Church of God News

Yesterday, I received the following (which I did not edit) from a COG elder (no specific affiliation was mentioned, but I believe he is or was part of Church of God Fellowship-a group that had origins in GCG) named Dean Greer:

In addition to Usher’s and other chronology there is an additional conformation that we are in the end of the 6000 year time period.

Luk 13:32 And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third [day] I shall be perfected.

Using a day for a thousand years Psa 90:4 & II Pet 3:8 we see Christ spiritually curing mankind two days or 2000 years and then a perfect government will rule. Obviously this time period starts at Christ’s ministry or at the giving of the Holy Spirit, but since the days will be shortened it is of little significance which is chosen. This reference is also found in Luke 10 in the parable of the good Samaritan as well: The innkeeper (the church) is given two pence in verse 35, which is equilivant to two days wages. Matt 20 we find a pence is a day’s wages. Again we have been given two days to heal and then the millennium.

In Hsa 6:1¶Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. Hsa 6:2 After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Again, referring to the two days and finally the millennium.

Also, note that in the first miracle of Christ John 2 there are 6 “stone” or “earthen” pots. Each pot representing a 1000 years of mankind. This miracle is done on the third day and out of those pots is drawn a small amount of wine. Just as in the first resurrection it will be but a small representation of humanity that is drawn from mankind. The number of pots and the timing of the miracle, being on the third day, obviously have to be taken separately.

These references only add witness to what we already understand.

Comments by COGwriter:

While I am not certain that all the above scriptures are clear proof, the email does add a few more verses that may be supportive of the concept of a 6,000 year plan.

More on that plan, including historical citations related to it, are in the article Did The Early Church Millenarianism?

One article in the latest “The Journal” that I found of interest was by Steven Collins.  Steven Collins was formerly with UCG, but The Journal currently only identified him as “a Church of God” member. 

Now while I do not agree with most of the writings I have seen from Steven Collins, I did feel that the following was of sufficient general interest to post this here:

The Bible doesn’t tell us (a) the date of creation week and (b) how long Adam and Eve lived in Eden before their fall. God likely hid that information so humans could not precisely calculate the year of Christ’s return. We also do not know if Archbishop Ussher was correct in his calculation about the year of creation week.  However, the angels know what year Adam and Eve fell because they saw it happen. Revelation 12:12 prophesies that, as the end of this age draws near, the devil will have “great wrath because he knows that he has but a short time.”

In Matthew 24:36 Christ stated that neither He nor the angels knew the day and hour of His return. This makes sense because in verse 22 He prophesied that the end of this age will be “shortened” by an unspecified number of “days.” Christ’s language confirms that our age has a divine timetable that will be slightly “shortened,” but Christ’s words do not allow for this age to be “lengthened”…

While neither Ussher’s nor Collins’ calculations are necessarily correct, I do suspect (based upon biblical chronologies) that the 6,000 years will be up +/- 6 years from 2020 (with +/- 4 years more likely).

In addition to the time of creation vs. when Adam sinned factor, the other factor is that kings often shared time periods in which both the father and the son reigned.  And thus, part of the co-reign was often essentially counted twice in some cases.

But either way, the 6,000 years is close to up, to be followed by the millennial reign of Christ on the earth.  A teaching that many Roman Catholics used to accept, but now consider to be a “doctrine of Antichrist“.

More information on the 6,000 year plan is included in the article Did The Early Church Millenarianism?

Back in 1971, the old WCG had the following in an article titled Rising World Colossus by Gene Hogberg:

Envision the startling future of Western Europe…

A “United States of Europe” possessing one single currency — a currency so strong that it will replace the U.S. dollar as the kingpin currency of world trade.  A United Europe developing great military strength to protect its unprecedented standard of living and its Number One position in the world.

Visionary ideas?

Not at all.  Such a European powerhouse is not just over the horizon…

It should be obvious that an expanding Europe will not forever tolerate monetary irresponsibility on the part of the United States…it is only a matter of time before the Europeans cut loose from the dollar…

Should the dollar fail, a new European currency would automatically become the kingpin currency financing world trade.  The dollar would become an unwanted commodity.

