word. ‘Endure it’ doesn’t mean that they might take your ice cream away today. ‘Endure it’ means it may be a rough day. It may be a rough few years. But the one who endures to the end will be delivered.”   See:  When The Saints Of First Baptist Church Were Murdered, God Was Answering Their Prayers

The above quotes from the Lutheran pastor are by no means unique to him.  This has always been a common theme in the Church of God.  I cannot even begin to count the number of times I have heard ministers and members say that when a person has died from either a horrible accident or in their sleep, that God was saving them from the soon coming tribulation.  They had fought the good fight and God was saving them a little early.

Even when small babies or children have died, callous ministers and members have said the same thing.  God took their lives so that they might have a better life later.  Who in the hell wants to hear that shit when they are grieving?

While the Christian hope certainly is in a better life to come, God certainly is not letting unborn babies or 98-year-old women be murdered in church just to save them for something better.  This kind of thinking is just one more piece of rotten fruit lobed into the already putrid basket of legalism.

 

Dixon Cartwright On Why he Is Shutting Down "The Journal"

The Painful Truth blog reached out to Dixon Cartwright regarding the reason he has chosen to shut down The Journal in January of 2018.

One of the comments Dixon made in his letter to the PT was this:

My original intent for my newspaper was to help people maintain contact with other COG Christians across the boundaries of the various COG groups and also to provide a forum. We were kind of like a blog before there were blogs. We were different from In Transition in that John’s aim was to have two of his trusted friends check out articles before they were published in In Transition for correctness of doctrine. The friends were Ron Dart and Leon Walker. I did not share the view with John that that was an appropriate consideration for my newspaper. Rather, I welcomed creative essays, even those advocating unorthodox versions of doctrines, and did not feel the need to make sure they were correct or for me to agree with them. As a result, we printed many such opinion pieces — editorials, letters, essays — with many of them disagreeing with each other, frequently in the same issue of The Journal. My main consideration was that writers deal politely with each other in their doctrinal and political discussions, especially since people with different interpretations of Scripture can reasonably prove their varying doctrines from the Bible.

I think this is what made The Journal more widely accepted than some other venues.  As crazy as some of the ads and articles were, he gave them a place to share their viewpoints.  Armstrongism has had a horrible track record in doing everything its power in shutting people down over the decades.  The Internet has changed all of that and none of them have any control over the flow of information anymore.

I think the Ambassador Report was the forefront in starting all of the blogs, websites, and other venues that have popped up over the decades since the late 1980's.  Church members were hungry for information and news about the constant upheavals, whether over doctrine or administration problems, that they eagerly read anything they could get their hands on.  After Ambassador Report stopped being published, John Robinson started In Transition to document the ongoing issues in the Churches of God. The Journal filled a unique void in the church news sphere and was also instrumental in sharing the constant drama during all of the doctrinal changes in the Worldwide Church of God.

Read the entire letter here:  Dixon Cartwright. Why he is closing down the Journal

The McDonald Twins: Living Church of God Family

You may have seen this story in the news lately.

New life, apart: Rare surgery to separate brothers conjoined at head

The parents say they are telling their story to honor the medical staff for taking care of them over the last several months -- and they hope their message can help other parents struggling with a sick child. "To let them know these things that are difficult," Christian says, "can be a blessing in disguise." 

Nicole, 31, worked as a pediatric physical therapist and has been helping the boys with their motor skills, preparing them for being separated. Her favorite thing now is sitting quietly in the living room, listening to them babble back and forth in their bedroom, as if they're talking to each other.  

For Nicole and Christian, life nowadays is a collision of fear and joy, of excitement and anxiety. There are so many unknowns about prognosis and survival the McDonalds have had to find comfort in uncertainty. Christian says they understand that "one or both twins can be neurologically challenged, or they can have a mental or physical handicap" as a result of the operation. 

"We know that is definitely a real possibility, but we're still going to love our boys," the 37-year-old father says. 

