Saturday, December 7, 2019

Adult Sabbath School: Why Do They Stay?





With all the drama and trauma leaders like Gerald Flurry, Dave Pack  and even minor Church of God one man shows bring to the table for their members, one has to ask "why do they stay?"
You'd think after Dave Pack's periodic yet consistent prophetic debacles, self absorbed sermons, crazy title taking and eating up "all things common" (Except for him I imagine) to build a Legoland Replica Headquarters, people would just wake up and move on.   
Gerald Flurry and PCG have seemingly inflicted about as much damage to families, relationships and more false prophecy about the unknowable future as one should normally be able to stand without simply concluding this place is toxic to myself and everyone else that touches it. 
Even in the more stable, and I use the word loosely, splinters like UCG and LCG (doomed to fizzle as they are) you'd think the average member would die of boredom and being subjected over and over to the same sermons with predictable and appropriate proof texting, which has not changed or learned anything new ever since HWA uttered the meaning of it all. 
You'd think one would tired of turning BACK into the Old Testament for inspiration and how to be rather than AHEAD into the NEW would grow old.  Making doctrinal mountains out of molehills and majoring in the minors might also wear thin by now.
I know the case can be made for no matter what, it is still the true church or the fact that the church from day one has had all the same types of problems with people and the politics of men.  For sins and crazy behaviors we can always appeal to King David and the no matter what of him being "a man after God's own heart." Makes you wonder what's in God's heart.  That one scripture alone kept men in high places telling everyone how it all was and will be going even as they lived out their actual lives, shortcomings, human tendencies no matter who you are and shenanigans. And it always will I imagine. 
"You don't want to end up in the Lake of Fire do you?" also seems to still work on the psyche of many who simply know of no place else to go or way to think about their own spiritual needs and beliefs.  How many of the COG members go along to get along?  How many stay because that's where all their friends are?  "What will my family think if I share my real thoughts on all this?" also is a powerful place holder, not to mention, "Where would I go?"
The average minister and member does not see and would not recognize the politics and competition between the divergent teachings of the Jerusalem Apostles and Paul. That would be a bridge too far. And so there will always be endless bickering and proof texting all over the New Testament to show they all spoke the same right thing and not to worry of it. 
But why do they stay in the face of years of abuse and failed ego centric and self absorbed leadership, especially when it comes to men like a Dave Pack, Gerald Flurry or Ron Weinland?  There certainly is no lack of information that could help someone struggling with the mistaken leadership and teachings of the splinter or sliver they attend to make a decision to move on. 
The answer is simple...Or complex depending...

"As my friend was passing the elephants, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at anytime, break away from the ropes they were tied to but for some reason, they did not. My friend saw a trainer nearby and asked why these beautiful, magnificent animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away.
“Well,” he said, “when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size of rope to tie them and, at that age, it’s enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.” My friend was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn’t, they were stuck right where they were.
How many of us are being held back by old, outdated beliefs that no longer serve us? How many of us have avoided trying something new because of a limiting belief? Worse, how many of us are being held back by someone else’s limiting beliefs?"
Evidently lots of people are held back by the beliefs of their ministers which override their own suspicions and unasked questions which often when asked are given very unsatisfactory answers in the face of available evidence to the contrary. 

"Pssst...I'm tellin' ya. I don't think we're tied up near as tight as we have been led to believe"


I asked myself , in hindsight, why did I stay so long?  It's complex. I thought no matter what that it was the true church with the true teachings. I was fearful of consequences both imaginary and very real. Contrary to opinion, I did not stay "for the paycheck".  It wasn't that great. I could have done much better when young on the roads not taken.  Part of me felt that HWA would die as all do no matter what Waterhouse said and the church would grow up and progress. I felt that I and my peers would be the next and more practical generation of ministry. The STP changes were right along that line in the 70's and it floored me HWA canned it. The 70's were simply chaotic in WCG as one might recall, but then so were the 80s and 90s.  I picked a lousy time to ever hear of the Wildworld Church of God and believe I was supposed to be in ministry.
So I get it that we can all come up for reasons to stay in a toxic setting whether it be a church or in a workplace.  I just quit a rather toxic workplace and am staring overt in a more peaceful one myself. It did not serve me and I learned my lesson in staying too long from my past experiences. 
I have learned that "if your head tells you one thing and your stomach tells you something else, your head is lying to you" is pretty darn accurate.  I imagine a lot of COG folk will know that feeling as they sit week after week hearing their leader muck up over an over and poison the well of genuine spirituality and joy in the only actual life one has. 


But when it's all said and done, the tie that binds is a weak one  indeed and can be broken should the need to escape come to mind...







Friday, December 6, 2019

Before there was Herbert W. Armstrong there was William Miller

I founded Something Or Other Publishing because I believe everyone has a story to tell. Mine includes Herbert W. Armstrong - a religious leader, of Quaker stock, who was ordained in the Church of God 7th Day before he launched a Christian movement of his own. At its peak the Church founded by HWA claimed over 100,000 members and a media and education empire that, at the time of his death, had global influence. The Church of God 7th day, and thus Armstrong's church, grew out of the so-called Great Disappointment of 1844, in parallel with the Adventism of Ellen G. White.

