WHY THE CHURCHES OF GOD WILL NOT REUNITE
by Felix Taylor
READERS ADVISORY: To those who are members of the various splinters, this is NOT an
attack on the churches of God. I believe I have an obligation to point out certain damaging
heresies, teachings and approaches that are producing bad fruit. For me not to do so is a
dereliction of duty.
An idea of an article like this has come to mind since in the message board of Mark Tabladillo,
a fellow by the name of Whistler (I guess it's his message board name) had a post called, "Are
the WCG offshoots cults? You decide!" He (Whistler) perfectly and brilliantly described the
components of what makes a church a cult. I later responded and added my own components
that if one denies the essentials of historic Christian faith one is down the path of cultic
doctrine. I hear from WCG conservatives (responsible conservatives and GRUMPS alike) and
from those of the offshoots that they will be an "Elijah " as prophesied in the last chapter of
Malachi to come to unify the various Churches of God. It is my firm hope to see the various
Churches of God to come together. The reality is that these groups WILL NOT UNITE and
may NEVER unite because of certain attitudes and damaging doctrines they may possess. If
they would only listen with an open mind and take what will be said UNDER SERIOUS
ADVISEMENT, there may be a breakthrough. Here are the reasons why the splinters of the
Churches of God will NOT REUNITE!
1. DENIAL OF THE TRINITY
An essential mark of dividing Christianity and the cults. Those in the splinters (sadly even the
liberal ones such as Church of God, International, and certain elements in the Association of
Christian Development, the outreach of the Associated Churches of God formed in 1974) still
hold onto the God-family doctrine which canNOT be supported by scripture. If one really
looks at Revelation 21.3, there is a DISTINCTION between GOD and MANKIND and IN NO
UNCERTAIN WAY ARE THEY CONFUSED TOGETHER!! YES, MEN AND WOMEN WILL EXIST
AFTER THE MILLENNIUM AND THE NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH, BUT THEY WILL
HAVE GLORIFIED, PERFECTED AND ETERNAL BODIES!! Some hold to other heresies such as
Unitarianism (God the Father is only God; Jesus was a great teacher who was given all the
attributes and character of the Father). Others have a modified heresy (or an originating
heresy) of the God Family doctrine called Bitheism (two God Beings). The Church of God
(7th Day), headquartered in Salem, West Virginia are bitheistic (the United Church of God
also has a form of bitheism). HWA had unfortunately compounded on this heresy and
managed to form the God Family doctrine. Some of the splinters have what I would call the
mildest of heresies (but nevertheless it is a heresy) called binitarianism (One God existing in
two persons; The Holy Spirit is God's work on earth). The Church of God (Seventh Day)
headquartered in Denver, Colorado "officially" (and must be stressed officially because there
are Trinitarians in the group) holds this position. They are currently debating the subject; one
hopes that they will have an official Trinitarian position soon. The Bible clearly says that there
is only One God (Deut.6:4). Isaiah 43.10 states there was no god before one True God and
there WILL NOT be A SINGLE GOD FORMED AFTER HIM. John 1.1 states Jesus is God (sorry
Jehovah's Witnesses); Acts 5 identifies that the Holy Spirit is God, not a mere created power
that like electricity. Hebrews 9.14 states it is eternal. Acts 13.2 clearly states that He spoke to
Saul(Paul) and Barnabas for the work HE sent them. This is a clear indicator that the Holy Spirit
is PERSONAL! Despite those that argue and may argue well that the Holy Spirit is God's active
force and merely that, may I say that we don't say in our modern day that the"telephone spoke
to me" or the "computer told me to do this" or "the television had a discussion with me;" why
can't we recognize the personality of the Holy Spirit? When one denies the trinity, a defective
Christology will follow and a defective view of grace will develop, as we will see later.
2.DEFECTIVE CHRISTOLOGY (THE GREAT GAMBLE THEORY)
It is interesting to note the late Walter Martin's work called the Kingdom of the Cults (Hank
Hanegraaff, Martin's successor of the Christian Research Institute, has recently compiled a
new edition). What was interesting to notice that all the cults mentioned, ALL denied the
proper role of the Deity of Jesus Christ except for guess who, the Worldwide Church of God.