Formerly conjoined twins return home

Did Peter and the Key-Man Principle Pass from Herbert Armstrong to Rod Meredith and then to Gerald Weston?

Church of God News has a post up about how Living Church of God's Rod McNair claims the office of Peter passed from Herbert Armstrong to Meredith and then upon Meredith's death it passed on to Weston.

COGNews is correct in pointing out that Herbert Armstrong found great umbrage in Rod Meredith's actions and treatment of members.  Herbert Armstrong never passed on any authority to Rod Meredith and certainly never intended for him to start two different splinter churches.  HWA received countless reports about how Meredith was mistreating members and finally took action banishing him to Hawaii for a year.

But more importantly was the claim that Herbert Armstrong assumed he could bind and loose earthly things in heaven, particularly when it came to doctrine or church traditions.  The biggest example of this was the change in the date that the church kept Pentecost on.  In an instant, it went from Monday to Sunday.  The same could be said about other doctrines of the church, including the make-up doctrine. One minute it was on, and then the next off, and then on and then off again all bound and loosed in heaven, over and over again.

On September 8th a video by Rod McNair, ‘Peter and the Key-Man Principle’, was uploaded onto both the lcg.org and Facebook websites, and also YouTube. 

In an interview with Jeff Booth in 1980, Herbert Armstrong declared: 

“The title, and the keys, passed from chief apostle to chief apostle, from Peter to Peter. Each chief apostle was the new Peter. 

He said, ‘Now I am the chief apostle, and I am the Peter’.”

“Whatever I bind is bound in heaven, and whatever I loose is loosed in heaven.” “The Day of Pentecost is now on Sunday. But, since I had made the decision to observe Pentecost on Monday, for years the Day of Pentecost was actually on Monday.”

If Herbert Armstrong held the office of ‘The Peter’, as he believed, did he pass it  to Roderick Meredith? Herbert Armstrong wrote to Roderick Meredith (later in 1980), rejecting him as a possible successor:     

“Rod, in frankest candor, JESUS CHRIST will NEVER put any one at the head of His Work on earth who is competitive, covetous of power and status, and self-righteous. In brutal frankness, you lack the charisma to lead God's work. You do not attract - as I said before, you REPEL people. You are a harsh taskmaster over those under you. THAT IS YOUR RECORD!” 

How then can the ‘Peter Principle’ have passed ‘the title and the keys’ from Roderick Meredith to Gerald Weston - giving him the power to bind and loosen biblical doctrine?

COG leaders who have started various splinter groups have all take this "binding and loosing" to themselves and who feel they are God's only vehicle to do this.  Dave Pack takes it as far as claiming that he is able to know whether God has forgiven people for their sins or not.

“…and whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven…” Some will say that this verse gives men the power or authority to change what God has said in the Bible. This is absolutely not the case! No man can change what God has said! The true ministers of God have been given the authority to bind only that which is in agreement with God’s laws. That, then, would be backed up—bound—by God. When God’s ministers make a decision, it is based on Scripture—based on God’s will. But this in no way is giving ministers the power to forgive sin. Only God can and does that (Mark 2:7). God does give ministers the ability to discern when a person has repented of certain sins, thus concluding that God has forgiven them.

No Church of God minister has the qualifications to discern any such thing.  COG leaders have always placed themselves between their members and God.  COG leaders no longer have any control over members lives because not a single one of them received any authority from Peter that supposedly was held by Herbert Armstrong.  HWA could neither bind nor loose any doctrine or belief any more than any present-day COG leader can.  Whether it is Gerald Weston, Dave Pack, Gerald Flurry or Vic Kubik, none of these men have that power handed down to them from Peter.  It is an impossibility.

Living Church of God To Soon Start Additional Monitoring Of All LCG Families

Give us all of your information!

Just received this from an LCG source:

We have just been informed that all LCG members will soon be receiving a call from their pastor, or his designated handler, to verify all family information.  this is being dine under the guise that LCG records are not up to date and they need to make sure their family and individual profiles are accurate.