These three, and a number of other religious movements owe a debt of gratitude to the work of William Miller and his preaching and teaching about the interpretation of prophecies related to the return of Jesus to this earth. They were the inheritors of a religious fervor generated by the expectation that though Jesus said no man knew the day or the hour, He Himself, along with Daniel and other prophets, had left carefully coded math that could help "the wise" arrive at the exact year

That year was 1844 which came and went without the expectations of the faithful being fulfilled. Many believers concluded that something must have been wrong with the calculation.  They started a process of providing new interpretations. Some made calculations to push the date forward, while others determined that the date was related to activities in heaven, rather than to Christ returning to earth. But were there other possible explanation

Jay Tyson has written a book which looks to the example of the Wise Men of the East—those Zoroastrian magi from Persia who undertook a successful search for the promised One of their age—a search that took them far beyond the boundaries of their own country, religion, and culture.  As they searched for ‘the King of the Jews,’ they remained open to the unexpected ways in which God often fulfills His promises.

"The Wise Men of the West—A Search for the Promised One in the Latter Days" asks, “What if some wise men from the West had carried out a similar search in the 1840s?
What if they had followed Jesus' instruction to look to the east? What might they have found? And how might their discoveries, even today, enhance the legacy of William Miller?" Interestingly, his main protagonist is a Quaker like HWA's parents. "The Wise Men of the West" invites the reader to a voyage of discovery which may provide answers to those who were left hanging when HWA, like William Miller, died without the events he had spent his life teaching about coming to pass. At least not in the way he expected.

Wade Fransson
Founder of Something or Other Publishing


Buy the book on Amazon  




Thursday, December 5, 2019

Don Ward: Are UCG Members Called to Prophesy?



Don Ward is back with one of his year-end encyclicals to his faithful followers in the United Church of God.  It has been a rough year for many UCG members as they are constantly being berated for not doing enough. There is that "gospel" that UCG assumes they are getting out to the world, though you would be hard-pressed to find anyone on the street who has ever heard of them.
God has not called you to just sit on the sidelines and watch the world go by. He expects you to be in the arena fighting the good fight of faith with all your might.
I am curious to know exactly when UCG has fought the "good fight".  Its leadership has been on the dole since they apostatized from the Worldwide Church of God in a fit of rebellion as they went from one paycheck to another paycheck.

Ward continues on with this about the "calling" UCG members are the recipients of.  One of the things UCG members must do is be baptized in order to be received into a relationship with Jesus Christ.  He then lists 5 things that church members are called into. You can quickly so who gets the short end of the stick with last billing, as usual.
Perhaps our greatest spiritual blessing is our calling. In order to enter into the covenant of sacrifice with God and Christ we must hear the word and respond to it (Romans 10:10-17). That is, we must repent, exercise faith in the sacrifice of Christ, be baptized and receive the laying on of hands. Do we grasp, understand and appreciate the significance of our calling? We have been called to: (1) the great battle of the ages; (2) the hope of the ages; (3) the work of God; (4) the Church of God; and (5) the body of Christ, the family and Kingdom of God. Do we remotely grasp, understand and appreciate the significance and importance of our calling?
Ward seems to imply that baptism is a requirement for salvation.  It is actually quite simple,
there is no external act that anyone needs to do for salvation.  Faith is the only criteria needed.  Romans 4 and Acts 15.

Ward then goes on to talk about a battle that's been going on for some time now, apparently. What he fails to realize is that battle has already been fought and won, but since Jesus gets continually short shifted, the law is necessary to trump him.

How can UCG members be focused upon the "hope of the ages" when the stone commandments are constantly being used to beat down members.  How can they find that "hope" when "he" is hardly ever discussed?
God has called you to bear fruit. Every person has been given some gift. Never underestimate the gifts that God has given you—to do so would be to take your calling lightly. God has not called you to just sit on the sidelines and watch the world go by. He expects you to be in the arena fighting the good fight of faith with all your might.
That "good fight" translates into tithe money. He should just admit it.
Never discount just your presence at Sabbath services. Through fellowship we draw strength and encouragement from each other.
Getting UCG members interested in attending services regularly has been a task for UCG. Given that UCG services are filled with elderly men preaching the same sermons they have preached since they preached them in the Worldwide Church of God, keeping members interested has been a hard task. Even the blue sock puppet Jelly has not been successful.

UCG members should not wait for the ministry to do anything, it is up to them, particularly the ability to prophesy.
God gives talents to every person (1 Corinthians 12:4-11). God expects us to use our gifts and talents to bear fruit: “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another” (Romans 12:6-10).
Seriously, can you imagine what would happen when some UCG members might stand up and say they had the sure word of prophecy? They would be drummed out of the church as fast as Rod Meredith kicked Bob Thiel out for making such a preposterous claim. How could some ignorant lay member have a word of prophecy when the top dogs can't get their act together and even pretend to make prophecies?

Better yet, when has Don Ward ever had the faith to prophesy?


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