We always understood that Jesus Christ is God (John 1.1, Hebrews 1.8) but we did not have a
FULLY orthodox view of Jesus Christ! I appreciate Church of God, International 's Ian Boyne's
recent article on defending the deity of Jesus Christ and is a good place to start to learn about
the deity of Jesus. About 80%-90% is correct, though I am a little worried about their view on
subordinationalism in dealing with the nature of Christ. As James R. White, author of the book,
The Forgotten Trinity had said about the heresy of subordinationalism: if you deny the
equality of persons in the Godhead, this is its end result. I do hope the in the very near future
CGI will, too, recant their God family position for a more fully orthodox view on what who
God is. Though most of the splinters have an orthodox view that Jesus is God, some do
believe in the Great Gamble Theory, which means that Jesus took a big risk coming to earth
in the flesh, he indeed had sinful flesh and it could have been possible for him to sin. The
WCG is not alone in inventing this heretical doctrine. The Seventh Day Adventists at one time
believed this, but thankfully recanted this heretical position. This does not mean every certain
individual member has recanted this heresy; unfortunately some cherish this heresy. Here
are scriptures that properly explain the deity and humanity of Christ: But what of Hebrews
13:8, "Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday and forever?" If his nature is constant, what does it
mean for him to evolve? Why, if he inherited sinful human nature, did he never offer sacrifices
(to atone for his SIN, even though he committed no sins), never pray for forgiveness
(although he prayed that OTHERS might be forgiven), never acknowledge moral weakness or
failure? Why does the New Testament depict him as "holy" (Luke 1:35), as one who "knew no
sin" (II Cor.5:21), as "without sin" (Heb.7:26), as being "without blemish"(Heb. 9:14 and I Peter
1.19), as one in whom "there is no sin" and who is "righteousness"(I John 3:5-7)? Guided by
these and similar Scriptures, the historic Westminster Assembly framed the following statement:
The Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity, being very and eternal God, of one
substance and equal with the Father did when the fullness of time was come, take upon him
man's nature, with all the essential properties and common infirmities thereof, YET WITHOUT
SIN: being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the Virgin Mary, of her
substance. So that two whole, perfect, and distinct natures, the Godhead and the manhood,
were inseparably joined together in one person……Which person is very God and very
man, yet one Christ, the only Mediator between God and man." 1
Most of the splinters defective Christology lies therein is they preach that Christ was
resurrected a "spirit" and deny his bodily resurrection in a glorified body. Search the
Christian Research Institute's web site at www.equip.org to search a brief article on this
subject.
3.FAITH + WORKS = SALVATION
With most of the splinters, you will hear that the sacrifice of Christ covers "past sins." I say if it
only covers that, why did Jesus come down to die in the first place? What was the bother; we
could just work our way into the kingdom perfectly fine ourselves. Another type of salvation
by works is that most of the splinters believe in baptismal regeneration, which in laymen's
terms meaning "salvation by baptism." They will say if you are baptized, have hands laid on
by the minister, then you are saved. Cults like the Church of Christ (Boston movement),
Oneness Pentecostalism, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses and even Roman Catholics and some
Anglicans hold this view. The problem with this view is that it compromises the sound
teaching on salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. It suggests we are not saved by
faith alone; baptism supplements it. This is one of the reasons I delayed my baptism in the
Worldwide Church of God until I was 27, in April 1997. I knew that wasn't right. Even as a
teenager, I couldn't reconcile the fact that one became a Christian when he was baptized.
Until 1995, when I read the festival Youth 95 magazine, the Church finally recognized that one
can have the Holy Spirit and be a Christian without being baptized. Let us make it perfectly
clear, baptism is a command of Christ (Matthew 28.19,Acts 2.38) but one must realize that it is
A RESULT OF SALVATION, not a MEANS OF BEING SAVED! Though I have a radical
universally different view and strong bitter disagreements of how the Bible should be read
than Earl Williams (former WCG pastor and leader of Christ's Church of Grace), he is right on
the money and totally accurate on the issue of baptism. Here are some important excerpts of
his article which can be found on David Covington's web page: "No form of works, whether
baptism or any act of obedience, can produce nor be an essential prerequisite for salvation.
