Nice, very nice if you're into Cincinnati chic. Not much indication of sackcloth, ashes and dung heaps here! And don't be fooled by the street frontage, take a gawp around the back.Which just goes to demonstrate - as if it needed demonstrating once again - that tithing pays. At least it pays if you are the fortunate one collecting the Lord's moolah.
What I don't understand is just how you pick up an official accreditation for this kind of thing. Where do you collect an application form? Does Ron have a framed certificate on his wall, personally signed by Jesus Christ, authorizing him to function as His official tithe collector? Or was he commissioned by a visiting angel - the one in charge of Heavenly Throne Financial Services (HTFS)? What percentage of the Eternal's ten percent does Ron get to keep? How much does a franchise cost?
And while few of us would deny Ron and Laura a modest bungalow in the burbs, just how does God (or Ron, if there's a difference) decide that Ron should enjoy this more elevated standard of living? Does Ron have an annual performance appraisal from HTFS? Does Christ sign off on Ron's raises? Will Ron get a divine bonus this year despite seriously screwing up his prophecy about 2008? Does God issue guidelines for this kind of thing... some sort of heavenly code of ethics for His earth-bound tithe collectors?However you look at it, being God's top punk-wallah seems to have its perks.
But a nagging question remains. How many of the Weinland tithe-force, the decent but naive garden variety folks who bankroll the Great Man and his wife, hanging from his every faux pas, enjoy anything close to a similar lifestyle?
39 comments:
Don't forget, Gavin, the elders also pay tithes. Hearsay suggests there may only be five people on the church payroll.
That may not seem like much, but consider the allegations of multiple "special offerings" being called, as well as hefty personal donations being made, in the excess of thousands of dollars, 90% of which goes directly into Weinland's pocket, and 5% of which goes into the kids' pockets (in other words, Weinland gets the tax benefit for employing his kids), and the remaining 5% gets split between the two evangelists and Weinland's favourite elder, as well as possibly one other accounting tech.
That means approximately three hundred people are paying well over 30% of their incomes, to support five people.
Why do people allow themselves to be manipulated like this?
I tried listening to his sermon from yesterday to see if he was prophesying again (which he isn't), but every time I skipped forward all I heard was Ron Weinland disparaging the members.
The members must eat it up and think they deserve it, because they aren't worthy enough.
I desperately wish that members of his church would come to understand that you cannot earn God's love (through keeping the OT laws), nor be separated from it. The apostle Paul didn't seem like he was struggling with God's love. He said in Romans 8: "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Paul was a man who was confident in his faith and assured of his salvation. Unlike Ron Weinland who uses fear mongering to gouge people to keep his Google AdWords campaign alive and also pay for his travels all to promote his books which have already proven not worth the cost of the paper they were printed on.
Forgot to add too, hearsay in the comments section of DDTFA suggests that Weinland paid somehere in the neighbourhood of $400K for their little shack --- in cash.
The lesson here is that which Herbert Armstrong proved so very well: the better the false prophet you are, the better you will live, particularly if you don't have that much of a conscience to speak of.
You must admit though, the psychological makeup of the the fools that make up the shallow end of the gene pool to follow after lies, deceptions and distorted perception, is absolutely fascinating.
And what an opportunity for all those "Look at me!" people who have whole blogs and websites about this sort of thing.
Not much indication of sackcloth, ashes and dung heaps here!
Wrong again, Gavin. If that really is Ronald Weinland's humble abode, you can know for certain that a BIG DUNG HEAP lives there.
Any minister who lives higher on the hog than do his parishioners is a false minister.
«Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. (2 Cor 4:1-2)
Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached God’s gospel to you free of charge? I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you. And when I was with you and was in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my need. … And what I do I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds. (2 Cor 11:7-15)
Any minister who lives higher on the hog than do his parishioners is a false minister.»
The tithing law in Numbers 18:20, 23 prohibits those who own tithes from owning and inheriting property.
Hey Dougie I thought you made a big stink about how you were giving up the unholy ghost and finally leaving town?
Don't let the door hit you in the a$$ on the way out!
"The tithing law in Numbers 18:20, 23 prohibits those who own tithes from owning and inheriting property."
That is priceless. If only ALL the COGs lived by the law they profess! Hipocrisy through and through. They pick and choose their commandments based on what suits their needs. Can't tithe on gross income? Too much of a burden? No problem! BUT, YOU MUST TITHE in order to be a COG-PKG member. (read their statement of beliefs if you don't believe me).
