United Church of God Still Cannot Figure Out How To Properly Run Itself After 24 Years

That gang of fun-loving boys in Cincinnati held another Conference of Elders recently. This is always that fun time when the UCG ministry from around the world gathers to hear words of encouragement, learn that budgets have been set ensuing their salaries for one more year, and hear important topics that the world is soooooo interested in, like British Israelism.  It seems like after 24 years things still have not changed.

Of the 300 some elders pastoring in UCG, only 144 even bothered to show up.  Seriously dudes, get your act together!  You have a great commission in front of you, act like it! Sheesh!

Anyway, at this conference, like ALL the other conferences, goals were set out for the church to aspire to.  UCG is still desperately seeking to make itself relevant to the world of 2019/20. They want their members to be filled with joy and so warm and loving that people will flock to join up.  Yeah, right. I'm going to start holding my breath right now that this will be accomplished.  I just know it will! Cough....

“I would like to share with you the nine primary goals I have as Operation Manager for Ministerial and Member Services:

Develop close relationships with all pastors and elders. Together we want God to be pleased with our service to His children and called-out ones.

Encourage all pastors to be helpers of our members’ joy and to involve all members in service wherever possible. Develop church congregations around the world that are warm and inviting to new attendees.

UCG elite from Cincinnati will be traveling to as many UCG churches as possible this year to show the members that they love them and care for them, so much so that they will continue to pay tithes and keep the church afloat, which is the ultimate reason behind these trips. 

Visit as many church areas as feasible with the intent to meet as many members as possible and to cultivate a relationship of mutual trust and openness.

The Boys in Cincinnati are also going to survey the members of UCG to see if they are satisfied with the church and its ministry.  Just how many more of these surveys does UCG need to do to figure out things are not right in the church?  The huge implosion that formed the Church of God a Worldwide Association should have been a warning sign that things were NOT going well!

Survey every congregation to determine overall satisfaction level of members and to help pastors and elders improve in their service to our local congregations.

They are going to implement annual pastor and elder self-evaluations.  Seriously? Self-evaluations?  Can UCG members honestly expect ministers to properly self-evaluate? Why not let the members evaluate the ministers and elders?  That will quickly hold ministers accountable and swiftly ensure some will be losing jobs!  Oh, wait!  This is UCG after all, and they protect their own.  No minister needs to ever worry. 

Implement annual pastoral and elder self-evaluations, in collaboration with regional pastor and pastors.

Improve regional ministerial conferences and ministerial education, Leadership Workshops, Pastoral Development Program, all programs and online training.

Respond to international requests and needs for training and help.

Encourage all pastors to mentor others in their congregations to serve in the ministry.

The ministry is also encouraged to head off conflicts in the church by invoking Matthew 18.  (In case you forget what Matt 18 is about, it is posted below.)  Many, if not most of the conflicts in the church have been caused by ministers, elders, and the leadership in Cincinnati.  That doesn't matter though, its the members who will be accused of causing problems. They always have been.

Endeavor to head off conflicts in the early stages–point everyone involved to follow Matthew 18 carefully.

I asked all pastors and elders to be actively involved in helping these goals to be realized. I would ask that you, too, where applicable, also help in the achievement of these goals for Ministerial and Member Services.”

 

Matthew 18 New International Version (NIV)

The Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven

18 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

2 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.

Causing to Stumble

6 “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come! 8 If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.

The Parable of the Wandering Sheep

10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. [11] [a]

12 “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? 13 And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. 14 In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.

Dealing With Sin in the Church

15 “If your brother or sister[b] sins,[c] go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’[d] 17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

18 “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be[e] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[f] loosed in heaven.

19 “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant

21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.[g]

23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold[h]was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.[i] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.

29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’

30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.

32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

COG Prophet Declares WWIII WILL NOT Begin June 13, 2019

The other day God's most important end time servant and closet Catholic had a posting on his blog trying to prove that an article on a fringe right-wing Catholic site that is predicting the start of WWIII on June 12, 2019 it wrong.  I had to laugh when I first saw his post, considering here is a self-appointed prophet of a fringe splinter group of the Worldwide Church of God trying to prove a fringe group of the Catholic church is wrong.

