New Book: From Babylon to America: Exposing Anglo-Israelism and Nationalism in the Churches of God

From Amazon book review:

As Christianity adopted to the needs of nations and empires over the centuries, the Gospel message as originally delivered by Christ and the Apostles has become remarkably domesticated. This fact cannot be more exemplified by the influence of western nationalism and its adoption into bolstering church programs. When American Christian circles believe that the nations of the western world share in God's work, nationalist attitudes, fueled by the belief in a need to defend God's interests, are easily adopted into the teachings and language of its own culture. National security, economic and societal stability become integrated into church messaging. Christians in the west have even adopted the tenets of capitalism and democratic ideals into their belief system to the point of accepting they are precursors to the Kingdom of God. From Babylon to America is an initial examination of the problem by exposing the damaging effects of Anglo-Israelism and nationalism. Any adoption of Anglo-Israelism is one of the root belief systems that have led many to believe that America and the Anglo world has a national and genetic ordination to proliferate the Gospel. The prosperity, power and freedoms of the Anglo world is considered as evidence of this belief. When western nations become under threat from internal strife and foriegn powers, the fear of losing these privileges and securities become central to the congregational conversation, usurping the Gospel message of the of true freedom and security in Jesus Christ.

From Babylon to America: Exposing Anglo-Israelism and Nationalism in the Churches of God

You need DISCIPLINE!!!!!!!!!!!

 

This has been floating around different COG mailing lists.

Your thoughts?

LCG: The next 1 - 5 years will be traumatic!

How many decades did we hear Rod Meredith, while he was in WCG, GCG, and LCG, claim we had less than 5 years till the crap hits the fan? LCG is still on that bandwagon. In a letter to the faithful and co-workers, Gerald Weston stirs up the fear factor once again.

We will all see rough times in life—and so will this Work of God—but God will always bring us through those difficulties if we love Him, as shown by our actions in obeying Him, and put our trust in Him. I urge you, dear brethren and co-workers, to have faith in God. He will see each of us through whatever difficult times there will be, and there will be extremely difficult times going forward. I doubt that any of us can imagine how traumatic the next one to five years will be, but as Jesus encourages us, “Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near” (Luke 21:28).

Of course, there is no other Church of God on earth who is as qualified as the Living Church of God is in preparing its people for a soon coming trauma. Remember, the COG needs tragedy and trauma to happen in order to prove they are the possessors of the truth and that salvation is only available through them because they are so enlightened.

One fact is for certain—God is in control. While He is allowing mankind sufficient rope to “hang itself,” He will not forsake His Work here on earth. Nor will He forsake those of you who are His. King Solomon declared, “The Lord will not allow the righteous soul to famish, but He casts away the desire of the wicked” (Proverbs 10:3). David wrote, “I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread” (Psalm 37:25). 

 

And how can we forget Paul’s reminder: “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). The late Dr. Roderick C. Meredith reminded us to read that verse carefully. Too many quote the part that says, “all things work together for good” without noticing the qualifiers—“to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Loving God is more than an emotion. The Apostle John explained: “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). And Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15).

As usual, time is short and the end is nigh, thus LCG members need to stop their revelry, lust, strife, and drunkenness:

Paul also reminds us of this comforting truth, while giving us vital admonitions to go along with that truth: “And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts” (Romans 13:11-14).  Octobr 12, 2021 Coworker/Member letter

Leaders Need To Repent

 

Leaders Need To Repent

by Wes White

Colin Powell died from Covid complications yesterday. In many ways, he was a good guy. 

But let’s talk about Colin Powell in light of repentance. I am not trying to start a debate on race, Covid, vaccinations, conspiracy theories, etc. Again, the issue at the moment is repentance. 

Powell was flat-out wrong when he told the UN that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. He admitted this error years later. 

Apologists for Powell say that he was stating the truth as he saw it. They say he genuinely believed at the time of his UN speech that Hussein did indeed possess weapons of mass destruction. Let’s assume this is correct. 

My question is this: “Why did Powell not eventually apologize for the damage done because of the promotion of this lie?” 

