Spreading Christmas Shade

Growing up in an irreligious home, I hardly saw a connection between Jesus and Christmas. I could tell even as a young teen that it was more about marketing to maintain the health of a consumer-based economy. So when I turned into COG-land in college and was told Christmas was pagan and should not be observed, it was an easy sell. 

But what always struck me as bizarre was the sheer vitriol expressed by church members toward the holiday and those that celebrated it. The historical arguments tying every little element of the season directly to rank paganism and Mystery Babylon the Great, while interesting, failed in bolstering their arguments with direct Scripture. I learned later that there was another school of thought with compelling historical evidence that first and second century Christians were observing Sundays and celebrating the birth and resurrection of Christ, completely unrelated to paganism. In fact, paganism specifically related to the Roman cult of Sol Invictus was not part of the Roman culture until the fourth century. This would suggest that Roman paganism had very little influence on Christianity for three centuries. And from a logical standpoint, it makes no sense that Christians were regularly filling the first chapters of Fox's book of martyrs if they were socially engineering the empire, syncretizing with their persecutors.

For years, I've watched ministerial wannabe's parade up to the lecturn every December with sermonettes to end all sermonettes on the greatest evil to ever befall mankind. In between all their spit and rage, I would have to ask myself: what does roasting babies in Babylon have to do with present-day Christians like my brother and his lovely family who partake of normal family rituals like eating together, singing together and worshipping together at a time when they all acknowledge that Jesus was the Christ that came in the flesh? He was born a man and every year, Christians re-enact nativity scenes, acknowledging that belief.

I was surprised when I came across an article by COGWA about Christmas this year that was trying to take a rather new (to me) and novel approach to throwing shade at Christmas.

The title, "The Incarnation: How Christmas Hides Its Meaning" caught my attention. Mike Bennett asks, "If Christmas is really about the birth of the Son of God, why do so many concentrate on Christmas shopping and whitewashed pagan customs, while so few focus on the incredible, life-changing truth of the incarnation?"

Mike goes on to argue that very few people focus on the incarnation of Jesus. His evidence is all the extras surrounding the holiday and the growing number of secularists around the globe who could care less about the incarnation.

While all of that is true, what Mike fails to realize is that people who do consider themselves devout Christians, DO, in fact, care about the incarnation and do put that at the center of their observance. Every year, my brother's family (even if not historically or Biblically accurate completely) re-enact the nativity story at their church. There is absolutely nothing about their Christmas observance that hides the "incredible, life-changing truth of the incarnation."

What is fantastically ironic about Mike's attempt at throwing shade at the holiday, only highlights how the COG's never celebrate or acknowledge the incarnation  whereas Christians observing Christmas, rehearse that truth every single year without the prompting of Scripture. How is celebrating Christ's birthday, the incarnation (not solicited in Scripture) actually any different from Armstrongists that observe Independence Day and Thanksgiving (not solicited in Scripture) to honor God or Jews that observe Purim and Hanukkah to honor God for delivering them from their enemies?

120 years of additional research and scholarship has transpired since the Adventist movement took aim at everything Catholic as being directly adopted from the Babylonian Mystery religions. There is evidence that suggests Christians adopted Sunday and celebrated the Resurrection and the Birth of Christ within the first 100 years and it had nothing to do with the paganism and secularism that surrounded and persecuted them. Were they man-made observances not sanctioned by Scripture? YES! Does that automatically make them pagan? NO! Not anymore pagan than Thanksgiving that Armstrongites observe or Hanukkah that Jesus and His apostles observed.

HWA and his followers have always used various forms of faulty logic.  "Dichotomous reasoning" is a COG mainstay  used to proffer "proof" for some of the faulty doctrines in the church. This is the faulty logic whereas everything is black or white, all or nothing. A two-dimensional worldview that is symptomatic of many forms of psychosis and various personality disorders.

COG's love to quote Jude when he exhorts the brethren to "earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints." This faith, they claim, is the same truths HWA restored to Christianity after 1900 years. Ignoring Biblical and historical context, another mainstay of Armstrong theology, has left them in the dark whereas scholars have been shedding light  through dark glass since the invention of the printing press.

What was the faith that needed to be contended for so earnestly? What was the biggest threat to Christianity at the close of the first century after the death of all the original apostles, save John?

I was shocked to learn that at the time of Christ, Judaism was the only religion, philosophy, worldview and culture on the whole planet that believed  or ever believed that physical fleshly life could be restored from death. This belief of a resurrection from the dead is what was "foolishness" to the Greek. The centerpiece to Christianity is accentuated by Paul in I Corinthians 15:1-4

"Now brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to Scriptures, that he was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures."

Paul goes on to list all of the eye-witnesses to the resurrected Jesus. We can see among Gentiles during Paul's apostleship, the resurrection of Jesus in the flesh was already in question 20-30 years after His death and resurrection. John tells us what was being questioned and in doubt 60 years after what Jesus accomplished in I John 2:18-23 and says plainly in 2 John 7, "I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is a deceiver and an antichrist." Jude says ungodly men are turning grace into license to sin and deny the Christ.

It does seem to appear that the biggest problem Christianity faced at the beginning was the unbelief that Christ came in the flesh as a man, died, and was resurrected in the flesh. This makes perfect sense. Once a generation arose that did not have first-hand experience with Jesus, it only stands to reason that it now may be taken by the next generation and new adherents from a non-Jewish view that compromising ideas would arise to account for who and what Jesus was and what actually happened. 

What literally came into question was the incarnation. This may be why there is evidence as early as the early 2nd century of Christians observing the birth of Christ. This was an annual acknowledgment in their faith of the incarnation that many were doubting and began filling the ranks of a new Gnostic Christianity.

This is a valid working theory that is fitting with our addition of scholarship and research over the  last 120 years. For all of the shade the Adventist Movement has thrown at Christmas down to this very week, is it even possible that the COG's could revisit the topic and reconsider just how awful they have been in portraying fellow Christians all these years?

My own opinion is that Christmas is no different from other man-made holidays that have non-pagan foundations. That means we are free to take it or leave it. I stopped observing the holiday as a teenager for non-religious reasons. I will continue to do so but without passing judgment on fellow Christians who do so for reasons completely unrelated to roasting babies in fires and participating in drunken orgies.

V

Why the Church?

In the latest Living Church News, Gerald Weston asks in his editorial, "Why the Church?" It is a good question and as anyone who has been in the COG's knows, answering "personal salvation" is a selfish, lazy and damnable answer.

"Despite this wonderful news about our future, many are surprised to learn that our personal salvation is not  [emphasis, Gerald's] the main reason why God is calling people in this present age."

"Isn't that [personal salvation] enough?" many will ask? The answer is an emphatic No!"

"Jesus gave His followers a great commission, articulated in Mark 16:15-16 and Matthew 28:18-20. As we have this divine commission as Christ's followers, is it okay to choose not  [again, emphasis, Gerald's]  to take an active part in fulfilling it? Paul tells us that Jesus said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35). Our Savior expects us to show outgoing concern for others. We must not sit back and wait for the Kingdom to come, as is the manner of some."

He goes on to equivocate the wise and faithful servant as being the one spreading the gospel of the good news AND  trumpeting the "Ezekiel Warning" to the filthy house of Anglo-American Israel that has never been so wicked in all it's history as it is right now! And, of course, since you know the Living Church of God is the only qualified organization on earth to fulfill this God-given role at this end-time, you would be remiss not to support such a Work and can count on untold suffering and death if you don't.

"Warn and walk away" is not what Jesus instructed...It should be evident that the Church is both to give the good news and to warn, with the hope that some will repent."

Because we all know when we do the work...and someone repents...this is called...personal salva-

"Some who consider themselves part of the Church of God have disputed this point-either actively by misinterpreting the words of Scripture and proclaiming that there is nothing for us to do, or passively through laziness and inaction. So, are we to 'wait it out' until Christ returns, or are we to do a work?" 

