Here’s why. If you can stay on fire for the Work before he gets here—avoid getting drunk, or unaware, or sleepy, before he gets here—after he gets here, you’ll glow radioactive, you’ll be so on fire. The test is whether you can stay awake before he gets here; whether you can be accounted worthy during the easy times, like right now. Once they show up, everybody is going to sit bolt upright, come forward on their seat, eyes bugging—all of us. The whole world will, but before he comes, particularly if we are warning about him, it’s going to be tough. The first thing I wanted to say here, is just believe Christ. Apart from Him saying, “Fear not,” believe Him when He says your goal is to be deemed worthy to escape before anything here happens.

Dear Brethren and Friends, Powerful forces of evil are facing our youth more than in any time in modern history! I want to address this problem as strongly and openly as I can. I hope that I will offend none of you by being somewhat plain in describing various situations. The world—and its media—certainly describes these things in detail. So we should not be “embarrassed” about discussing this reality that is being propagated in our society and which our young people understand far too well—whether some of us older people grasp this or not. Thousands of you older brethren are parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts who have a sincere interest in helping the youth in God’s Church. So all of us have a responsibility to help our young people understand what is happening to them before it is too late! For many of them will be “lost” to the Church and to the way of God unless we take action!

Frankly, brethren, I hope many of you will purchase and study this book I have recommended: The Marketing of Evil. It can be a guide to you in the sense that it will help you understand the real background of this whole perverted movement, which Satan has spawned to propagandize and deceive our young people in many important areas of life. For many of them have not had the experience to grasp the suffering that is often caused by these perverted behaviors. 

Only God’s Church can be a true bulwark against this absolute “rubbish,” which is being palmed off as Truth!

Our young people need to be actively guided to genuinely understand this! For our present society—in which they will have to suffer far more than many of us who are older, if they live right on through the Great Tribulation—is headed straight back to Sodom and Gomorrah and the horrifying things pictured directly in the book of Revelation. God describes the society soon to come, when men will so misunderstand and “despise” the true God that they will even fight Christ at His Second Coming!

If all of us who are adult Christians genuinely “reach out” to our young people—with love and understanding, yet with firm conviction, as well—perhaps they can be helped to understand, and we can thus save their lives from the awful suffering that is going to come from those who are cut off from God.

So I ask all of you, in Jesus’ name, to “get involved” in helping and caring for the well-being of our young people. Take time to teach your children, your grandchildren, your nieces, nephews and other young people you know and love, to understand before it is too late! Using the Bible, using this outstanding book I have mentioned—The Marketing of Evil—and using my article on “Satan’s Alternative Universe” and other “tools” which this Work gives you over and over, you can help if you will stir yourselves to take action. May God help all of us to strengthen our youth at home, through the Church, through our youth programs and in every way we can before it is too late!

“Take faith, for example. For many people in our world, the opposite of faith is doubt. The goal, then, within this understanding, is to eliminate doubt. But faith and doubt aren't opposites. Doubt is often a sign that your faith has a pulse, that it's alive and well and exploring and searching. Faith and doubt aren't opposites, they are, it turns out, excellent dance partners.”
― Rob Bell, What We Talk about When We Talk about God

Even most true Christians spend far too much energy trying to “find” their lives rather than consciously “losing” their lives in order to serve God and genuinely serve their fellow human beings. We will try to find excuses for doing what we want to do. We will use our time and energy in ways that do notcontribute to building others spiritually or to building the Work of God on earth today. We will often waste one of the most precious commodities God has given us—time. We must not waste this precious commodity, but rather try to make every day of our life really “count for something” in serving others and helping others grow toward the fullness and the stature of Christ. In that way, we help ourselves at the same time to achieve the same goal.

Often, without fully realizing it, many of us try to become “leaders” by exalting the self at the expense of others. After describing how the rulers of the Gentiles did this, Jesus said, “Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:26–28).

The religious leaders of Jesus’ day were often “competing” with one another and saving for themselves the “best” of everything along the way. However, Jesus Christ commanded: “But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 23:11–12).