Sure, he admitted his error, but I can’t find that he ever apologized. There is a difference between admitting error and an apology. And if he really did apologize for all the damage he contributed to, then I will request that this post be deleted from Banned. 

This false claim that he promoted caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. It mentally and physically crippled hundreds of thousands more. It impoverished untold thousands of Iraqi citizens. It cost the US trillions of dollars. It enriched thieves thru graft and corruption. It destabilized the Middle East. It reduced America’s standing in the world. It made Iran stronger. 

 
Now, this is not to say that Powell was SOLEY responsible for all the bad that came from this lie. There are others who bear more blame than he. That’s not my focus. 

The point is that Powell should have apologized for his lie, whether it was deliberate or inadvertent. 

One of the WCG blog sites has a ministerial Hall of Shame. It lists all the WCG ministers who contributed (large or small) to the damage done by WCG’s unchristian leadership. If a man wants to be removed from this wall of shame, he must apologize for his role in the hurt that was inflicted on innocent people by the WCG. And that is not too much to ask. So this Wall of Shame is a good thing. 

Armstrongites have two major problems: 

1) They are not willing to hold these ministers accountable for their past actions. They continue to follow these false teachers long after it had been made obvious that they are/were bad shepherds. 

2) They are too willing to deify imperfect men such as HWA, GTA, Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Churchill, etc. If one is a Christian, the only person who should be held in such high esteem is Jesus — the only one who never needed repentance. 

I heard one east Texas minister say that he can never admit he made a mistake. He said such an admission would be taken by his enemies as a sign of weakness. This attitude encapsulates so much of what is wrong with the Armstrongite ministry — past and present. They do not understand repentance. In Christianity, repentance is vital. 

 
Without repentance, Christianity cannot exist. Without repentance, a person cannot be a Christian.

MOST RECENT UPDATE: Feast COVID Infections Rising Rapidly, Including Nine Death's

UPDATE:  

Church of God Assembly (COGNews)
Members have been fasting and praying because of the ‘unprecedented’ number of church people who have recently fallen sick due to Covid-19 and other illnesses.
Sheldon Monson’s nephew, Michael Case, died just before the festival, and there have been 4 deaths since then, including his own sister, Anne Burns.

A UCG Pastor now has died from COVID-19, in the wake of the Feast. Randy D'Allesandro, pastor in Chicago and Beloit, WI, died this past Wednesday. 

Philadelphia Church of God, Edmonton Feast site has lots of infections now as PCG tries to keep it quiet.

Every COG internet prayer request mailing list and Facebook group are now listing scores of infections.

COGNews is reporting that 1/3 of COGWA attendees at its Rapid City site have now tested positive for covid, 90 out of 270 people with 4 hospitalized.

COG Big Sandy now has 14 new confirmed cases and LCG has 3 ministers sick in addition to lots of members.

One of the three men who organized the independent Feast site at Land Between the Lakes, KY now has covid and has raved about the new film, COVIDLAND.

Numerous emails have been coming in from various COG groups with people listing names of COG members who have gotten sick with COVID while attending the Feast of Tabernacles this year. A lot of these emails include posts from various COG Facebook groups with people's names and photos who are requesting prayers.

One of Mark Armstrong's ministers was so sick he could not even make it home after the Feast and had to stay in a member's home to recover well enough to travel again.

The person who sent this one in commented:

I wonder if, during the remainder of their journey, they had the decency to mask up and social distance when they stopped for gas and bathroon breaks?

Yeah, right.  🙄.  Stupid question.   

Sadly a member from the Mid-Missouri COG has died from the virus.

The Tulsa Church of God has been hit hard by members being infected.

The Texarkana Church of God International has also been hit hard. 

Sadly, these are just the tip of the iceberg with the COG community as a whole. Far more are sick in other congregations and church groups. Many of the groups are restricting the information from getting out especially if it is tied to covid.

One Living Church of God member said that she knows of at least 4 people who got infected at the Feast.

COG leaders knew they were taking a risk in holding these Feast site locations, but went ahead and did it anyway. The almighty dollar still controls most decisions in COG's these days and the fact that they think they are immune to the disease because they are God's chosen people.