This above prediction (which was based on interpretations of biblical prophecy while watching world events) is more clearly coming to pass as the following article shows:

Associated Press – Sept 17, 2007

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan said it is possible that the euro could replace the U.S. dollar as the reserve currency of choice. According to an advance copy of an interview to be published in Thursday’s edition of the German magazine Stern, Greenspan said that the dollar is still slightly ahead in its use as a reserve currency, but added that “it doesn’t have all that much of an advantage” anymore.The euro has been soaring against the U.S. currency in recent weeks, hitting all-time high of $1.3927 last week as the dollar has fallen on turbulent market conditions stemming from the ongoing U.S. subprime crisis. The Fed meets this week and is expected to lower its benchmark interest rate from the current 5.25 percent.

Greenspan said that at the end of 2006, some 25 percent of all currency reserves held by central banks were held in euros, compared to 66 percent for the U.S. dollar.

In terms of being used as a payment for cross-border transactions, the euro is trailing the dollar only slightly with 39 percent to 43 percent.

Comments by COGwriter:

Many still do not see “the handwriting on the wall”.  Massive deficits in the USA, combined with a change in work and other ethics, are setting the dollar up for a serious fall which will occur later. 

While we will see the Euro go up and down in the near term, the long-term trend is negative for the dollar.  Europe will, with some major bumps ahead, surge forward.

The Greek 2 Euro coin shows a woman (Europa) riding a beast (allegedly Zeus, but biblically something a little different).

More on Europe can be found in the article Europa, the Beast, and Revelation

The September-October 2007 edition of UCG’s United News arrived last night.  Plus a UCG member was in the news recently, so this post will contain a few short news items.

Here is the item on the member in the news:

Lawsuit Alleges UPS Violated Employee’s Religious Beliefs

Memphis Daily News, TN – Sep 11, 2007

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charges in a lawsuit it filed Friday that United Parcel Service violated federal law by not accommodating the religious beliefs of a UPS employee in the course of his job duties. The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court, Western District of Tennessee. 

Joe Koslowski, a 17-year employee at UPS’ Bartlett facility and a member of the United Church of God, according to the suit, has beliefs that include not working on the Sabbath – from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday. The EEOC filed suit after first attempting to reach a voluntary settlement, according to a statement issued about the litigation http://www.memphisdailynews.com/Editorial/StoryDaily.aspx?story=digest&date=9%2F12%2F2007 

US courts sometimes rule in favor of COG members in such cases and sometimes rule against.  However, with EEOC on the side of the UCG member, hopefully this means that the UCG member will find favor with the court.

Here is an article from the latest edition of United News:

President Clyde Kilough reported to the Council of Elders that due to potential environmental concerns, the pursuit of the property in Denton, Texas, has been dropped. Attention has now been turned to locating another property.

Before the Council meetings Mr. Kilough and Jason Lovelady traveled to the Dallas area, where Mr. Lovelady visited 75 properties across the northern tier of the Dallas area. Mr. Kilough also saw a number of those properties, and they narrowed the field to six to 10 prime prospects.

A real estate agent is gathering the details of each. Chairman Bob Dick reported that Mr. Kilough “reviewed a few of the most promising ones with the Council on Wednesday [Aug. 8] in executive session and as the search narrows will seek to have some of the properties viewed by Council members.”

Another item in that same issue was:

Jim Franks (Ministerial Services operation manager) and Dave Baker (senior pastor, Asia) traveled to India and the Philippines June 12 through 22. In India, they visited a group located in the northern state of Mizoram, called the Church of God (Israel), which has expressed interest in becoming part of United. This group first contacted United in 1998 and since then Mr. Baker has visited them on three occasions prior to this trip…

Mr. Franks reported that desire to become part of United seems to be sincere on the part of their elders and the 250 members, made up of three congregations.  Mr. Franks and Mr. Baker discussed with church leaders doctrinal differences between the two groups.

