Details may begin (and only begin) to come into view on the first of the month of Elul (in God’s calendar—August 7 in the Roman Calendar). A more complete picture will emerge by Elul 24 (August 30). Right now, all are urged to have in their thinking that they will be reassigned to a new nearby Feast site, and those who choose to return to the Body of Christ will attend with what becomes a much bigger organization—probably significantly bigger than the largest splinter! (Crucial Questions—Important Answers! July 19, 2013, http://rcg.org/sep/crucial-questions-important-answers)

Which three leaders are the greatest obstructionists to God’s stated purpose in Haggai—returning HIS people to doing HIS Work? (The Final Announcement. August 2, 2013, http://rcg.org/sep/the-final-announcement)

Next, the 2013 Feast of Tabernacles: This will also be among the most special and inspiring times in Church history. It will be a Feast of unity and harmony among all of God’s people. Everyone will keep this joyous occasion as members of The Restored Church of God in scores of sites across the world. At this time, we have 21 sites, but we anticipate adding many more. In some areas, former splinter brethren will attend our current sites. In other locations, we will have to quickly add new ones. In still other areas, splinter sites will simply become Restored sites. The total number of Feast sites, and where they are, will depend entirely on how many brethren answer the “stirring” of Jesus Christ to return to His Church, and in what areas they live. Details may begin (and only begin) to come into view on the first of the month of Elul (in God’s calendar—August 7 in the Roman Calendar). A more complete picture will emerge by Elul 24 (August 30). Right now, all are urged to have in their thinking that they will be reassigned to a new nearby Feast site, and those who choose to return to the Body of Christ will attend with what becomes a much bigger organization—probably significantly bigger than the largest splinter! (Crucial Questions—Important Answers! July 19, 2013, http://rcg.org/sep/crucial-questions-important-answers)

Getting the boot in before atonement.. nice..you Americans are really something

You might all like to take a look around because while you go after the church of God groups it maybe that you are not seeing what's happening in the world..and you won't be scoffing for long unfortunately there really are greater things a foot than your beef with LCG..regardless of what is true and what is not..have you seen what the US government is doing..get a clue already its time to wake up..instead of chomping at the bit waiting for salacious gossip watch a bit of you tube..you should be freaking out..the rest of the world is seeing what you obviously are not and that's really sad

Despite God’s commands, at times the Israelites descended into idolatry. Anticipating this, God gave laws on what to do to ensure it didn’t spread. Again, His goal was to keep the nation and its religion pure!

These laws directly correlate to New Testament commands about what to do when a Church member embraces dissident material or tries to pollute the true religion (see, for example, Romans 16:17; Galatians 1:8-9; 2 Thessalonians 3:6, 14; 1 Timothy 3:5; 6:5; Titus 3:10-11; 2 John 10-11). God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is just as concerned about purity in the congregation today as He was anciently—and, spiritually, He deals with the problem today the same as He did anciently.
Contemplate how the principle in Deuteronomy 13:1‑4 should inform the way we handle a message from a religious source that does not represent the true God. Do not treat that message—whether it be a letter, e-mail, booklet, cd, television program, phone call or personal visit—casually! It is, in fact, a test: How much do you love God? He is jealous, and wants to keep your relationship with Him pure!

Read in Deuteronomy 13:6-7 of the far more difficult matter of close friends or family members coming secretly to peddle dissident ideas or material. The natural tendency in such circumstances is to do nothing: to reason that everything will be fine; that we can just pray about it; that it’s not really our business; that we shouldn’t “tell” and get the person in trouble; that we don’t want to break their confidence. Deeply contemplate God’s answer in verse 8. Don’t be acquiescent, don’t listen, don’t give him any attention, don’t be compassionate, don’t commiserate, don’t listen to his arguments why he’s really innocent, God says. And don’t try to cover the matter up, hide it, be secretive about it, or hope it will go away! You must bring this out into the open and let the ministry know!

To see how serious God is about keeping His people pure, read His command to ancient Israel in verses 9-11.
God wanted the family member to be the first to put the seducer to death! Surely this reinforces the responsibility each of us has to watch out for and to help those we are close to—to love them enough to encourage him or her to stay close to God! If you have questions, talk to God’s ministry. If someone close to you has questions, encourage them to go to the ministry. If it’s a serious question that could lead to problems, and he won’t go—then you go! Love that person enough to go!