Gerald belittles those who may think Herb finished the work and we are simply to prepare the bride by saying these folks use "one-third of one verse" [Rev.19:7] as proof. Then he can't resist invoking the idol in closing:

"Mr. Herbert Armstrong died in January of 1986--about 34 years ago. Most people alive today know nothing of him. Two whole generations have grown up since his death. We are thankful for what he did, but we must follow his example and be found so doing."

COG ministers love to use the either/or fallacy. You either support my organization or you are lazy. You do the work as we define and direct you to support or you are an inactive Christian worthy of the flood Satan will be spewing from his mouth in 3 to 5 years. Seriously, who goes around saying Christians have nothing to do? The truth is you just don't like Christians who go around saying we don't have to do what "you" want us to do.

Herb claimed that he was commissioned by God to fulfill Matthew 24:14 and I find it interesting that Gerald stayed away from that verse and instead referenced Mark 16:15-16 and coupled it with the "Ezekiel Warning."  How do we follow in Herb's footsteps? Should we proclaim Matthew 24:14 which would be going on 100 years now?

You bragged about the churches prowess in prophecy in the "Behind the Work" video at the feast. Are you going to follow Herb's lead and make wild prophetic announcements that backfire in epic proportions? How about sending faithful tithe payers threatening letters to send in special offerings needed for a "final push"? Should you buy a jet and bribe Prince Andrew for a photo-op? We could probably use another Elijah about now to get things going.

What all COG's have always failed to realize is that the purpose of the church and the 'work' is [emphasis mine] personal salvation at its genesis and its core. To rejoice with the angels in Heaven when one sinner repents. Personal salvation is then supposed to inspire personal evangelism, utilizing the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The goal (why the church?) is to fulfill Matthew 25:31-46. What the church should look like is a collection of spirit-filled individuals with out-flowing love and concern for humanity in their own spheres of influence. The church should be a  public pillar in every community instead of a religious roach hiding in rented basements.

If the work you do in "spreading the gospel" does not begin with personal salvation and end in  fruits produced by personal evangelism, then what kind of work is it? 

I believed in the work of the Living Church of God and supported it faithfully with tithes and offerings for over two decades. I believed Dr. Meredith when he said we were the "spear-point" of the work. Dr. Meredith was his own kind of buffoon but he at least put forth pretense to do a work.

In 2009, I bragged about the work LCG was doing compared to UCG. (Thanks for the numbers, Bawana Bob):

• LCG:   Preaching the gospel:  45%     Feeding the flock:   47%
• UCG:   Preaching the gospel   24%     Feeding the flock:   56%

I used this as evidence that all the COG's should be in LCG. A year later when UCG imploded, I screamed, SEE! Surely now, God will bless LCG and show the world who was going to do the 'work!'

Fast forward 10 years to 2019. You have the nerve to publish an editorial shaming people into increasing support in "your" work because you claim it is the ultimate expression in love toward others. Then on p.13 in the very same issue, you produce a pie chart showing where tithe money went in 2018.

• LCG:   Preaching the gospel:   34%     Feeding the flock:   58%

In the January, 1995 edition of our booklet, “When Should You Follow Church Government” RCM states that the church has over 7,000 people hearing sermons every Sabbath with over 60 ministers and elders around the world. He finishes with this on p.41, “We are growing every single month! This is God’s doing! He is blessing us because we are seeking to do His will in a genuine, heartfelt manner.”

25 years is a long time to grow every single month. How have we done? Current estimate is 10,000 in weekly attendance. 3,000 in 25 years. 42.9% increase overall. Factor in birth/death rate and take out those who are playing musical chairs between the COG's and are not "new" converts and you have a growth rate between 0.2-0.8% per annum. To put that into perspective, even the  Catholic church with a billion members, still grows at 1.5% per annum.

Back in 1995, Dr. Meredith said he had 60 ministers and not all of them were on the payroll. Today, we have over 200. That is a 233% increase overall. In 1995, there were 117 members to each minister. In 2019, there are 50 members to each minister.

We all know what "feeding the flock" means. Add in the 7% that goes to Administration and 2/3 of all tithes and offerings go to paying ministerial salaries, mortgages, fleet cars, food, clothing and the Ambassador College retirement fund.

Gerald writes:

"We may think of the Parable of the Minas in terms of developing ourselves personally rather than in terms of multiplying our minas outwardly. And what happens to the man who does nothing with his mina?"

The COG's take minas and consume them upon themselves. And then tell the providers of those minas to bury what they have from Christ because they are not qualified to use them.

"But woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in." --Matthew 23:13

Your message is dead and year after year, you gather in your ministerial conferences, throw your arms in the air and make excuses like, "we can't figure out how to reach millenials" and "people are increasingly evil in this end time" and "we are not in the conversion business" and "real growth will be in the millenium."

You said, "We must not sit back and wait for the Kingdom to come, as is the manner of some." Does the evidence not show this is exactly what LCG is doing?

It is clear what the real work is in these dying COG organizations. I call on all brethren to stop paying unbiblical tithes and demand accountability from men who have proven over time to be unjust stewards. Declare, as the parable says, you can no longer be steward. In fact, any leader in the COG's today that was a minister in the 70's and was not fired for being a "liberal" at that time, should be retired immediately. These old men have proven to be the most unfit and unqualified men to lead according to biblical requirements. Send Ames, Weston and Winnail to Hawaii. A time-table should be established to remove the field ministry from the payroll and be required to seek employment like everyone else in the real world. Those who leave the ministry because it no longer comes with a paycheck will simply prove they were never shepherds. Dismantle the Roman Catholic governing structure and replace it with New Testament Congregationalism. Develop a Christ-centered message rooted in love that inspires growth in the body and inspires blessings to be poured out on all people.

Good stewards produce a return on investment. In 25 years, you have no fruit to speak of and the organization is clearly trending away from that which you pay lip service to. The real church (Gerald) does not require that I or anyone else support your painfully out-dated 'gospel', your flat, dead presentations, your pompous telecasts, and your inability to communicate with today's humanity. The real church is following in the footsteps of Jesus, not Herb.

Why the Church? I guess it depends who you ask.

V 

Jim Crow Church of God

There has always been an uncomfortable relationship between British-Israelism and White Supremacy. That fact probably played a role in why COG7D rejected it. British-Israelism is one of the two pillar doctrines that set HWA apart, giving him his niche to start his own information marketing business, the Radio Church of God. The COG's know this and is why they are having such a hard time departing from this debunked theory. They also need it in order to continue creating a sense of urgency surrounding the return of Christ.

Lambert Greer gave a sermon at the feast on the promise to Abraham's seed of physical blessings at the end of the age. He claimed that when he first started hearing the phrase, "white privilege" that he was offended by it. That is the typical knee jerk reaction from white people. They instantly apply it to themselves. They reason that they personally are not recipients of benefits at the detriment of people of color. They argue that no one gave them a hand-out or a free ride but that they fought for and earned everything they have. And that probably is true but white people fail to view the term in its over-arching social context and how it effects individuals of color.

This nation was established by genocide and built by stolen labor. Even after abolishing slavery, whites were quick to install Jim Crow laws, enforce segregation, establish Planned Parenthood with its real aim to abort non-white babies and federalize a fake war on drugs to supply a prison system with free non-white labor.

And so a minister says he is offended by the term, "white privilege" at first but then after thinking about it in the context of the promise made to Abraham's seed in the end times, he now understands white privilege in the framework of British-Israelism and that we should actually be INSPIRED by it!

To be inspired by white privilege achieved by the degradation and subjugation of non-whites in most horrific ways for hundreds of years exposes an egregious flaw in the world-view well-meaning white folks in the churches of God hold dear.

Just recently, LCG was very quick to point out a genome study reported by Live Science stating that there is no "gay" gene. Yet the same church refuses to acknowledge those same studies in genome research disproving British-Israelism.

When viewed critically from a long view of human history, the rise and fall of British and American empire is the most recent of a chain of empires over thousands of years. How they came by that dominance in no way differs from the way all empires rise to prominence: war, subjugation and genocide. Might makes right in this fallen world so we should take great pause before attributing blessings from God to current events.

