LCG Claims Disgruntled Members Are Pulling Loose Bricks Out Of The Walls Of LCG

 

It is time boys and girls for the weekly Friday Night Love Letter To The Brethren Smackdown!

This week is about LCG members who are looking for loose bricks in the walls of the LCG that they can pull out when they disagree with leaders, misspoken words, poor understanding of sermons, doctrines, or editorial mistakes. LCG members seem to forget that there are NO PERFECT leaders in the LCG. Instead, LCG members need to realize that God is using the present-day imperfect leaders on the same scale he used Moses, Aaron, Samuel, David, Peter, and Paul in the past. 

Seriously? 

Winnail expects us to believe that today's LCG leadership is on the same level as Biblical leaders of old?

Loose Bricks or Big Picture: Over the years, many have come into contact with the Church and have been excited to learn the Truth. Others have been grateful to reconnect after having been away. Still others who have been part of the Church begin to look for loose bricks. From time to time, some begin to focus on doctrinal teachings or decisions they disagree with, editorial mistakes, misspoken (or misunderstood) words in a sermon, or personal offenses they have seen or experienced. It is easy to forget that no one is perfect and that God has used imperfect people down through the ages to do His Work—Moses, Aaron, Samuel, David, Peter, and Paul. To avoid slipping into this negative trap, we need to stay focused on the big picture. Is there a God? Is the Bible His inspired word? Does God have a Church? Where is it today? Where is the Gospel being powerfully preached? Who has had a more sure word of prophecy? Who is warning the world about sobering events that lie just ahead, before the imminent return of Jesus Christ? Who is preparing a people for the coming Kingdom of God? We need to stay focused on this big picture and not get caught up looking for loose bricks!

Have a profitable Sabbath, Douglas S. Winnail

Notice where Winnail tells us that we need to place our focus:

Is there a God?

Is the Bible His inspired word?

Does God have a church?

Where is that church today?

Where is the Gospel being powerfully preached?

Who has the more sure word of propehcy?

Who is warning the world about sobering events that lie ahead before Christ returns?

Who is preparing a people for the Kingdom of God?

Notice that the focus is entirely upon the physical aspects of who is doing the better job. Nowhere is anyone encouraged to find rest in the words of Jesus. No one is told about the grace and peace that comes from being a follower of The Way. What good is some Mickey Mouse Kingdom that the COG preaches about without Jesus being part of the message?

All any of us witness anymore with the various COG's in a constant pissing battle over who is doing things the best. LCG and Thiel battle over who has the "sure word of prophecy". Each COG claims they are the one true church, above all other COG's. No one is preaching a more powerful message than LCG, Bob Thiel, Gerald Flurry, Ron Weinland, or Dave Pack. People are so sick of this endless pissing contest that most no longer care. Most no longer want to be in the Mickey Mouse Kingdoms they're all promoting.

 

Living Church of God Continues to Struggle from COVID and Delta Virus Infections

 

The latest from the LCG:

Greetings from Charlotte, 

 

As Mr. Weston reported last week, both he and his wife have contracted the coronavirus. Be sure to pray fervently for their healing as well as others who became ill at or after the Living Youth Teen Camp. Several have already recovered, but the global danger has not significantly diminished. In the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has even recommended that vaccinated individuals wear masks “indoors and in certain parts of the country” (“CDC Changes Guidelines on Indoor Masks,” Wall Street Journal, July 28, 2021, p. A1).” Several headquarters employees are under quarantine and working from home. But the Work is moving ahead powerfully. We just received newly printed copies of Tomorrow’s World magazine, August edition, which posts a circulation of 488,000. We anticipate passing the half-million mark within the next two issues! This afternoon, our television crew will be taping my program “The Dangerous Times of the Gentiles,” offering The Beast of Revelation: Myth, Metaphor or Soon-Coming Reality? The three-and-one-half years leading up to the return of Christ will be very dangerous and ultimately include World War III and Armageddon. Be sure to read Luke the 21st chapter, in which our Lord admonished us to watch and pray always! The TV department is also working on the November Semi-Annual DVD “Taking a Stand: Three Censored Tomorrow’s World Telecasts.” 

Weston is apparently not well enough to write this week's update to the brethren.