Then I received this today:

I see that Prophet Bob also predicts what WON’T happen.  This is a neat trick: find some even more obscure, deluded, and fringe group or person than you; publish their prophecy, and then explain that it won’t happen. Today’s example being COGWriter’s email about WW3 occurring this year.  This is far safer than trying to guess what will happen, and it improves your overall Prophecy Score. (“I predicted that the Great Tribulation wouldn’t occur in 2001 and 2002 and 2003 etc etc. and, by golly, it didn’t.  I must be thrice blessed with the Spirit of Prophecy.”)

This is what the COG false prophet quoted from the fringe Catholic site:

A fringe Catholic site, possibly based on Jacinta Marto of Fatima fame and/or other apparition reported a claim related to the start of WWIII:

A Possible Date of World War III – #1…

June              13        through       15                    2019

A Possible Date of World War III – #2…

October            13     through       15                   2019

(What Could Happen in 2018 and 2019… These Last Days Ministry, Updated July 13, 2018. https://www.tldm.org/Jacinta1972. Update accessed 11/01/18)

The ‘Lady of Fatima’ appeared to three children in Fatima, Portugal, once a month (almost always on the 13th of the month) from May to October 1917. 

A massive shrine related to this is now in Fatima, Portugal. 

Some believe that the ‘Lady’ correctly predicted the end of WWI, as well as the coming WWII, and some future disaster. 

Is it possible that WWIII, which would seem to be the start of the prophesied Great Tribulation (Matthew 24:21) can happen next month or in October of 2019?

Then in his smug, self-righteous know-it-all attitude adds this:

Based upon Jesus’ words, there is no possibility that the Great Tribulation can happen in 2019 and those who rely on the Bible have realized this. It is only those who overlook scripture and rely on their own views and/or false traditions who make the mistake of thinking that the Great Tribulation can, or could, happen in 2019. 

Why do I state this? 

Jesus pointed to Daniel. 

Daniel shows that the coming “King of the North” will make a deal of some sort with one called the King of the South just before the appointed time of the end:

27 Both these kings’ hearts shall be bent on evil, and they shall speak lies at the same table; but it shall not prosper, for the end will still be at the appointed time (Daniel 11:27). 

Thus, one reason that the Great Tribulation will not begin yet is that one known as the final King of the North in Daniel 11 needs to rise up.

Elijah Thiel has been blabbing for some time now that not one single COG group understands prophecy as he does and will be left behind when it is time to flee to Petra.  Only he and his group are  the people who possess the real truth.

How many more of these buffoons need to arise in the Church of God who proclaims this kind of crap?  We already have so many of these men making these kinds comments and not a single one of them has ever told the truth.  Not one of their prophecies has ever come true nor will it ever.

All Elijah Bob does is spend his time trying to prove other people wrong in order to make himself look good and "accurate" in the eyes of his deceived followers in Africa. God is not working with Thiel, never has and never will.  That is what is so sad about the thousands of African followers he has duped into believing he is a prophet, they believe he is essential to their walk with God.  He is not and never will be.

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Christianity: It's Personal

There will never, ever be any scientific evidence that atheists require out of Christians for proof of our convictions. Never. I do not have it, I have never claimed to have it, I never will claim to have it. Because the scientific evidence that atheists demand simply does not exist. This does not, and will not, waver my Christian beliefs. How is it that I can live with such a paradox of thought? How is it that I readily admit that I don't have the evidence that atheists look for, but continue to accept what they would consider to be blatant fiction?

It's a valid question and an important question. It's also a question that needs to be thought out and pondered – especially as more and more question the validity of the Christian faith for many, many reasons – especially when mainstream Christianity has become, in my opinion, anything but Christianity but a political and financial powerhouse in itself, which poses in a shroud of religiosity. But that is for another time.