The above verses are genuinely powerful if we are willing to fully understand them. We must always try to abase the self and do all we can to serve other human beings, as Christ Himself did when He was “made flesh” (John 1:14). Then, and only then, will we be truly “exalted” by God Himself.

a·base

verb

1. behave in a way so as to belittle or degrade (someone).

verb (used with object), abased, abasing.

Dear brethren and friends, I hope every one of you can begin to learn this lesson, as we reflect on the Passover and on the entire purpose of God to make us in His image! We have tried to build this attitude within the ministry and leadership of God’s Church as a whole in the Living Church of God. Many of you brethren realize this. In our past association, we had the so-called “super deacons” who would push people around. We would often have ministers who would take care of the self and not try to genuinely help and give and serve their brethren with every fiber of their being. Now, near the end of my life, I am grateful to God to report that we have—in my opinion—one of the most solid, dedicated and humble ministries that I have experienced in 67 years in God’s Church.

He has built one of the finest families in the entire Work of God. He sets a superb example in all these ways, and at the same time has attained a spirit of humility, sacrifice and service rather than letting any of this go to his head.

But if we can keep the attitude of humility and servant leadership—if we can keep the “foot-washing attitude” constantly before us and follow Christ in that way—He will continue to lead and empower this Work in a remarkable way. Then, we can all definitely look forward to Jesus’ words: “Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities” (Luke 19:17). So whether we are over “ten cities,” ten nations, or perhaps even ten galaxies, we will be rewarded forever if we learn the lessons of Passover and the foot washing. So, let us learn to genuinely humble ourselvesand work as a “team” under Jesus Christ to do His Work with love and humility and cooperation until the end of our human lives.

ANCIENT “hobbits” recently discovered in Indonesia were not an early form of modern human but an entirely different species, scientists have found.

Experts initially believed the Homo Floresiensis – or Flores man – were just a shrunken variety of early humans.

But a study by The Australian National University (ANU) found the race were most likely a different species altogether.

Researchers think they were related to a sister species of Homo habilis – one of the earliest known ancestors of modern mankind which lived in Africa 1.75 million years ago. 

If we do not keep the True Gospel message, the message sent by God the Father who sent it through His Son, Jesus Christ, who in turn sent it through His Apostles, in our time Apostle(Herbert W Armstrong), if we do NOT keep that message in our mind, as a memory, in remembrance, remembering it continually, then we believed in VAIN. And if we believed in VAIN, are we then CONVERTED? BELIEVING is a VITAL PART of Conversion! This is Jesus Christ saying it, read those verses AGAIN.

Jesus Christ through the Apostle Paul says we are "being SAVED", that is, IF... IF WE keep in MEMORY that TRUE GOSPEL MESSAGE preached by the APOSTLE! If we don't we have believed in vain. Just like what Christ said in Mat 15:9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 

If you don't keep your focus on God and His Son and the Apostle sent, if we don't keep to what God has given us via the Apostle, we only do it BECAUSE men commanded it. See, you'll only see the man. And many today only see the man, which is why many turn against God and God's Truth and Gospel to ANOTHER gospel via someone else, to whom they have chosen. Not God's Chosen. We must CATCH THE VISION, keeping the right FOCUS on things as God sees it!

Why not OBEY GOD, and HOLD FAST to what we were given through the Apostle.

So my job, because I don’t have the vision…I do have the plain words that this obedient prophet wrote down…My job is to reverse engineer this as best I can and give you a word picture that horrifies you and me in the way God wanted it, so that all of YOU, who read it—because you can’t see it, I can’t really give you a photograph—but that all of you will run when you read it. That’s my task, and we will not be done until today is done, and if it drifts into next week and blends in with some things I cover next week, well then, so be it. 

My goal is to…is to…If Habakkuk’s goal was to take a picture and turn it into plain words, my goal is to reverse engineer it and try to take plain words and build a picture with a word picture. So maybe…Maybe I’m learning a little bit why I was born, right now, and when we’re done…if you doubt what I meant…I’m not saying you did or do…but if you doubt that, so to speak, you won’t in about an hour-and-a-half.