After Abraham demonstrated his faith, God says:

"blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice."  --Genesis 22:17-18

HWA herded his followers into viewing everything through his selective interpretations of the Old Covenant, as well as Old Testament prophecy, and gave them life in an urgent present. Instead of trying to make this fit into current events, how about we accept the largeness of the blessing far beyond what we see today. Does Britain and the United States possess "all" the gates of their enemies? There is an estimated 1 septillion stars in the universe and over 7 quintillion grains of sand on earth and yet the Brits and Americans fail to outnumber over 1 billion Chinese or Indians. And finally, are "all" the nations of the earth blessed because of Britain and America? Hardly. The fulfillment of blessings on Abraham's seed are still set in a future very different from this present reality. And more importantly, when that blessing is fulfilled, what makes up Abraham's seed will be a spiritual entity. Accepting Jesus Christ as Savior should reorient our thinking about what it means to be sons of Abraham.

"just as Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness, Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, "In you all the nations shall be blessed."  --Galatians 3:6-8

"Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, "And to seeds," as of many, but as of one, "And to your Seed," who is Christ."  --Galatians 3:16

I know those who cling to British-Israelism insist that their identity is the key to unlocking prophecy BUT the reality is the growing genome research is making it impossible to discern just what an Israelite descendant would be today. And secondly, what Christ reveals concerning prophecy in the New Testament is sufficient without knowing where physical Israelites are today. This skewed perception of needing to know who the physical descendants of Israel are today is a distraction from the bigger spiritual picture.

“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” --Galatians 3:26-29

My advice to the leaders in LCG is to not cherry-pick genome research. And instead of finding inspiration in "white privilege" find it in Jesus Christ. Drop all the racist baggage inherent in British-Israelism and reorient the brethren to think the way Paul worked painstakingly to do; to tear down the wall of partition between flesh tones and genealogies, and make a new people through the power of His Holy Spirit.

"But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God..."          --I Peter 2:9-10

V

Whoring For Money

Below is the "Personal" written by Gerald Weston in the Nov.-Dec. 2019 Tomorrow's World magazine. I reproduced it in its entirety so as not to be accused of cherry-picking to twist comments out of context. I did highlight a few items so as to address them after.

HOW CAN ALL OF THIS BE FREE?

There are two of our resources that you have not likely come across. Frankly, I do not think we have advertised them to the public or mentioned them in our magazine in years. Do you know what they are?
This column is titled “Personal” for a reason. As Editor in Chief, it gives me an opportunity to communicate with you about those things that are on my mind, and in this issue, I want to answer three questions that are asked of us: “Who is behind Tomorrow’s World?,” “Is it really free?,” and “How can you pay for so much television and give away all of your materials without asking for money?”
Let me answer the second question first. Yes, everything we advertise really is free of charge—no strings attached, and no emotional appeals. We do not sell magazines, booklets, DVDs, or CDs—and we never will. Our 24-lesson Bible Study Course is sent free of charge. We do not hawk shirts, mugs, prayer cloths, or any other such items as you have likely seen peddled [interesting word choice] by other ministries.
The answer to the first question, “Who is behind Tomorrow’s World?,” explains the answer to the third. The Tomorrow’s World magazine and telecast are sponsored by the Living Church of God, which is made up of dedicated members who seek to practice “the whole counsel of God,” as the Apostle Paul referred to it in Acts 20:27. That counsel includes the biblical law of tithing (or “tenth-ing”). Most of our members faithfully and voluntarily send in their tithes and offerings throughout the year. We don’t even take up offerings during our weekly Sabbath services!
Jesus gave us our mission in Matthew 28:19–20: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” In Mark 16:15, He plainly commands, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” Furthermore, He said that we will succeed in accomplishing this mission before His return: “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).
As you well know, we never request donations on the Tomorrow’s World telecast, in our magazine, or in any of our literature. Coworkers and members of the Living Church of God take seriously Jesus’ admonition, “Freely you have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8). Or as Proverbs 23 tells us, “Buy the truth, and do not sell it” (v. 23).
A DIFFERENT APPROACH
Of the more than 290,000 current subscribers to Tomorrow’s World, only about 15 out of 100 ever contribute to this Work. Many of these do so only one or two times over a period of several years. We are grateful to all who contribute, no matter how often and no matter how much or how little. We also appreciate our subscribers who, for whatever reason, never contribute. We advertise that our literature is free, and truly it is. And this may surprise you: We are so serious about our literature being sent free of charge that we return money when the giver explicitly says he or she is sending it as “payment” for our materials. This is true for all our offices around the world. I can personally confirm this, as I was the Director of the Living Church of God and Tomorrow’s World in Canada for more than 13 years, and in the United Kingdom for a couple of years, before being transferred to our world headquarters here in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Each month, one of us—usually me—writes a letter to all our members and coworkers to express our appreciation for their support and update them on biblical prophecies and trends taking place in this world. We also give “behind the scenes” information on new developments in this Work to which they contribute.
The Living Church of God has more than 390 congregations scattered across North, Central, and South America, Australasia, the U.K. and Europe, and Africa. We, along with coworkers who have voluntarily chosen to be part of this Work, are a small but dedicated group who are willing to go against the course of this world (Ephesians 2:1–2), following the way of Jesus Christ and first-century Christianity. Our members reject pagan and heathen traditions that have infiltrated modern Christianity. We observe the days God instructs us to observe, and we follow the true doctrines found in the Bible.
At the beginning of this Personal, I referred to the two least-advertised and least-requested pieces of literature we provide. Do you know what they are? The first one is our booklet God’s People Tithe! We do not promote it frequently because we don’t want anyone thinking there is “a catch to all this free stuff.” Receiving any of our resources is not dependent in any way on donating to this Work. While this booklet is listed among our resources on the Internet and in Lesson 16 of our Bible Study Course, it is the second-least-advertised and requested booklet that we have. As I write this, very few of our subscribers even know of it. As far as I can recall, it has never been mentioned on our Tomorrow’s World telecast.  [And there is a very very good reason why which will be explained below.]
And speaking of the Internet, we do have a link on our website for anyone who wants to donate. This is only because some people want to do so and want to know how. We do not “promote” it or position it prominently, as so many websites do with theirs. It is there strictly as a service for those who want to donate of their own free will, and there is no emotional appeal made for them to do so.
So, what resource could be advertised less than our tithing booklet? The one that almost none of our subscribers (and probably not all of our members) know of is our “Planned Giving” brochure. Some of our members, coworkers, and subscribers desire to include us in their wills or make other types of planned gifts. We make this resource on estate planning available upon request to help those who want to do so.
Now, I understand that I’ve taken a risk here of bringing out the cynical nature in some. They no doubt will think this is an appeal for money—and if they do, I understand. However, we have nothing to hide, and we receive these three questions on a regular basis. I believe it is best to be open with people and simply “tell it as it is.” Tomorrow’s World is backed by the Living Church of God and others who want to contribute to this Work—and yes, all of our materials really and truly are free.
TRUSTING GOD TO PROVIDE
And more importantly, all our resources will continue to be sent free of charge. No one will call to ask you to send money or buy something. You should never feel pressured to give to this Work. We are grateful to those who do, but that is a decision between you and your Creator. We will do as we have always done—trust God to provide. For us, faith that God will provide is real. He has taken care of us, and each issue you receive of Tomorrow’s World is tangible proof.
Occasionally, we ask our subscribers to renew their free subscription—not to get them to contribute money, but to let us know that they are truly interested in receiving further issues of Tomorrow’s World. We believe this is a way to be good stewards—by not sending magazines to individuals who may no longer want them.


So, while other televangelists sell their wares with sentimental music, pictures of orphans, and teary-eyed appeals for money, we will never do that. Truly, this magazine and all our resources are free for the asking."

HOW and WHEN, my Friend

It is true that everything is free. LCG does not "peddle" materials produced to the masses. It is also true that there are never any emotional appeals. Frankly, I don't think they are capable of that. BUT all this is true as long as you never fall for the hook.

Tithing is a doctrine wholly dependent upon HOW it is framed and more importantly, WHEN it is introduced. When I first came across the teachings of HWA, one of the first things you are told is that everything the church offers is absolutely free. “Freely you have received, freely give” was Christ’s admonition to the 12 before He sent them out to preach the gospel. Most people would spend months, even years, consuming the free literature. 

