Conflict between Science and Religion???

 

The no-nonsense astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson will surprise you with his assessment on the topic.

Ian Boyne: Religious Hardtalk!

This is the Jamaican version of Michael Coren—Ian Boyne who has a controversial show on Television Jamaica called “Religious Hardtalk”. If you are looking for some thing that is safe, nice, sweet, saccharine, unfunny pretending as humourous and politically correct; may I suggest the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) for  your tastes. For those who don’t know who Ian Boyne is, he is a Jamaica-based journalist who was a member of the historic Worldwide Church of God, now a member of the late Garner Ted Armstrong’s off-shoot The Church of God, International but those who have left the XCGs do not let that intimidate you—not even for a second. This man’s a pretty independent thinker and he’s darn proud of it. He does not skip  to anybody’s drum. In my books, “HE’S MY KIND OF PEOPLE!” He had an interesting view on the destiny of the unevangelized dead on Gavin’s old blog a long time ago, I had offered my counterpoints to them.  I will direct you to a two-part series when he deals with a Church of God (Seventh Day) “scholar” by the name of Joy PenroPenrose-Davis who promotes the Arianist view on the nature of Jesus Christ. The first episode, Ms.Penrose-Davis states her case and in the second episode, Ian Boyne refutes the claims.  Hey I will even kick in this article for futher back-up. Also you want something a lot more controversial, something you will NOT see ever on the CBC, here is an episode of a minister discussing her past as a “former lesbian” and drug dealer having a spiritually transformed life in Christ. I know many gays (even LGBT Christians included) here in continental North America might take some issue with her views and testimony. You might not agree with many or all of her conclusions but Ian Boyne is always about fair hearing and debate. Something we need here in continental North America (Canada and the United States).

Video clips on Dr. John D. Garr

I have Dr. John D. Garr’s Hebraic Christian Global Community linked on this blog. Here’s some video clips to get know what Dr.Garr and his mission is all about. I had the opportunity to hear him and meet him nearly a decade ago back in early 2002, when he visited Toronto, Canada to a small group dedicated to the Hebraic roots of Christianity with an Seventh Day Adventist bent (actually more specifically an Ellen White bent, IMHO that group would have benefited to it’s potential if they abandoned it’s attachment to EGW and quit it’s sympathies to those who held a stubborn belief in the Arian view on the nature of Jesus Christ—but that’s neither here nor there). When Dr. Garr came to Toronto in ’02, I enjoyed his speaking style, his warm and approachable personality and his passion to educate The Church no matter the denomination about the importance of learning about the Hebraic heritage of the Christian Church. There are those who take a millitant and aggressive tone against such project but it only shows a malignant narrow-mindedness and thinking inside the box on their part. For those interesting in having a conversation, albeit an adult conversation as opposed to score points in an argument, these video clips should be an interesting and educational opportunity for those  interested.

The late great Dwight Pryor on Tithing

There are those who are former XCGers and now who have embraced Evangelical Christianity who believe very strongly and passionately that tithing has been superceded by The New Covenant over the Mosaic Covenant. The late great founder of The Center of Judaic Christian Studies, Dwight Pryor had some interesting insight of tithing and Christian giving. Worth a listen no matter where you stand on the topic. Listen here.

 

 

Videos on the Jehovah’s Witnesses: An all-too-familiar experience

Thanks to NO2HWA of the Banned by HWA blog. I haven`t seen the first clip in a long time in over 15 years. In NO2HWA’s post on his blog he does ask the question, doesn’t it seem all too familiar with the experience being in the historic Worldwide Church of God and the question is a definate “YES!”  Both sects are from the Adventist movement but from the dark side of the force. This first video below tells you the sordid history behind the cult of the Jehovah’s Witnesses and those who by none other by the literal grace of God found their way out of that tolitarian cult into the freedom IN (not from) Jesus Christ.

I found this interesting video on Youtube about a man who spent his whole life (50 years to be exact) in the cult but recently found his way out too!

Will I Be Going To This Church Anytime Soon???

Nope!  Frankly, the recipient of the letter needs to tell Cornerstone Reformed Church, “You can take your legalistic church and SHOVE IT!”

Source: FAIL BLOG

A Make-You-Think Article from Keith W. Stump on Halloween

(As Halloween has now come and gone for another year, here’s a splendidly written post written by former writer for The Plain Truth, Keith W. Stump on Gavin Rumney’s former site back in 2003. I applauded the article for making me think outside the box.  I ask all reading this for the very first time to have an open mind. It is  very controversial and will go against what you may thought you’ve known but reading this is definately worth it.)

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-worshipping 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 regardit as a time to look back on the past year and reflect on how they can become better people, anda 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 sha dy “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 othervflse is just plain silly!

A bit of an oldie: Joe Jr.and Mike on the radio about the WCG/GCI

 This is old (a couple years back) but still relevant. I meant to post this for some time but never got around to it. I want to thank  again Anne Hanna, a long time internet friend who regularly posted on Mark Tabladillo’s Jesus Loves Fellowship message board back in the past decade of the 2000`s when Mark`s site was a very active one –she gave me something interesting as always to post here. I have mainly put some of her well written and thoroughly researched posts from Mark’s message board to my blog (especially my “old” blog on blogspot, they are still there for your reading). She discovered  a New York radio station that had a recent interview with Grace Communion International President and Pastor General Joseph Tkach and Vice-President Michael Feazell in a two part interview. I have personally heard the first interview, Anne heard part of the second interview and as usual had an opinion to share as always,

Right off the bat it’s bound to have some “New” WCG/GCI member’s blood boiling.