Why then do I continue to believe in Jesus Christ and His teachings? Why is it that I believe in the realms of heaven and the reality of spiritual beings even though I cannot show you or prove their existence? Why is it that I believe in angels? Why is it that I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God? That there even is a God? I can't prove it to you – so why do I continue to harbor and support what many today regard to be myths, legends, fantasies, or even acute mental illness? How is it that I can believe in the face of so many arguments that seemingly assert that the Christian faith (and other religions) are simply the relics of bronze age educational immaturity?

It's not that I ignore the arguments. In fact, I know them pretty well. I've not only read Dennis' posts frequently – and much more than these – I have. It's not like I haven't heard of the skeptic's bible or skeptical positions. It's not that I haven't ignored the theories of Dawkins, the scientific minds of brilliant physicists, or the many arguments of the non-religious. Many of their findings are rooted in scientific fact and evidence, that's undeniable. I don't ignore the arguments. I don't even reject the arguments. The fact is, much of what they say can be evidenced as fact in reality – in our universe and in our realm. 

So how do I reconcile the fact that they may be correct in some things and yet I am still a Christian?

• I believe in the existence of other realms beyond our scientific evidences of our realm.

This may be the most important belief structure that I carry. Science itself has proven that there are multiple, parallel dimensions well beyond our own, separate and distinct. I embrace this belief and reality, and I believe that what many call “Heaven”, and what many call “Hell”, and other realms in between, are simply what scientists now believe that have theories that point to their existence. This is where I am not able to pull out “proof” to the point. The only thing I can do in regards to this is to believe.

• I believe in the personal evidence of a personal God in my personal life.

This is equally as important a belief structure as the first thing. That the evidence that I hold is personal, undeniable evidence that no other person beyond myself can prove. I can tell you right now that I am absolutely certain – fully convinced – of the personal intervention of spiritual beings in my life – interventions in my path, interventions that have saved me from harm, interventions in daily life, warnings that have stopped me from certain catastrophe – even direct angelic experiences. There is no other explanation to me. This is personal. This will not, and cannot stop those of whom I might share these experiences with from attempting to use the rules, laws, and physics of our universe to attempt to explain these away – using arguments of illusion, illness, coincidence, irrational thought, and you name the other twenty thousand explanations they would come up with. Yet personally – to me – there is no other explanation as to where I am today except for the direct intervention of spirit beings in my life. It is the only thing that makes sense to me.

Now, what about my belief in Jesus Christ, and in God? Even if many can accept the reality of some sort of higher power – that can stop for many when it comes to the claims of Jesus and of God as written in thousands of year old scriptures. The only answer that I can give is this:

• Believing in Who and What Jesus Christ and God is – and the Holy Spirit – is a matter of personal conviction and faith and cannot be proven in any other way. It's a sole choice.

There will always be, and has always been, countless physical arguments concerning the things of God and Jesus Christ. There will always be those who will look at the Bible “literally” and will “literally” debunk tens of chapters and thousands of scriptures that do not fit with reality by any shape or form. There will be many who will look at some scriptures and literally refute talking donkeys, burning bushes, worldwide floods, six days of creation and one day of rest, manna – and taking it clear to the resurrection of dead bodies being raised, earthquakes, three hours of darkness, and you can go on and on with the literalism. The truth is, I wasn't there. You weren't there. We are not familiar with the writing styles and allegorical styles of thousands of years ago. We will never get a full grasp of what the whole story really was. The problem happens when you begin to take our translations of scripture as completely literal and fully perfect (there have been full scriptures added, and words removed or changed, depending on the translation.) The other problem happens when your understanding is that there is nothing beyond the box beyond the “written word”. I do not pretend to know the whole story. I do not pretend to have all the answers. What I do know is that I believe in the main point of the story – the central focus of Love, of God, how man fell from Grace, and was reconciled to God the Father through Jesus Christ, and all that entails in the age of grace and reconciliation to the Father in this present age. Misunderstandings only happen when you look at things perfectly and literally and miss the overall big picture.