But all good ad men have a hook and call to action. You can’t just sit around studying our free literature the rest of your life. No, you have to call in to HQ and get a minister to come visit your house so he can invite you into the “body of Jesus Christ.” HWA perverted the ”freely you have received, freely give” principle by using a basic marketing tool where you offer someone something for free, knowing they will feel obligated to give you something in return. It was by offering free literature, he would then guilt and scare people into sending in offerings and eventually requiring 3 tithes on top of offerings as a “member in good standing.” It has been documented that as much as 25% of the annual income came from co-worker letters guilting and scaring non-members into paying up.

HWA created a cult of “Truth” that only he had. Even though he spent 11 years in the Church of God (Seventh Day) from 1927 to 1938 and learned 16 of the 18 truths he claimed to restore to the church after 1900 years. To keep you off the trail of competition, he labeled COG7D as “Sardis” from Revelation 3:1-6. COG7D was the “dead church” so you certainly don’t want to go snooping around there. No, truth exists only in “God’s Church” and God’s Church is the Worldwide Church of God, the one and only true church organized on the planet in existence that is Philadelphian (Revelation 3:7-13) and commissioned to finish the “Work!”

The purpose of the WCG was to proclaim the gospel to the world so that the end would come (Matthew 24:14) and Jesus would return to establish His kingdom on earth. WCG was the continuation of the apostolic church of 31 A.D. and was in the final end run as Jesus was going to return in 1975. If you are not in the WCG, you will not be counted worthy to escape all of the horrors promised to come upon a wicked world. If you want to save your own skin, you better start by joining the WCG who freely gave you all this knowledge of the Bible. Fear was the dominating factor that turned co-workers into members. 

By the time you are ready to commit to attending the one true church on earth, it is because you have already studied and accepted many doctrines of the church. You have come to believe that you proved WCG is the only church and now as you start attending, there is a sense of exuberance and purpose and security and trust in the "true church." 

Once inside is where the bait and switch occurred. Once inside, you were brought under the subjection of an authoritarian cult where elitist ministers controlled everything and what was once free, now came with a price tag of 20% of your income and in certain years, 30%. On top of this was the expected offerings to pour into HQ. Now, at this time, you obviously didn’t see that you were being locked into an authoritarian cult designed to milk you of your livelihood all for the grandeur of Herb. 

It was only then, that you were introduced to the argument made by the church that tithing is a carry-over from the Old Covenant that still exists in the New Covenant by way of employing an ordained ministry and fulfilling Mathew 24:14 so we can hide safely for 3.5 years and take office in the Millenium. Tithing introduced to you at this point, in this way, after you have committed much of your time studying and being convinced you have found "the one and only true" church, made perfect sense. Any cognitive dissonance that arises in your mind at this point would be silenced by the time and effort already painstakingly invested.

Once you have gone this far down the rabbit-hole, cognitive dissonance kicks into over-drive. The term, “cognitive dissonance” is “the state of having inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes, especially as relating to behavioral decisions and attitude change.”

Put another way, “Cognitive dissonance refers to a situation involving conflicting attitudes, beliefs or behaviors. This produces a feeling of mental discomfort leading to an alteration in one of the attitudes, beliefs or behaviors to reduce the discomfort and restore balance.” This was coined by Leon Festinger, a social psychologist, after studying a UFO religious cult. He predicted that after the leader of the cult prophesied a date that the people would be taken from earth and that date came and went, the people would not abandon the cult in droves. Instead, they would self-justify a way to stay and, in fact, double down their support. His claims are questionable but this is what he says happened: The leader proclaimed the world was spared by the E.T.’s because of their devotion and the response was one of doubling down their efforts to support the leader. The people did not leave because cognitive dissonance keeps us from owning up to mistakes and admitting when we are wrong or have been fooled. No one wants to believe they are stupid or foolish so we instead, double down on our foolishness. Our pride locks us in even more and explains why people will sometimes believe crazier and crazier things over time (Enter the likes of Dave Pack, Gerald Flurry and Bob Theil).

"For we are not, as so many, peddling the word of God..." -II Corinthians 2:17

The Greek for “peddling” is KAPELEUO and  Paul’s use of  it can be most rightly translated to mean, “whoring for money.”

HWA was a business failure who turned his marketing skills on earning a living as a religious gnostic. He was an “information marketer” with a peculiar set of knowledge (gnosis) that, he claims, was kept hidden from humanity for 1900 years. The market on the “simplicity of Christ” was already saturated. HWA saw no niche in going up against the Billy Graham types. Instead, he developed a syncretistic core of teachings largely learned in the Church of God (Seventh Day) and to a lesser degree, other religious thinkers that fall out from mainstream Christianity. He used classic psychological tactics described today as the tools of a “cult guru” to control people with guilt and fear.

Gerald Weston is no HWA. In fact, all of these men who have come after are just managers of a dying cult. They are blinded and deceived by their own cognitive dissonance and continue to peddle the model of an unbiblical church structure. Facing their own cognitive dissonance would not only demand they recognize a lifetime wasted supporting and participating in an abusive cult but would require that they end their employ immediately and seek the forgiveness of thousands who they harmed as well as the one they thought they were serving all along, Jesus Christ.

They may not admit or even see how they are indeed, peddling, or whoring for money but the tactics they learned under HWA are not lost. All of the magnanimous talk up front of giving freely, refusing to take payment and never using emotional tactics is just setting the trap. But once the bait is taken, the fear and guilt trip begins. Demands on your family's livelihood are made in the name of God and if you refuse to comply (now that you are in-the-know) there will be dire consequences leading to physical suffering in this life culminating in the tribulation and ultimate spiritual, eternal destruction.

At the risk of this post being too long, I think it is worth the time to just see what the tithing booklet actually says. I recommend everyone who is in, but definitely people who are not in but considering joining LCG, to read the booklet. I am somewhat surprised that they would want the booklet on tithing on the radar of prospective members. It is counter-intuitive in how HWA used the process, not introducing the tithing doctrines until they are locked in as visiting members on a weekly basis. I think this will back-fire and I hope this post will help that to happen.

God's People Tithe!

Anyone familiar with WCG will know that many booklet titles were usually worded as a question. Even LCG has continued in that tradition since almost half the booklets are still titled with a question. So it really struck me that the booklet on tithing was the only one ever titled not only without a question mark but with an emphatic “!”

Now, that may seem like a minor and petty point to make. Perhaps, but actually makes sense from a cult’s perspective on protecting its livelihood and existence. It takes money to exist and stay relevant. A system that demands a steady income that the organization can budget from is also greatly helpful to the organization. I don’t think it is a coincidence that tithing is the only doctrine introduced to the people in a way that precludes even questioning it by its very title.

The booklet has a total of 28 pages so you would expect a lot of Scriptures to back up the church teaching that tithing is a New Testament Law. Oddly enough, there are only 4 places in Scripture to supposedly prove this “law” and they are all introduced in the first 7 pages. The booklet itself, could easily be parsed down to a 1 or 2 page article. [Disclaimer for my tithe troll: This is not a comprehensive post about tithing]

Twenty-one pages are filler used to shame, guilt and fear you into tithing. At the risk of being accused of cherry-picking and twisting quotes out of context, here are some of the quotes to prove it. I do recommend everyone read the booklet in it's entirety.

“How plain! If we are looking for an argument [against tithing] we will always find one. But if we are willing to “hunger and thirst” for righteousness…” -p.7

This implies that if you find arguments against tithing, it is because you do not hunger and thirst for righteousness. If you look for an argument against tithing, you will find one but only because your motives are wrong.

“Pay the Creator of heaven and earth the “tithes” you owe Him--plus generous offerings--and see Him become more “real” in your life as you truly serve and obey Him.” -p.17

This implies God is not real in your life and you are not truly serving and obeying Him if you don’t tithe.