Two articles of possibly related interest may include:

Differences between the Living Church of God and United Church of God This article provides quotes information from the two largest groups which had their origins in WCG as well as commentary.

India, Its Biblical Past and Future, Part I: Any Witness? The Bible discusses the origins of those of Indian heritage and discusses some of the witness to them.

The August 31, 2007 edition of “The Journal: News of the Churches of God” is now out.

Today’s post will have clips from some of its front-page articles.

Here is the first:

On July 7, 2007 (7-7-07), at 7 p.m. Meagan Renee Overton and Aaron Keith “A.J.” Dean Jr. united in marriage at the Church of God Big Sandy. Meagan is the daughter of Melodee Overton of Hawkins, Texas, who attends the Church of God Big Sandy, and Mac Overton of Gilmer, Texas, who attends various Church of God congregations. A.J. is the son of Aaron and MichelleDean of Gladewater, Texas.

Aaron Dean is a member of UCG’s Council of Elders.

Here is another:

Members of the Church of God 7th Day based in Meridian, Idaho, have met for the church’s weeklong Camp Meeting just about every summer for 57 years. The annual family-oriented gathering might remind some other Church of God members of the yearly Feast of Tabernacles. The warm-weather get-togethers started around 1950, with church services every day in a big tent. The tent is long gone, but the brethren can still camp out on the grounds.

While CG7 (Denver) is much bigger, it is my understanding (based upon my conversations with CG7-Meredian’s Director of Church Administration) that the Meridian group is more likely to observe the biblical holy days than the Denver group.

Here is another:

MILFORD, Ohio—Joel Meeker, an elder in the United Church of God and member of the UCG’s governing body, the council of elders, resigned his seat on the 12-man board in a letter to church president Clyde Kilough dated July 25, 2007. Filling the vacancy is Leon Walker of Big Sandy, Texas, who in May had lost his bid for reelection to the council. Mr. Walker is back as a councillor because he was next in line in the tally of votes cast by the general conference of elders to fill one of the three international” seats on the council. Mr. Meeker, although an American and resident of the Cincinnati, Ohio, area, was considered one of three international council members because of his “editorial and membership oversight responsibilities in the French-speaking areas,” Mr. Kilough said. Mr. Walker handles similar responsibilities for Spanish-speaking areas.

UCG has a long history of having a variety of governmental peculiarities. 

Here is another:

The rector of the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, Italy, has apologized for some of the accusations a university official had leveled at Seventh-day Adventist scholar and author Samuele Bacchiocchi. As reported in an article on page 1 of the June-July 2007 issue of THE JOURNAL, a university official had accused Dr. Bacchiocchi of making false statements about his studies at the university in the 1970s and his doctoral dissertation, a version of which he published in 1977 as the book From Sabbath to Sunday. Gianfranco Ghirlanda, the university’s rector, in June “rectif[ied] some of the false allegations,” Dr. Bacchiocchi announced, though some “remain unresolved.”  However, “in the spirit of Christian forgiveness I consider the case closed.”

Dr. Bacchiocchi was the first non-Catholic to graduate from that University and for some reason (probably because he somewhat endorses Saturday Sabbath-keeping in a book with an Imprimatur of a Catholic leader), some officials publicly denied he graduated, etc.  I am glad he attained some satisfaction here. 

Others items included various letters, the “big bang” theory, the death of LCG’s Carl Ponder, the 6,000 year plan, accusations, 2 camps, and covenant matters.

The front and back page of The Journal can be accessed here:

www.thejournal.org/issues/issue121/jf083107.pdf

TRANSFORMED FROM TRUTH 

Last night, WCG forwarded the following from its J. Tkach titled “Courageous – or Coward in Christ?“:

When Jesus was arrested, those who had so vigorously promised to support him to the end denied him or ran away and watched from a safe distance. But let’s not be too critical. Would we have been any different?  We like to hope we would have, but in moments of weakness, there are times when we really don’t “stand up and be counted.”It might not be a life or death matter. It could be as simple as telling the truth. Or standing by a principle, or resisting a temptation. It might be refusing to go along with the crowd when the crowd is doing something we know is wrong, or it could be failing to tell others of Jesus’ goodness when an opportunity presents itself. 
 