Then there's the elephant in the room I need to talk about. What about “Old Testament Bible God”? What about all of the blatantly horrible things that are mentioned in Numbers? And Deuteronomy? Kings? And other OT books? What about that? Do atheists have a point here? Are they right that Bible God is exactly what they say He is? And that Old Testament God and New Testament God seem to be two very different Gods – or one very Bi-Polar God? How does one reconcile the things that Old Testament God did or endorsed – with the things New Testament God condemns? Does this make any sense? Are we just to ignore the arguments of those who see these things and are bold enough to point them out? Are we to simply ignore them and say “We don't have all the answers”? Should we brush those points out?

No. I don't believe we should. There's a lot in the Old Testament that is cringe-worthy to read. There's a lot that is horrific. A lot that is very gruesome and a lot that we know is unacceptable in a civilized society. No one is going to claim that such things are permissible “just because God did it so we can too”. If we were to believe that then we've missed the whole point. So how then do we approach this?

I can only tell you how I approach it. First, I believe that through the beginning of time to the end of time that the realms of love have always existed, and that God is and always has been love. Scripture is clear that God has always been love, and changes not, yesterday, today, and forever. Love is and always has been the nature of God, through and through. We know that is the foundation of all things holy – love. Second, I know that something happened from modern man's rise in civilization – the introduction of wickedness and evil from what we read in the Bible are called “the Serpent”, and “the Watchers” otherwise known as the “Nephilim”. We know this wickedness rose to horrific proportions, according to scripture. We know that mankind was categorically evil through and through, due to the interference of the “serpent”, the “watchers” and the “Nephilim”. Do I have proof of these things? No, I do not. It is simply a matter of belief.

It is my belief that in order to be reconciled to God the “fully evil” mankind had to be made “fully aware” of their condition and their need for a Savior to reconcile them to God. This then is where the prophets came in and the Law was made known so as to bring people to a place where repentance could finally be achieved, and where Love could come down and reconcile mankind to the Father, once, and for all. I am not going to sit here and claim that I know all the answers to the OT God/NT God questions. Because I do not have the answers. It is only by faith and by belief that I can state this: That just because we do not know the answers completely does not mean that we have to have it all figured out. There is much we must admit we don't know, and things we think we know and understand and have to admit we absolutely do not understand. It is not shameful to admit we don't know it all, but to trust that those things will be answered in due course. It is more shameful to try to convince others of things we say we know and actually do not, then to admit we do not know when asked if we know.

It can seem difficult to live a life of belief in a world where physical evidence is absolutely mandatory in modern life to show fundamental truth because our belief is in what is beyond our reality, and what is beyond our realm. It is beyond us. This is what Christianity demands, though. Christianity demands belief in the unbelievable. Christianity demands we believe what Christ has told us. Christianity demands we take Jesus for his WORD. Christianity demands we surrender ourselves and let Christ lead the way to the other realms we know nothing of, but have personally and unexplainably yet undoubtedly experienced. Christianity demands faith in those things which have not yet been seen, and belief in that which has not been revealed. This is the life of the Christian. This is the life of faith. It's a life that seems to the atheist to be crazy, insane, ill, illogical, redundant, misguided, ridiculous, bronze-ageish, mythological, fantastical, immature, unreasonable, and uneducated in every sense of our physically minded realm. But personally, it's anything but. Personally, it's a whole different picture. It's meaningful, reliable, calming, assuring, relieving, clear, fully visioned, fully seen, grateful, truthful, and – and this is the main point – absolutely undeniable. But you can't convince anyone else of what you know is true, because it's personal. And it's real – but only to you. And your God who has a personal relationship with YOU.

And in that is the whole point which physics, literalism and atheism cannot and will never see, feel, or grasp. Which leads Christians to be seen to be illogical, unreasonable, insane, mentally ill, and uneducated.

If that's how it seems, that's how it seems. Because it's a personal link to a personal God. And there's no other way to explain it. And there never will be any other way to explain it. Not now, not ever.

submitted by SHT