“Others who may know that you are a tithe-payer can see you learning to love, fear, obey and serve your Creator.” -p.19

This implies you cannot learn to love, fear, obey and serve God if you do not pay tithes. And others won’t even be able to recognize you as a real Christian if you don’t tithe. This is one of the most absurd of the comments in the booklet.  

"The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other people--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'"  --Luke 18:11-12

“Another vitally important lesson tithing teaches is true humility and heartfelt obedience to our Creator.” -p.19

This implies you cannot learn true humility and heartfelt obedience if you do not tithe. I guess the Pharisee in Luke 18 was a godly example of humility after all.

“And by faithfully tithing, we learn another important lesson—faith.” -p.19

This implies you cannot learn faith if you do not tithe. Relying on God, does indeed build faith. Unfortunately, faith can be built by doing something in ignorance and not required. 

“Tithing done in a good attitude will positively affect your life now in so many ways, but all the more powerfully for all eternity in tomorrow’s world!” -p.21

This implies a good life now and eternal life is only given to those who tithe.

“And most important for you personally, find that Work which shows how you can escape being destroyed during those same prophesied events.” -p.23

This is important for LCG to emphasize because of the competition that exists today. There are basically only 3 main groups but they are all roughly the same in membership and work size which is sad in both accounts. I would argue in the first 10 years, the GCG-LCG camp was doing more of a work than any others. But since then, it has reached a lifeless homeostasis with the rest of COGland. But it is important to point out once again, the use of fear, but not only in not tithing but to fatally tithe to the wrong ministerial retirement fund.

“We are not preaching a gospel of “prosperity and wealth”…Nevertheless, God does materially bless and prosper those who properly follow His laws of financial success. If we faithfully tithe and do our part, the great God whom we serve will never let us down!” -p.25

Wait. Maybe this is the most absurd. This implies we do teach a prosperity gospel and if you don’t tithe, God will let you down. Implies? No, this just says straight up that while we would never admit to teaching the health and wealth snake oil doctrine used so effectively today by Olsteen, Jakes and others who learned from their pioneer, Herb, we do in fact teach it and should actually be credited for it being used so effectively.

“’In the mind of any honest student of the Bible, there should be no question but that tithing to God and to His work is certainly “pleasing” in God’s sight!” p.27

This implies you cannot be an honest student of the Bible if you do not tithe. Nay, even to question it using logic, reason and research in the Scriptures makes you a liar to be heavily frowned upon by God.

“Those who try to get around tithing and who ignore this very plain warning are going to be shaken in the day of God’s wrath!” p.27

Using fear, you can expect pain, suffering and death if you even think of trying to get around tithing or ignoring it for being a doctrine of men.

“…it is very doubtful if He has much interest in the trick arguments of carnal men trying to get around His instruction to tithe.” -p.28

The implication is that if you can argue against tithing from the Bible, it is only because you are unconverted and carnal, using trick arguments. There is no way you can even begin an honest inquiry into questioning tithing without proving to be a carnal trickster.

It seems to me the only carnal trick arguments being used are spread throughout the last 21 pages of this booklet using fear based and emotional mind control tactics to convince you to tithe without any Biblical proof other than that which was presented in the first 7 pages.

After 21 pages of brow-beating and fear-mongering, it is likely the 4 places in Scripture introduced at the beginning of the booklet are now made convincing enough to you (even when they are not) because this topic has not been introduced to you as a teaching of the church until you are already attending services and the cognitive dissonance is taking hold of your soul.

All churches of God collecting tithes as a N. T. law are whoring for money. The "work" these churches are producing all ad up to nothing in not only conversion but sheer lack of reach. They are all on pace to never fulfill Matthew 24:14, In fact, all Matthew 24:14 was ever expected to do was enable Herb to die a wealthy respected businessman among his peers. If left to the churches of God to fulfill Matthew 24:14, Christ will never return. The only "work" tithing is successfully accomplishing is funding the Ambassador College alumni retirement plan.

My recommendation to my brethren is to forget Matthew 24:14 because it is something  a small select few of individuals actually called and used by God will accomplish some day without your income. It will be accomplished by individuals who will be able to say things like Paul did here:

For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings. We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment.”                            --I Corinthians 4:9-13

Show me one minister in any church of God that lives on tithes that would not be laughed to scorn if they said something like this. 

What we are all required to do if you want to be right with God is make the Sermon on the Mount the centerpiece of your Christianity and strive to be the sheep Jesus describes in Matthew 25:31-46. Be courageous and really examine yourself. Face your cognitive dissonance head-on and be prepared for a world of hurt. Then let the anger and sadness give way to reason and prepare yourself to be there for those still waiting to be set free.

V

Old Goats in Sheep's Clothing

Watching the Behind The Work video at an LCG feast site this year, one admission from Weston, Ames and Winnail was unmistakably clear: Fear was the primary motivational driver behind their "conversion" and complete immersion into the WCG cult. This makes sense when you consider HWA's delusional vision of himself and God's role in Herb's plan.

Herb settled on a niche that allowed him to get very rich whoring for money in the name of God. His approach was time sensitive that masterfully created a worldview of urgency, danger and imminent death and destruction. You literally had no time to argue with his message. There was no need to critically analyse his message. God either gave you the ability to agree with everything Herb said or you were simply not called and on a crash course with the worst time in human history in just a few short years or months.

Herb's message was fueled and justified by one key verse:

"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

HWA was a "wolf in sheep's clothing" in my opinion and never converted. But Paul makes an important observation when he says,

"It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry...preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely...But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice."  -Philippians 1:15-18

Over the years, I watched many brethren wake up to the dark truths about HWA and the WCG and even find that not all the teachings were sound. Unfortunately, the response is often to throw it all away, going as far as to even declare themselves agnostic or atheist.

Once one allows cognitive dissonance to begin to pop holes in the worldview HWA created for us, the initial response is, as expected, anger. How could I have been so stupid? How could that person do such a thing? If there is a God, why would He allow someone to do this in His name?

The hard part is waiting out the anger and letting reason drive the car. In doing so, we can understand WCG in the context of Christianity as a whole. Not only was it NOT "the" church or "only" church BUT it is just another church made up of people who generally mean well, want to have a relationship with God and none of which have all the answers.

While HWA's message was embodied in Matthew 24:14, it was not the driving force for some to respond and become members of  his church. Some actually found other doctrines having to do with God's mercy, love, kindness and inclusive plan for all mankind as their inspiration and motivation. Unfortunately, these are not the AC graduates that made their way into leading the church. Instead, many were drummed out throughout the 70's. The intellectuals were burned at the stake and narcissist managers won the day.

But I have found (and this is largely anecdotal evidence) that after the failures of prophecy culminating in the 1970's, generation x born in those years and others coming later in the 90's do not have the prophetic fear factor as part of their personal Christianity. I believe this shift from fear to love is real and the reason why old goats pushing the HWA "work" falls on deaf ears today. Gen X and Millenials  are pioneers of the Information Age. Baby-boomers gave us every reason to be skeptical.

HWA certainly trained more wolves to follow in his steed but I would argue many are more like goats than wolves. To understand my perspective on this, consider Jesus' parable of the sheep and goats in Matthew 25:31-46.

Creating a church around Matthew 24:14 diverted the resources that enable Christians to exercise  love and care for humanity, into a message that justified leaving acts of kindness undone. As one friend pointed out to me, when you demand 30%+ of people's incomes to fulfill Matthew 24:14, there is literally nothing left to exercise those things Christ said would make you a sheep in His good standing.

HWA's gospel created a clergy and laity of goats. The good news is we don't have to remain goats. And I am inspired by more Gen X'ers waking up and Millenials that are challenging the old guard. I no longer tithe and divert most of those resources to helping people in my community. And I don't require those people to be members of my church or even professing Christians. The only criteria to receive love should be in being a "biological" made in God's image.

When Christ said to love one another in John 13:34-35 as evidence that we are His disciples, He obviously didn't mean that Christians or members of a Christian sect showing love for one another was the evidence. He already made that clear in the Sermon on the Mount.

"For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others?" -Matthew 5:46-47

When He said we have love for one another, He meant all of humanity. That is what would cause observers to notice such action because nobody does this.