And may God help me get you to understand, before I’m done, why, after you understand all of this, you need to run. And whatever games you’re playing in your life with God—vices, not praying and studying enough, not paying Common when you’re sitting on…or you’re not serving enough, you’re not practicing brotherly love, you’ve got attitudes you’re not overcoming, whatever it is…you know, you hold some funny doctrinal ideas…I mean, now’s the time to run—first of all, away from those. Get away from it…Sabbath attendance, marriage issues; it could be anything…Whatever it is…Unfaithful in your tithing, or you name it…because I’ll just tell you, if you said to me, “Mr. Pack”…at the end of this sermon…“You’re trying to scare us.” You know what I’d say? “You bet your life I am!” and I want to do that before this is done. This is not a snare—you will find out—you want to get caught in.

"But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ."

Dave says it's so, so it must be so...

PROPHECY TOOL

125 Events in Prophetic Sequence from Now Forward!

I think it highly probable that Israel will go to war with Gaza and Hezbollah destroying the remaining power of Syria and bringing regime change to Syria; and the US coalition will attack the Revolutionary Guards in Iran.  

The general falling away in the COG Groups (Mat 24:3-5, 2 Thess 2:3, 2 Ti 4, Jude) is also moving ahead, more on that after the UCG GCE conference.   

If events do not slow down or pause, all signs now point to the setting up of the abomination to do miracles in the Vatican in October of 2018, with the tribulation beginning 75 days later.  

And by the way, just in case you wondered…And this is a bigger subject for another time…when that trial is over, you’re going to be the objects of worship. In the first phase of the Kingdom, while you’re still a human being…Jesus Christ is going to be worshipped and he’s a human being coming as the man called the Branch…they’re going to worship you. Does “worship” mean worship? Well, it’s the exact same word that says, in John 4, we “worship” God in spirit and truth, and every other place you read the word “worship”—which means we’re above angels. We’re a little below Elohiym. We’re above angels, because you do not worship angels, never mind those who are below angels. That should be pretty obvious.

Where Is Elijah? 

If Jesus is to return any time soon, then ‘Elijah’, according to some teachers, should be alive and kicking somewhere on earth… 

John the Baptist reflected the life-style of the first Elijah—rough-hewn, godly, dwelling in the desert. He had the same message, to confront ungodliness, ‘…to turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God’ (v.16)—a mission he surely accomplished Matthew 3:5-6). A people prepared for the message of Jesus. 

But ‘Elijah’ will also return ’…before the coming of the great and dreadful day of Jehovah’ Malachi: 4:5). That day—the great ‘Day of the Lord’—is ushered in by the returning Jesus who said ‘…I will come again’. Elijah’s message will be a call to repentance, a return by mankind to the true God—a call heard worldwide. John, in Revelation, speaks of ‘…my two witnesses’ (ch 11:3ff), and their mission does indeed ‘prepare the way of the Lord’. They reflect both the work of both Elijah [eg drought] and Moses [eg plagues]. 

It will be an awesome time of tribulation upon those who continue unrepentant, unheeding of the call to turn to God. Their mission will end at the return of Jesus, when they will be glorified with Him, together with the rest of the ’firstfruits harvest’ (Revelation 11:3-12).

Although people like the discredited Ron Weinland have claimed to be ‘Elijah,’ neither of them are. 

Yet, the Bible does show that there will be an ‘Elijah’ who is alive before Jesus returns and that it is likely that he will be one of the two witnesses. And as Jesus is likely to return within the next couple of decades, it is reasonable to consider that he must be alive today. 

The problem is that just as many would not hear Elijah’s or John the Baptist’s messages, relatively few will pay much attention to the end time Elijah as well.

Dear Members and Co-workers, our world is getting crazier with each passing day! We never know what new shock may greet us each morning! Journalists once strove to publish the one major news story for the day. Sometimes they really had to scramble to find one, and we would often comment, “This must be a slow news day.” Not anymore! Today it is a matter of which major story takes precedence over the others. Will there be a war with North Korea? Will the U.S. and Russia have an incident that sparks a major conflict between the two antagonists in Syria? Will war break out between Israel and its neighbors? Then there is the specter of a terrorist attack at any time and nearly anywhere. 