The instrument or means which we accept God's gift is faith. Good works(such as baptism)
follow salvation (Ephesians 2:8-10)……Acts 2:38 associates baptism and forgiveness, but
forgiveness is not a result of baptism. Jesus forgave sins without having to perform a baptism.
People are forgiven on the basis of faith, and baptism follows……So when does a believer
receive the Holy Spirit? Paul tells us: 'And you were included in Christ when you heard the
word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a
seal, the promised Holy Spirit. When they are being led by the Holy Spirit, they are children
of God(Romans 8:14).'
Included in belief is repentance. When people turn in faith to God, they are repenting. They
experience a change of mind about their life and sinful ways. They then turn in faith to God to
save them.
When a person truly believes and accepts God's gift, God accomplishes their salvation in one
comprehensive act. Notice this powerful statement in Romans 8:30: "Those he predestined, he
also called, those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified." "2
Other supplements of salvation with the offshoots would be the Sabbath and the Holy Days. I
for one, am staunchly pro-Sabbath, pro-Holy Day under the liturgical calendar in the New
Covenant dispensation. I remembered when the late Pastor General Joseph W. Tkach Sr.
visited Buffalo in 1993 and exclaimed that he kept the Sabbath, not to be saved BUT BECAUSE
HE IS SAVED! At that time I wanted to cheer him on publicly since his famous "How dumb can
we be?" sermon in 1992. There are other Sabbatarians like Whaid Rose, General Conference
of the Church of God(Seventh Day) in Denver, Colorado and evangelical Seventh Day
Adventist scholar, Dr. Desmond Ford of Good News Fellowship (you can surf his reviews and
debates with Dale Ratzlaff on www.goodnewsunlimited.org )who also hold to this position.
Certain Messianic Orthodox Jews believe the Holy Days are an obedience issue (strictly a
sanctification issue, NOT a justification issue). Of course, many in the Worldwide Church of
God and other Christians who accept the WCG's recent theological version on the New
Covenant believe that you can voluntarily celebrate the Sabbath and the Holy Days as
Christian festivals of worship and they are just as good (or better for some) as keeping the
Lord's Day on Sunday or keeping Christmas or Easter. The great big BUT is when you say
that you must keep the Sabbath and the Holy Days in order to maintain your salvation and if
you don't you are NOT a Christian THEN I have serious problems with your line of reasoning.
It is not the Biblical view on what grace is. A gift ceases to be a gift, no matter how small the
price. It is the sacrifice of Christ plus nothing else. Galatians 3:2 and Ephesians 2:8 and other
ample Biblical references show us that we are saved by faith alone. With this attitude of faith
+works = salvation is legalism, and those who practice it are not sure of whether that they are
saved or not, whether they will make it into God's kingdom whereas the Bible says otherwise!
Paul meant what he said that we are NOW SAVED by grace in Ephesians, NOT will be!
Galatians 1:8 is unambiguous about a results of a false gospel.
4.EXCLUSIVITY: "ARMSTRONGISM IS CHRISTIANITY, THE REST IS PAGAN!"
