Why Has The LCG Been Unable Recapture True Values?

 

Then next time you see a "true value" 

please capture it. The LCG is still looking for it

Richard Ames has sent out a letter to the Living Church of God faithful and as usual, it is filled with fear and damnation that is swiftly approaching.

July 14, 2021
Dear Brethren and Co-workers with Christ, Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Weston are currently serving our Church youth in Athens, Texas, where about 240 teenage campers and staff are enjoying the Living Youth Camp. The Lone Star Camp grounds, including a lake, provide for many challenging activities designed to help the young people to “recapture true values.” Our youth are precious, and training them for potential leadership roles in the Church and community is vital for the future. We appreciate your prayers and support for the success of this intensive two-week program.

The Church of God, regardless of which entity is speaking, has made the comment for decades and yet, here we are in 2021 and NONE of them have recaptured ANYTHING! They still blunder along claiming they have the exclusive path to the "truth" and that God is on their side. Like their apostate bastard children, the Restored Church of God, Church of God Assembly, and the improperly named "continuing" Church of God, they all had the opportunity to recapture "true values" when they committed apostasy from the Worldwide Church of God. They all had a chance to start over and do things right. They did nothing of the sort. None of them decided to actually follow Jesus instead of the law. So here we are in 2021 as LCG has problems with its ministry and its membership.

Yes, youth are precious, but when COG's make their lives miserable and hellish with such absurd demands and doctrines that Christ does not even care about, LCG deserves to lose them. They have no further in the LCG and that is why so many are leaving. None of them have any business becoming ministers or leaders in the LCG! Their lives are more precious than that happening!

Meanwhile, after a year or more of lockdowns, public activities are increasingly opening across the United States, and sports stadiums are again filled with thousands of spectators. However, much of the world is facing dangerous variants of COVID-19. Just last week, because of rising COVID-19 cases, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga declared a state of emergency in Tokyo, banning spectator attendance at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics (Charlotte Observer, July 9, 2021, p. 1B.).

And yet, LCG in its amazing wisdom decided to go ahead with summer camps and the result is multiple infections resulting in the entire camp of campers and staff are now in quarantine. So much for considering them "precious".

As usual for any COG letter to the faithful, the next step is to cause fear in the reader. Has any of the COG's ever decided to write a letter to their followers just to tell them how much they are appreciated? How God is pleased with them? How much Jesus is working in their lives? Have they ever written a letter talking about what an amazing thing grace and mercy are? The answer we all is a glaring NO! Noting is more important than scaring the crap out of members and then asking them for money.

As we see these sobering trends, we are reminded to watch for the future end-time ride of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, who will kill one-fourth of the earth’s population (Revelation 6:1-8). We must be prepared for prophetic events leading up to the Great Tribulation (Matthew 24:21-22) that will suddenly shock the Western world. Be sure to read Mr. Weston’s Tomorrow’s World magazine article “Then Comes Sudden Destruction” (July-August 2019). Brethren, we must never let down our alertness and watchfulness in these end-times. We must always remember Christ’s words, “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:34-36).

While the U.S. economy may appear to be strengthening, in reality it is a proverbial bubble that will someday burst—and suddenly. I hope you saw Mr. Wallace Smith’s Tomorrow’s World telecast “The End of America.” One of the biblical curses he discussed was “Crushing National Debt.” The program featured the “U.S. Debt Clock” which at the time of this writing shows more than $28 trillion dollars in U.S. national debt. The current debt-to-GDP (Gross Domestic Product) ratio for the nation is 107.60, indicating a troubling risk of default. Remember God’s warning, “The alien who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower. He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail” (Deuteronomy 28:43-44)

LCG still imagines themselves as doing some mighty work that is world-encompassing and so amazing that God himself is pleased by it. They need that god to be working on their behalf so that their members can have jobs and send in their money, for only a "while longer". Time is short!

We trust that God will allow enough economic health to support, for a while longer, His Work of preaching the Gospel. But the time will come when our warning the nations of this world will cease: “‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord God, ‘That I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord, but shall not find it’” (Amos 8:11-12). We have a weighty responsibility to fulfill the Great Commission and to work with our whole heart while there is time. Jesus understood the signs of the times: “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work” (John 9:4). We need the attitude of Christ, who said, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work” (John 4:34).