The "end game" is purely around the continuation of money coming in. That's it. As long as you Tithe and keep the Sabbath (as loosely as they describe it- the Jews are better law keepers than Weinland any day) you can be a part of his church, otherwise, don't even bother to contact them. (READ THEIR WEBSITE).
If you are young and new to his church, don't believe his hype. By any objective and, more importantly, Biblical standards, you have an obligation to call him what he is, a False Prophet.
Of course, it may disrupt his high lifestyle, but is that really what you want in a religion, and, more importantly, of the life God called you to?
I believe when the House for God, in Pasadena, closed, or God left it or was evicted, I forget, RW offered God a spot in his family room. So it's all good.
God said, "I live not in houses made with hands..however, this place is pretty cool. I'll take it!"
I understand that on the second floor, there are two poles that slide down into the basement where RW and Witness 2 can slip into matching and spiffy Witness Suits.
The outfits are custom designed, made of kevlar and asbestos but do only have shelf life of 3.5 years, which started last April.
They have yet to be used.
There is a string coming out the neck of the suits each can pull on the other and the suit says..
"Behold.."
"Woe unto men."
"Hear Ye Us'ins"
"Zap"
"Biff"
"Bop"
"Crunch"
"whoa mama"
"Holy Witman Ron"
Witness Two has special phrases:
"You'll have to ask him."
"I really can't say."
"I'm just going along for the ride."
"I'm just a woman."
"I know, this is embarassing me too."
:)
Not much indication of sackcloth, ashes and dung heaps here!
The sackloth is what will be worn by the impoverished suckers who handed over their money. The ashes are all that will be left of the suckers' estates and retirement plans. The dung heaps are the books of lies that Ronald Weinland wrote and that the suckers wallowed in rather than reading their Bibles.
Of course, there are many other possible explanations and interpretations that one could make up that would also be quite fitting.
Notice that, in the interest of accuracy, I called them "suckers" rather than "true Christians." Perhaps their desire to see America nuked has brought upon them "the curse" as per the much maligned BI theories: "I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse" (Genesis 12:3). No doubt, greedy, lying Ronald Weinland is a serious curse to his suckers.
That is a very nice house.
The Skeptic
Weenie critic said ---
Look at me!
I agree --
The only thing worse than being talked about
is not being talked about.
- Oscar Wilde
R E K ---
I don't know Weinland's tax/tithe ownership arrangement, but of course HWA had the College own the assets, he just had unlimited free use of everything.
I suspect that if we were to do a photo review of the real estate holdings of all of the splinter group ministers, we would find that they all live to the same standard.
One of the posters on another forum in which I post referenced an accountability ratings group. Basically, she had done this so that we would realize that a non-ACOG minister whom some of us have found to be inspiring only had a one star rating on this particular service, out of a possible four. To compare, she had pointed out that Ron Dart enjoys a three star rating.
Charitable organizations often sell their credibility to the public through what is called low "loading" costs. IOW, the relatively low percentage that goes for administration and salaries as compared to the amount going directly to the stated purpose of that organization.
I'm sure that any organization is going to indulge to some extent in book cooking when reporting to their peer review groups, but you have to wonder how the splinter groups would be rated, assuming they told the truth.
I'm just so thankful that I blew off any ministerial opportunities as a young AC student. My house may not be as big as some of these peoples' but at least I get to sleep fairly well each night. I'd hate to think of all the marriages ruined, young people's educations that never happened because of false end time prophecies, suicides, ruined health, and the many other horrible fruits in people's lives that many (I realize there were notable exceptions!) of the ministers participated in and have in their memory banks. It must be horrible, unless one happened to be a sociopathic narcissist.
BB
Gavin,
Should that not be Die Wiener
Häuser,as good things seem to come in multiples for our favourite false prophets.
None of their starry-eyed adherents try or test the spirits as they are told,otherwise these plonkers would not have a following.
Mind you,their masters certainly TRY the spirits on a regular basis.
I wonder if it is White Label or Black Label malt?
And Russell Earl Kelly makes a good point about these drongos owning property.They, of course,will say they are under the New Covenant.
At least, they will never get one red cent from any AW bloggers,hopefully.