HWA created a church that naturally (but not necessarily) locks its members into being goats. We must overcome this by no longer supporting a Matthew 24:14 message with unbiblical tithes. We can abandon the the wrong teachings and the unbalanced approach without giving up altogether. We can continue to call the errors out publicly on blogs like this without the fear of being silenced, marked and defamed by the old goats keeping the gates. The AC alumni can't live forever and the spiritual generation gap in the church is real. Christ said if we really want to make a difference, it will not be in supporting one man in "his" mission to usher in the Great Tribulation. It will be in acts of kindness toward those that would never expect it.


V

A New Test Commandment?

At the very core of Armstrongism is a dependency on 2 specific doctrines: British Israelism and annual Holy Days. So it is not surprising when "old guard" champion, Lambert Greer, addresses both at the Feast of Tabernacles. This is an email excerpt describing Greer's sermon about the annual holy days: 

"Had a bizarre sermon from Lambert Greer at the feast. He started out by asking if any of us ever identify ourselves or allow ourselves to be identified by others as "Jewish Christians?" He then showed how Christ attacked the pharisees for upholding traditions of the elders and commandments of men above or in place of the law of God. He said we are not Jewish Christians and we should not look to Judaism to draw closer to God. 

So far--so good. I thought this was going to be his topic. I thought this was going to be an attack on the Hebrew Roots Movement garnering way more attention around the world than all the COGs combined. Instead, he did a 180 and went after mainstream Christianity on its reliance on Christ as being the fulfillment of the law and his main point was to show that the annual Holy Days were kept by New Covenant Christians and all you need to prove it is Paul's letters to the Corinthians. He starts with an odd assumption with zero proof that HWA taught and observed annual HD the same way Paul did. 

As he went through verses in Corinthians, he would say things like keeping the annual HD is why we understand what Paul "really means" or implies without saying it plainly. He said Paul didn't need to explain them because his audience was already in the know. I thought well that sure doesn't do much for people 2,000 years later trying to figure out Paul. He said several times that those who keep them are "IN" and those who don't are "OUT."  

Twice, he asked if you will ever hear, "saints will judge the world"  and I Corinthians 15:22 discussed in a Baptist church? I thought what good are questions like that to ask of people who either grew up in COGs at this point or are so far removed from ever hearing any Baptist preaching even if they were in the Baptist church growing up? Greer himself grew up in the Catholic church! Since when is he up on what Baptists say week in and week out in their services or anyone else at the feast that chuckled at the comment? I wanted to raise my hand and tell everyone I heard the best sermon ever on I Corinthians 15 not more than 6 weeks ago listening to Chuck Swindall on the radio on a Sunday morning while I worked.

Toward the end, he said as you can see now, HD observance is seen plainly just in the Corinthian letters. I thought not only is it not plain but neither is it seen plainly anywhere in the N.T. The truth is those Corinthian verses are his best argument and they are not plain and strong proofs.

The take home message appeared strongly to be this: He was replacing the traditional Armstrong teaching of the weekly Sabbath as the sign between God and His people with the annual Holy Days. He said if you keep them, you are IN and if you don't, you are OUT! I wonder if that has been sanctioned by Weston, Ames and Winnail?"

Annual Holy Day observance as any kind of "test command" falls flat in the same way as the weekly Sabbath does from Armstrong's own Church history narrative. Hoeh falsified "sabbath-keepers" in history to mean Saturday-keepers when it is easily proven that those who used the term were Sunday-observers. There is no historical chain of Saturday-keepers living up to a "test command" that shows they are the only real and true Christians in 2,000 years. How much more true is it concerning annual Sabbath-observation down through history?

If you ask Weston if annual Holy Days are required for salvation, he says, "I don't know." And he must. I would ask him the same way Christ posed the question about John the Baptist:

Mr. Weston. The annual Holy Days. Are they from God or Herb? If you say Herb, then you admit that observing them is a "tradition of the elders" (Herb) and not important to salvation. But if you say God, you cannot provide the evidence of that either from the Bible itself or from the historical record.

This doesn't seem to matter to the LCG WAW trinity (Weston, Ames, Winnail). They have noticeably tripled down on annual holy day importance in sermons and writings in the last year or two. So much so, it is creating a back-lash and now members are questioning their importance. It is a narrative set on annual repeat. As much as 1/3 of all sermons in a given year are about the annual holy days.

Perhaps, this is a jealous attempt to funnel interest away from Hebrew Roots seekers. If so, it will fail because top-down hierarchical Roman Catholic church governance in the COGs is anathema to free thinkers who study the Bible and don't find their way into churches based on fear tactics in this Information Age. I know this from personal experience. A Baptist family studying with Hebrew Roots folks are observing annual holy days their own way. They did not learn it from any COGs and after visiting COGWA, they were instantly turned off by the church government. I told my Baptist friends they would find LCG even less appealing.

Some of the ministers will admit unashamedly that they are giving the same sermons on the annual holy days over and over, year after year. The shear inability to "grow in grace and knowledge" in LCG is beyond mind-numbing. Nothing is ever questioned, revisited or even repackaged in a fresh new interesting way. Herb set everything in stone for us all decades ago.

In my own personal examination of what Jesus had to say, the only case that I see that can be made for a possible "test command" is John 13:34-35

"A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." 

V 

How the Rich Prove 2nd Tithe is Wrong

There are so many good reasons why COG7D acknowledged annual holy days and permitted people to observe them BUT refused to make them official doctrine of the church. HWA chose to make them one of his pet doctrines and used them to carve out his own cult following. Making them a New Testament requirement brought with them a laundry list of questions on how this was to be done. And no answers can be found in Scripture. So what is a man to do? One way is to declare yourself an Apostle and Elijah and presto, your answers are now un-admittedly on par with Scripture. 

I have a whole series of posts coming on the topic of tithing but since many are just days away from traveling to feast sites around the world, I thought I would make one simple observation about 2nd tithing that when thought through, proves it is not a New Testament concept.

The highlight of the year is "keeping" the Feast of Tabernacles for many brethren in the churches of God. While the sermons usually suck and it is annoying to be expected at services every morning, it is a vacation better than a vacation because not only are you with family but you get to be with like-minded friends on your vacation. It is always exciting to see what old friends show up at the same feast site. 

The dark side of 2nd tithe is the fact that it is compulsory. Church of God tithing is an egregious doctrine to the poor. It is inherently unfair and actually drives the poor out of the church. If you don't believe this, just look at the cars in church of God parking lots today. The truth is the poor can't afford to be in the churches of God. This is the exact opposite from Christ who told John the baptist's disciples that one of the proofs that He was the Promised One is the fact that He preached to the poor. Why bother preaching to the poor? They cannot support your ministry through compulsory tithing. The poor are unable to sustain an organization dependent on cash to preach the gospel so the end will come. (I will talk more on the poor and tithing in another post)

I spent many years on meager wages saving 2nd tithe to the harm of my family. While the feast was always an oasis of joy for 8 days, the stress it put on me and my wife the other 357 days of the year was almost unbearable some years. And to fail to obey God in this would bring great mental anguish and shame... so year after year, I sucked it up, obeyed and suffered and watched my family suffer.

It is funny how ministers will say to test God on tithing and say you can't afford to not tithe. They will say (and sometimes without saying it) that tithing is proportionately related to your faith and obedience Well, I can say I did test God on tithing for over 20 years. I was very faithful in "doing it" for a long time. I am now in a time of my life financially where tithing is no longer burdensome. So these ministers need to know that some people actually stop tithing or never start because it truly is unBiblical and unGodly. 

I could not see the real problem with 2nd tithe until a wealthy friend pointed this fact out to me. The church takes an Old Testament concept and has to force it into a New Testament construct that is functional to a people in today's society. This gets back to simply accepting a man's explanation as to how this should be done. HWA decided that brethren should put aside 10% of their incomes to pay for annual holy day observances. The bulk of this would be needed to observe the feast of tabernacles. The reading of this feast tells people to enjoy the feast, spending their tithe on food and drink. This has been interpreted by HWA to mean that one must blow 10% of your annual income in an 8 day spending spree on food and alcohol. If you fail to spend it all, you must give the excess to the church.