While LCG operates in this very short time, the world around them is collapsing. Death, famine, and disease are their focus. Not Jesus, but death, famine, and disease. 

Many tragic trends remind us of the crying need for God’s Kingdom to come. More than four million around the world have died from the COVID-19 pandemic. A report by the United Nations World Food Program USA lists the hungriest nations—including Yemen, which has more than “16 million people—over half of the population—waking up hungry every day.” The report notes that conditions in Yemen are “a devastating reminder of what conflict can do to a country. More than two million children are severely malnourished, and 400,000 are at risk of dying without treatment” (“Over 65% of the World’s Hungriest People Live in Just Ten Countries. Why?,” April 23, 2021). 

 

The UN reports sobering news of famine and starvation:

The dramatic rise in global food prices over the past twelve months, coupled with diminishing food stocks and escalating fuel costs, has gravely jeopardized global food and nutrition security, and has re-emphasized the critical actions needed to realize the right to adequate food. Hunger and under-nutrition are the greatest threats to public health, killing more people than HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. Each day, 25,000 people, including more than 10,000 children, die from hunger and related causes. Some 854 million people worldwide are estimated to be undernourished, and high food prices may drive another 100 million into poverty and hunger. The risks are particularly acute among those who must spend at least 60 per cent of their income on food: the urban poor and displaced populations, the rural landless, pastoralists and the majority of smallholder farmers (“Losing 25,000 to Hunger Every Day,” UN Chronicle).

If the LCG is so concerned about the undernourished and those "walking hungry" then why in the hell don't they do something about it? Let's see the Livign Church of God set the example for all the other COG's and give $1,000,000.00 to Feed The Children,  Feeding Hungry Children, or to Compassion. They won't do this any more than they use 3rd Tithe to take care of the widows and orphans in the church. Members have to beg and plead to get even a morsel of assistance from LCG ministers.

Instead, Richard Ames praises LCG's so-called gospel message to the world and its literature as being good work.

As we preach the Gospel around the world, more and more people are being introduced to the Truth. The Tomorrow’s World Bible Study Course is one of those tools through which human lives are being transformed. In the second quarter of 2021 (April through June), we sent out 35,593 copies of the first lessons, more than any previous quarter! If you have not yet subscribed, be sure to do so. Read this inspiring comment by a student from Wisconsin: 

 

I have finished the 24-lesson Bible Study Course and I’ve learned so much. I never before really understood the statement, “Let he who has eyes to see…” Some of the scriptures I’ve read many times but didn’t really see what they meant. I have filled twelve ring binders with notes along with every scripture referred to in the study. Great job to all who put this together.

Writing down every single scripture in a COG course does not make one a Christian or one who has proven anything. This is all Ames has been doing for decades, speaking slick words that impress whichever COG group he is in and tossing around scriptures as if he knew what they were all about.

I know an elderly woman from a Protestant church down the street who knows the Bible inside and out, understands the role of Christ in her life, and who could knock down Ames and his self-righteousness in a matter of minutes. She knows the real gospel message, unlike COG leaders who should know better.

Sadly, many professing Christians neglect the Bible, though now is not the time to “let down.” Satan is increasing his attacks on belief in the existence of God, the veracity of the Bible, and God’s way of life. We must strive to submit to our Father’s and Lord’s instruction: “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God’” (Luke 4:4). Our Lord quoted that scripture in His battle with Satan!

Sadly, many professing Church of God leaders neglect the bible and that inconvenient dude they claim to follow. Never fear though, that creature who is more powerful than the god they claim to follow is waiting on the sidelines constantly ready to devour "real" COG Christians. Satan has to be the most powerful creature the COG has ever followed. Jesus is an impotent wimp next to Satan.

Richard Ames offers hope to wayward LCG members. He directs them to trust in Jesus and to become followers of him read more LCG literature! Reading COG literature is the cure-all for everything!

If you have been neglecting your Bible, I urge you to determine to read, study, and research it daily. Set aside 15 minutes or a half-hour of your time—make it a daily habit. Always keep the big picture in mind: “Thus says the Lord: ‘Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest? For all those things My hand has made, and all those things exist,’ says the Lord. ‘But on this one will I look: on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word’” (Isaiah 66:1-2). 

Next Ames highlights the mind-boggling work of the Living Church of God. Out of 7.9 billion people, LCG is sending its rag to 488,000 people AROUND the globe. Wow! I stand in awe!

