COGWA Reports on Unleavened Bread and Governance

Clyde Kilough, of the Church of God, a Worldwide Association (COGWA), posted the following at COGWA’s website late today:

As Jim Franks mentioned in the April 1 Weekly Update, the meetings in Dallas March 29-31 to discuss our future governmental structure were extremely profitable. Our focus now is on the upcoming feast, but once that is completed we will turn our attention to completing this work and installing a permanent governance as soon as possible. We deeply appreciate your laboring in prayer, seeking God’s direction and His wisdom to help us establish the best structure we can. The organization of the Church is very important, and we are doing our best to consider the pros and cons, advantages and disadvantages, of every aspect of the potential ways of directing the affairs of the Church.

But in the end, the meaning of the Days of Unleavened Bread bring us back to the most essential part of God’s government: God has to govern our hearts and minds! If sin is allowed to govern our thinking, no governmental organization or structure will work.

It was not the structure of government that kept Jesus Christ sinless—it was by the power of the Spirit of God! It was not policies and procedures that kept Him at one with the Father—it was the love of God. While He was governing His mind to perfectly conform to the will of God during the events leading to His crucifixion, all of His beloved disciples were being governed by the pulls of the flesh—greed (Matthew 26:14-16), ambition and rivalry (Luke 22:24-27), self-deception and false bravado (Matthew 26:31-35, 69-75), self-will and anger (Matthew 26:51-54), fear (Matthew 26:56). Only later, after they themselves received the Holy Spirit, did they begin to govern themselves according to the will of God. It was then that the sinful leaven of those works of the flesh could be put out, replaced by the fruits of the Spirit of God working in them.

Now, imagine if Jesus Christ—the perfect Son of God—was living among us, working side by side with all of us as He did the disciples, for the next three-plus years! Would being under the perfect Governor, and under His perfect governmental structure, guarantee our success? Not if our hearts and minds were not being governed by the Holy Spirit! Remember, there was a time when all the angels lived under a perfect governmental structure, with perfect law, perfect organization and perfect rule by God Himself; but that still did not prevent one-third of them from rejecting God and rebelling against everything His government stood for!

For those unaware, COGWA was officially formed in December 2010 and is made of almost entirely of people who once were part of UCG, including Clyde Kilough who had been UCG’s president. It still is addressing issues, like governance. As far as Unleavened Bread goes, I wrote an article titled Should Christians Keep the Days of Unleavened Bread? that some may find of interest.

Other articles of possibly related interest may include:

Attending the Church of Choice This article discusses whose choice is important to worship God; should you attend the church of your choice or the church of God’s choice?
Polycarp, Herbert W. Armstrong, and Roderick C. Meredith on Church Government What form of governance did the early church have? Was it hierarchical? Which form of governance would one expect to have in the Philadelphia remnant? The people decide and/or committee forms, odd dictatorships, or the same type that the Philadelphia era itself had?
Unity: Which COG for You? Why so many groups? Why is there lack of unity in the Churches of God? Has it always been this way? What can/should be done about it?
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.
There are Many COGs: Why Support the Living Church of God? This is an article for those who wish to more easily sort out the different COGs. It really should be a MUST READ for current and former WCG/GCI members or any interested in supporting the faithful church. It also explains a lot of what the COGs are all about.
Concerns about Church of God, a Worldwide Association This seems to be the largest group that came out of the United Church of God. Here is some history and concerns about it.
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?
The Laodicean Church Era has been predominant circa 1986 A.D. to present. These are non-Philadelphians who mainly descended from the old WCG.
Is There “An Annual Worship Calendar” In the Bible? This paper provides a biblical and historical critique of several articles, including one by the Tkach 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.
Hebrew Calendar and “Postponements” This John Ogywn writing explains why we in the Living Church of God use the calendar that we do and answers such questions as “Did Jesus Observe the Postponements?”
Passover and the Early Church Did the early Christians observe Passover? What did Jesus and Paul teach? Why did Jesus die for our sins?
Melito’s Homily on the Passover This is one of the earliest Christian writings about the Passover. This also includes what Apollinaris wrote on the Passover as well.
TPM: Passover on the 14th or 15th? While the LCG observes Passover on the 14th, some observe it on the 15th. Why is the 14th correct?
The Night to Be Observed What is the night to be much observed? When is it? Why do Jews keep Passover twice and emphasize the wrong date?
Holy Day Calendar This is a listing of the biblical holy days through 2012, with their Roman calendar dates. They are really hard to observe if you do not know when they occur 🙂