Study verses 12-16 to see how God dealt with rumors of idolaters in an Israelite city in order to ensure that all Israel remained free and pure of idolatry. Consider the profound effect this law would have had on the Israelites had they kept it. It would have put a great deal of responsibility on people to ensure their city remained free of idolatry! If they heard rumors about idolatry in their city, they couldn’t simply dismiss them and say, Well, that’s their business. If they did that, they too could end up being killed! Everyone needed to be vigilant to prevent idolatry from spreading!

God’s laws reveal His desire to protect Israel from the idolatry that saturated the surrounding peoples. “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues,” Revelation 18:4-5 say. “For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.” That is a command to us as well, which is why the specific laws God gave Israel on this point are so relevant today.

When God brought the Israelites into the Promised Land, He used them as His instrument of judgment against the idolatrous pagans. Contemplate His command in Deuteronomy 12:1-3. Consider how this precisely parallels what Christ is going to do when He returns to this Earth (e.g. Revelation 19:11-15). At the same time, this command was also meant to protect the Israelites and preserve the one true religion.

The people of God’s Church arein the world but not of it (e.g. John 17:14-16). We must be careful not to get wrapped up in the activities, business, customs and practices of this world. We all must examine ourselves individually and consider things like our dress, our language, our music and entertainment. Consider: God gave Israel specific laws about hairstyle, of all things. Clearly, God does care, and He wants His people to maintain high standards even amid a degenerating world.

 Read Leviticus 19:27 where God forbade hairdos that were popular among idolatrous priests. He didn’t give this law so His people would look freakish—but to prevent them from looking freakish. Read verse 28 where He outlawed cutting your own body out of grief, as well as tattooing or making marks on your body. These practices all have pagan origins. God wants us to treat our bodies with respect and to avoid disfiguring or harming them. God says your body is a temple for the Holy Spirit. He doesn’t want you making permanent marks on it any more than He wants you defacing His house with graffiti!

These laws directly correlate to New Testament commands about what to do when a Church member embraces dissident material or tries to pollute the true religion (see, for example, Romans 16:17; Galatians 1:8-9; 2 Thessalonians 3:6, 14; 1 Timothy 3:5; 6:5; Titus 3:10-11; 2 John 10-11). God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is just as concerned about purity in the congregation today as He was anciently—and, spiritually, He deals with the problem today the same as He did anciently.

HALLOWEEN HYSTERIA

by Keith Stump

October is quickly flying by, meaning it’s time for the traditional Christian hand-wringing over that most “demonic” of holidays, Halloween! In anticipation of the usual anti-Halloween propaganda, I offer the following observations about this alleged “satanic festival of evil”:

First, there’s no need to point out that Halloween is not found in Leviticus 23. (Duh.) Leviticus 23 is obsolete and irrelevant anyway. Second, forget the lengthy dissertation about how the papacy (the alleged “image of the beast” and “great whore”) instituted the Roman Catholic celebrations of “All Hallows Eve” and “All Saints Day”. That, too, is irrelevant. Today’s Halloween has nothing to do with honoring Christian saints. For most, Halloween long ago ceased being viewed as a religious observance—and never was, by Americans.

The Halloween that many of us know today is largely an American phenomenon. And it’s a purely secular observance.

Yet some of Halloween’s customs do have roots in pre-Christian (“pagan”) practices. “Pagan” has long been a popular buzz word among Christians, especially among the COGs. As a Plain Truth and World Tomorrow writer, and occasional GHOSTwriter (how occult!) for the Armstrongs, I used the word liberally for decades. If it’s “pagan” in origin, it MUST be evil (like, I suppose, playing cards, wedding rings, dominoes, medicine, beer, the theater, the names of the days of the week and months of the year, and so on—all of which are scrupulously avoided in the COGs, aren’t they?).

Some of Halloween’s customs can be traced to practices of the Celtic New Year, particularly among the Druids of ancient Britain. The Celts worshipped nature deities and practiced a relatively benign type of witchcraft. (Shame on them for living before the birth of Christ! Why, they must have been as evil as Cyrus the Great, who worshipped Ishtar, the pagan goddess of love and war, and Ahura Mazda, god of light and wisdom. [Oh, wait a minute—God still called Cyrus "that righteous man from the East." Never mind.])

