Davey starts his weekly letter off by once again proclaiming that he is going to restore the "glory days" from the past. All the brethren will dwell together in harmony, all bitterness, intrigue and malice will be eliminated as everyone becomes Stepford Members trying to relive the past. Oh how glorious those days were.
Then, further down his latest screed, he calls all of those activities as spiritually blinding the members to what they should have been doing.
In previous announcements, we covered the big elements of the “Church of God” landscape that will change in light of the Haggai prophecy. We saw reunification of God’s people will explode the size and scope of God’s Work and that brethren will be together for the Feast of Tabernacles, Sabbath services, socials, Spokesman/Graduate Clubs, youth camps, Ministerial Conferences, college and more. Obviously, these changes will be BIG, but in a sense not as big as those that must occur in the lives of individual Christians. YOU must be ready to give up doctrines, traditions, practices, policies and standards that you have unwittingly (or wittingly) absorbed.
Be honest with yourself and acknowledge what God’s Church became for so many—and probably you—as it grew to the globe-girdling size that it reached. There was literally something for everyone, and something was almost always going on. As a result, enormous numbers stopped thinking about the need to pray, study, fast, meditate, exercise God’s Spirit—and copy Jesus Christ in building the perfect, holy, righteous character of God, en route to awesome rulership in God’s kingdom.
Instead, they focused on the next picnic, dance, potluck, basketball and other sporting tournaments, Y.O.U., Y.E.S. (youth programs), singles activity, fundraising project, senior citizen dinner, track meet, Spokesman Club Ladies’ Night, talent show, youth camp session, snow party, deacon/elder meeting, get-together, etc. (Yet Church Bible Studies were cancelled long before anyone felt the need to reduce any of the activities mentioned here.)
Typical of Armstrongism one never quit knows what is the right thing to do. One minute something is being praised by the Dear Leader and the next it is being claimed to be a tool of Satan. No wonder people drank!