Sunday, January 27, 2019

When Bible Prophecy is Your Thing...



Finding the Path Back to the Present 
Sam Harris


“All negativity is caused by an accumulation of psychological time and denial of the present. Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry - all forms of fear - are caused by too much future, and
not enough presence. Guilt, regret, resentment, grievances, sadness, bitterness, and all forms
of non-forgiveness are caused by too much past, and not enough presence.”
Eckhart Tolle,


Saturday, January 26, 2019

LCG Assures Us That They Have The Most Humble Leaders Who Never Seek Personal Aggrandizement



It is such a relief to know that there is at least one COG movement that has no one in leadership positions that seek self-aggrandizement.  They have the most humble men who serve with such humility that even Jesus is impressed...at least when they take the time to talk to him.

But of course, what Winnail is talking about below is actually aimed at the members to encourage them to not seek lofty positions, because we all know that not one single man in leadership positions in LCG have EVER sought self-aggrandizement. Nope! Never has the church seen such humble men than those in LCG.  Woo Hoo!
What Motivates You? In our world today, many people are motivated by a personal quest for a position, power, prestige, pleasure or a paycheck—and failure to be acknowledged or acclaimed is hard for some to deal with. Sometimes this attitude even spills over into the Church and local congregations when individuals jostle for positions and seek to be noticed or be given positions and responsibilities. However, Jesus sternly admonished the religious leaders of His day against seeking prominent positions and relishing public recognition (Matthew 23:6–7). In place of these self-seeking motives, Jesus emphasized to His disciples the importance of genuine humble service, “whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant” (Matthew 20:26). The Apostles Paul and Peter also warned against seeking offices in the Church for personal aggrandizement, and instead, they urged Christians to be examples to others by serving with humility (1 Timothy 6:5; 1 Peter 5:2–6). As we strive to come out of this world, we need to understand that when we eliminate selfish motives and develop a genuine desire to serve others as Jesus Christ did, then God can use us to be more effective instruments in His hands (Philippians 2:3–12).
Have a profitable Sabbath,
Douglas S. Winnail

We All Wonder: Why Are So Many COG Members Attracted To Such Crazy Men As We Have Leading COG's today? :)




Why People Believe Weird Things

About the book

book cover
In this age of supposed scientific enlightenment, many people still believe in mind reading, past-life regression theory, New Age hokum, and alien abduction. A no-holds-barred assault on popular superstitions and prejudices, with more than 80,000 copies in print, Why People Believe Weird Things debunks these nonsensical claims and explores the very human reasons people find otherworldly phenomena, conspiracy theories, and cults so appealing. In an entirely new chapter, “Why Smart People Believe in Weird Things,” Michael Shermer takes on science luminaries like physicist Frank Tippler and others, who hide their spiritual beliefs behind the trappings of science.
Shermer, science historian and true crusader, also reveals the more dangerous side of such illogical thinking, including Holocaust denial, the recovered-memory movement, the satanic ritual abuse scare, and other modern crazes. Why People Believe Weird Things is an eye-opening resource for the most gullible among us and those who want to protect them.



“Humans are pattern-seeking story-telling animals, and we are quite adept at telling stories about patterns, whether they exist or not.”
Michael Shermer 

“There are many sources of spirituality; religion may be the most common, but it is by no means the only. Anything that generates a sense of awe may be a source of spirituality. Science does this in spades.”
Michael Shermer

“Smart people believe weird things because they are skilled at defending beliefs they arrived at for non-smart reasons.”
Michael Shermer 


"This page is quoted from chapter three of Michael Shermer's book Why People Believe Weird Things. The chapter, titled How Thinking Goes Wrong, contains a list of "Twenty-five Fallacies That Lead Us to Believe Weird Things". These 25 Fallacies cover nearly every aspect of how non-skeptics, non-critical thinkers, pseudoscientists, and yes, even scientists, fail in their thinking processes and end up accepting conclusions based on incorrect assertions and false logic. Also presented are Hume's Maxim and Spinoza's Dictum, both important tools used in critical thinking."




From  Why People Believe Weird Things

Heresy Does Not Equal Correctness

(Nor does perceived "persecution" Gerry, Dave, Bob, Ron and all you minor players who believe weird, self centered and deviant theology)


"They laughed at Copernicus. They laughed at the Wright brothers. Yes, well, they laughed at the Marx brothers. Being laughed at does not mean you are right. Wilhelm Reich compared himself to Peer Gynt, the unconventional genius out of step with society, and misunderstood and ridiculed as a heretic until proven right: "Whatever you have done to me or will do to me in the future, whether you glorify me as a genius or put me in a mental institution, whether you adore me as your savior or hang me as a spy, sooner or later necessity will force you to comprehend that I have discovered the laws of living" (in Gardner 1952, p.259). Reprinted in the January/February 1996 issue of the Journal of Historical Review, the organ of Holocaust denial, is a famous quote from the nineteenth-century German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, which is quoted often by those on the margins: "All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as self-evident." But "all truth" does not pass through these stages. Lots of true ideas are accepted without ridicule or opposition, violent or otherwise. Einstein's theory of relativity was largely ignored until 1919, when experimental evidence proved him right. He was not ridiculed, and no one violently opposed his ideas. The Schopenhauer quote is just a rationalization, a fancy way for those who are ridiculed or violently opposed to say, "See, I must be right". Not so.


