July 31 Journal Out

The latest issue (print date July 31, 2010) of The Journal just came out.

Much of it is devoted to the various current and past crises that the United Church of God has faced. For example, one of the headlines on the front page is “UCG’s crisis is the latest in a long line of ups and downs since the church’s founding in 1995”. The basic news related to this has already been covered at COGwriter, though as always, Dixon Cartwright has his own insights. As far as UCG’s Council of Elder’s is concerned, there was a subheadline describing the members of it as follows, “Current ratio of council progressives to conservatives is 8-4”.

The front page also mentioned, related to UCG, “The administration team consists of the president, the directors of ministry and media, and the treasurer. Heading up ministerial services is interim director Victor Kubik, replacing Jim Franks. The new treasurer, Mr. Dean, replaces Jason Lovelady. Peter Eddington replaces Larry Salyer as interim director of media services.”

Reginald Killingley had an article titled “Is the UCG becoming the Untied Church of God?” UCG has long had a problem being “united” and has had many groups un-tie themselves from it. Though its current Latin American crisis is one of the largest, if not the largest, since its first president, David Hulme, left and formed COGaIC in 1998.

One interesting piece of information was in the Letters to the Editor section, someone asked about the relationship of Abigail Cartwright to Dixon Carwright. The response was “As far as THE JOURNAL knows, the publisher is not related to Ms. Cartwright. See her updated contact information on her blog at ucgcurrentcrisis.webs.com.” Abigail Cartwright has been posting information about the UCG crisis and became a founder and board member of International Ambassador Outreach (IAO), as I posted here previously (see UCG, Aaron Dean, and IAO).

Regarding Leon Walker (UCG’s former head of the Spanish and Latin American areas), The Journal had the following:

Days before this issue of THE JOURNAL was to go to press, this newspaper asked Mr. Walker for an interview about his evolving ministry and his relationship with the UCG branches including the UCGIA. He politely declined to discuss his situation with THE JOURNAL.

Based on writings attributed to Mr. Walker that have appeared at ucgcurrentcrisis. web.com and other blogs and Web sites, here is a synopsis of THE JOURNAL’s conclusions about Mr. Walter’s status:

From the UCGIA’s point of view Mr. Walker is guilty of insubordination because he defied a direct order. The order was for him to return to the UCGIA’s headquarters in Milford, Ohio, during a trip he had undertaken to visit some of the brethren in Latin America. As a result, at some point in the days after his refusal to cut short his visit to Latin America, the council of
elders terminated his employment and revoked his UCGIA-elder credentials.

Complicated relationship
Mr. Walker’s view of his relationship with the UCG entities is more complicated than a simple employer employee arrangement. Mr. Walker traces his employment
status back to 1979, when, as an elder in the Worldwide Church of God, WCG founder Herbert Armstrong commissioned him to direct that church’s evangelism and feeding-the flock efforts in Spanish-speaking areas of the world. As a result of that defining moment in his life, Mr. Walker looks at his situation as a calling higher than simply his status as a UCGIA employee. He
therefore concludes he has not committed the sin of insubordination because his affiliation with the United Church of God is only incidental…

Third person
Here are excerpts from a statement Mr. Walker wrote about himself (in the third person):

“Part of the administrative structure of the nations which comprise the Spanish Region is the position of regional director. “This individual, Leon Walker, was first appointed by Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong in November, 1979. When the Spanish Region joined the United Church of God (UCG) in July, 1995, Leon Walker came into UCG as director of the Spanish Region. “He was not appointed by the president nor by the Council of Elders, nor was approval sought from them for that position. Furthermore, Leon Walker was not employed by UCG in July, 1995. He was not employed nor received any salary until January, 1996.” Further, he wrote, he directed the “Spanish Region” “without ever being supervised by any [UCGIA] president or by the Council of Elders.”

I will not add my opinions nor comments to the above. I provided the above for information and others, if interested, can check out more details and/or draw conclusions for themselves.

Noel Rudd had comments on science and intelligent design. Those interested in the origin of life, science, and/or God may wish to read the following articles:

Is God’s Existence Logical? Some say it is not logical to believe in God. Is that true?
Is Evolution Probable or Impossible or Is God’s Existence Logical? Part II This short article clearly answers what ‘pseudo-scientists’ refuse to acknowledge.
Where Did God Come From? Any ideas? And how has God been able to exist? Who is God?
How is God Omnipotent, Omnipresent, and Omniscient? Here is a biblical article by Wallace Smith which answers what many really wonder about it.
What is the Meaning of Life? Who does God say is happy? What is your ultimate destiny? Do you really know? Does God actually have a plan for YOU personally?

CEM’s Ron Dart had an odd article titled “Disillusionment is required for salvation”.

There was actually an article in the July 31, 2010 issue of The Journal that tried to argue that sex outside of marriage was not wrong according to the Bible. One of the problems I have with The Journal is that it will often print blatant heresy, as well as the fact that it sometimes knowingly publishes inaccurate information (and I have discussed this with the editor in the past). The Journal also (pretty much every issue) publishes blatantly heretical paid advertisements. While there are some “gray areas”, there is also black and white, and sometimes The Journal crosses the moral line as far as I am concerned.

While The Journal is available only by paid subscription (though some subscriptions are free to those who cannot afford it), you can view the pdf. of its front and back page is available at: www.thejournal.org/issues/issue140/jf073110.pdf