Friday, March 7, 2014

Overview of Living Church News (March-April 2014)

The latest issue of Living Church News (March-April 2014) is out . Let us have a look and see what they have to say.

Roderick C. Meredith has a heart felt preface discussing his recently deceased wife, Sheryl Meredith, and thanking LCG members for their support in what no doubt must be a very difficult time for him.

He also uses this stressful time to indulge in more nonsensical speculation that persecution is coming in order to scare members into staying within LCG.
In the months and years to come, brethren, I want us all to realize more fully that the time of terrible persecution is growing closer and closer. We will really need to help and encourage one another. We will really need to deeply appreciate one another in the midst of a dark and perverse world. For this world hates the way of God, and you will begin to realize this more and more as this Work grows in power and the world turns on us because we preach the Truth.

At such a time, if we have already built a deep feeling of family within God’s Church—if we have already built a network of friends and brethren who are like “family”—then the hard times just ahead will be made much easier. We will need to visit one another in prison. We will need to help and encourage one another in sickness, in trials and persecution. With God’s help, we will be faithful to the end and make it into God’s Kingdom. (Pro-LCG source.)
I am sorry his wife has died. It must be very hard for him. But it must be said, there is no persecution of LCG members and there will not be any either. Nobody is out to get LCG. He has been saying this since the 1950s and nothing has happened. 

Roderick C. Meredith also has an article insisting that it is necessary for the world to be ruled by an organized group of God Beings (the Armstrongite Kingdom of God) and that it is necessary to live a life of righteousness (obeying what LCG's leaders say) in order to do this.

Dexter B. Wakefield has an article calling upon LCG members to eat the bread of life given by God, which translates into submitting to what LCG's leaders say. Also, since it is that time of the year, he alludes to the Days of Unleavened Bread. They are held April 15-21 this year.

Scott Winnail has an article discussing the difficulties of raising children to be faithful Armstrongites, noting that there are many opportunities for them to start thinking contrary to LCG dogma so he encourages parents to be diligent in teaching Armstrongite dogma to their children. He fear mongers about how young people outside of LCG are morally bankrupt and degraded. At the end he advertizes several courses taught by the unaccredited Living University on this topic.

The LCG Editorial Staff have an article calling upon LCG members to take up his or her own cross and follow God, even if it means throwing away your job. It also notes that if a relationship is getting in your way of living a godly life (as defined by LCG's leaders) you might need to cut off contact with them.
Are we holding on to relationships that keep us apart from the will of Christ? Yes, it may hurt to separate ourselves from friends and family whose conduct drags us down. The Apostle Paul wrote powerfully about this. “Do not be deceived: ‘Evil company corrupts good habits. Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame” (1 Corinthians 15:33–34).
How dare the writer here pervert Paul's writings to now claim the right to order LCG members to cut off relations with other people!

Some Unleavened bread recipes are also provided.

Jim Meredith has a gushing article describing the Charlotte Family Weekend.

Shirley Young has an article citing the examples of Deborah and Esther as examples of truly noble women who submitted themselves to God's righteousness and that this is better and more worthy then being an aristocrat, like those in Britain.

Local Church News also contains Sheryl Meredith's obituary.

Wallace G. Smith has a commentary at the end saying that LCG members must not observe Easter. Again this ban on Easter causes LCG members to be isolated from mainstream society and forces them to become more dependent upon LCG. 

So we see that LCG continues to teach the same blend of Armstrongite teachings in order to persuade LCG members to pay three tithes and extra offerings to fund themselves.

5 comments:

  1. Evil company corrupts good habits.

    And LCG is certainly an Evil Company of the Church Corporate, having as their leader a false prophet of 50 years experience, speaking in Jesus' Name for events which have never happened, bringing upon himself the death sentence of Deuteronomy (since they are set in Bronze Age Olde Testament Christianity, Meredith should die and may soon, but not soon enough). The Old Testament priority is to spare them not and have no pity for them.

    The LCG is just another corrupting influence among the CoHAM (Cult of Herbert Armstrong Mafia) based on the thoroughly disproved British Israelism which is the basis of a recent article in their magazine and also a constant topic on their television program.

    They may not sanction keeping Easter (a silly pagan festival with rabbits that lay chocolate eggs (!!?!!? -- thanks Cadbury!) but they sure celebrate Christmas / Easter week with the rest of the world in their Winter Festival, usually kept at facilities well decorated for the occasion. The Winter Festival seems to be a supplement to the Fall Festival, but without the doomsday sermons and the use of (so-called) second tithe. Gee, maybe they need a change to their eschatology, since they seem prone to rank hypocrisy.

    No faith. No redemption. No salvation. Just money grubbing cons looking for ego building for their top heavy Church Corporate hierarchy.

    Nothing of value here -- move on.

    Anyone who knowingly creates a false history to prove provenance should be exposed for the frauds they are.

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  2. I don't subscribe to LCN, so I do appreciate your sharing what the Chalottans are up to! Basically, it would appear to be the same ol same ol, only a new generation of voices continuing the failed legacy.

    BB

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  3. Thank you all for your comments.

    Byker Bob,

    Personally I find LCN quite boring. In one sense this cannot be helped because I became very familiar with Armstrongite dogma so it always seems boring to me because I know so well.

    But also it is just like their other magazine, Tomorrow's World except there is less emphasis upon world events and prophetic speculation and more focused towards spiritual articles.

    What I always found most intriguing about it is their Local Church News section details the births, marriages and deaths of the LCG members. There are a larger proportion of deaths reported as opposed to births and marriages.

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    1. Hence the coming name change to the Geriatric Church of God.

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    2. That is an interesting observation about the ratios in the Local Church News section. I find myself scanning the same section of The Journal for names of people I once knew, other than members of the ministry. It amazes me sometimes, because results can be really counterintuitive. Some of the people who had been critical of the church back in the 1970s are apparently hanging in there and chugging right along, just like the Energizer Bunny, all of these years later.

      I'm also quite amazed by the people who left many years ago, and never resurfaced on the internet. This is an era when people regularly attempt to find old friends from different portions of their past, but even some of the most outspoken ones seem to have dropped off the ends of the earth. I just hope they were able to move forwards and to have good lives.

      BB

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