No one likes to be thought of as different. But being a follower of Jesus means identifying with Jesus and letting him shape how we think and live. That might mean there are times when we have to be willing to stand up for what we believe, no matter what the consequences. Comments by COGwriter:While the above are interesting sentiments, it would have been nice if WCG would have stuck to the Jesus of the Bible, as opposed to the Christmas/Easter Jesus that the world’s churches worship. 

The theme and intent of the COGwriter website is to “contend earnestly for the faith once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).  WCG simply does not have the courage to do that–even though that is what they are telling everyone to do.

Even though the COG message (Gospel of the Kingdom) is one of love and hope, the mainstream churches normally oppose us and also oppose obeying God, keeping His Holy Days, and especially God’s plan of salvation which will result in nearly all who ever lived being saved.

Do you understand and practice the doctrines of the Bible?  Do you realize that much of what early Christians believed (and this can be documented from many second and third century writings) is no longer taught or accepted by most who profess Christ? Do you have the courage to believe what the Bible says and to support it?

Do you want to be transformed by the truth of Christ or be transformed from the truth by the world’s traditions?

Please read and study your Bible as well as the articles at the History of Early Christianity page.  Do you have the courage to live your life in obedience to the Word of Godor do you uncourageously live according to the traditions of men?

In last night’s update, ICG’s Mark Armstrong reported:

I can hardly write this Update without making reference to the most recent rant by Iran’s president Ahmadinejad. In a wildly contradictory statement, he said that his nation loves all nations and all peoples, but that Israel “cannot continue to live.” I’m surprised the warped ayatollahs can even stomach his rambling tirades. And there was something published this week about our administration studying strategies for taking out Iran’s nuclear facilities. Somehow, it seems likely that such plans have been under discussion for some time now.
 
 On the Israel/Gaza front, rockets fired from Gaza hit an Israeli boot camp injuring sixty nine recruits, some seriously, a few critically. According to the report carried by the Debkafile, Israeli jets retaliated with pinpoint strikes on missile sites. The report ended by saying Palestinians celebrated their strike on Israel by firing celebratory shots in their mosques! Talk about lunatic!
 
 You may have seen some of the reports about Israeli jets making passes over Syrian territory this week. Israeli analysts are convinced that North Korea has sold nuclear technology and materials to Syria, and that it represents a potentially serious threat.

Comments by COGwriter:

Bible prophecy will be fulfilled, and right now we see more and more events lining up for the fulfillment.

While all the small details are not revealed in scripture, we do know that a King of the South (most likely an Arab/Moslem leader) will arise and do battle with the King of the North (Daniel 11:40). 

We also believe that since God seems to have a 6,000 year plan for humankind to rule itself, that the events in Daniel 11 and Matthew 24 will most likely be fulfilled in a relatively few years.

Some articles of related interest may include:

Did The Early Church Millenarianism? Was a 6,000 year plan followed by a literal thousand year reign of Christ on Earth, often called the millennium taught by the early Christians? Is this time near?

Is There A Future King of the South? Some no longer believe there needs to be. Might Egypt, Islam, Iran, Arabs, or Ethiopia be involved? What does the Bible say?

The Bible and the Arab World In History and Prophecy The Bible discusses the origins of the Arab world and discusses the Middle East in prophecy. What is ahead for the Middle East and those who follow Islam?

Europa, the Beast, and Revelation Where did Europe get its name? What might Europe have to do with the Book of Revelation? What about “the Beast”? Who is the king of the North?

The September-October 2007 edition of UCG’s United News is now available.  Here are excerpts from its lead article:

A major focus of the Council’s efforts in the coming year will be a full rewrite of the Strategic Plan.

by Robert Dick, chairman

Strategic planning was placed front and center at the Council of Elders August meeting. Nearly all of Monday (Aug. 6) and a significant part of Tuesday and Wednesday were spent mapping out how to perform a major rewrite of the Church’s 10-year-old Strategic Plan. While all the Council members have been involved in the annual edit of the existing plan, it has been our desire to take a fresh look at the plan, the process for designing it and the best way to implement it…

Following the day’s discussion, the Council expressed the desire to do a full rewrite of the plan and to begin the process immediately.

