When Zealotry Rears Its Ugly Head

Here is a prime example of how legalism destroys rational thinking. The sheer absurdity of paying more attention to these minuscule rules than allowing one to be set free by grace and triumph shows just how mentally sick those who claim to be such zealots of the law really are. They hate anything that has to do with Jesus, grace, justification, mercy, and compassion, that shattered the yoke of the law and instead have become professional prostitutes to the law.

Explanation of this New Year’s moon sighting

The new moon was seen by only one person and that outside Jerusalem after sunset ending 6 April, however it was calculated to be easily visible and was seen by numerous witnesses east of Jerusalem.

The moon’s illumination at Jerusalem was 1.3% at the moon’s meridian passing  13:35 on 6 Apr, later at nearly 8 pm when it was sighted the illumination was more than 2%. It was easily visible.  The term “meridian refers to the moon being directly above the observation site.

The issue in this month’s instance, is that it was well established by calculation that the moon could be very easily seen, and it was seen by multiple witnesses east of the city as well as one witness a few miles outside the city.

Scroll down to the April 6 New Moon sightings list.  Note particularly that the new moon was seen directly east of Jerusalem in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

The fact is that sighting by two witnesses at Jerusalem is essential when there is any ambiguity in the calculations; but when the calculations establish the new moon without question, then sightings from east of the city will confirm the calculations.

During the ancient Temple period the Sanhedrin would calculate the first visible light of the new moon at Jerusalem, and then at the appropriate time they would interview witnesses in Jerusalem to confirm their calculations.  

Today, even though people go out to search for the new moon in Israel, it is often the case that there are no people searching for the new moon in Jerusalem, or searchers are not reporting in a timely manner due to Rabbinic restrictions. 

What if in some months there is no one even looking from Jerusalem: Shall we say that there is no new month when by both calculation and observation outside the city it is obviously the new moon, just because a sighting was not reported at Jerusalem?  

We must do the very best we can in  our circumstances and if there is no doubt of the visibility by calculation and it is seen east of the city then the new moon should be declared: but if there is any doubt about the calculated potential visibility and the moon is not sighted east of the city then the new moon should NOT be declared. 

It is not always possible to have timely reports of observation directly from Jerusalem and at times it is necessary to invoke rule three of the Calendar principles article. This is a difficult issue and I welcome any input which would help, but as of now I am convinced that April 7, 2019 is the new moon day.

I look forward to the day when Christ comes and provides us clear instructions.

James

Brethren, It is YOUR fault that you cannot attend a 7 Day Feast of Unleavened Bread

2019 Spring holy day gathering with the Chief Zealot of the Church

Our resident Chief Pharisee, was sitting at his table in his kitchen this week when one of his acolytes asked about being commanded to keep a literal 7 day feast at a gathering location. Most ACOG members today have absolutely no desire to spend an additional  7 days at another feast site that ends up being 9 days total.  In addition to the extra time off in the year, it is another huge expense for people to manage. That doesn't matter though.  It is easy to sit on a cushion at your kitchen table cranking out legalistic mumbo-jumbo commanding your followers to do certain things, even though there is no new covenant command to be doing so. But that is not the worst of it. In his typical Pharisaical vomit feast of zeal, Zealot James Malm says it is all the members of the COG's fault that they do not have money to go to another 7 day festival, which  he says is a direct result of not having any zeal in their lives.

The fact is that God is not blessing us today because of our lack of zeal. We seek excuses to not obey and please God when if we were truly godly we would be continually seeking how we might better obey and please him. 

Another key element is slavery to 1975 Armstrong tradition, and of course the desire of so many to go their own way instead of cleaving to every Word of God; which has split the brethren so that there can be several different sites in the same locations and different congregations in the same cities. 

If we were zealous to turn to God and to live by every Word of God with a whole heart we would not be in our present circumstance. The Plain Truth is that so many make excuses for the present situation when the situation is our own fault for not being zealous for godliness; we are in this situation because of our own sins

The Chief Pharisee has a solution to the problem of entire families travelling to a feast site.  Send two representatives (along with their money) to worship at his feet.  All ACOG members should be sending their representatives to him.  All should attend his site where they will be bombarded for 7 days with every legalistic piece of crap he can dig up while totally ignoring Jesus and the new covenant.