The fourth tragic mistake of the Churches of God is exclusivity. With the various splinters of
the Churches of God around, they will NOW recognize that the competing churches of God
are Christian part of the invisible body of Jesus Christ, but if you are Charles Stanley, Chuck
Swindoll, R.C. Sproul, Dr. Billy Graham or David Mainze, you may do great works and help a
lot of people but you must wait 'til the second resurrection. Only baptized, Sabbath-keeping
Church of God members will only take part. Sometimes the splinters confuse genuine
evangelical Christians with the world! I know one person who barely passed into the kingdom
of God the "Seventh Day Adventists" because they did not have the name "church of God"
attached to it. The individual probably gave the Church of God (Seventh Day) from Denver,
Colorado a better passing grade(but probably a C- )because they did not accept most of
what Mr. Armstrong taught and was orthodox leaning. I am so happy that God IS BIGGER
THAN THAT! I am so happy that if one believes in the life, death and resurrection of our Lord
and surrenders themselves to Jesus they are in a NEW relationship with Him. They are
rescued from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of his son (Colossians 1.14). One does
not need to belong a corporate institution having "church of God" attached to it. Let me make
no mistake, there is nothing wrong for a denomination to be called "Church of God" because
it is a perfect reminder to know who REALLY is IN CHARGE. The Church of God (Seventh
Day) has the best approach by saying "We are not trying to be saved by that name," it's a
Biblical pattern to use. You will find those in that relationship in the kingdom of His Son who
are Seventh Day Adventist, Seventh Day Baptist, Church of God (Seventh Day) Denver,
Colorado, and Messianic Judaism in the relationship with Christ. You will also find Baptist,
Methodist, Anglican, Episcopalian, Christian Reformed, Presbyterian, Church of Christ,
Church of the Nazarene, Christian and Missionary Alliance, Lutheran, Mennonite, Quaker, or
any orthodox Christian denomination who holds to the essentials of historic Christian faith also
in that relationship too! No one church has a corner of truth. I felt liberated and free from that
"cultic, sectarian yoke of bondage" when the late Mr. Tkach Sr. proclaimed that they were
other Christians in other churches. Others felt enslaved by that proclamation. It ruined and
damaged their narrow view of what they were in Christ. They wanted to be an elite corps, but
they felt that was forever smashed! They should talk to a second generation member of the
WCG about how LONELY, DEPRESSED and WORRIED about being part of the so-called one
true church of God felt like! I always wondered how the Worldwide Church of God was going
to reach the world with our "narrow" view of what we thought was the gospel. That verse in
Matthew 24.14 in many ways is fulfilled, that the gospel is much more than we thought it was.
God is truly the God of the individual! But for most of the churches of God, they have a very
narrow, rigid theology and view of the world because of this exclusivity. It is sad that those
competing churches of God call each other Laodicean because one of the churches may be
liberal or progressive on a particular point of doctrine and will needle, nag and boast on how
"conservative" they are and how much of HWA's "truth!" they preserved! Some will question, is
this Christianity? This brings me to the next point.
5.MAJORING IN THE MINORS, MINORING IN THE MAJORS
Another sad reason that the Churches of God will NOT unite is that the big problem of
majoring in the minors, minoring in the majors. In Raymond Cole's group, the "Church of
God, the Eternal" one split over the issue of whether duck is unclean or NOT! I, for one, like
John Halford said in a sermon a few years ago, "I may live and believe in the New Covenant,
but I eat like if I'm under the old", but may I add I am not that Pharisaical about it either. This is
absolutely one Church of God I plan not to visit in my lifetime! Some of the groups still have
repressed puritanical hang-ups on make-up, hairstyles, music, ultra-conservative dress codes
(here's an idea: I would love to see Shania Twain visit, but please never join the extreme
splinters, wear especially the dress she wore in the Grammys this February (1999). Bill
Dankenbring or Raymond Cole would fume and croak and contrast that to a visit to a more
"liberal" Church of God like the United Church of God. I know Gary Antion would embrace
her with open and ask her to dress a little less steamy if she visited next week), interracial
relationships between dating and marriage, prohibition on voting, birthdays, etc., sexual
positions and other prohibitions on things that are pleasurable (I will leave that to the
imagination here), other strict extra-biblical man-made rules on dating and so forth. Some
have hang-ups about the so-claimed pagan origin of crosses (When I received my first Bible
Advocate in February 1997, published by the Church of God (Seventh Day), I saw a picture
of a family and the daughter wore a cross) and church steeples. Some have angry hang-ups
about others taking the Lord's Supper other times of the year other than Passover. Again the
Church of God (Seventh Day) from Denver, Colorado has no hang-up about that either. They
too take the Lord's Supper on the 14th of Nisan but extend charity to those who keep it other
times. I think it's time that some of the splinters stop calling CGSD, the "Sardis church" and