You too should be in awe of this amazing work! So much in awe that you send them your money! Look at all of those open doors!

Our Tomorrow’s World magazine helps readers understand the Bible. Our August 2021 issue will be sent to 488,000 subscribers around the globe. Yes, God is blessing His Work. Your support is contributing to growth online, in print, and on the air. Please pray that God will inspire new viewers and open doors to new stations. And I encourage you to read the inspiring, motivating, and informative articles in every magazine, particularly Mr. Weston’s in the July 2021 issue, where he writes,

Ames ends with a cure-all for LCG members. Follow the law! No mention of following Jesus, but follow that law!

If God is real to us—and if we truly believe there is a reward for obeying Him—we will strive to keep His commandments. We will forsake the holidays of this world that put the name of Christ on pagan practices. We will keep His Sabbaths—the seventh-day weekly Sabbath and the annual Sabbaths. We will allow nothing and no one to deter us from obedience to our Lord and Savior. “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 10:37-39). Yes, if God is real to us, we will put Him first, above all else! Those words come straight from Jesus Himself! (“Is God Actually Real to You?,” p. 8).

Thank you for your continuing prayers for the preaching of the Gospel. As you seek God wholeheartedly, claim His promise: “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8). And take comfort and joy that Christ’s prophecy is being fulfilled and will be fulfilled: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14). 

 

In Christian love,
Richard F. Ames

 

COGWA Big Wigs Living The High Life While Members Scramble To Send In Money

 

Those fun boys learned how to live the high life when they were part of the United Church of God. Even after their apostasy from UCG, they continue to enjoy the finer things in life.

“Last weekend, for instance, the elite of cogwa gathered at the swanky, expensive and exclusive Cowboys Club (owned by Jerry Jones, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys) for a secret meeting.”

 

Gerald Flurry: “The Law is essential for this church to survive.” In other words, We Do Not Need Jesus

Exit and Support Network has a letter up about some of the idiotic things Gerald Flurry said recently to the youth at Philadelphia Church of God's Summer Educational Program camp in Edmond, OK.

July 17, 2021 

 

Gerald Flurry’s recent sermon entitled, “The God Family” was given to the youth at SEP. In it he made some wild over-the-top, even crazy, statements. Those who understand the false doctrines he is teaching, and the deceitful path he is on, will be able to spot this. Some of my comments are in brackets and in purple. 

 

He started and ended with loud music. Beforehand, it was the Celtic Throne music, which began with drums. 

 

At the beginning he did nothing but boast about the Celtic Throne performance, including the important people they had brought in. The CT performances are very important to GF and especially to his ego. He said the CT was “choreographed by God”; “inspired by God,” that this is one way the youth are “serving in the Work,” and it inspires them to “work even harder.” Astonishingly, he said the dancers “begin at age 4.” 

In the mother church, under the auspices of the Ambassador International Cultural Foundation, the celebrities and important people they came into contact with were vitally important to them. It was proof that God was on their side. No one knew of any of these important, rich, celebrities that ever joined the church. Other than dishing out money for tickets and maybe sponsoring a concert series, these people never gave money to the church. That did not matter to them. Like Gerald Flurry, their egos were stroked by these celebrities while it was the membership that dished out millions of dollars in tithe money to fund the concert series.

According to GF, this CT performance is a “God family” message “showing the world how God’s family serves” and how God “brings them nothing but blessings in their lives.” 

 

“We show them God’s way of life when they look behind the scenes.” [OK, let’s look at that scene. On the front we hear stirring, powerful music, spectacular lighting, dazzling costumes, young people Irish step-dancing across the stage, as they celebrate the “New Throne of David.” Then we pull the curtain back and what do we see? Destroyed families due to the no contact ruling, abuse, suffering, fear, control, exploitation, lies, unhappy children and young people. We see misery, sorrow, even death. Isn’t something very wrong with this picture?] [Note by ESN: To read more about all this see: Testimonies by Those Impacted by Philadelphia Church of God and letters.] 

This is the same crap stance that the WCG took when they promoted the concerts as the best in human ability and artistry. This was supposed to be the way the so-called kingdom of God was going to be like.

In this sermon GF emphasized Malachi’s Message, the Laodiceans, and how “God’s Law is taught at the SEP” and “we have to get out a God family message.” 