Cheers,
Seamus
Twas the Month Before April
In 2008
And Ron was a preechin'
And feeling just great
The trumpets were tunning and all with great care
With hopes that tribulation soon would be there.
The brethren were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of carnage danced in their heads;
The Mrs in her sack cloth, and Ron in his cap,
Had just settled down to write more of his crap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
He sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window He flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
Twas Gavin and Shadows and Kool Aid and J
Exposing The Weinmeister to light of the day.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
The truth of this farce, and the shallow veneer
With a cunning 'ol pastor so lively and quick
I knew in a moment it must be a trick.
More rapid than eagles words he did spew,
And he whistled, and shouted, and truly truly knew;
"Now, trumpets ! now, vials! now, plagues and not fixin's
On, death, on disease, on carnage, we're kickin' !
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now die away! die away! die away all!"
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With a boatload of misery, for me and for you.
And then, in a twinkling, Ron heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of two nasty hoofs
As Ron drew in his hand, and was turning around,
Down the chimney Came Satan and in with a bound.
He was dressed all in red, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of books he had flung on his back,
And he asked 'ol Ron if he'd written this crap?
His eyes -- how they glared his dimples how scary!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose kinda hairy!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the horns of his head were starting to glow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a frowed face and a tight round belly,
That flexed when he laughed an not like some jelly.
He was buff, a right evil old Satan, not elf
And Ron cringed when he saw him, and was not himself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave he to know he had plenty to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And burned all the books; then turned to the jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
"That book was all ka ka, and none of its right."
"But hey, nice house...."
Gavin said, "Which just goes to demonstrate - as if it needed demonstrating once again - that tithing pays. At least it pays if you are the fortunate one collecting the Lord's moolah."
MY COMMENT - The Herbert W. Armstrong fear religion business model still works, although to a lesser degree today - Lie to the masses, dine with the classes!
There will always be dumb sheep willing to give their moolah to hucksters who come in Christ's name, and deceive many.
Richard
Russell Earl Kelly, PHD said...
The tithing law in Numbers 18:20, 23 prohibits those who own tithes from owning and inheriting property.
Mon Jul 28, 06:32:00 AM NZST
Since when do the "pick and choose" CoG Old Covenant keepers follow all that God commands? Nope, they (especially the servants [sic])...they just select that which is convenient and profitable.
I think we should post pictures of all these xCG leaders homes!
These pictures say more than words ever could!
I receive the COGUK newsletter(from coguk@aol.com)- a British group associated with CGOM. Here's their financial report for last year:
INCOME 2007/8
Donations:
...UK £1230
...Overseas £ 678
Tax Rebate: £ 316
_______________
£2224
OUTGOINGS 2007/8
Postal: £ 549
Stationery: £ 134
Print: £ 48
Internet: £ 336
Bank: £ 147
Utilities: £ 224
Travel: £ 474
News: £ 373
________________
£2285
Note: no salaries.
I understand the elders of the Churches of God Outreach Ministries (www.cgom.org) are all volunteer.
Gavin
Do you think people,s private homes should be posted on the internet even if they are false prophets?You know that there are manaics who will try to harm them. God will deal with false prophets in His own and time.
Anon
Gimme a break. No one has published Weinland's address.
Ron's Address is proabably
Kibbutz Megiddo
Valley of Har Har Har Megiddo
144 Thousand Misses Drive
Tell a Heb, Israel
Phone: 666-666-4444
Smooth Operators are waiting on your call.
Anonymous said...
Gavin
Do you think people,s private homes should be posted on the internet even if they are false prophets? You know that there are manaics who will try to harm them. God will deal with false prophets in His own and time.
Give me a break too. I suppose you also feel sorry for poor, old Satan. Ronald Weinland is the crazy, lying MANIAC who is harming others! I wouldn't blame anyone for being mad at that thief.
The gunman at the recent church shooting at the USA was apparently provoked by the Unitarians for being too liberal.
The only incident I know of when HWA's life was threatened was when his son-in-law held him at gunpoint after learning the family secret.
But, despite Harry Callaghan's moaning, people have their rights...
Fer Pete Sake you guys, what are all the WCGofAOLPCL's and stuff?
You can't keep em all straight.
Come on help us out here.
Frances:
I feel your pain. Try this link.
