It's All About The Money Even At Passover Time

In the Church of God world, Passover has always been a time of inward introspection and self-examination as to why people do the silly signs they do even though they know it is wrong. But lately, the expectation is that COG members examine themselves as to why they don't give more money or tithe more or support the "work" more diligently.

Richard Ames writes to the Living Church of God members:

TITHES AND OFFERINGS: Have you been faithful in paying your tithes to God this past year? Have you been faithful in giving offerings? Be honest with yourself. Stealing from God is a serious matter. "Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ’In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed Me, even this whole nation" (Malachi 3:8–9).

God owns the earth, and everyone and everything on it. He promises to provide our every need (Philippians 4:19). God provides for His children, but some have "little faith" and do not trust Him (Matthew 6:30). He gave this admonition: "’Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this,’ Says the Lord of hosts, ’If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it’" (Malachi 3:10). God is the Giver of every good and perfect gift, and He promises to abundantly bless the tithe payer. Those who have faithfully saved their Festival tithe know firsthand the joy God gives at His annual festivals.

Examine your degree of faithfulness this past year with God’s tithe. Have you stolen from God? Have you saved a full Festival tithe? Ask God for the ability to give. Trust and honor Him in your tithes and offerings. If you have been a thief this past year, ask God’s forgiveness, determine to trust Him this coming year, then take the Passover in faith!

One of the biggest lies used as a weapon to intimidate church members was the accusation that people were "robbing God" when they did not tithe or give lots of offerings. It was a control tactic deliberately spit out to instil fear in church members and make them compliant.

from: Tithe no more

Bwana Bob: "... bloggers mislead and improperly criticize us"

Well, we did it again.  We have ticked off God's end most holy and righteous end time leader of the one and only TRUE church incarnation.  This time I am not talking about Gerald Weston or Dave Pack who is upset, but another church leader.  As one of Banned's most avid readers, this guy gets butthurt very easily and then lashes out.

Almost-arrested, but not-arrested Elijah, Elisha, Joshua, Amos, Bwana Bob Thiel has mentioned us in his latest Letter to the Brethren.

It would be legitimate to be antagonized by us if we were actaully harassing a true church of God and not some man-made organization.

He writes:

Criticism in Advance

As many of you are aware, certain anti-Church of God often bloggers mislead and improperly criticize us.

Last week, I announced that the Continuing Church of God plans to use animation as a means to reach people that we otherwise may not be able to reach (see Letter to the Brethren: March 8, 2018).

Even though we have not yet made any animation publicly available, notice parts of something that was written and posted against that project today:

Last week, the Church of God’s most perfect end-time leader (sorry Dave Pack, it’s not you) announced he is writing a new booklet on dating.  Dreamy Bob Thiel is its author.  …

Thiel is going to present this new booklet in an awe-inspiring new way on the Internet.  He is going to have ANIMATED videos! …

The Internet will have a field day when he starts posting these.  then watch, he will start screaming PERSECUTION when they are mocked. …

Apostate Thiel believes that these animated videos have the potential to start the persecution of his improperly named “continuing” Church of God.  YouTube may pull them for being too controversial. PERSECUTION I SAY! PERSECUTION!

Satan is the accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10), and many unwittingly do his bidding. We tend to be criticized daily, but I rarely report about it in the Letter to the Brethren.

In this case, we are being told our animations will be mocked before we have even finished any (cf. Proverbs 18:13). Expect more negative comments on this and other doors we work to go through to as we strive to fulfill Matthew 24:14 and Matthew 28:19-20.

Apostates are those who turned against the true faith, which is not something I did, but is something that the author of that post has done (he was once part of the old Worldwide Church of God–but now is opposed to practically all COG teachings, and seemingly cannot accept that God answers our prayers).

Jesus said:

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you (Matthew 5:10-12).

Anyway, expect that we will have to endure more improper and unfair criticism.

The day you self-appointed yourself and started telling huge whoppers about Gaylyn Bonjour, the dreams and other malarkey you use to elevate yourself into a church leadership position, is the day you opened yourself up to criticism.  Just because you are a beta-male and can't handle criticism proves you are unfit to lead a COG.  If you suffer this much butthurt over blog posts, what will happen when you really are "persecuted" as you dream you will be in the future? 

Gerald Weston: "It is difficult to “sell” to someone who finds your “storefront” distasteful. "

Gerald Weston has written in the latest Living Church of God News about the task ahead for the LCG in drawing in new members.  He has a product to "sell" but no one seems to be biting, except for disgrutnled COG members who church jump at regular intervals.

Weston makes a telling comment early in his article:

It is difficult to “sell” to someone who finds your “storefront” distasteful. Different stores and different approaches work for different people. We know we have the right message, but how we present it is important in a world where professing Christianity is an ever-shrinking population.

He is right that so many find the "storefront" of LCG so distasteful.  Abusive ministers and policies have kept scores of COG members away from LCG.  Rod Meredith's horrendous treatment of members when he was in the Worldwide Church of God led many to not join up with them when he apostatized and started Global Church of God. Members understood that there was no reason to jump ship to where they would still be treated like dirt by Meredith.

Weston continues:

So how do we attract people to walk through the door of our “store”? We must never forget that we have something unique. The real gospel of the Kingdom of God and the true Jesus Christ is radically different from anything found in professing Christianity. It is the only hope for this very troubled world. This is our message, but as with Paul and Stephen, we must capture people’s attention. God told Ezekiel to portray a siege against Jerusalem as a sign to the house of Israel (Ezekiel 4:1–3). Jeremiah wore a yoke of wood around his neck—something that would garner attention and make a point (Jeremiah 28:10–14). Read through the prophets and see the many ways God got the attention of rebellious nations.

Ecclesiastes advises us, “In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening do not withhold your hand; for you do not know which will prosper, either this or that, or whether both alike will be good” (Ecclesiastes 11:6).

We must continue to preach to those who are most likely to listen—professing Christians—but we must also gain the attention of a skeptical, secular world. Most will not “buy” God’s truth, but we must get them to look in the storefront window by offering common ground. An example of this is the Canadian-produced Viewpoint video, “Where Do the Celts Come From?” It is not overtly religious, but at the end advertises the booklet The United States and Britain in Prophecy. As of this writing, it has more than 68,000 views, more than 20,000 during a two-and-a-half day stretch, without advertising during that time.

Who would guess that subject would bring people “into the store” to look? Whether they pick up the free literature inside is yet to be seen, but we turned their heads and got their attention for a few minutes, and maybe more!

I think the readers here can add many reasons as to why the Living Church of God will continue to have problems attracting people to their "storefront."  So let Weston know the reasons why....