The Topic: Healing under Armstrong.

The Question: The usual, that Herbert Armstrong prohibited doctors and medicine.

The Answer (from President Tkach): A bit of a surprise.

Apparently it wasn’t all HWA’s fault. No no, Tkach says that the doctrine was not monolithic and depended on the pastor in the congregation you attended. Even HWA did not adhere to that very closely in the last years of his life and was taking 17 different medications.

“According to Tkach, HWA would say that when he wrote his booklet … he was stating an “ideal” and that he did not mean to make it an either or situation. Tkach said to be fair some in Administration interpreted it and they were handpicked by HWA. He (HWA) did not superintend that issue very well.”

A fellow poster on Mark’s post by the name Desertwench disagrees with Tkach Jr.’s conclusions:

Anne,

On the Armstrong healing doctrine, I was there back in the day, and know for a fact that doctors & prescription drugs were a no-no (church-wide) except in the case of needing to have a broken bone set or certain types of emergencies.  The act of seeking medical treatment (in general) was viewed as weakness of faith and failure to trust and rely on God.  I still can’t believe how many sick people died needlessly back then, simply because they believed it was not God’s will for them to see a doctor.

Just as HWA changed his mind back & forth (depending on what mood or circumstances he was in….) numerous times on the “makeup doctrine,” he also changed his mind on “healing” – especially when he himself needed medical attention.  When he was in Thailand and other countries, he did not even practice his own “clean and unclean meat” doctrines, and ate whatever was placed in front of him so as not to offend whomever he was there to impress.  HWA was emotionally immature, mentally ill & wishy-washy to the hilt (I’m pretty sure his full name was Herbert Wishy-Washy Armstrong!).

I don’t know why Tkach seems to be defending ex-cult leader HWA’s “honor” after all these years.  Well, except for the fact that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree…he is, after all, STILL Armstrong’s successor…

I was personally POed when the radio talk show host inquired about Herbert W. Armstrong`s racism and the poor response given to it. Mike Feazell only responded with isn`t everybody racist shtick. Read an old Plain Truth and find out about HWA`s feelings about the Civil Rights movement, or his divinely ordered decree of segregation in the millenial kingdom  in booklets like The Wonderful World Tomorrow or Mystery of The Ages or simply HWA`s perverse hang-ups with black men with white chicks in a sermon back in 1980. Sorry Mike, Herbert W. Armstrong at times made Archie Bunker look like a respectable liberal. Click here to the blog to hear the interviews online.

My 13th Year Post WCG! And Yes, I Won’t Be Fooled Again!

Whoops!!!! I haven’t blogged here in a couple weeks and October is almost over! What’s the big deal??? It is my 13th year since I left the Worldwide Church of God (now incarnated as Grace Communion International) and every year, I always have a video clip from You Tube from The Who and their masterpiece hit, “We Won’t Get Fooled Again” and trust me this year WILL NOT BE DIFFERENT!!! May this song be anthem for many people for freedom and independent thinking from the splinters of Armstrongism or any other destructive religious (and cultic) system and the embrace of independent thinking and eternal vigilance and suspicion of religious leaders of all kinds.

THE TKACH WHO STOLE TABERNACLES

“Little boy, quit sniveling! Stop it! Stop it! You have no need of a “Feast” because, if you believe, Christ is dwelling in you. A celebration is unnecessary! Time to grow up little boy!” As the Tkach takes the small succoth booth from the young boy as he cries incessantly. The Feast of Tabernacles was not going to be celebrated ever, ever again! Anne Hanna back in 2003 tells the story of how “The Tkach Stole Tabernacles!”—The Editors

He looked and he looked then said in dismay,”I don’t like my people looking this way.

I’ve told them to choose, but they get it all wrong,They can’t even select the right kind of song.

I’ve given them hints and “suggestions” with more of just of late. Why aren’t they changing, they’ve had years more than eight?

Surely, tryly they will do as I say,Oh why can’t those “other ones” just go away?

Though I’ve said days don’t matter, that’s really not true, but when I made those promises the sale was in view.

“Time for something stronger!” the Ruler then thought, Though his kingdom’s ruined from wars he had fought.

“Tabernacles is dead, though I’ve not told them such, But then they can only handle so much.

I’ve ignored their wishes, but it’s for their own sake, After all you “don’t feed a baby a poterhouse steak.””

Then some disturbing reports did appear,The Ruler was unhappy;”Wasn’t this settled last year?

But never you mind, I’ll stomp it right out,we can’t have those customs hanging about.

Then it’s far out to sea on a lovely white ship, But I won’t call it Tabernacles. No! Not one bit!!

There’ll be laughing and singing and dramas galare, And I’ll forget all about that mess back on shore.

So give me a break I’m really quite beat, From letting the pastors back home take the heat.

I have my critics, maybe more than a few, But it’s not like my job’s ever up for review.

So I’ll have a great Festival with nothing to fear, Cause I’m almost certain the end is quite near.”