As usual, no message about Jesus, grace, justification, and mercy, just more law, and god/goddess crap.  

“The Law is essential for this church to survive.” [Without the Law the members would find they are under grace and would leave. See: The Law of Moses and the Grace of God.] 

As usual, Jesus is shoved to the back burner and only trotted out when necessary, usually around the so-called Passover time and even then, after they kill him again on the stage they leave them there for another year as they live miserable lives as sinners for another year. 

“God is going to forget the Laodiceans’ children if they forget God’s Law.” [Won’t this crazy statement make the PCG youth, especially the children of top ministers, feel special and glad that they are part of an elite, favored group?] 

This is such crap, but what should we expect from a cult that worships at the altar of Moses and blasphemes the Christ they claim to follow. 

Over the top statement—> “We have to be God to be married to God. That’s an amazing truth.” [It’s also an amazing lie.] 

 

[Note: For those who want to look into this “God family” doctrine, it is covered in our two Mystery of the Ages critiques.] 

 

After quoting from Malachi where it says Elijah would turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, etc., GF says the reason they have SEP is because God says (primarily says to the ministers but also to those who follow them), “If you refuse to teach that, you are going to lose your eternal life.” … “That’s very serious for you young people, and you have to understand this.” [Do the Scriptures anywhere say we can lose our eternal life? If we could, it wouldn’t be eternal.] 

Only in Armstrongism can one lose one's eternal life for the silliest of things. It is an impossibility for anyone who follows Jesus. Christianity has understood this for centuries, but not Armstrongite COG's though.

Also, when has the Philadelphia Church of God EVER turned the hearts of the fathers to their children? What they've done is break up families and marriages due to the asinine and perverted teaching that PCG members are to cut off all contact with family, spouses, and children who have left the church. Who can forget them telling the mother of a handicapped child to leave it at the mall so the state could take care of it which would then allow the mother to give more money to the church! Disgusting people!

There was talk about how the hearts are being turned to the fathers, etc. [When have the children’s hearts been turned to the fathers or vice versa? See: Testimonies From Child Survivors.] GF has blinders on, just as HWA did, in thinking everything is so wonderful and marvelous with the young people in PCG. Isn’t it the children of the top ministers that claim all is wonderful? 

Exactly! Its Flurry's grandkids and the elite children of elite PCG higher-ups that benefit from all kinds of privilege in the church, they are the only ones who benefit. 

He says Satan has turned 95% of God’s people [now Laodiceans] away and “Satan can seduce you right away.” [Wouldn’t this make Satan more powerful than God? He read several scriptures in I John yet didn’t understand what he was reading. 

Once again the all-powerful god of the PCG and the COG is able to turn people away from Flurry's so-called truth. When people are not at rest in the one they claim to follow and understand their security in HIm then of course they can be swayed by stupid ministers and church leaders. 

Crazy statement—–> “Christ must be with your Spirit. … If Christ isn’t with that Spirit the Spirit won’t help you.” GF could not even understand Galatians 5:18 (which he read): “But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.” He quickly went right on to say, “If you don’t keep the Law the Law will break you.” [Where does it say that in the Bible?] 

More law nonsense. Law is used only as a matter of control in the Church of God but what more should we expect when they deny the one who made a new covenant with the people. A covenant that does not include any of Flurry's law he claims is necessary.

He talked a lot about the movie Star Wars at the end and said if they (the youth) have the work ethic like George Lucas did, God is going to “bless their lives in ways like they could probably never imagine.” “If you really want to make it with God, you’re going to have to be a great servant. … an outstanding servant to God–to His Work, to His message, getting this message out.” [This would include giving their money to PCG.] 

More legalistic bullshit. The new covenant does not demand endless works in order to impress God to save you by the skin of your teeth.  

GF said he loved the music in Star Wars, but said it’s all fantasy. [Seems that what GF is preaching is fantasy] And we have to “proclaim this God family message.” After stating, “Let the real force be with you,” he played the theme of Star Wars loudly at the end. 

 

Does Gerald Flurry speak the truth? Does he have the Holy Spirit within him? Or is he unregenerate, hardened to the suffering and evil he has caused and even allows? Has he given himself over to a reprobate mind? Has he been taken over by a lying spirit? Isn’t this what happens to those who claim they “speak for God,” have received “new revelation,” appropriate biblical titles for themselves that belong to Christ, and then go on to leave Christ Jesus out as Lord and Savior and the center of their message, and of the entire Bible, failing to focus on Him, but instead focus on fables and lies? 

