As the United Church of God steps away from the world and leaves it behind, Rick Shabi is learning that people in third-world impoverished countries exist and life is pretty tough for most of them. Who knew?
There are experiences in life that cause us to look at the world in a different way and to understand our absolute need for Christ and God’s Spirit. In 2 Corinthians 4:4, Paul tells us that Satan is the “god of this age.” The world is quickly becoming more and more like him. As God’s people, we are called to become more and more like God. We must make choices to leave the world and its ways and attitudes behind and choose to follow God, and to live the way of life to which He has called us.
We see the evidence of a quickly changing system and set of values in Western culture that is headed in the direction of totalitarianism—attempting to dominate our lives in every aspect. God has graciously and kindly given us time now to be turning ever more closely to Him and away from the world, and to wake up to what is going on around us so that we are not caught “sleeping” when the “time” comes.
Life in the West is much different than life in other parts of the world, I continue to learn. The pressures we feel in the United States are literally “nothing” compared to what our brethren around the world face every day.
Well, no shit Sherlock! The Church of God has always paid lip service to those in other nations, particularly third-world countries.
Never forget how the pressure was so great upon the top leadership of the United Church of God when they chose to apostatize from the Worldwide Church of God and start a new church. They spent an entire year ensuring the money flow was intact before they all jumped off the fence they had been sitting upon for the previous year, never once concerned about those living a "different life" in other parts of the world. The church leadership has always had priorities and it was always the top down. Third-world countries and members were at the bottom of the pyramid.