The Council felt that our best work can be done if we are assisted by a professional facilitator. One of the foremost qualifications for leading the process of strategic planning is neutrality and detachment from the issues making up the plan. A facilitator must be able to ask the hard questions and require answers without getting involved in the issues themselves.

It was universally felt that all the Council members and home office staff are too passionately involved with the mission of the Church to provide that necessary neutrality. The search for a facilitator was authorized and Jason Lovelady, Dee Kilough and Linda Register, all of whom have professional experience with strategic planning as well as candidate interviewing and selection, were appointed as a search committee. Currently the search is underway with interviews of the final pool of candidates to take place before the Feast of Tabernacles.

The Council agreed that it would be ideal to have the new plan ready for the 2008 General Conference of Elders meeting, but realistically that may not happen considering the lead time necessary for “Call and Notice.” Everyone agreed that the quality of the plan takes precedence over the speed with which it is produced, and therefore it cannot be driven by a precise timetable. It is understood that a full organizational strategic plan usually requires six to nine months to create. As the process move forward it will lead, among the steps, to a full board/staff retreat to focus solely on the critical issues that will be part of the Strategic Plan.

While this is a major undertaking, it is clear that there is full Council commitment to the task and a satisfaction that this issue is finally moving forward in a structured way. 

Comments by COGwriter:

UCG has a history of having a lot of meetings and committees.  Trying to figure out what it believes and stands for has been a subject of many such UCG activities in the past.

Other than perhaps one or two of its eleven plus years of existence, it has spent more money on governance and administration than proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom to the world as a witness.

Jesus said:

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matthew 6:21).

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches (Revelation 3:22).

Articles of related interest may include:

Should the Church Still Try to Place its Top Priority on Proclaiming the Gospel or Did Herbert W. Armstrong Change that Priority for the Work? Some say the Church should mainly feed the flock now as that is what Herbert W. Armstrong reportedly said. Is that what he said? Is that what the Bible says? What did Paul and Herbert W. Armstrong expect from evangelists?

Differences between the Living Church of God and United Church of God This article provides quotes information from the two largest groups which had their origins in WCG as well as commentary.

Are the Laodiceans the Modern Sadducees and Pharisees?Discusses similarities of the Sadducees and Pharisees to various COGs in this end-time.

7. The Laodicean Church Era was predominant circa 1986 A.D. to present. Non-Philadelphians who mainly descended from the old WCG.

In its monthly newsletter that was released this week, CBCG’s Fred Coutler wrote:

The Middle East is the focal point of man’s history and the return of Jesus Christ. In order for a world government to be set up for the final “Beast” to lead, the Moslem world will have to be sufficiently tamed and brought into the modern age. This will develop into an economic and political union of Arab states akin to the European Union. Events taking place in the Middle East today will ultimately lead to this key union—from which the prophetic “king of the south” will emerge.

Today is the Feast of Trumpets which pictures the trumpet blasts and the return of Christ.  Jesus will return, but since this happens at the “last trump” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52), this will not be until the end of the tribulation, thus those expecting a pre-tribulation rapture are in error.  An Arab-Moslem coalition is beginning to form and this will result in the emergence of the “king of the south”–and that, of course, will be before Jesus returns.

Articles of related interest would include:

Is There A Future King of the South? Some no longer believe there needs to be. Might Egypt, Islam, Iran, Arabs, or Ethiopia be involved? What does the Bible say?

The Bible and the Arab World In History and Prophecy The Bible discusses the origins of the Arab world and discusses the Middle East in prophecy. What is ahead for the Middle East and those who follow Islam?

Is There A Secret Rapture for the Church? When and Where is the Church Protected? What does the Bible really teach?