Does Flurry speak the truth? No!

Does Flurry have the Holy Spirit? No!

Is Flurry unregenerate? Yes!

Is Flurry a liar? Yes! 

Does Flurry follow Jesus? No! 

This warning has been given before. Get out before it is too late! –sermon critiqued by L. S.

Amen to that! Get out of the PCG ASAP! Your very life depends upon it! 

Glynn Washington On Racism And Life In The Worldwide Church of God Culture

End-time prophecies? 

Memorizing the bible? 

Required church vacations your family can't afford? 

Snap Judgment host and creator Glynn Washington shares his experiences 

growing up in the apocalyptic religion the Worldwide Church of God. 

He tells the girls about believing the end of the world was imminent, 

the white supremacist roots of the group 

and how he was forbidden from dating outside of his race, 

and the book that began to change his thinking. 

If you have your own story about cults, high-control groups, manipulation, or abuse of power, 

leave us a voicemail at 513-900-2955, OR shoot us an email at trustmepod@gmail.com. 

FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM: @trustmepodcast @oohlalola @vibehigherbitch 

OR TWITTER: @trustmecultpod @ohlalola

Listen here: #39: Glynn Washington - The Worldwide Church of God

Would You Trust A Self-Appointed Crackpot COG Prophet Talking To You About Sex, Marriage And Birth Control?

 

Bible sex, the only way to do it...

There is nothing nastier than COG ministers and leaders sticking their noses into COG member's bedrooms. Far too many of them seem to make it their goal to make member's lives as miserable as they can and controlling what people do in their bedrooms is their ultimate control.

Rod Meredith was the king of that in the church. He wielded a heavy hand when he was over Church Administration when he stuck his nose into thousands of marriages over the years. Far too many of them he broke up. Add to that his incessant need to talk about sex in sermons, bible studies, and in classroom lectures and you have the perfect meddlesome minister.

Now Bwana Bob Thiel is following in the steps of his spiritual daddy (Rod Meredith) and is now telling his 4,000 some African members and his 299 Caucasians what kind of sex to have.

Given that Bwana Elijah Thiel is such a theological nightmare in the crap that he teaches, would you trust him to tell you what you can and can't do in the bedroom?

He has released a "sermon" on sex and he thinks it is so sexual that it deserves a "parental discretion" advisory.

Sex and Marriage
Why is there sex and why is there marriage? Parental discretion is advised as to whether or not everything in this sermon is now appropriate for their children. Dr. Thiel goes over scriptures, “The Missing Dimension in Sex,” and provides answers to questions, such as:

• What did Jesus say about marriage?
• Are married couples biblically supposed to have sex?
• Is sex one way to express love?
• Does God have a purpose for sex?
• What are the reasons for sex in marriage?
• What are the purposes for marriage?
• How do humans differ from animals?
• Was sex really necessary?
• What are the divine purposes of sex?
• Why not fornication or adultery?
• Is marriage supposed to be a God-plane relationship?
• Are families intended as a God-plane relationship?
• How does reproduction picture spiritual salvation?
• What are the different types of love?
• What type of love should Christians have?

 

• Is oral sex allowed?
• Is anal sex prohibited by scripture?
• Should intercourse be avoided during a woman’s menstrual cycle?
• Is it appropriate to enjoy your five senses?
• Are Christian couples supposed to produce godly offspring?
• What about building character and God’s deification plan?

Today, Sunday, July 18, he pops back on with a sermon on birth control. 

Can Christians Use Birth Control?

There are various views on birth control as well as various methods. Time magazine has covered some history of it (and even mentioned Casanova). Did Jesus make a statement that might be consistent with birth control? In this video, Dr. Thiel goes over some of that as well as some relevant scriptures. He also mentions positions of the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Continuing Church of God. Dr. Thiel also provides some quotes from the book “The Missing Dimension in Sex” about this topic. He discusses methods of birth control and points out which are abortive and which are not. Timing, herbal, and barrier methods are discussed.

Always majoring in the minors and never in the grace-filled life real believers live in. Such a pathetic meddlesome little man.