high time they HONOR THEIR PARENT CHURCH with respect to the fifth commandment! They
were way ahead of us in many areas that we didn't understand about. There are even those
that believe bow ties are sinfully pagan! Some are what I call "pagan-phobic" meaning that
what anything pagans did, we must avoid. Some have gone to extremes such as celebrating
the New Moons (to paraphrase Mr. Halford and myself, I live and believe in the New
Covenant but I celebrate like the Old, but I am not Pharisaical about it). They turn the Lord
Jesus Christ into a Lord of legalism! You tell these guys about the life, death and resurrection
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. They will say, "That's not important", that's "mother-stuff
"or "it's so basic" let's go on to something complex. Mind you I am not a Jesus freak or one
who has to have every third word out of my mouth say "Jesus" (I want to use his name
relevantly and with reverence) but a big mistake of the historic Worldwide Church of God
and its splinters is that ONE should NEVER EVER call the life, death and resurrection of our
Lord, "Non-important". We are saved by those very acts! Nothing else! I advise those who are
in the splinters to talk to the SECOND GENERATION MEMBERS of the WCG OR their own
respective off-shoot and ask them why they didn't stay. They will tell you almost unanimously:
A LACK OF THAT EMPHASIS and they were "GRACE STARVED!" I ask those if the life, death
and resurrection of our Lord is a false gospel, THEN WHY DID THE DISCIPLES EVER BOTHER
TO WRITE MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE AND JOHN that talk about Jesus Christ? Now some will
say, Felix you don't believe in a "gospel of the kingdom?" Nothing can be further than the
truth. Read Dr. John Walvoord's book, Major Bible Prophecies: 37 Crucial Prophecies That
Effect You Today. He discusses on page 301, about a gospel of the kingdom as the solution to
mankind's ills and evils in the world. The historic Worldwide Church of God was wrong for
NOT giving equal time and harmonizing the GOSPEL OF SALVATION! I am a firm believer in
his bodily return as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords (and a 1000-year millennial reign
on earth), but without Calvary his return is NOT possible!
6.FOUNDATION IN HWA, NOT IN JESUS CHRIST AND A FALSE AUTHORITY
As I mentioned about the message board of Mark Tabladillo, the dark side of the founder
Herbert W. Armstrong is discussed. I am NOT going to discuss in detail about it (there are
plenty of sites to discuss about it). Trust me, I had a post in Mark's message board suggesting
would the revelations of the dark side of HWA were media exposed, would it doom the
conservative splinters of the churches of God. I had one particular person fuming over my
wish to see some of those splinters gone, and other strong reactions. That conservative
splinters do get a little defensive when constructive criticism is made about the founder is to
say the least, an understatement. I was not perfect. At age 14, I first came across the
Armstrong Empire (it discusses where he was wrong theologically and administratively, and
does not discuss his personal life) by Joseph Martin Hopkins. When reading this book I was
angry at the author, wishing that thunder would consume him. By the grace and the divine
mercy of God, I have matured of these attitudes ever since. Deep inside as a teenager, I did
think HWA was unnecessarily harsh on a few things and that had bothered me for some time.
Usually when one visits the splinters, "Mr. Armstrong used to say this", etc. it just makes you
want to say, "Don't you as a group have anything original to say?" OR "Is there anyone else
who you quote?" " You guys are a new group, why are you so hung up on a leader of a past
affiliation?" One person on the message board was very insightful that the splinters whether
they admit or not have a focus on personalities. The majority of those in the Global Church of
God who went to follow Rod Meredith in the Living Church of God proves the point. Mind
you, there are those in the Living Church of God who will argue to the death that the opposite
is the case. I'll comment about this event later on. Without the foundation in Jesus Christ, you
HAVE A FALSE AUTHORITY. Reg Borrow had some interesting insight:
Here's something that adds to what you wrote above. It's what had us controlled for so many
years. It seemed Biblical. We simply had to obey and pay. I read this book back in early
1996. This book lifted the wool from my eyes and brought my mind out of the fog it was in to
see things clearly. I couldn't put it down until I finished it. Highly recommended for all COG members.
(Quotes from the book, "The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse" by David Johnson)
FALSE AUTHORITY
"Because I'm the pastor, that's why!" The words come hard and fast, their meaning penetrates.
"How dare you doubt me!" "Are you questioning my authority?" Don't be a troublemaker."
"Keep the peace." "Submit to your elder."
Scripture verses come quickly to mind in seeming support of a blind sort of obedience and
submission. Heb.13:17:"Obey your leaders, and submit to them; for they keep watch over
your souls, as those who will give account." Romans 13:1-2:"Let every person be in subjection
to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist
are established by God. Therefore he who resists authority has opposed the ordinance of
God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves."