As for the rest of the above comment by Richard Ames, it is the same old WCG message of doom and gloom that has been preached for decades. Can LCG not come up with something new and original? Perhaps talk about finding peace in the grace of Jesus Christ? If LCG members were encouraged to find that rest and peace with Jesus then they would not be so consumed by who the Beast is and the myths and metaphors of Revelation. Does anyone outside of the COG even care about the "times of the Gentiles"? Those that are at rest with Christ do not need to let this consume their daily lives. 

Headquarters is looking forward to the new semester for on-site Living Education students who will be arriving Friday, August 6. They will study a variety of subjects and experience challenging real life adventures in their pursuit of “Recapturing True Values.” We all should strive to be living those biblical values as we overcome day by day. 

Just what "true values" are they recapturing? Twenty-some years out of the Worldwide Church of God and they still are seeking those elusive true values.  Perhaps if they sought the things Jesus brought to the table instead of worshipping the feet of Moses, those "true values" might actually be found. 

Mr. Peter Nathan visited our ministers in western Kenya where churches are not allowed to congregate. He writes, “Most of the congregations have been meeting in small groups in members’ homes to avoid the regulations. The actions of the pastors to care for their flocks has been most commendable.” Mr. Nathan then flew to Accra, Ghana to meet with several groups. Next he will be visiting the Ivory Coast and Togo before returning to the UK. Your prayers for Mr. Nathan’s travels will be appreciated. It’s encouraging to know that God has called or is calling people “out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9).—Richard Ames

Prophet Robert's Charming Gospel: Good Luck with that...

 

Prophet Robert Thiel notes and dislikes that...

"Nearly Quarter of Americans Carry Lucky Charms

Nearly one in four Americans carries a good luck charm at least occasionally, according to a new survey.

According to a YouGov poll, seven percent of Americans carry a lucky charm every day, four percent said they carry one frequently, and 13 percent said they carry one occasionally. Seventy percent said they don’t carry a charm.

A lucky charm could be a shirt, a pair of shoes, a coin, a bracelet, or a piece of ribbon. In fact, at the World Cup, star Lionel Messi tied a ribbon given to him by a fan around his ankle.

According to Elle magazine, actress Cameron Diaz wears a lucky necklace, as does Lindsay Lohan. Actor Benicio Del Toro is reported to have a lucky ring.

Women are slightly more likely to carry a charm, with 26 percent saying they carry one at least occasionally, compared to 20 percent of men who say they do. 07/13/18 

So the above is talking about 80 million Americans.

However, if you include religious icons like crosses, the amount of Americans who carry ‘good luck charms’ is much higher. Plus, various tattoos are considered to be ‘good luck."

Nearly Quarter of Americans Carry Lucky Charms

Since Prophet Bob hangs out so much in the Old Testament with his heroes Moses and Amos, a moment of pause to consider the idolatrous behavior of Moses as he creates God's talisman in this charming story for the healing of the people, but only for those who look upon it. 

And then! On top of that! We find it is a type of Jesus on the cross.

I recall as a kid in Sunday School wondering why God would be so incensed as to send poisonous snakes to "try and tell the Israelites something", as Bob might say.  And then, of all things, choose a  bronze snake on a stick, breaking his own rules,  to point to Jesus? And why would you have to look at it in the desert to be healed of snakebites? Sounds superstitious and talisman-like to me. But that's just me.

No lookey no healey. 

Numbers 21…8Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will live.” 9So Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it on a pole. If anyone who was bitten looked at the bronze snake, he would live.

For the moment evidently, so much for ...

Exodus 20…3You shall have no other gods before Me. 4You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath. 5You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,…

We'll leave the Urim and Thummim, all sparkly, talisman-like, and charming with symbolic precious stones for representing each Tribe as YHVH's OT version of  "Call me at the office"  for another time.

In the Hebrew Bible, the Urim and the Thummim (Hebrew: הָאוּרִים וְהַתֻּמִּים‎, Modern: ha-Urim veha-Tummim Tiberian: hāʾÛrîm wəhatTummîm; meaning uncertain, possibly "Lights and Perfections") are elements of the hoshen, the breastplate worn by the High Priest attached to the ephod. They are connected with divination in general, and cleromancy in particular. Most scholars suspect that the phrase refers to a set of two objects used by the high priest to answer a question or reveal the will of God.^[1][2]

The Urim and the Thummim first appear in Exodus 28:30, where they are named for inclusion on the breastplate to be worn by Aaron in the holy place. Other books, especially 1 Samuel, describe their use in divination.

Urim and Thummim