What a wealthy person can observe about this is something I never could afford to see but it is very true. Let us say you are a person who does have an above average annual income. Maybe you are a successful entrepreneur, doctor, lawyer or IT guy. Maybe $300,000 a year. Maybe $500,000 a year. Does it sound like a Godly principle to take $30,000-$50,000 and blow it on whatever your heart desires in an 8 day spending spree? And do this year after year? You can quickly see as a rich person with Godly principles, that this would fly in the face of what God would have us do and not do concerning money.

Keeping 2nd tithe in its Old Testament context and thinking this one through actually appears to be a very sensible socio-economic principle for the financial well-being of a country. Largely an agrarian society, wealth and value was measured in nondurable goods. Enduring wealth building would involve making annual purchases in items that would grow your agrarian family business into the next year. My wealthy friend proposed that the Feast of Tabernacles was used as an annual market place at the end of ingathering when one would take 10% of his annual increase and use it to trade and purchase what would be needed to continue growing into the next year. 

This is just one really good example of how myopic HWA was in trying to take a specific socio-economic construct designed for an ancient nation and force it into an American religious cult. COG7D leaders who were smarter than HWA thought this through and probably told him as much in so many ways but as they said, "Herbert was not one to listen to anyone."

I still save money and attend the feast. It is a family vacation that we get to spend with friends that love God. I even suffer through the morning sermons. BUT I enjoy the feasts now more than ever because the other 357 days are not spent agonizing over a soul stealing doctrine of the church.

I have much more to say about tithing coming soon.

V

Reinventing the Reinvented

In a previous post, "A Child Shall Lead Them", I talked about mid-life (crisis) analysis we all go through after our first 20+ years of adult life. Apparently, organizations, even churches of God, go through such periods in their existence.

In the latest UCG "Update From the President", Victor Kubik reminds us all that UCG is coming up on their 25th anniversary. Titling this update, "Reinventing Ourselves", he opens with this:

"The United Church of God is nearing its 25th anniversary. This time is proving to be one of critical reflection. In recent months, this milestone has led many at the home office, on the Council of Elders and elsewhere to ponder and consider: Where have we been? Where are we now? And perhaps most importantly, where are we going?"

 "Reflecting these questions in a general way, Donald Ward, the chairman of the Council of Elders, recently made some insightful and remarkable comments. He openly emphasized in his recent summary comments to the Council of Elders that the United Church of God needs to consider “reinventing ourselves.” This comment fit squarely with the many discussions that have recently been taking place around our upcoming 25th anniversary."

I find it interesting that the response to analyzing their first 25 years is one of "reinventing." What does that mean?

1. Reinvent can mean to change the appearance of something old so much that it looks like something new.

2. Reinvent can mean to change a person or organizations, goals, purpose, functionality or persona.

3. Reinvent can mean to duplicate something old in a wasted effort...an exercise in futility.

In order to successfully reinvent ones self, one must begin by humbling the self and openly addressing flaws and mistakes. Then, start the learning process again.

"When we talk about “reinventing ourselves,” we are not talking about what we believe. For certain, the biblical truth of God is eternal and unchangeable . The magnificent truths of the Sabbath, of the Holy Days that we are about to observe, the true understanding of the role of Jesus Christ, the knowledge of the insightful Royal Law that daily guides our behavior, and the plan of God for humanity all represent precious hard-won truths that make up the core of who we are. We must never part with these."

OK...maybe the churches of God can continue to skip self examination, addressing the past and revisiting doctrines derived from Armstrong eisegesis. So...I'm thinking they are leaning toward the third definition to "reinvent" mentioned above.

He goes on to show that what he really means is that the church needs to change its gospel message in a way that will have an impact on a generation that is increasingly more hostile toward the Bible. This increased hostility is  a threat to our young people as they transition from high school to college.

"Society today increasingly tramples on and rejects biblical authority, putting our young people to hard tests. Dr. Ward noted that with the incredible experience of the Church’s youth camps, young people in the Church “may be so excited through their teen years” about biblical truth, but then comes a challenging “transitional period between high school and college and the first year of college” that often proves to be a difficult time to stay grounded and committed to the truth of God. It is during this critical transition time that young people can be in danger of slipping away. The Church, he emphasized, needs to reinvent itself to address these critical societal changes and provide highly relevant spiritual tools for young people to survive and thrive. This includes opportunities for them to be together, like at Ambassador Bible College and church-sponsored young adult gatherings."

A few years ago, I watched a friend struggle with his teenagers. In the end, he could not answer satisfactorily, their questions and they both left the church and Christianity altogether. I can tell you this: They did not leave because of societal pressures to accept transgender lifestyles and marijuana. It was not because there was not enough church social events to keep their carnal needs satisfied or in check. They did not lack spiritual tools only Ambassador College alumni could provide...in the next 25 years, of course.

His free-thinking adult children researched the church and its history on the internet and asked why all the splinter churches refuse to address the sins of the past and the hypocrisy that continues. They asked how the churches think they can continue to hide all of the documented errors and never have to answer to the next generation. They asked why the churches feel no need to re-examine any of their doctrines or practices when some of them are easily challenged by the latest science and  technology or "mainstream" Christian  scholars. They asked why the leadership demands we all "speak the same thing" and inundate our time reading church literature and sermons instead of the Bible. In the end, their father looked to be a cruel hypocrite imaged after the organization itself at worse or a mindless kool-aid drinker to be felt sorry for at best.

"These Thursday conferences, as Dr. Ward mentioned to the Council, are open and honest discussions, even to the point of admitting that sometimes the weekly church presentations in our congregations are “stale.” To build more energy and excitement into our weekly church meetings, Dr. Ward noted that “some of those things we could do—shorter sermons and more focused sermons and improving our messages—we really need to focus on…we really need more excitement and energy in the local churches.”

Shorter sermons would certainly be a step in the right direction but if that is your solution to achieve energy and excitement, then this shows the comprehension level of a mouth-breather with no self awareness. Your organization is stale because all the splinters of Armstrong refuse to relinquish power to the brethren. They all quench the working of the Holy Spirit in the body. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are completely absent because a top down hierarchical cult structure is the exact opposite of what Jesus Himself told the disciples how His church was to function in Matthew 20:20-28

Jesus juxtaposes two opposing ideas against one another to make his point very clear and He does so by doing it twice. He compares exercising lordship to being a servant and exercising authority to being a slave. These opposing concepts cannot exist as one in the same. A lord cannot be a servant and an authoritarian cannot be a slave. Jesus is saying if you want to be a lord, your only option in the body is to be a servant and if you want be first in rank, the only opportunity that exists in its’ stead is to actually have no rank at all as a slave. What Jesus is showing is that there is no place to be a lord in the body and there is no position of chief in the body. If you want to be those things, the only position that can be given you is a servant and a slave with no rank at all. What you seek in the body as it appears in carnal human governance simply does not exist in the governance of the church.

His final statement makes it even more plain by comparing it to His own role in the flesh among them. He truly did not come to be served. He was not there as King of kings and Lord of lords. That will be at His second coming. He was there among them in the flesh as a teacher. Jesus Christ literally takes the gentile concept of top-down government and turns it on its head! It is imperative that He do that for His body, the church, because He is the head and there is no other head. The body is knit together by the workings of the Holy Spirit.You have to go back to the beginning of the exchange. It all started when two among them were seeking high rank in the Kingdom of God. Jesus answer to them in a nutshell was if you want to rank high in the Kingdom of God, (which is possible!) you must first practice being servants with no rank and no elevation in the church body.

“And whoever exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”  -Matthew 23:12

If you exalt yourself within the models used in this world by oppressors, you will have no place in the Kingdom. If you become a servant and slave among the brethren in the body with no exaltation or rank in the church today, you will be exalted in the Kingdom.

The only way any of the churches of God will be able to inspire real excitement and energy in the local churches is to be honest about their history, admit to sins, re-examine doctrine and practices, and reject Roman suppression and replace it with congregationalism. This will produce a firestorm of excitement and energy among brethren and we will see the fruits and gifts of the Holy Spirit unleashed in ways never seen before among the churches of God.