With these scriptures echoing, we tell ourselves, I believe in the Bible, I want to be obedient.
He's the pastor, the shepherd, God's servant, His mouthpiece. He really must know more than
me. I really must be out of line. I must be seeing this wrong. Who am I to question? I guess I
had better go along. Why? Because he's the pastor, that's why.
This type of thinking is a symptom of living under leadership that legislates and demands
obedience to their authority. It rests upon a false basis for authority. The sole basis on which
they grasped this authority was because of their rank as ministers alone. In other words, their
authority was NOT founded on the fact that they were wise, discerning and true. It was based
solely in the fact they were in charge.
In the New Covenant, we see that Jesus established a new basis of authority. It was no longer
age, gender or race. It is now based on the evidence of the Holy Spirit within you. Attributes
like maturity, wisdom, genuine holiness, and real knowledge are required in order to
evidence Jesus' brand of authority. "Because I said so" does not work anymore." "Because I'm
the pastor" does not cut it. So if my basis for authority is solely that I hold an office, I have a
false basis for authority.
We do not have authority in God's eyes simply because we are named the pastor, the elder,
or the chairman. We are going to have to speak the truth to have real authority. We are going
to have to be sensitive to the Spirit to have real authority. We are going to have to be wise,
and seek to know and say what God says clearly and accurately. 3
7.A STUBBORN AND UNTEACHABLE SPIRIT
A recently retired pastor in the congregation that I attended said that most of us in the WCG
are "a stubborn people". I had disagreed with him on a lot of things, but he was right on! This
is an attitude to not always be proud of (I am no better myself and need to constantly to ask
God to give me a teachable spirit and to let go which I cherish that is not harmoniously
backed by scripture). How would you like this judgmental statement lashed at you, "HOW
DARE YOU WEAR THAT PAGAN CROSS!" Or how about a statement like this, "Your false
pagan messiah is nothing!" Or you question their authoritarian hierarchical ways and say,
"Where is the love in it all?" You get a diatribe with, " I am sure Lucifer thought the same way
before he rebelled against God's government!" Or "ANYTHING that came from the fourth
century I WILL NOT BELIEVE IT AND ACCEPT IT!" This is an angry polemic when one of the
members of the offshoots will not accept the trinity. Well, the Bible was canonized in the fourth
century(about 380 A.D.). Are they going to now give credit to Mormonism or traditional
Seventh Day Adventism (they have extra-Biblical sources which they claimed that was given
to them "divinely" in 19th century)? It would be preposterous to say the least. When I had this
topic as a discussion thread, someone who supported the PCG came along with his
delusional ravings that the Church of God is united and I must join him and his brand of
legalism "before it's too late." Thankfully, someone (who is himself a controversial character
on the message board) rebutted this person's fanatical ravings. The person who rebutted this
PCG supporter was trying to tell him that the Churches of God have roots in the Adventist
movement, but told me he felt like it was trying to put a thread in a needle with boxing gloves.
This is truly an unteachable spirit. I come under the same frustration of telling Jehovah's
Witnesses their theological roots, and they too behave childishly and argue to the death that
their cult was divinely sent down from heaven. A stubborn spirit is a spiritual dangerous
attitude. It can simply stunt one's spiritual growth and could grieve the Holy Spirit AND
QUENCH IT! A person with a stubborn spirit is a person with a heart of stone, not a heart of
flesh. A stubborn spirit is also a controlling spirit! As most of the splinters remain under
cultism, the controlling spirit will be still in existence! The Bible is very clear about
stubbornness and the LINK to IDOLATRY (I Samuel 15:23)! I felt that during the Global Church
of God crisis, it baffled my mind why these people DID NOT exclaim, "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
I am going to my local Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Adventist church and GET A
BROADER VIEW OF CHRISTIANITY!" Instead most (about 75%) decided to follow along with
Rod Meredith and chose to believe that it was only Satan attacking "the Church". Like I said
before, there are some in the LCG who will tell you to GET REAL. "It was the message that
Rod was giving that was important! When they kicked out Rod, the message was gone!" they
say. Time will tell if that was a true statement not only to those they exclaimed it to, but more
importantly, themselves. Another experience I came across with a stubborn and unteachable
spirit was during the Feast of Tabernacles in 1998, when meeting a man who I knew since my
childhood; I would classify him in the GRUMP category of the WCG. The acronym GRUMP
stands for "God's Remnant Under Much Persecution." This is an ultra-conservative
fundamentalist wing in the WCG who believed that God placed his name in a denomination
and cannot leave (I am glad that Acts 4.12 explains who saves us, not a church). These are far
different in their approach than the "responsible conservatives" in the WCG (Dr. Hoeh, Gene
Hogberg, etc.). They must warn and condemn the apostate New Covenant believers.
