WCG the Good, the Bad, the Ugly

A viewer comment:

"Thank you for a little honesty. That church missed out on the wealth and diversity of the common man. People taught me more than I ever got out of sermons or classes in the college. Thanks for the plusses."

Is God just waiting to pounce on sinful nations?

GOD AND THE MORALITY OF A NATION

Many modern Christian leaders are fond of pointing out that God is standing at the ready to punish the United States (and other Western nations) for its (their) sins. Of course, the majority of these prophets of doom have a few very specific sins in mind when they say such things.

Notice this exchange that recently took place on Pat Robertson's The 700 Club:

“How can God heal our land and forgive the sins when abortion and same-sex marriage are laws and many people are anti-Israel. Doesn’t this prevent his healing and forgiveness?” a viewer named John asked on the television program.

In response, Robertson said John was "right."

“The Bible says ... turn from their wicked ways," said Robertson, adding, "We are not turning when we have done terrible things. We have broken the covenant that God made with the mankind. We have violated his covenant.”

“We’ve allowed this terrible plague to spread throughout our society. And it’s a small wonder God would hold us guilty," he said. “But the answer is, you confess your sins and forsake them. Then he heals the land. It’s not before." see Pat Robertson: Same sex marriage caused coronavirus

Likewise, many years ago, Herbert Armstrong wrote in his The United States and Britain in Prophecy:

It will now be made plain — from God's own warning prophecies — that this greatest multiplied intensity of corrective punishment will fall on Britain and America — including British peoples in Commonwealth countries. And it will strike them down first!

But they are not the only nations to suffer corrective disaster. God is Creator of all other nations, too! God is concerned about the people and races we have called "heathen." They, too, are human. They, too, are made in God's own likeness, with the potential of being molded into God's spiritual and character IMAGE! God sent the apostle Paul to Gentile nations!

All mankind has rebelled against, rejected, and turned from God and His ways! There can never be peace on earth until all nations will have been turned to God and His ways, ruled by His supreme government!

All mankind, right now, is caught in the vortex of the swiftly accelerating crisis marking utter destruction of this world's man- built, Satan-inspired civilization...God will use a Nazi-Fascist Europe to punish Britain-America. Then He will use the Communist hordes to wipe out the Roman Europe. We are entering a time of world trouble — utter world chaos! There is war, strife, violence in Asia, Africa, South America — as well as Europe and North America. The population explosion is a worldwide threat to human existence. Crime, violence, sickness, disease, inequality, poverty, filth, squalor, degeneration, suffering — these infest ALL nations! see US & BC In Prophecy

For these (and many other) preachers, the sins of a nation invite Divine punishment. But which sins are societal in nature, and which sins are personal in nature? Is abortion a sin? Who decides? Does individual conscience play any role in determining whether or not it is a sin? And, if it is a sin, is it a personal sin, a societal sin or both? Likewise, is homosexuality a sin? OR Is same-sex behavior the sin? And, if we say that homosexuality is a personal choice, how can it also be a societal sin? Does a Supreme Court decision make everyone guilty? What about the folks who reject abortion and homosexuality? What if there are fifty people in the nation who reject these behaviors? What if there are only ten people in the nation who reject those behaviors?

What about America's other sins? What about the sins of stealing lands from Native Americans and breaking treaties with them (not to mention all of the deaths that those policies generated)? And, since these were government instigated or led sins, aren't these sins clearly collective in nature? What about the sin of slavery? What about the hundreds of thousands of deaths associated with that institution and the war that was fought to end it? What about all of the societal, political, economic and criminal justice inequities that slavery engendered in America? And how many generations did it take to wipe away those sins? Were those sins laundered away by the generations who succeeded the generations who actually committed those sins? Does a painting that was stolen from a Jewish family actually become the legitimate property of the descendants of the Nazi who stole it? And, if previous generations didn't suffer Divine punishment for their sins, why must the current generation pay for theirs? Is that justice? Is that fair? And, if we say that those individuals paid for their sins, what does that do to the entire concept of collective punishment?

Is God just waiting to pounce on sinful nations? OR Has God "bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all"? (Romans 11:32) Are particular nations going to be singled out for Divine punishment because of their sins? OR Have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God? (Romans 3:23) Is God eager to zap wayward nations? OR Does God want "all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth"? (I Timothy 2:4) And, if that's truly what God wants, is that what's going to happen? Hmmmm, maybe this whole subject isn't as straightforward and simplistic as some of these evangelists would have us believe? 

Lonnie Hendrik

LCG: Stop bickering and whining over doctrinal and political issues!