Those who study the Bible should understand that we are truly living in the last days. The Apostle Paul warned us, “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come” (2 Timothy 3:1). What we see today is only the beginning. It will get much worse. We cannot know every twist and turn world events will take, but the Bible gives us the outline and the outcome. One troubling trend is that the very people of God will be lukewarm, neither hot nor cold at the time of the end (Revelation 3:14-19). 

How strange! One would think that it would be just the opposite. People should become more zealous toward God and doing His will as they see end-time events descending upon them. Such is not the case.

There is a real spirit being directing the course of this world (Ephesians 2:1-2). He is a master of distraction. He gives us every physical toy we could ever imagine. Television, once considered the greatest time waster, now competes with Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, Instagram and a host of other electronic devices and programs that vie for our attention. No technology is evil in itself, but taken together without exercising character to set proper priorities, people wear out before they get to those things that are important.

So what is important in your life? What is your passion? What demands the greatest devotion from you? Is it your hobby? Is it your family? Family is certainly important, but is it the most important? 

At some point, we all come to the place where one question stands out above all else. Is there life after death? The Bible says there is. Does it not make sense to investigate the possibility? Hobbies, while of temporal value, will not get you there. The trappings of success, such as money and material possessions, cannot get you there, and you cannot take them with you beyond the grave. Even family is of no lasting value if you put family before God. Read Jesus’ own words for yourself:  “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate [love to a lesser degree by comparison] his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26). Is there life after death, and what must I do to find it? 

What will it take to stir each of us to take action and go all out to serve the living God? Jesus tells us, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together” (John 4:34-36).

My husband worked there for over 5 years and he never saw a bigger group of backbiters and cut-throats.

Rod Meredith promotes an atmosphere where if you stab your co-worker in the back, but give him your version of the story 1st, they other guy gets pushed down the ladder and the bully gets exalted.

Everyone is so insecure and selfish that they expend huge amounts of energy making sure that no one steals their piece of the pie. Working to make sure you get noticed before someone else takes credit for your work is a constant struggle.

If one were to randomly pick ANY worldly work office it would be more harmonious. Typically the people you work with aren't on the same level of self-righteousness, arrogance or filled with as much selfish ambition as the leading men at LCG headquarters. 

It truly is a "brood of vipers".

All the vipers have their little pet projects that feed their egos. It's disgusting.

It was hard being a member in LCG knowing what its headquarters was like. If the average member glimpsed a peek of the lies and other shady behavior that goes on their so frequently that it's become common place, they might think twice about sending in those tithes. 

"He has built one of the finest families in the entire Work of God. He sets a superb example in all these ways, and at the same time has attained a spirit of humility, sacrifice and service rather than letting any of this go to his head". 

Oh brother! Now I want to puke.

I don't only think that Rod McNair isn't Christian. I'd go a step further than that. He's evil.

He will lie, cheat or steal to gain more power.

He is the epitome of a boot-licker which is why Meredith thinks he's so swell.

He is suspicious and quick to over-react.

He ALWAYS uses a sledge hammer instead of a fly swatter when it comes to disciplining members and he will do so for the flimsiest of reasons (sometimes for completely made-up reasons!).

He commands respect and thinks it's owed to him and that he is responsible to do nothing to earn it.

He refuses to admit when he is wrong.

He corners wives in an effort to get them to turn on their husbands.

He tells wives to keep journals of all their grievances against their husbands and then to share all those little secrets with him.

He keeps files on anyone he feels isn't fully submitting to LCG (not to be confused with submitting to God) or anyone who dare have an opinion or anyone who asks questions or thinks for themselves.

He is egotistical, not humble.

He's never sacrifices a thing! He was born into a COG power family and has had everything handed to him on a silver platter.

It's great that RCM thinks Rod's power hasn't gone to his head but that might be the most laughable of all the ignorant statements in that quote. I have never met a more power hungry, egotistical BULLY in all my life!

Funny thing is, even ministers in LCG can't stand him and will say so behind his back. But until RCM dies they just bite their collective tongues.

Rod McNair is a horrible human being and I wish with all my heart that I had never heard his name or had him in my life. He is an inflictor of pain and a total liar. 

May God have mercy on his soul.