The church has been having a huge issue over the last year or so with membership not attending services as regularly as they used to.  Many LCG members are frequently attending with other COG's now that Weston has assumed power.  So many are disgusted by the corruption in the church and the increased number of rules and legalistic demands that Weston has placed on members so that some have chosen to attend elsewhere at times and also to give tithe money to other groups occasionally, or to hold on to it.

Part of this "accuracy check" is also letting ministers determine if the members are still paying tithes.  When membership drops, income drops and the powers to be start scrambling to determine what is going on. LCG is also looking at information on how often members are attending church.

The Church of God has had a long history of using member checks to verify tithing income levels.  Pasadena WCG routinely went through tithing records of members and employees and used those records to determine job status and perceive income levels that they used to determine how much tithe money members should be sending in.  Dave Pack and Gerald Flurry have taken this spying on members to new levels and have used it as a tool to threaten salvation and membership status. Being disfellowshipped and publicly humiliated in the pulpit by public vilification frightens many people into toeing the line.

This appears to be one more tool in monitoring members and keeping them in line and compliant.  The good thing is that many LCG members are no longer toeing the company line and have started to think for themselves.

David C Pack: Listen to Your Heart, Not Him!

Dixon Cartwright Shutting Down The Journal: News of the Churches of God

Issue 199, The Journal: News of the Churches of God

Issue 199 of The Journal is out.

Besides the shocking revelation that Dixon Cartwright is shutting down the Journal, it is filled with several interesting articles, both in a good way and a bad way.

One of the lead article sis by UCG's Don Hooser on "Is there ever an appropriate reason to leave the church?"

Hooser claims that for those who fall away and stop attending church fall into darkness and will have a hard time every finding the light again. He also goes on to say that for those that leave the church that the Holy Spirit automatically leaves you.  Utter bullshit!  UCG wonders why people don't want to be baptized, this kind of crap is why!

This straying away from the truth of God’s Word is dangerous, though, because it can eventually lead to a complete falling away from the Church. The farther you stray from the light, the greater the darkness and the difficulty in finding your way back.
To completely fall away means to lose the Holy Spirit: The “light goes out.” For you to leave the Church means the Holy Spirit has left you. 

Hooser's bullshit just keeps getting deeper.  Those who leave the COG immediately become degenerate sinners where they will find it is impossible to come to repentance.  Because of that, they crucify Christ over and over and over and over again.  The poor dude has died so many times on the high school gym or Masonic Lodge stage that it has to be exhausting for the guy to have to keep climbing back up on the cross!

According to Hebrews 6:4-6, to completely fall away means it is “impossible” to come to “repentance,” since the fallen away “crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.”

This happens in conjunction with a complete hardening of the heart to “sin willfully” (Hebrews 10:26-31) 

There is an article about Spokesmen Club.  Men and women in the church either loved it or hated it with a passion.  Some claimed it helped them to overcome speaking fears, others got sick of the horrendous verbal and spiritual abuse dished out by abusive ministers and idiot members. 

There is the continuing series of flashback articles regarding the glory days of the church and the horrible result of the changes in the  mid-1990's.  As usual, they whitewash the story as if all of the people who now led the splinter groups are martyrs for the truth.  Ha Ha.

Alton Billingsley is back with his usual end of the world scenario.  With the horrific damage from hurricane Irma to the wildfires in California, the end is now here. Read it and weep.

Read issue 199 here.

United Church of God Struggles To Understand Why People Who Attend With Them Choose Not To Be Baptized

United Church of God continues to struggle to understand why they cannot seem to connect with their members and potential members.  They have dumped hundreds of thousands of dollars on failed campaigns and personal appearances that generate 0-1 new attendees.  Then, once they start attending, they see no need to get baptized.

A spontaneous discussion ensued about baptism. Why are more people who attend with us not baptized? We have people of all ages sitting in our midst who do not feel the compunction to obey the first command given to the Christian church: “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).