The Celtic festival of Samhain (which means “summer’s end” and marked the Celtic New Year, and is properly pronounced SOW-in, not “Sam Hain”) was considered to be a magical time, when the thin veil between the worlds was lifted, and the dead walked among the living. It was a night of ghosts and fairies, in which bonfires were lit and fortunes were told, and the thoughts of all turned to the afterlife. For some odd reason, the Celts didn’t think that exposing their children to contemplation of death and the afterlife was a problem. And, of course, the “witches” of the time were primarily herbalists and midwives. Witches as evil, devil-worshiping crones were an invention of the medieval Church, perpetuated by modern fundamentalists.

Despite fundamentalist assertions, there were no orgies or human sacrifices or cannibalism or devil-worshipping during Samhain. Anyone who claims otherwise is an incompetent researcher or an outright liar. And—despite all those sermonettes you’ve heard—there was never a Celtic “god of death” named “Samhain”.

The ancient Samhain festival in no way “glorified” the demonic world, nor—except for a relatively few “Satanists”—does Samhain today. Modern pagans who celebrate Samhain regard it as a time to look back on the past year and reflect on how they can become better people, and a time to honor departed loved ones and welcome them into their presence. Modern Halloween is even less focused on “making contact” with the spirit world.

Stop for a moment and consider rationally: Is a six-year-old girl trick-or-treating in a Cinderella costume “fellowshipping with demons”? Is a child covered in a sheet with eye-holes “associating with spirits”? Are employees attending a company costume party “consorting with the devil”? Is hanging a plastic skeleton in your window “paying homage to Satan”? Is carving a jack-o’-lantern “fashioning an idol”? Is bobbing for apples a “wicked revel”? Some who are reading this would reply with a resounding “yes”. And that’s because of the spiritual myopia that warps their thinking, as I’ll discuss in a moment. Goofball notions are de rigueur for the fundamentalist.

Others who are reading this have heartwarming memories of Halloween. It’s a slice of genuine Americana. It was one of the highlights of their childhood calendar—a time of family crafts and costume-making, a time to celebrate creativity and imagination. It was a time for children to dress up and solicit candy from their neighbors. (We were even taught to say “thank you”, which I’m sure irked Satan no end.) Trick-or-treating allowed the entire community to share in the Halloween festivities, as costumes were admired and rewarded with goodies. Halloween reaffirmed social bonds with friends and neighbors. These are hardly the “unfruitful works of darkness” (Eph. 5:11), unless one is a fanatic who interprets that phrase like, well, a fanatic.

(A parenthetical note to hypocrites: Anyone who condemns Halloween, yet enjoys an occasional Bela Lugosi or Boris Karloff film, or reads a Stephen King or Anne Rice thriller, or a Harry Potter novel, or who watches “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” or “The Wizard of Oz” or Disney’s “Snow White” or “Sleeping Beauty” or the “Lord of the Rings” films or who plays fantasy-based video games or visits Disneyland’s “Haunted Mansion” or watches a stage magician is a hypocrite, pure and simple. It’s like a conscientious objector being a fan of war movies. But hypocrisy is nothing new to the COGs, is it? And, for that matter, is “glorifying violence” any less “sinful” than “glorifying the occult”? (Hmm. I must have been imagining those LCG members sitting in the theater when I saw “Terminator 3″.))

 To all COG members out there: Is your children’s Christianity so feeble as to be endangered by a plastic mask and a few candy bars? Are your children so inadequately grounded in their religion as to be tempted into a life of witchcraft by attending a costume party? Are you yourself so poorly rooted in your faith that you fear your children will ask questions to which you have no satisfactory answers?

I have seen no evidence of children being psychologically warped or seduced into a life of witchcraft and perversion as a result of innocent Halloween activities. I HAVE, however, seen many fearful and superstitious COG children who have been conditioned to be abnormally hypersensitive to anything blackened with the feared label “occult”. One child in particular comes to mind, whom I witnessed shrieking in stark terror at the mere sight of a jack-o-lantern. Are you raising fearful children who, like medieval peasants, see Satan lurking behind every tree and demons skulking in every dark corner? Are you raising children who fear they will “open themselves up” to “demonic control” at any moment by the slightest misstep? What a tenuous, precarious and paranoid spirituality! Satan is a defeated enemy! We need not shrink inanimate mortal remains. Explain that fear of black cats is an ancient superstition of the ignorant. Talk to them about the fanciful creations of horror fiction, like werewolves and vampires. It’s healthy to examine the things that frighten us. Tell them about “ghosts” or disembodied spirits. (The dead are relatively safe; it’s the living you need to watch out for!) And talk to them about the subject of life after physical death. Tell them about the Lord of Life who overcame death. Assuage their fears about those who can kill the body but not the soul.

