Monday, September 18, 2023

LCG's "Christ" Getting Ready To Spank The World - It will Be A Sobering Event




Spanking time is ahead!

Sobering Surprises Ahead: Jesus came into this world preaching the Gospel of the coming Kingdom of God (Mark 1:14–15). He also said He will return (John 14:1–3) at a time when the future of human civilization is threatened (Matthew 24:21–22). However, today the world has forgotten God and rejected His ways (Jeremiah 3:21), and His word—the Bible—is viewed as a strange thing (Hosea 8:12). As a result, the return of Jesus Christ will come as a sudden surprise to most people because they will not be expecting this sobering event (Matthew 24:42–44). The Feast of Trumpets is an annual reminder that Jesus Christ is going to return and dramatically intervene in human affairs to save mankind from destruction. When He comes back the world will be shocked at the power of His intervention, but at that time “they shall know that I am the Lord,” as mentioned more than 60 times in the book of Ezekiel (6:7, 10, 13–14 are just a few examples). Will you be ready for that historic event, or will you be surprised?

Have a profitable Sabbath,

Douglas S. Winnail

LCG Tells Its Men To Take Control of Their Wives And Only Allow One Piece Bathing Suits If They Let Them Swim During The "Feast"


 

It is "Feast" time in COGland and the Living Church of God is laying down the law again on proper dress at the feast for church services and for the beach. LCG members apparently are still too stupid after close to 20 years of hearing this crap that they need to be reminded of every year.

Does LCG have real men who are leaders of their families? I guess that's why they have to have yearly retreats for men on how to be masculine and leaders.


What About at the Beach?
Appropriate beach attire for women and men at the Feast of Tabernacles is swimwear that is modest and in good taste. We should be guided by the two great commandments—to love God and love neighbor (Matthew 22:37–39; Mark 12:29–31)—so as not to offend God or neighbor in our dress at the Feast. Accordingly, following our Living Youth Programs policy, beachwear at the Feast for ladies should be a modest one-piece or a modest tankini (covering the mid-section), and for the men, no Speedo-type suits (unless pool facility rules require them, as is the case in some countries). Fathers and husbands have a responsibility to be leaders in their families to teach and guide regarding what is appropriate and what is not (Ezekiel 22:26).

Sunday, September 17, 2023

The Rotten Fruit of Self-proclaimed Prophets and Teachers On Book of Revelation


 


QUESTION:

I think I once heard you say something like, “At the council of (something), they concluded that Revelations should not be used for determining theology. It was to be used for worship, etc.” Where can find resources to back up that statement? 

RESPONSE:

Not exactly, but something like that. The idea was the dogma (non-negotiable doctrine) of the ancient church was finalized before Revelation was formally included in the canon of the New Testament. In other words, since Revelation wasn’t officially included as Scripture, it wasn’t a building block of our creedal theology.

That’s not to say Revelation shouldn’t be in the Bible or that previous authors hadn’t included it in their suggested lists. For example, Athanasius of Alexandria had included it in his 39th Festal Letter). But if we’re referring to formal affirmations, it’s just a chronological fact that the councils established Christianity’s non-negotiable dogma before later councils formalized our New Testament canon.

Why was that? There was hesitation about the book of Revelation by some key people for some important reasons. For example, circa 350 AD, Cyril of Jerusalem was unhappy about how the Montanist cult had latched onto it to spread false teachings (https://www.bible-researcher.com/cyril.html). Gregory of Nazianzus, the first eminent chair of the second council (381 AD in Constantinople), which finalized the Nicene Creed, did not include it in his list

It was only 12 years later that the Council of Hippo canonized Revelation (393 AD), confirmed by the Council of Carthage (397) and the Council of Carthage (419). 

So the basic math is that Revelation couldn’t be used to establish creedal dogma if it wasn’t canonized until after the creed was ratified. 

But once canonized, the church recognized its use as a call to faithfulness to Christ and to patient endurance through persecution. It also generated beautiful hymnography around Christ our Passover Lamb, who has conquered death and is making all things new. So, I regard Revelation as canonical but would not derive any doctrine from it that we don’t already have in the four Gospels, Acts, and the NT epistles.  

But so what? It matters to us for the same reason it mattered to dear old Cyril. We’ve seen the rotten fruit of generations of self-proclaimed prophets and teachers who have perverted this beautiful book into apocalyptic cults that prey on their credulous flocks. The Book of Revelation has been misused to terrorize anxious believers and then exploit them by offering solutions with alleged insider information that you pay dearly for in order to escape what’s coming. 

Instead, let us read this book just as it was intended. NOT an End Times Code but as a retelling of the gospel in cosmic imagery, where the Lamb on the Cross in John’s Gospel is one and the same Lamb on the Throne, seen from heaven’s perspective.  DOCTRINE & REVELATION (THE BOOK) – BRAD JERSAK