Why don’t more people take “the plunge?” Do they not understand the importance of this most important decision in life? Do we in the ministry not point out how imperative this step is? Are people not wanting to be “held accountable” by being baptized?

So what is UCG to do?  Force them into Bible Studies?  Ruin a fun Feast by having Bible Studies for the wayward heathens?  Apparently so, as many of the people are filled with misunderstandings that UCG seeks to clear up.

In the discussion, various pastors commented about how to improve this situation without unnaturally forcing one to act before they are prepared. But, what can we do to make them “ready?” Elders gave various suggestions, including focused Bible studies for those not baptized to allow prospective members to think about this critical decision. This type of special Bible study could even be held at the Feast of Tabernacles. For some of those who are not yet baptized, there may be a misunderstanding about what is required to be baptized and a study of the subject could clear this up.

Then UCG  quotes Matthew 11:28-30 as if it is something that they do on a regular basis.  This verse is specifically for those that Christ has seen abused and mistreated by the law keepers and Pharisees. Grace brings that rest that they seek, but yet is always just beyond their reach because they refuse to believe they don't have to constantly be doing something.

Christ told the public: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). While we sacrifice to be a disciple of Christ, it is an easier road to travel than had we not made the decision to become a Christian.

His yoke is easy and the burden is light

Living Church of God members are to not let twiggy ideas or personal agendas lead them astray

Living Church of God has another Chicken Soup for the Soul Friday night message for their faithful in the church.

The problem with it all is that it is just another rehash of a tired and worn our record that has been skipping for 20 some years now. They have been preaching a message that they call the gospel, which is filled with doom, gloom and almost no hope at all for anyone, including their members.

LCG members are encouraged to be lights to the world, yet turn their backs on the world around them. When is the last time LCG, as a church, told its members to be lights by helping at homeless shelters, or to feed the hungry, or care for the orphans who are not church members?  When have their members made sandwiches or meals for the police or fire departments in their neignborhoods who have to work on holidays or during times of disasters or emergencies?  When has LCG ever shown their thanks like this?  What about cooking a warm meal for the prostitutes or drug addicts who have no hope in their lives?

God forbid if LCG members get caught up in such twiggy ideas or being peripheral agents of grace!  It is better to ignore them, or at least beat them up with the law.

Oh, and LCG members are to NEVER let "personal agenda's" ever overwhelm their lives, especially Headquarters employees, and leadership.  Has there ever been a COG HQ filled with more backstabbing than LCG?  Given the long history of members and employees spilling the beans on HQ shenanigans, we all know that "personal agenda's" is the game of the day, and the children of the dead leader and his relatives live in an alternate universe from the rest of the membership.

Living Church of God members are to NEVER sit around and complain about the hypocrisy at HQ and in the leadership.

Living Church of God members are to develop their minds to be just like Christ's.  As usual, LCG members have to be constantly doing something to please their God. Unless they continually are working and working and working and working to please their God, they bear the burden of stirring up it's wrath.  Living Church of God's continual denial of being true followers of Jesus leaves LCG members with no ultimate hope.  Constantly having to do things makes them feel good, but still leaves them distant and longing for the grace some sincerely seek, but never quite find.

Where Is Your Heart?
Jesus urged His disciples to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). He said, “My food [My nourishment, what motivates Me] is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work” (John 4:34). Jesus was a mission-oriented person who challenged His disciples to follow in His footsteps (Matthew 4:18-22). Truly dedicated Christians are committed to that same mission—preaching the Gospel, warning the world, feeding the flock and being real Christian lights and examples to those around them (Matthew 10:6-7; Mathew 24; 1 Timothy 4:12; 1 John 2:15-19). They cannot afford to get side-tracked on peripheral issues or twiggy ideas (2 Timothy 2:14-19). They don’t let personal agendas—economic, political or romantic—pull them off course (Matthew 13:18-23). They don’t listen to rumors, and they don’t stand around and complain—they focus on what is good and what is positive (Philippians 4:8). They don’t let interpersonal differences hinder their spiritual growth or their relationship with others (Romans 12:14-18). Their goal is to develop the mind of Jesus Christ (Philippians 2:5-11). The Sabbath is a good time to ponder the question—Where is Your Heart?
Have a profitable Sabbath,
Douglas S. Winnail

Does the Living Church of God Have A “more sure word of prophecy”?