Halloween is also a good time to reconsider our own views about death and the afterlife. The unbiblical doctrine of “soul sleep” would be a good place to start. The Bible clearly teaches (and centuries of experience demonstrate) that death does not interrupt self-awareness; personal identity survives death! By contrast, Herbert Armstrong’s so-called “restored truth” about “What is Man?” is totally without biblical foundation, though his followers blindly accept it. Measuring truth by the teachings of a morally unprincipled deviate who was indisputably unqualified for ministry by biblical standards (i Tim. 3:2-7; Titus 1:6-7) is far scarier than any aspect of Halloween! (A rule of thumb, which I’ll throw in free of charge: The farther an individual or group moves away from the teachings of the so-called Philadelphia era of the Church of God, the closer he moves toward genuine truth and balanced spirituality.) 

So here’s my point: Objection to Halloween is a reflection of something much broader: an obsession with trivialities, a confusion of priorities, a primitive fear of the unknown, an arrogance that finds “righteousness” in being odd-ball and out-of-step. Fundamentalists can find something offensive or objectionable in almost anything. They have a world view in which virtually everything is “anti-Christian”. They have lost the ability to filter the important from the inconsequential. The traditional COG prohibition against Halloween ignores the facts of history, misrepresents the modern holiday, and demonstrates a woeful lack of spiritual discernment.

So, in a nutshell, my message to Christians about Halloween is: Lighten up! There is nothing spiritually harmful about this tradition. Sensibly observed, Halloween can be a day of wholesome fun and merriment. Believe it or not, not everything in life has to have some deep spiritual connotation. Halloween is “Satan’s Holiday” only to those who concede it to him or arbitrarily label it as such. Christians have been redeemed from the forces of evil. We don’t have to give credence to Satan’s claimed authority in any area of life. Don’t surrender to the fear, superstition and hypocrisy of the fundamentalist, who wouldn’t recognize a little harmless fun if he tripped over it, who is oblivious to the value of fantasy, who has no idea what “magic” and “witchcraft” really are, to whom everything paranormal is “demonic” and who trembles before the power of Satan and his demons (whether he admits it or not). Don’t fall prey to shady “scholarship” and flawed arguments about this holiday. Don’t let anyone judge you in respect of this or any other occasion. Safe, fun Halloween activities are NOT “of the “devil”.

To believe otherwise is just plain silly!

...claims that he is in possession of a $400 million dollar luminous pearl, an ancient far eastern artifact of immense pseudo historical significance.

Kenneth Sr. claims to have been a top security official of the personal guard and administration of World Wide Church of GOD leader Herbert W. Armstrong.

Kenneth Sr. teaches that prior to HWA's death, he was entrusted with one of three official WWCG seals of authority. Another of these seals remained with HWA and the third was passed to his successor Joseph W. Tkach.

One thing seems clear, Kenneth Sr. lusted for HWA's power and office, and made it his mission to build for himself the same prestige, international respect and power; seeds which grew into Sovereign Church of 'ELOHIYM International and 1BLOOD International a church of even greater apostasy and deception than Armstrong's organization, despite its relative insignificance in world events.

...the success of his first seed rice farms in the Bo District of Sierra Leone had caused the natives, as is their natural way, to exhort Kenneth with great parades and tributes,    including grand displays and gifts and offerings. It seems that this adoration consumed him and when he returned he immediately began to change in the eyes of his members. He began wearing royal clothing, and adorning himself with gold and diamonds. He had a crown constructed for himself and wore it for all Sermons and official meetings. His Sabbath sermons began to shift from bible studies into long rambling stories of his exploits, grand designs, visions, prophetic powers, ecclesiastical authorities and he also claimed himself Apostle. It reached the point at which Kenneth rarely opened the Bible or read from it, claiming that he now received visions and new testimony straight from the Most High GOD who he identified as 'ELOHIYM, based on the original phonetic translation of the Hebrew word used to describe GOD in the ancient Chaldean. The church which had been called International Church of GODs Elect became Sovereign Church of 'ELOHIYM International, and he established 1BLOOD International as his outreach ministry and registered it as an NGO.