Just imagine if there were real sincerity amongst the Armstrong franchisees. I would love to see a letter that contained the following ideas (in the individual franchisee's own words, of course):
"Brethren, I couldn't ask you to convert and sell your assets, or to reduce your lifestyle to support God's work while I myself was living in a mansion. Time is short and we all need to sacrifice. Jesus Christ led by example. I have sold our $500,000 home in the suburbs, have put the equity into God's work, and my wife and I have moved into a modest two bedroom apartment. Frankly, this is the least I could do for the living Jesus Christ. We are also selling our Chrysler 300, and are looking for a used Toyota Prius."
This is one we have not heard yet. They just keep building homes for themselves, creating permanent infrastructure, and setting an example of permanancy rather than shortness of time. Jesus and the disciples lived communally, pooling all of their assets so that the message could go out. Mother Teresa set a much more effective example of sincerity than any Armstrongite minister I've ever met or heard of.
BB
Anonymous said...
I don't know Weinland's tax/tithe ownership arrangement, but of course HWA had the College own the assets, he just had unlimited free use of everything.
Ownership is very over-rated. Its the use of the toys, not the deeds to them, that provide all of the fun. HWA even had corporate owned gold watches.
The smart person makes sure he's in an occupation (like a Church) by which everything can be a business expense. Sure he wrote on his tours but even I can write about "the Two Trees" over and over again. He was right, there is the way of give, and the way of get, we gave, and he got. Talk about hiding something in plain sight!
You don't think he hired Stanley Rader for nothing do you?
BB, from what we are told, HWA's story reads the exact opposite. During his days of unusual success in the world of mammon, earning the equivalent of gazillions in today's money, we're told about rented rooms, not mansions.
In HWA's apostolic years, the mansions belonged to the college, and he had to live that lifestyle so he could appear before kings and rulers. The splinters carry on this legacy...
Russell Earl Kelly, PHD said...
The tithing law in Numbers 18:20, 23 prohibits those who own tithes from owning and inheriting property.
Russell,
Where did you buy that worthless PhD from?
This is an excellent example of why it is not good at all to have just any biblically illiterate goofball spouting off his half-baked ideas. It also is not good for Gavin to support such gross error with his "comment moderation" control.
If you want to find fault with false prophets, go ahead. But stop misquoting and twisting what the Bible says. People posting at this message board can make valid points about the various religious con artists out there. However, I have noticed that whenever the posters try to quote the Bible they invariably seem to mangle it.
Check out Leviticus 25:29-34, Numbers 35:1-8, and Joshua 21:1-45 and put it all together. The Levites were not given large areas of land like the other tribes, but they were given towns and the surrounding pasturelands.
"Mother Teresa set a much more effective example of sincerity than any Armstrongite minister I've ever met or heard of."
And you might even be a bit disillusioned by MT too, thought at least she voiced her doubts.
Shortly after beginning work in Calcutta's slums, the spirit left Mother Teresa.
"Where is my faith?" she wrote. "Even deep down… there is nothing but emptiness and darkness... If there be God — please forgive me."
"Such deep longing for God… Repulsed, empty, no faith, no love, no zeal," she said.
"What do I labor for?" she asked in one letter. "If there be no God, there can be no soul. If there be no soul then, Jesus, You also are not true."
According to her letters, Mother Teresa died with her doubts. She had even stopped praying, she once said
When I first started attending WCG services, a remember the minister made a very distressing announcement: ...they made need to sell the Falcon.
I didn't know the Falcon was a corporate jet, I thought they had to sell their car. [Ford Falcon]
Anonymous that gave Russell a hard time:
Perhaps he got his Phd from that worthless institution called A.C?
Another thing these tithe farmers seems to gloss over is the scriptures regarding what a tithe is, what should be tithed, who the tithes actually should go to, and for what purpose.
Herbie and his imitators got all four of those questions wrong.
"To compare, she had pointed out that Ron Dart enjoys a three star rating."
That only tells us the rating system is seriously fouled up.
Isn't it inevitable that ministers who have taught and are preaching falsehoods, lies and gearing their new truths to their advantage will have to "fess up" sooner or later? Christ warned "if one who humbles himself as a child is offended, it is better that the offender have a millstone around his neck and drowned. Woe to that man by whom the offense comes from. Ministers take stock of Christ's words.
Herbert W would be proud of Ronnie.
Well, according to Dr Bob - who is quoting an unnamed anti-COG site - Ron is now under IRS investigation. Maybe he will be moving to another big house.
Post a Comment