Furthermore, in that same letter, Fred Coulter continued with:

Because of massive national balance-of-trade debt, government debt (national, state and local), corporate debt and personal debt, the dollar is rapidly descending toward inevitable collapse. The evidence is obvious: inflationary prices, the collapse of the housing market, the rise in home mortgage foreclosures, etc. The dollar’s failure has been coming in stages through inflation which devalues its purchasing power. Consider this: Compared to the dollar of 1913—back before the Federal Reserve took over the American banking system—today’s dollar is only worth four cents. This means that a $500,000 home today is only worth $20,000 in 1913 dollars.

The biblical Feast of Trumpets, now commonly called Rosh Hoshana by the Jews, begins tonight at sunset.

In the Old Testament, there are various types of trumpets discussed, but the shofar is the one biblically associated with the Feast of Trumpets (the metal one mentioned is mainly instrumental and is called a chatsotserah in Hebrew).  A shofar is an animal horn, normally from a ram.

Statue of a person in ancient times blowing a Shofar 

CGOM just sent out the following comments on the Feast of Trumpets:

The Trumpet Call
 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other  (Matthew 24:31)

In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, shall be a solemn rest unto you, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall do no servile work (Leviticus 23:24-25)

 There’s no doubt the sound of a trumpet stirs the blood. From earliest times its penetrating call has rallied the troops, warned of approaching danger, assembled the populace.  Famously, the walls of Jericho toppled following a series of trumpet blasts. It has, too, great significance in the divine Plan for mankind, and is celebrated annually by ‘the Feast of Trumpets’.

…The festival is one of seven appointed by the LORD (not by Moses – Leviticus 23:4!), and incorporated by Him into the worship of the new nation of Israel when they left Egypt (Numbers 10::1-10)

…Trumpets is observed on ‘…the first day of the seventh month’. In the Biblical calendar the seventh month is calculated from the first month in Spring:’This month [called Abib or Nisan] shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you’  (Exodus 12:2). Nisan is the first month of the religious year, Tishri of the secular. The seventh (‘Tishri’) is in September-October, varying yearly from our Roman calendar

…Trumpets is a ‘holy convocation’. That is, it is a day to be observed annually by God’s faithful as a day to meet for worship, fellowship and instruction in the faith. It is also a rest day when we pause from our normal working life…

…The LORD created the physical universe in the autumn – celebrated on ‘the first day of the seventh month’ by the blowing of trumpets. The Chaldee version renders it ‘a memorial of shouting’  – a reference to Job 37:4-6: at creation ‘…the angels shouted for joy’. It is the ‘new year’, and is celebrated by the blowing of trumpets. (The first day of each – lunar – month, Biblically, was also noted in this way: Psalm 81:3.)

…God has used and prescribed the trumpet sound on momentous occasions: on giving Israel their Constitution at  Sinai (Exodus 19, Hebrews 12:19), at Jericho (Joshua 6), at the Jubilee of the fiftieth year (Leviticus 25:9), at coronations (I Kings 1:34), at the building of the Temple (Ezra 3:10), at the future restoration of Israel to the Land (Isaiah 27:13) – and resurrection (Psalm 47:5)

…The trumpet, said Jesus, will herald the resurrection of the saints from the dead at his coming: ‘…And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other’ (Matthew 24:31)

…Notice (I Corinthians 15:52) that the apostle calls the latter ‘…the last trumpet’. How many? In fact, at the end-time there will be seven trumpet soundings: ‘…I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets’ (Revelation 8:2). Each trumpet introduces a phase of the culmination of end-time events. The seventh focuses on the return of Messiah: ‘…in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets’ (Revelation 10:7)

Perhaps I should mention that it is only a tradition, not a biblically certain fact that the creation was in autumn, but it certainly could have been. 

More information on this holy day is included in the article The Book of Life and the Feast of Trumpets?

Two articles of possibly related interest may include:

Did Early Christians Observe the Fall Holy Days? Did they? Did Jesus? Should you?

Is There “An Annual Worship Calendar” In the Bible? This paper provides a biblical and historical critique of several articles, including one by WCG which states that this should be a local decision. What do the Holy Days mean? Also you can click here for the calendar of Holy Days.