Living Church of God is making the claim that they have a better understanding of prophecy than any other Church of God out there.  Given how horrendous the track record of the entire COG movement has been in regards to prophecy, it amazes me that LCG has not learned its lesson in keeping their mouths shut about it.  Rod Meredith has uttered as many if not more failed prophecies than Herbert Armstrong ever did.

Watch Bible Prophecy!

Many today recognize the world is heading down a dangerous road politically, morally and militarily. While the news media report on events and trends, reporters and commentators do not understand the real significance of what they see or where these events are leading. This is why Jesus told His disciples to stay alert and watch for the fulfillment of specific prophecies that will mark the approaching end of this age (Matthew 24). Jesus also warned in the parable of the ten virgins that many will be caught napping and unprepared by the surge of events that will precede His return to this earth (Matthew 25:1-13). God has given His Church a “more sure word of prophecy” (2 Peter 1:19, KJV) so His Church can warn the Israelite nations and the world about the real significance of both current and impending world events (Ezekiel 3 and 33). However, misguided teachers and preachers discount the importance of Bible prophecy and instead prefer to entertain and make people feel good. As we see world events building to a prophetic crescendo, let’s make sure we are building a closer relationship with God and that we are learning to live by every word of God—as we continue to watch world events and pay attention to Bible prophecy.

Have a profitable Sabbath,

Douglas S. Winnail

How Dare Potential LCG Members Worship God In Their Own Way!

An LCG member went this to me.  Apparently, an LCG minister was visiting a potential group who wanted to join the Living Church of God and was doing some things that LCG did not approve of.  How dare this man have a different way of worshipping God than the tired and worn out standard church service format that Herbert created in the 1940's.  After all, Jesus used the same format!

Another individual, an ex-preacher, had a strong feeling that the Holy Spirit was telling him to desire to preach again. He has a small following and is using our format, keeping Feast days, etc. His service is evangelical, incorporating his own ideas in what seems more like a simple prayer service with singing, praying and using our literature to teach from as it suits him. I explained that if he wants to work with us, he would have to follow our Church service format in a service that we organize. We’ll see if he will change his ways. I counselled him to channel his efforts in setting himself straight, submitting to God and finding stability in his family and professional life. If he does that, he’ll have focus and will be kept busy for quite some time.

One of the biggest mistakes Armstrongism made when it started growing overseas was to demand that church members there do things exactly like Pasadena did, even though their culture was entirely different. Sabbath dress had to be suits for men and fairly long dresses for women, even though it was hotter and more humid than Pasadena.  From the depths of Africa to the Philippines, people had to imitate Pasadena.

When all of the daughters of the mother church split off to do their own thing in the 1990's they had a golden opportunity to move into the 21st century as dynamic church organization instead of living in the 1940's.  Instead, it is more important to conform and be Stepford brethren than it is to be grace-filled agents of love and mercy.

COG Members Will Make It Into Kingdom ONLY If They Listen To The True Apostle

Indeed, the first four seals of Revelation resulted in a great number of spiritual casualties in God’s Church. All that remains out of nearly 96,000 baptized people that experienced the Apostasy is about 150 people. Since that time (after the Sixth Seal was opened), God has been adding new people He has been calling into His Church who are being prepared to be the foundation of the Church at the start of the Millennium. 

Those reading this will likely be rather dumbfounded by the fact that nearly 30,000 people who were of the last third of His Church that was scattered have all refused to accept that they ever experienced an Apostasy. Yet their own lives are the true witness (testimony) due to the fact that they are part of just one of the 600+ organizations that are made up of those who were scattered. Their small size, compared to the 96,000 baptized members that existed at the time of the Apostasy, is the very proof of the Apostasy being true. 