Centrists (like myself) in Worldwide are also no exception.
Anyway, I caught this man in the middle of a conversation with another longtime member,
getting defensive over people constructively critical of HWA and thought that there was
nothing wrong with the historic WCG (he had one hang-up with one doctrine he didn't like
but that's another story). I tried my best to show how one is saved by accepting the Lord Jesus
as their personal Savior. It angers me to the bone that some take that and choose that
interpretation as "easy believism." When I explained to this man these things he had to
interrupt abruptly many times, not really interested of what I had to say, instead he ranted his
misinterpretation of Acts 5.32 like Rod Meredith saying, "GOD GIVES HIS HOLY SPIRIT TO
THOSE WHOM HE OBEYS!!!!!" I was appreciative (though still a little mad at him, and I am still
frustrated in his belief in a narrow view of Christianity and the world) that he apologized to
me for "chewing my hide" the next day. He said that he was "in the world" and does not want
to be deceived again by it. I hope he can read scriptures that Jesus promised that he gives his
children LIFE! NOTHING CAN SNATCH THEM OUT OF MY HAND!!! (John 10:28-29) The Book
of John promises that the Holy Spirit is our teacher and will teach us into all truth. When one
denies the personality of the Holy Spirit, one cannot comprehend this.
I have given you seven sad reasons why the churches of God will NOT reunite. Forget about
the extreme splinters that claim that they are united. They only have uniformity under a
delusional theological despotic leader with an iron fist. Jesus Christ said that his yoke is light
(Matthew 11:30); these splinter leaders are modern-day Pharisees who place heavy burdens
on their members and who refuse to help them. When minor issues are treated as life and
death situations, the group goes cultic. When one belittles the sacrifice and resurrection of
Christ, you get someone out there who will take things literally through no fault of his own and
become grace-starved. When you don't know who God really is and why Jesus came to this
earth, your view of God is limited. He becomes just a mere superman who lives with another
superman, Jesus Christ, on planet "heaven," and their "love" is the Holy Spirit which they
attempt to make it a pathetic "it". When you declare yourself the one and only group, a
prideful spirit creeps in, and the Lord God says in Proverbs 6:16 says he hates that. When the
focus is on either HWA, Rod Meredith, Gerald Flurry instead of Jesus Christ, the leader of that
group becomes your mediator between you and God, while it should ONLY be Jesus Christ (I
Timothy 2:5). A stubborn and unteachable spirit becomes a mean-dogmatic spirit, and is NOT
in the conformity with the mind and love of Jesus Christ and the fruits of the Holy Spirit
(Galatians 5:22). These groups can unite if they all repent about those seven reasons that's
barring them from uniting and allow themselves to be led by the Holy Spirit and know who
He is. Jesus Christ at the Sermon on the Mount had a message for the Pharisees, "DOWN
WITH HYPOCRISY, DOWN WITH RITUALISM, DOWN WITH JUDGMENTALISM!" Jesus'
solution was, "UP WITH SINCERITY, UP WITH LOVE, UP WITH TOLERANCE!!!" Will ever the
splinters take what Christ meant seriously? Mark Tabladillo said eloquently at the conclusion
of the message thread, that ALL will come before Christ, kneel before Him and say that, "Jesus
Christ is Lord!" My hope for all the splinters is that when they will say that when Jesus Christ
returns, may they say that being the friends of Jesus Christ rather than His enemies. May God
have mercy on us all!
Sources
1 Joseph Martin Hopkins, The Armstrong Empire, 1974
2 Earl H. Williams, Pastor General's Report, November-December 1993
3 David Johnson, The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse, 1995