In the kingdom billions will not be able to go to Jerusalem three times each year; instead the Feast will be observed in the local congregations which will sponsor and send selected representative to Jerusalem each year with the intention of everyone having an opportunity to go in their own lifetime. If we were only united and godly we could begin doing this same thing today! 

We also need to make the Feasts of God Spiritual Feasts full of the knowledge of godliness, instead of party time carnal self-indulgence with annually repetitious sermons full of error and completely lacking in what God requires.

So stop making excuses!  Get your check book out and prepare yourselves to come to his holy mountain top to listen to him preach his version of bitter legalism.  What a joyous 7 days THAT wail be!  NOT!

It is time that we STOPPED making excuses for our lack of zeal for godliness and began to seek to please God in FAITH; that he will provide a way for those who want to please him, to do so!

Passover Funk and the COG

I have always found it interesting how Jewish people, Adventists, Mormons and people of other faith groups can have fun with their beliefs and yet when it comes to Armstrongites, they have major hissy-fits  if anyone dares joke about their beliefs.

Armstrong Church of Godites take themselves far too seriously!
Can you imagine James Malm ever smiling or joking about his zealotry?  Lord have mercy!

Gerald Flurry Declares Fast To Coerce His God Into Giving PCG More Money

This weekend the dwindling faithful of the Philadelphia Church of God are fasting in order to coerce their god into opening the financial floodgates so money can pour into the church. While people are trying to blackmail their god into action, Flurry is spending  hundreds of thousands of dollars on a 144 month inspection of his plane.  One estimate I was sent states it could cost around $475,000.00!  PCG has suffered financially since buying this money pit, and now they are ripping it apart and making costly repairs and updates.

Declaring a fast for money is a time worn Armstrong Church of God tradition and yet NOWHERE in scripture is there any example of people fasting for financial gain.  It was always for personal examination.  But then this may be PCG's excuse to fast.  It is the members fault that money is not flowing into PCGs coffers.  One must always remember everything that goes wrong in a ACOG is the fault of the membership and NOT the self-appointed idiotic leaders leading the groups.

THE COSTS TO OWN AND OPERATE A GULFSTREAM G450

You can quickly see why PCG is in such financial trouble when you see the basic costs to operate a Gulfstream G450.

COGWA: The Young Persons Guide In Tracking Down Jesus...Oops!...Leavening

It is business as usual in the Church of God a Worldwide Association at this time of year.  The focus is still upon the physical with an emphasis upon the law.  So in that vein, COGWA has an article up for young people on how to track down leavening this time of year.

The article is geared towards 'young people" in COGWA and is written by Karen Meeker.

Have you ever wondered exactly what is wrong with leavening? Why can we eat it all year long but not during the Days of Unleavened Bread?

Here’s the reason: Sometimes God uses normal, everyday things to remind us of things that are important to Him. If you read 1 Corinthians 5:6-8 you will see that leavening is used to picture negative characteristics like wickedness (doing bad things) and malice (wanting to hurt someone). During these seven days in the spring, leaven pictures breaking God’s laws—or sin. When we hunt for leavening and throw it out before the Days of Unleavened Bread, we picture our willingness and desire to search out and remove sin from our lives. 

Tracking down leavening

To put sin out, we first have to know what it is and how to look for it. The same is true of leavening. This calls for expert detective work, and labels hold the key.

The main words to look for are: 

• Baking soda or sodium bicarbonate.

• Baking powder.

• Yeast.

These ingredients can be sneaky, hiding in things like biscuits, bread, cake, cookies, cereals, candy bars, ice cream cones, cornbread, crackers, breading on chicken nuggets, donuts, muffins, pretzels, some tortillas, pancakes and waffles. The more labels you check, the more leavening you will discover. It seems to be everywhere—just like sin. 

Even more elusive to COGWA members and the ACOG as whole, is Jesus. He is just sooooo inconvenient at times!

Round it up, eat it up or throw it out

Before the Days of Unleavened Bread begin, your family will probably try to eat up all the food containing leavening. But don’t be surprised if you’re sent out on a last-minute search party to look in spots around the house for leavening.

A good leavening tracker is always on the lookout.

The youth and adults of COGWA are spending its time looking for leavening in their lives and totally missing the One they should be following.  It is much more shocking to find a cookie in a pocket or under a car seat during Unleavened Bread time than it is to be at rest, with the assurance of forgiven sins, in the very One the church claims to follow.    

A good Christian is already safe and sound in the assurance of Jesus, not in the practice of removing leavening.