Yet there is good news about all who became scattered and that will yet be covered. It has already been stated that there will be 63,000 people from among all who were scattered that will have opportunity to enter into the Millennium if they accept what God offers them around the beginning of 2019. Yet even then some will not accept and they will not be given the opportunity to live on into that new age at Christ’s coming. It needs to be stated here that NONE of these will be part of the 144,000. 

Most of these people whom God offers this to will come from among those 600+ organizations that became scattered in the Church. There will also be a very large amount from the third that simply gave up when the Apostasy occurred, but it will be far less than those of the third that were scattered. The least amount that will be awakened spiritually and given this opportunity will be among those who believed the lie and who moved back toward traditional Christianity. Their numbers will be rather small. 

Who would have ever guessed that two of the Church of God's most corrupt and degenerate church members would end up being the two witnesses?

90% Of Puerto Rico Destroyed, But Every Single LCG Members Home Left Unscathed

Greetings from Charlotte, 

Most members have returned from the Feast and reports indicate that God blessed our Festival sites this year. Panama City, Florida, was threatened by Hurricane Nate, but it moved westward and did not disrupt the Feast other than to shut down swimming in the Gulf for a couple days as the “waves roared.” In our Executive Luncheon this week, Mr. Mario Hernandez gave us a very inspiring report on the Feast conducted by non-U.S. affiliates in Cuba, where there were 60 locals and ten visitors for a total of about 70 at the first Feast held on that island nation. It appeared that it would be shut down the day of the Opening Night, but God intervened in a powerful way and the Church was shown great favor by the end of the Feast. We have been in contact with Mr. Raul Colon, our minister in Puerto Rico, and although the island was devastated by Hurricanes Irma and Maria, all our members are okay and no one has sustained any serious loss. (See report below for more details.) The Church is working with Mr. Colon to provide disaster relief assistance to members who have need for it. We are also encouraged to learn that all our members are safe with homes intact in the U.S. Virgin Islands. This is remarkable, considering that 90 percent of these islands were destroyed. Life is not going to be easy for those affected by these powerful storms, but our members are doing well under the circumstances and the Church is monitoring the situation.—GEW

This is the same line the church has feed members for decades.  Hurricanes turned around and left feast sites undamaged but in turn destroyed Cuba along with peoples lives.  It was a miracle!  Tornadoes turned around and spared members homes, but in turn wiped out entire neighborhoods.  It's a miracle!  Earthquakes wiped out out cities, but every single church member escaped unscathed.  Its a miracle!

The Church of God has Rejected the Real Prophet and the Two Witnesses

The Two Witless Witnesses

The Church knew that in time God would provide two prophets for the end-time who would be known as the two end-time witnesses. Back in the 1970s, it was speculated that those two might even be the two who were seen as being the primary leaders of God’s Church at that time—Herbert W. Armstrong, who was God’s apostle, and his son, Garner Ted Armstrong, the leading evangelist at that time. However, they were not those witnesses, and those two witnesses would not come on the scene until nearly three decades later.

When people read about the Seals of Revelation, everyone in the past has taken them to mean that they are all literal, physical events that must unfold. Even today, the true Church that became scattered back in 1994, as the result of a great prophesied Apostasy, has looked upon the seals in only a physical manner. God had not yet revealed those things to His prophets; prophets had not yet been established in His Church. The Church was not accustomed to having any such thing as prophets in it.

When God began to reveal the true meaning of the Seals of Rev- elation to me, as His prophet, the Church that had become scattered did not receive it. They would not receive what was revealed because they would not receive me as a prophet being sent by God. Although it is yet to be covered, God has prophesied that he will offer to 63,000 who were scattered the opportunity to come to see the truths of these prophecies before Christ’s return. 

Maybe Someone Will Lead Us Astray Before We Get There

The fate of so many in the Church of God