If you really want to reinvent yourselves, then I suggest you start by patterning yourself after the New Testament church. But all I hear you saying is you want to reinvent the reinvented in the worse kind of way.

V

The Modern Essenes

"The Essenes were the 'hippies' of their day." I heard this snide remark from Gerald Weston and Jonathan McNair in sermons. What are they talking about? Is this something they learned at AC? How were the Essenes like the hippies in 1960's America?

After reading up on who and what the Essenes were about, I was hard pressed to see any connection between the dope smokin, std riddled peacemakers who encouraged everyone to make love, not war and  the separatist, heterodox (and some say) celibate Jews of the late Intertestamental period.

In fact, let me just share a few things that have been said about the Essenes and I will let you decide what modern group they sound like.

The Essene movement began at the time of a very explosive event in Jewish history. Judah Maccabee led a Jewish army utilizing guerrilla tactics to overthrow Seleucid control of Judea and usher in a period of quasi-Judean independence. The temple in Jerusalem was ritually cleansed and the expectation of a Jewish world-conquering king was 3-5 years away for the next 230 years.

It wasn't long before the revolt produced an insider movement of revolt. A new religious movement or sect, we now call the Essenes, rejected Maccabeen authority as corrupt and illegitimate. They would proceed to claim they were the "real heirs" of the Yadokite priestly line and refused to have anything to do with a cleansed temple. They went on to establish their own isolated community outside of Jerusalem.

This reminds me of another movement that caught fire when Allenby marched into Jerusalem in 1917 and culminated in Jewish statehood by 1948. A fast-talkin, nasally blowhard would grow a new religious movement by claiming a conquering Christ would be returning in  3-5 years for the next 45 years. He went on to establish a school to produce minions that would never stray from his control and then established rented venues around the world for adherents to meet in secret and separate from their communities,

The Essenes would go on to isolate themselves from the rest of Israel, both geographically and theologically. They rejected all things pagan and many things Jewish.

Colossians 2:8, “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.”

“philosophy” is PHILOSOPHIA: “not philosophy in general but the teaching of a syncretistic religious group that claims special insight into God, Christ, astral powers, creation, that imposes a set of rules on its members and that bases the authority of its message on its age or esoteric (secret) nature.” –p.1272, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament

I believe Paul had (at least in part if not completely) the Essenes in mind when he wrote this. I will show how the Essenes fit this description in the remainder of this post and will let you decide how that compares to who modern Essenes would most likely be today under the umbrella of Christiandom.

1. The Essenes believed they were the heir of Scriptures and that all promises made in those scriptures were to them. Any Jew, no matter how devout, not in their sect was a dangerous deceiver. They believed they were in a time when God was pouring out His Holy Spirit on them alone. While physical Israelites were God's chosen people, the Essenes viewed themselves as the new elect purposed by a new covenant. They were living in the midst of the "restoration of all things" and they were the advanced guard; the spearhead of Divine purpose for the world.

[HWA claimed he restored all things back to the body of Christ and that "mainstream Christianity" was deceived. The Holy Spirit was only given to those baptized in WCG. RCM claimed that LCG was the "spearhead of the Work" that would usher in the return of Christ.]

2. The Essenes were pacifists in that they would not participate in armed conflicts, revolts or wars. They stayed away from politics except when and how it related to prophecy.

[WCG and its splinters have long taught against voting in elections, serving on juries or the military and being employed as a police officer or even carrying a gun for personal safety. BUT the churches have never been shy about being aligned, unofficially of course, with the Republican party and their "conservative values" and their political views toward the state of Israel.]

3. Their central message and symbol was prophecy and their personal fulfillment of it in the Divine purpose shortly to pass. One of their writings discovered, called the Damascus Document, speaks of a specific predicted 'Teacher' that would or did lead the community, announcing to be a fulfillment of recent and ancient prophecy.

[HWA's central message was prophecy and he made over 200 false predictions. HWA claimed to be the "Elijah" that restored true doctrine to the body of Christ. HWA claimed he fulfilled what he called his commission in Matthew 24:14.]

4. God's purpose is a mystery revealed by the prophets and are presently made known through the inspired teachers (ministers), the chief revealer being called the "Teacher of Righteousness." In their lifetime, an anointed king and priest will lead the "Sons of Light" in a great war against the "Sons of Darkness" made up of Gentiles and ignorant Jews.

[HWA wrote "Mystery of the Ages" and claimed to be an endtime apostle. He taught two witnesses from his church would precede the return of Christ. The saints will return to fight Gentiles and ignorant Christians.]

5. Essenes used what is called the Pesher Method. This is an arbitrary interpretation of prophetic events and their leading up to the restoration of Israel, into the present.

[HWA was notorious for analyzing current events and wrongly attributing it to Scripture. Often, the exact opposite of what he predicted would happen. Much of HWA's methodology in developing his teachings was through eisegesis.]

6. Studying and writing were primary practices. They put great importance on their own writings. This can be seen in their "Community Rule" and "Damascus Document." They upheld a set of esoteric teachings (or commandments of men) that they regarded as equivalent to and as coming from the Bible. Their commandments of men were not regarded as earning their salvation or membership in the sect but merely expressing it. Piety and purity as defined by the community rules was an outward sign or evidence to a members belonging to the new covenant.

[Richard Ames once referenced church literature and sermons in a single sermon over 20 times. He often attempts to shame brethren for not reading church booklets and articles and listening to sermons in all their spare time when they are not working to provide incomes for the ministry.]

7. Belonging to the Essene movement was not a casual affair. To them, it was not a social club but was a matter of life and death for the members, Israel and the whole world.

[This was true in WCG back in the day. Today, brethren are often shamed by ministers for seeking quality fellowship over "doctrinal purity" among all the ridiculous splinters. The AC alumni know they are all the same and are just vying for retirement security.]

8. Food eaten could only be produced by the community. Council meetings and meal times were solemn and sacred occasions.

[Putting aside clear Biblical references of what is clean and what is not for human consumption, dietary control has always been a mainstay of cults. WCG went beyond Biblical references and made determinations on sugar, white flour and any number of items they deemed "unclean."]

9. Life was governed by strict laws of purity with emphasis on keeping weekly and annual Sabbaths properly and on time. There were penalties for breaking community rules, the greatest being expulsion.

[75% of all sermons produced are  on annual Holy Days. It is a repetitive cycle rehashed every year, year after year. The churches of God know that from a marketing standpoint, it is their only niche, their USP. Take it away (and British racism) and they are left with a very poor product compared to mainstream Christianity. As far as breaking  the commandments of men are concerned, we all know someone who has been temporarily suspended from services, disfellowshipped or even marked for these violations or for having an opinion about Scripture not in line with HQ.]

10. Suffering or persecution was a measuring stick for ones future salvation. Of course, it did not matter if that persecution was real or imagined, externally induced or self-imposed.

[Rod Meredith's crowning moment of persecution was being attacked with a chair in his baptizing tour.]

To show ones self approved of God and on a pathway to salvation, the Essene would be a stickler for the communal rules (commandments of men) and a blind loyalist to the "Teacher." Let's not kid ourselves. The Essenes were a mind control religious cult. These types of religious cults exploit the fear one has in suddenly finding themselves on the outside instead of in the cult during a time of great tribulation. Many Essenes and Armstrongites were truly motivated to save their own hides. I heard Richard Ames and Doug Winnail candidly admit this in sermons. They do this by exploiting the very question of what it means to be Jewish or Jewish enough; Christian or Christian enough. Unfortunately, for people that find themselves embroiled in such mind control religious cults, they are adherents to a doctrine of salvation that falls flat concerning morality and virtue. It is the very thing Paul warned the Corinthians about: do not exalt or idolize a man claiming to be a representative of Jesus Christ. Do not chase after anything beyond what is revealed plainly in Scripture. The veil in the Temple was rent and the Romans destroyed it. You are now the temple. Thank God. We are free in Christ motivated by love.

I have seen the hippy and it is us.

V