News of The Churches of God

Click Here for the COGwriter Home Page which has articles on various sabbatarian Churches of God (COGs) and articles supporting beliefs of the Philadelphia portion of the Church of God.

04/30/07 a.m. CGG asked me to post the following prayer request for one of its ministers:

The Bible predicts more famines, and I do expect major increases in the price of food.

04/29/07 a.m. A 21st century scaled-down intended replica of "Noah's Ark" was unveiled yesterday:

SCHAGEN, Netherlands (April 28) - The massive central door in the side of Noah's Ark was thrown open Saturday - you could say it was the first time in 4,000 years - drawing a crowd of curious pilgrims and townsfolk to behold the wonder.

God did have Noah build an ark. And it was big enough to hold two of each "kind" of animal. It did interest me that the ark was rebuilt in the Netherlands as the Dutch are probably the least religious of the peoples of Europe.

One hundred fifty years ago, a glorious September morning in the Utah mountains morphed into Mormonism's darkest hour when a militia opened fire on a wagon train, leaving more than 120 men, women and children dead in a flowery field.

Now the "Mountain Meadows Massacre" is becoming more than a subject of somber reflection within tight-knit Mormon circles. Two new films and a forthcoming book aim to tell the nation what happened, why and -- perhaps most important -- whether the revered Mormon prophet Brigham Young ordered the killing.

At stake are not just the details of a tragic moment in pioneer history. For the 5.8 million Americans who belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as the Mormon church is officially known, the integrity of one of their most important heroes hangs in the balance. For others, the depictions stand to forge new impressions of a controversial religious minority that has known both violent persecution and substantial influence across its tumultuous 180-year history.

"As a society, we are definitely at a crossroads" in terms of rethinking Mormonism, says Alan Wolfe, director of the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life at Boston College. "This is a huge moment, because it's a very important religion."

Throwing down the gauntlet June 22 is Christopher Cain's movie "September Dawn," which opens that day in more than 1,000 theaters nationwide. Although the romantic storyline is fictional, the film claims to be accurate in tracing the massacre to Young and portraying 19th-century Mormons as obedient, bloodthirsty fundamentalists. In one scene, for instance, an angry mob ignores a report that the wagon train's "gentiles" are friendly and chants for "blood atonement" in the form of death.

Other renderings, however, convey a more complex picture. The PBS documentary "The Mormons," which airs Monday and Tuesday, explains that Mormons had suffered bloody persecutions, which prompted their westward trek in the mid-1840s to settle in the Salt Lake Basin. By 1857, federal troops were marching on the Utah territory to depose the theocratic governorship of Young, and his followers were gearing up to defend their turf from yet another assault. In that touchy environment, bullets flew and travelers died. The ensuing massacre ensured that no adult witnesses would survive.

"The important thing is to place the massacre in context," Helen Whitney, director of the PBS documentary, said in an interview. "They believed they were at war. The president was arriving with his troops. . . . All of this was swirling around -- years of persecution, a kind of paranoia -- it really was sort of an explosive mixture in which the brakes just didn't hold."

On the high-stakes issue of Young's role, the official view from the Mormon Church is simple: He had none. Young sent a messenger to tell militiamen to let the travelers pass without interference, said church spokesman Michael Otterson. The full case for vindicating Young will appear later this year in an Oxford University Press book written by three church historians. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/27/AR2007042701908.html?hpid=sec-religion

As I mentioned yesterday, we in the COGs do not vote. But I do agree, in a sense, with Mark Armstrong that there do not appear to be any people with strong enough personal and nominally biblical character who seem to have a chance (at this stage) to become the next US president. Speaking of voting, an article of related interest mentioned yesterday was Should a Christian Vote?

Synod outline says Bible is source of Christian unity, bond with Jews

CNS - April 27, 2007

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Bible is a source of Christian unity and is evidence of Christianity's special bond with the Jewish people, said the outline for the next world Synod of Bishops...

Christians cannot claim to know and love the Bible if they do not know and love the Old Testament, it said.

"The faith of the church considers the Old Testament a part of the one Christian Bible and acknowledges its permanent value and the bond between the two testaments," it said...

Catholics need to understand that the Bible must be read in harmony with the church, its tradition and teachings.

"The magisterium," the church's teaching authority, it said, "renders irreplaceable service in guaranteeing an authentic interpretation of the word of God."

"The idea of 'sola Scriptura' (Scripture alone) cannot exist in and of itself, because the Scriptures are related to the church, namely, to the one who receives and understands both tradition and Scripture," it said.

While the Bible "casts light on every person's life and indicates the road to be followed," particularly through the Ten Commandments and the beatitudes, the outline said the Bible cannot be read literally.