Once he abandoned the Bible as the center of his teachings his doctrines began shifting radically. He began printing and publishing his own doctrinal writings and forcing his congregation to undergo intense workshops where he indoctrinated them with his new lofty visions and scriptures. He began to identify himself as a hereditary king of West Africa, based on some connection he had found through his slave ancestry leading back to Africa. He rapidly convinced the West African natives under his influence of this belief and he gladly accepted royal praises, titles and tributes from his new subjects. As his food program grew, so did his ego. In time he began to claim that he was in fact a modern day Joseph, in reference to Joseph of ancient Egypt whom GOD used to implement a national food security program to stave off famine for the glorification of GOD. This became a regular topic of his "sermons" which were little more than several hour long bragging sessions during which he would boast of all things from having the power to raise the dead, over power demons, speak self fulfilling prophecies and influence world leaders.

A convicted rapist and murderer has said he was only able to commit his horrific crimes because he could take off his ankle monitor without authorities noticing.

David Renz was sentenced to life in prison without parole last year after murdering a librarian and raping her ten-year-old daughter in Syracuse, New York.

Renz, 31 - who was out on bail at the time for suspected child-pornography offences - admitted carjacking Lori Ann Bresnahan, 47, and her young child on March 14, 2013

Those who cannot may wish to consider the possibility to not sleep in their houses during the time of the Feast.  If they are physically and financially able, they may wish to try to sleep in some type of temporary dwelling like a hotel, motel, camper, or a tent (including perhaps one in one’s own home).  In ancient Israel, those who did not travel (as well as native Israelites that did) made ‘booths’ of branches on top of their roofs (Leviticus 23:40) and slept in them for the seven days of the Feast (Leviticus 23:42), and some slept for the entire eight days (though th e Bible only mentions seven days).  Staying in ‘temporary dwellings,’ of whatever sort, helps convey that this age is temporal and a new millennial age is coming.

Join us as we celebrate 50 years serving God in the Greater Columbus area.
Saturday evening we'll share memories, photos, and hors d'oeurves in a festive atmosphere.
The suggested attire is dressy casual.​
Dr. Joseph Tkach, President of Grace Communion International, will be joining us and will also be the featured speaker at our worship service at 11 a.m. Sunday.

Please don't forget to RSVP and help spread the word by forwarding this evite to others. We look forward to seeing you there!

Lil Jim Meredith really enjoyed his deluxe accommodations,  expensive meals and lots of pricey recreational activities such as ATVs, zip-lining and, his personal favorite, golfing on high-end golf courses with endless views at the Feast this year. Being the bosses kid and heir apparent does have its privileges! And it's so much easier to stomach the high prices in Hawaii when your trip is being fully funded by tithe-payers instead of coming out of your own pocket. Twenty bucks says Lil' Jimmy will be festival coordinator in Hawaii next year, and the year after that, and the year after that.... Can anyone imagine him at one of the smaller, less noted and far less luxurious sites? I don't think so!

Maybe one year LCG can have as many Feast-goers in Hawaii as UCG or COGWA. As for now, their numbers pale in comparison. Not that any of us really care, but numbers mean EVERYTHING to Meredith and his henchmen. They mean so much that they have no problem LYING about them to inflate their sense of importance and to prove that they are doing an amazing "work". Although it's not really "lying" if you accidentally count dead people, children or people who get married and change their names so they start receiving 2 of everything; or people who donate $5 once and are never heard from again. LCG counts it all as evidence of "growth".

Perhaps they learned this technique from that "How To Lie With Statistics" book that Living University uses to teach math (Living University Class On How to Lie).

It's really a shame that LCG doesn't have a congregation in Hawaii because maybe he could just move there permanently to "serve the people" but I guess it would be frowned upon for the next leader of LCG to be so far away from Charlotte. when the old man is so close to death.

Insiders say that Lil' Jim is now officially the department head of EVERY DEPARTMENT at LCG headquarters. He now heads departments with which he knows absolutely nothing about. Not that that is too shocking because none of them really know what they are doing in the 1st place. It's so much easier to train people to do what you want them to do instead of hiring educated professionals to do things the proper way. Lil' Jim now signs off on every employees time card and approves all requested time-off, but he's not in control, right? It's interesting that Lil' Jimmy has been made the head of every department and has his name on all the financials but THEY CONTINUE THE RUSE THAT JIM ISN'T TAKING OVER AFTER EMPORER ROD DIES ! He is most certainly going to be wizard behind the curtain despite the smoke and mirrors LCG uses to pander an alternate plan to their trusting members. Lies are okay in Meredith-land just so long as the ends justify the means.