Cartwright’s Journal Out: Bear in Orr SEP, female sermon speaker, Ambassador property sale, and character

The latest issue (says #170 February 28, 2015) of The Journal was sent out electronically and just received.

Some items covered included Orr SEP, female sermon speaker, the Del Mar sales offer, and “What if we were right about events but wrong about character?”

The Orr article was mainly about a bear incident by Floyd Kielczewski. Here is some of it:

The bear took off with the only bag of garbage on the whole SEP campus, which he had taken out of one of those 50-gallon drums. I took the gun with six shells in it and went outside. The bear had gone off to the jungle gym (the play area for the children). It was so dark outside you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. He sat down and proceeded to tear
that bag of garbage apart, looking for any food that might be in it. I shined the light but couldn’t see him anywhere. I had the gun in my left hand and the light in my right hand. The game warden had already heard complaints about the bear. He told me he would back me up and that I should get rid of him, as long as I didn’t poison him.

Eventually, Floyd Kielczewski shot the bear. Orr, Minnesota used to host the largest teen camp in the old Worldwide Church of God days. SEP stands for Summer Education Program. None of the campers was hurt by the bear.

As far the subject about a female giving a sermon, the front page article states the following:

“Hardliners,” said Mr. Dickerson, will cite 1 Corinthians 14:34 about such matters. That verse quotes the apostle Paul telling the Corinthians to “let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak.” Rather, said Paul, they should be “submissive.”

The woman who gave the sermon was John Dickerson’s wife Cathy. This happened on February 14th, 2015. The article in The Journal did not mention 1 Timothy 2:11-12, plus it did not list the some other part of 1 Corinthians, so here are those verses below:

34 Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law also says. 35 And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is shameful for women to speak in church. (1 Corinthians 14:34-35).

11 Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. 12 And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. (1 Timothy 2:11-12).

John Dickerson and his wife may wish to study more from the Bible. Here is a link to the article Women and the New Testament Church. Here is a link to a related sermon titled: New Testament Women. If John Dickerson considers me a ‘hardliner’ because I believe the Bible over his limited explanation, so be it. The reality is that the Bible does not support the view that women should be preachers.

Another article in The Journal mentioned the listing of the Del Mar property from the old Ambassador College–details on this are in the post Ambassador campus mansion for sale.

Page 9 of The Journal had the following blazed across the top:

What if we were right about events but wrong about character?

Two points.

The first point is that character counts. It was because of integrity issues that I felt that there was no choice but to leave my prior COG group and accept that I was being led to form the Continuing Church of God as a separate entity (see Why Bob Thiel Left the Living Church of God ).

Thus, I do feel that character counts a lot. Notice also what the Bible teaches:

1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:1-2)

The second point is related to the above scriptures.

In my case, once I left it became clearer and clear that that group was wrong about key events, which included prophetic ones (there were also historical mistakes). When I was with them, one or more of the top leaders agreed that they needed to fix certain prophetic matters. Yet when I left, they not only failed to do so, but became insistent on positions that various leaders of that group had told me were errors. Those who claimed to be leaders did not have sufficient love of the truth, they valued position more in some areas–Jesus had the same problem with the Pharisees in His day (Matthew 23:25-27).

Here are some items that contain some of the doctrinal prophetic details on errors that group (and some others) now hold:

Must the Ten Kings of Revelation 17:12 Rule over Ten Currently Existing Nations? Some claim that these passages refer to a gathering of 10 currently existing nations together, while one group teaches that this is referring to 11 nations getting together. Is that what Revelation 17:12-13 refers to? The ramifications of misunderstanding this are enormous. A related sermon is titled Ten Kings of Revelation and the Great Tribulation.

Who is the Man of Sin of 2 Thessalonians 2? Is this the King of the North, the ten-horned beast of Revelation 13:1-11, or the two-horned Beast of Revelation 13:12-16? Some rely on traditions, but what does the Bible teach? Here is a related link in Spanish/español: ¿Quién es el Hombre de Pecado de 2 Tesalonicenses 2? Here is a version in Mandarin: 主编：谁是’大罪人’？Here is a link to a related YouTube video, in English, titled Who is the Man of Sin?

The Falling Away: The Bible and WCG Teachings Who is 2 Thessalonians 2:3 referring to? Are there multiple falling aways? Here is a related link in Spanish/español: La Apostasía: Enseñanzas de la Biblia y de la WCG. There are also two YouTube videos on the subject that you can watch The Falling Away Part 1: From the Bible and Church History and The Falling Away Part 2: Positions Presented by Others.

What About the Living Church of God? Are there Doctrinal Differences with the Continuing Church of God? This article explains some information and doctrines of the Living Church of God as led by Roderick C. Meredith and some concerns about them. (En el idioma español: ¿Qué hay acerca de la Iglesia de Dios Viviente? ¿Hay diferencias doctrinales con la Continuación de la Iglesia de Dios?)

Character counts and those with insufficient integrity are misleading those who follow them. Actually, there is a list of about 30 prophetic errors that non-Philadelphian leaders have in the article The Laodicean Church Era and some others in the article Church of God, (Seventh Day): History and Teachings.

The Journal also had the usual letters to the editor and other advertisements, various comments, and opinion articles.

The Journal itself is available by paid subscription (though Dixon Cartwright says some subscriptions are free to those who cannot afford it) and often tends to take a non-Philadelphian era view of certain church matters.