Understanding God's word, it said, involves combining the literal meaning with the Bible's historical meaning, its interpretation in the church's tradition and its application to life in the modern world. http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0702368.htm

Now I have no problem with people praying that one group or the other be converted (I often pray that those in Russia, China, India, Africa, etc. will more fully receive the gospel message). And if the above Latin Mass does not encourage persecution of Jews, it may be of little negative consequence (though the purported purpose of it is to encourage more unity with some disenfranchised Catholics).

But the bigger point is that the Catholics, and many of the Protestants, believe the the comment by Paul that all Israel will be saved (Romans 11:26) indicates that sometime (just before or during the Great Tribulation, based upon the group) that the Jews will accept Christ. The truth is that the Bible makes it clear that Israel is not limited to physical descendants of Israel (Romans 9:6-29; 2:28-29) and that all of humankind (and not just the Jews) will be offered salvation. Two articles of related interest may include:

About a month ago, the current Pope stated that fallen away Catholics are still Catholic, and now even Protestants of various sorts will have their baptisms (in Germany at least) considered as acceptable by the Catholic Church. This does help set the stage for a nominally Catholic European power to unite the peoples of Europe. Of course, the Bible warns about this occurrence (please see the article Europa and the Beast of Revelation).

04/27/07 a.m. Last night, there was a relatively cordial debate between 8 people looking to represent the Democratic Party in the US presidential election. According to the commentators I listened to last night, Hillary Clinton did the best. I have long felt that the US would end up with a female president, and we will have to see if that might be Hillary Clinton.

Of course, most in the COGs do not vote--and most of my interest in those kind of politics is to watch for prophetic fulfillments. Speaking of voting, an article of related interest may be Should a Christian Vote?

Melissa Prohs is/was part of COGaic. Years ago, she used to post news related to Pasadena, but has not done that in some time. Of course, COGaic is one of the few COGs that seems to wish to keep a relatively low internet profile (other than its Vision site).

Speaking of Canada, the article on the Sardis Church Era discusses what happened to the first known Sabbatarians in Canada.

04/26/07 a.m. The May-June 2007 edition of UCG's Good News magazine has an article titled The European Union: Blessing or Modern Tower of Babel?
that states:

"He Was a True Teacher"

VATICAN CITY - Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI delivered today at the general audience in St. Peter's Square. The reflection focused on Origen of Alexandria.

* * *

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In our meditations on the great figures of the ancient Church, today we will get to know one of the most outstanding. Origen of Alexandria is one of the key people for the development of Christian thought. He draws on the teachings he inherited from Clement of Alexandria, whom we reflected upon last Wednesday, and brings them forward in a totally innovative way, creating an irreversible turn in Christian thought.

He was a true teacher; this is how his students nostalgically remembered him: not only as a brilliant theologian, but as an exemplary witness of the doctrine he taught...

In substance, he grounded theology in the explanations of the Scriptures; or we could also say that his theology is the perfect symbiosis between theology and exegesis. In truth, the characterizing mark of Origen's doctrine seems to reside in his incessant invitation to pass from the letter to the spirit of the Scriptures, to progress in the knowledge of God.

And this "allegoristic" approach, wrote von Balthasar, coincides precisely "with the development of Christian dogma carried out by the teachings of the doctors of the Church," who -- in one way or another -- accepted the "lesson" of Origen. In this way, Tradition and the magisterium, foundation and guarantee of theological research, reach the point of being "Scripture in act" (cf. "Origene: il mondo, Cristo e la Chiesa," tr. it., Milano 1972, p. 43). (Benedict XVI. Homily On Origen of Alexandria. Vatican City. Zenit - April 25, 2007).

The allegorist approach coincides with the takeover of the more public leadership positions of the church in Antioch and Asia Minor by a lot of universal allegorists, which we now know as the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches (though not all their leaders were allegorists).

Irenaeus, who Pope Benedict XVI considers to be a saint, wrote this in the late second century:

Perhaps I should add that Origen basically got a couple of doctrines somewhat right, but for one of the more important ones his followers were condemned in the sixth century (see article Hope of Salvation). One of his biggest problems was that Origen essentially taught that even though there is a literal sense to scripture, essentially its allegorical meaning, negates what it says literally. Or in other words, Origen taught that the Bible really does not mean what it says. Two articles of related interest may be:

Lucian of Antioch, who kept the Sabbath and was a Semi-Arian, in the third century argued against Origen's method and was not in agreement with the late third century bishops of Antioch who apparently supported Origen. Lucian is mentioned in the article The Smyrna Church Era.

04/25/07 a.m. In the April 2007 edition of its Pulse magazine CG7 recently publicly announced:

I did not know Richard Wiedenheft, but CG7 reported that he was "superintendent of the Northeast District and member of the Publications and MTS staff". I also learned after posting this that he had been a minister in WCG years ago.

