March 2008 Now Journal Out

A few days ago the electronic version of the March 31, 2008 edition of The Journal came out (the print version should be in the mail by now, though I have not received my copy yet).

Its main articles were about a new “ministry” in Big Sandy, Living God Ministries, UCG’s rebuttal of Aaron Dean (on that subject, for more details, please see United Church of God Council Censures Elder Aaron Dean), UCG’s Eric Snow had an article about when to split a church (for two articles of related interest, please see Unity: Which COG for You? and Beware, Doctrinal Compromise is in the Air!), Alan Knight discussed some aspects of early Christianity (for more, please see the The History of Early Christianity), and two deaths (for one covered earlier here, please see The Journal Reports the Death and Funeral of Jim Ussery).

Here is some of what was published about the new Big Sandy ministry:

BIG SANDY, Texas—Wes and Nancy White recently announced the creation of a new ministry, Dynamic Christian Ministries (DCM), to serve the Sabbathkeeping Churches of God. The following is an interview with Mr. and Mrs. White about DCM.

Q: There are already a lot of ministries within the Churches of God. Why create another one?

Wes: One of the biggest problems in the independent Church of God community today has to do with demographics. Our congregations are getting old and we are not bringing in new people to replace all of us oldtimers as we die out. DCM would like to assist in that area if possible. Every year at the Feast I hear people ask, “Why can’t we evangelize better so we can bring more people to the real Jesus of the Bible?”

To the best of my knowledge, DCM a very small ministry. To answer the last question, I would simply state that modern history has shown that the small independent ministries are always ineffective in public proclamation and that those truly interested in the Philadelphia work of the Church should unify and support the largest group that has that as its focus, which is the Living Church of God (please see the three articles There are Many COGs: Why Support the Living Church of God?, Independent Members of the COG: Herbert W. Armstrong Comments, Plus Questions and Answers, and 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?).

I should add that the Living Church of God should NOT be confused with Living God Ministries which is a very small operation ran by Bill Glover and his son Stephen. However, both groups have members in Kenya and The Journal article was about LGM’s visit there.

Here is also a death report from The Journal:

Roy McCarthy dies
SOMERSET WEST, South Africa—Roy McCarthy, 83, a member of the Worldwide Church of God and former director of the WCG’s efforts in the Netherlands and South Africa, died March 23, 2008, apparently of pneumonia.

I do not recall if I met Roy McCarthy when my wife and I were there for the Feast of Tabernacles in 1985. Apparently he did not oppose the changes in WCG.

The pdf front and back page of The Journal can be accessed from www.thejournal.org/issues/issue126/ja033108.pdf