Here we go again.  LCG members cannot do ANYTHING right anymore.  They are castigated each and every week for some minute issue they are always getting wrong.

LCG members need to stop questioning doctrinal issues in the church.  After all, God speaks directly through Gerald Weston and the boys in Charlotte, and when they say something is a doctrine you MUST NEVER question it!

Also, stop being like the rest of the world, worrying about your political leaders who are failing you in every way imaginable (just like the church leaders do).

LCG members must stay focused upon the bigger picture.  They are in training to be priests and kings when they arrive in Petra where they will be taught by Bob Thiel. Thiel will have arrived there before LCG does. Remember, while Bob knows the proper time to flee, LCG leaders do not.  He will be there first and will have the classrooms caves all set up so he and his merry band of Africans can train all the white folk of LCG. Such fun times to put your focus upon!

Where Is Your Focus? The cares and worries of this life tend to keep our focus on the here and now and what is happening to us as individuals. This is especially true in the midst of a global pandemic with all of its uncertainties. However, Jesus admonished His disciples to “seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthews 6:33). Jesus also warned that “the cares of this world” can choke the truth and cause us to become unfruitful (Matthew 13:22). Are your thoughts and efforts really focused on the Big Picture—of doing God’s Work and building the character necessary to function as kings and priests (leaders and teachers) in the soon-coming Kingdom of God? The Apostle Paul urged Christians to “walk circumspectly” (live purposefully) and make the most of our time “because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15–16). Paul also instructed Christians to treat each other with love and respect and to avoid bickering and divisive arguments over doctrinal and political issues that can shift our focus away from the Big Picture (Romans 12:9–12; 14:20; 1 Corinthians 1:10). In good times and in times of turmoil, we need to periodically evaluate what dominates our lives and our thinking, how we use our time, and what we are really trying to accomplish. Are we following the biblical admonition to focus our minds and efforts on what is true, noble, just, and pure (Philippians 4:8) so we rise above the concerns of this world and become productive members of God’s family?  Let’s all strive to stay focused on the Big Picture.

Have a profitable Sabbath,

Douglas S. Winnail

NASA Launch Commentator Former Ambassador University Student

If you watched the amazing launch of the SpaceX Crew Dragon rocket this past Saturday and watched it on the NASA channel you may have seen Derrol Nail giving interviews.

He was a 1993 AU student in Big Sandy.

Read more about this amazing guy here: 

Derrol Nail, Merritt Island, FL, Resident and Local Reporter Covering the Space Coast...and Beyond

Being born and raised in Cocoa Beach, how did you end up all the way in Merritt Island?

Ha! Well, it’s been a pretty circuitous route. I attended colleges in California and Texas before finishing all the way back here at the University of Florida. When I began my career, I started off in Panama City, Florida, but then went back out to California for a while before once again returning to Florida. When I signed on with Fox 35 in Orlando, they wanted to start a bureau on the Space Coast, so I moved back to Brevard. I settled on North Merritt Island because I bought the house my aunt once lived in. It ended up being a special move for me because I have a lot of family and friends here. My parents, two sisters, aunt and uncle, and cousin and niece all live nearby here in Brevard County. Ironically, my grandparents, Arthur and Thelma Ogle, are buried at St. Luke’s Episcopal Cemetary, which is less than a mile from my home.

What do you do for a living?

I’m a broadcast TV reporter for Fox 35 out of Orlando. I’m assigned to report on everything newsworthy along the Space Coast, but on occasion I’m assigned to areas around Central Florida and beyond.

What has been the biggest story that you have covered?

It’s really hard to pick just one. Recently, I covered then-presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaigns in Florida, and I rode out Hurricane Matthew on the coast after it was evacuated. But covering the Pulse Night club massacre has been the biggest story I’ve done recently. I convinced my bosses that day to send me down to St. Lucie County where the shooter and his family were living. As it turned out, I was the first and only reporter to interview the father of the shooter on live TV that night. I felt like that was important because the family and loved ones of the 49 people who were killed, as well as the injured, wanted to know why this horrible mass murder happened. And though answers were few that day, I convinced the shooter’s father he needed to tell the Central Florida audience what he knew about his son and his evil plan.

Cosmology and Science at Play With the Faith Restricted Literalist Dr Thiel

Dr Bob seems to think that if you don't know everything, you can't know anything. Not an uncommon belief and apologetic view among Evangelical Literalists.  

Cosmologists and Physicists understand, can explain or suspect answers coming to much more than Scientist Bob seems to be able to give them credit for or even ever heard of.

...not to mention explaining his disbelief at a First Grade Level

"Scientist huh? More like Faith restricted I'd say

I don't get this guy"