It is time for SCG and other such groups to wake up and quit perpetuating doctrinal errors. Instead of making assertions that are either inaccurate or that it itself does not follow, it and those who are interested in the truth should read the following articles:

MADISON, Wis. (April 24) - The Wiccan pentacle has been added to the list of emblems allowed in national cemeteries and on goverment-issued headstones of fallen soldiers, according to a settlement announced Monday...

Wicca is a nature-based religion based on respect for the earth, nature and the cycle of the seasons. Variations of the pentacle not accepted by Wiccans have been used in horror movies as a sign of the devil.

Speaking of signs of the devil, do you realize that the cross was not originally accepted as a physical symbol for Christianity by those who professed Christ and that it too, is of non-biblical origin?

Here is what Hislop wrote in Two Babylons:

The same sign of the cross that Rome now worships was used in the Babylonian Mysteries, was applied by Paganism to the same magic purposes, was honoured with the same honours. That which is now called the Christian cross was originally no Christian emblem at all, but was the mystic Tau of the Chaldeans and Egyptians--the true original form of the letter T--the initial of the name of Tammuz--which, in Hebrew, radically the same as ancient Chaldee, was found on coins. That mystic Tau was marked in baptism on the foreheads of those initiated in the Mysteries, and was used in every variety of way as a most sacred symbol.

Here is some historical information on the cross according to seiyaku.com:

Christians didn’t use the sign of the cross as their religious symbol for many generations after Christ was crucified. Rather than being a Christian symbol it had associations with executioners...

Then, early in the fourth century, when execution by crucifixion was abolished by Emperor Constantine and Christianity became the state religion of Rome, the cross became the emblem for Christians.

Now, it is carried by more people than any other religious talisman and is considered by many to be sacred. People sometimes go as far as to make the cross an object of adoration or an icon in its own right.

Here is what I read last night written by a Catholic theologian:

In the beginning, the cross was never represented in art or sculpture...Only when the memory of the thousands who died on crosses all over the Roman world dimmed did Christians feel free to depict the cross as the symbol of Christ's suffering love (De Rosa, Peter. Vicars of Christ, The Dark Side of the Papacy.Poolberg, Dublin, 2000, p. 3).

Harvard scholar H. Brown wrote:

...in Slavoni, the name "Bomomil" means "beloved of God"...The specific predecessors of the Bogomils are the Paulicians...Many Bogomils, and especially their leaders, exhibited a zeal and a purity of life that contrasted with the indifference and frivolity of all too many orthodox ecclestiastics in both East and West...Like the Paulicians, the Bogomils detested the cross, for it was the symbol of the Saviour's apparent murder (Brown HOJ. Heresies: Heresy and Orthodoxy in the History of the Church. Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody (MA), 1988, pp. 247,252).

Those associated with the Smyrna era and Pergamos era of the Church were among the first to challenge the use of crosses by those who claimed Christianity.

On other matters, this morning I noticed that the following, from the COGlinks page no longer worked:

Seventh Day Christian Assembly of the Church of God Ken Seiger? (CEM supporting)

So I removed it this morning. Many of the smaller groups have come and gone. This one might still exist and maybe it will end up with a web page again, but most that leave do not seem to come back.

Actually, of course, God always makes sense. It is simply that we do not always understand everything. Four articles of possibly related interest may include:

Psalm 83 discusses an essentially Arabic plan to destroy those who are of Israel (which includes the British). An article of related interest may be Is There A Future King of the South?

04/22/07 a.m. Today is Sunday. A day honored by many as the eighth day of the week. Notice the following that explains where it came from:

The international panel of scientists predicts the global average temperature could increase by 2 to 11 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100 and that sea levels could rise by up to 2 feet...

Global oil production peaks sometime between 2008 and 2018, according to a model by one Swedish physicist. Others say this turning point, known as “Hubbert’s Peak,” won’t occur until after 2020. Once Hubbert’s Peak is reached, global oil production will begin an irreversible decline, possibly triggering a global recession, food shortages and conflict between nations over dwindling oil supplies.

Whether or not humans have been a major cause of global warming or when "Hubbert's Peak" is reached, the Bible makes the following statements:

The Bible makes it clear that those that who have helped destroy the earth will be scorched with high heat, that islands will be gone, and the king of the South will attack (perhaps related to realizing that the Arab oil will run out). Some scientists are now coming to supportive conclusions.

Two readers of this page (one in CGG, the other in LCG), sent me the following news item:

The Bible prophecies a leader, the Beast, coming from Europe, and that Europe apparently will have kings again (Revelation 17:10-12). Catholic prophets spoke of a "Great Monarch" to come in the future who would reunite Europe and make most of the world Catholic--and that their would be kings again in Europe. Rebuilding palaces may help the common people become more willing to accept kings once more. An article of possible interest may be Europa and the Beast.

On other matters, a few items related to Virginia Tech were posted at the LCG News page this morning.

Schindler, Mark

Al-Qaeda ‘planning big British attack’