    History is replete with tales of the lone scientist working in spite of his peers and flying in the face of the doctrines of his or her own field of study. Most of them turned out to be wrong and we do not remember their names. For every Galileo shown the instruments of torture for advocating a scientific truth, there are a thousand (or ten thousand) unknowns whose "truths" never pass muster with other scientists. The scientific community cannot be expected to test every fantastic claim that comes along, especially when so many are logically inconsistent. If you want to do science, you have to learn to play the game of science. This involves getting to know the scientists in your field, exchanging data and ideas with colleagues informally, and formally presenting your results in conference papers, peer-reviewed journals, books, and the like."

Michael Shermer

Burden of Proof

Who has to prove what to whom? The person making the extraordinary claim has the burden of proving to the experts and to the community at large that his or her belief has more validity than the one almost everyone else accepts. You have to lobby for your opinion to be heard. Then you have to marshal experts on your side so you can convince the majority to support your claim over the one they have always supported. Finally, when you are in the majority, the burden of proof switches to the outsider who wants to challenge you with his or her unusual claim. Evolutionists had the burden of proof for half a century after Darwin, but now the burden of proof is on creationists. It is up to creationists to show why the theory of evolution is wrong and why creationism is right, and it is not up to the evolutionists to defend evolution. The burden of proof is on the Holocaust deniers to prove the Holocaust did not happen, not on Holocaust historians to prove that it did. The rationale for this is that mountains of evidence prove that both evolution and the Holocaust are facts. In other words, it is not enough to have the evidence. You must convince others of the validity of your evidence. And when you are an outsider this is the price you pay, regardless of whether you are right or wrong.
Michael Shermer

Bold Statements Do Not Make Claims True

"And yes Brethren...I am an Apostle"

Something is probably pseudoscientific if enormous claims are made for its power and veracity but supportive evidence is scarce as hen's teeth. L. Ron Hubbard, for example, opens his Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, with this statement: "The creation of Dianetics is a milestone for man comparable to his discovery of fire and superior to all his invention of the wheel and arch" (in Gardner 1952, p.263). Sexual energy guru Wilhelm Reich called his theory of Orgonomy "a revolution in biology and psychology comparable to the Copernican Revolution" (in Garnder 1952, p.259). I have a think file of papers and letters from obscure authors filled with such outlandish claims (I call it the "Theories of Everything" file). Scientists sometimes make this mistake, too, as we saw at 1:00 P.M., on March 23, 1989, when Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann held a press conference to announce to the world that they had made cold nuclear fusion work. Gary Taube's excellent book about the cold fusion debacle, appropriately named Bad Science (1993), thoroughly examines the implications of this incident. Maybe fifty years of physics will be proved wrong by one experiment, but don't throw out your furnace until that experiment has been replicated. The moral is that the more extraordinary the claim, the more extraordinarily well-tested the evidence must be.

Michael Shermer

Unexplained Is Not Inexplicable

 Many people are overconfident enough to think that if they cannot explain something, it must be inexplicable and therefore a true mystery of the paranormal. An amateur archeologist declares that because he cannot figure out how the pyramids were built, they must have been constructed by space aliens. Even those who are more reasonable at least think that if the experts cannot explain something, it must be inexplicable. Feats such as the bending of spoons, firewalking, or mental telepathy are often thought to be of a paranormal or mystical natures because most people cannot explain them. When they are explained, most people respond, "Yes, of course" or "That's obvious once you see it." Firewalking is a case in point. People speculate endlessly about supernatural powers over pain and heat, or mysterious brain chemicals that block pain and prevent burning. The simple explanation is that the capacity of light and fluffy coals to contain heat is very low, and the conductivity of heat from the light and fluffy coals to your feet is very poor. As long as you don't stand around on the coals, you will not get burned. (Think of a cake in a 450° oven. The air, the cake, and the pan are all at 450°F, but only the metal pan will burn your hand. Air has a very low heat capacity and also low conductivity, so you can put your hand in the oven long enough to touch the cake and pan. The heat capacity of the cake is a lot higher than air, but since it has low conductivity you can briefly touch it without getting burned. The metal pan has a heat capacity similar to the cake, but high conductivity too. If you touch it, you will get burned.) This is why magicians do not tell their secrets. Most of their tricks are, in principle, relatively simple (although many are extremely difficult to execute) and knowing the secret takes the magic out of the trick.

    There are many genuine unsolved mysteries in the universe and it is okay to say, "We do not yet know but someday perhaps we will." The problem is that most of us find it more comforting to have certainty, even if it is premature, than to live with unsolved or unexplained mysteries.

Michael Shermer