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Saturday 30 August 2008

The Burning Issues

The latest issue of The Journal is out, both in paper format (yesterday the May 31 edition arrived in my mailbox here in the more distant latitudes of Her Majesty's Dominions) and via electronic media (the June 30 edition - just in time for 1 September!) Here's the rundown of what's in that June 30 issue.

One God: Another Westby debate, this time in Seattle. I'm not sure why the "one God" thing attracts as much attention among the post-COG faithful, but it does. It'd be interesting to know how many folk Ken has influenced away from classic COG binitarianism. I feel a poll coming on...

Jamaican Pentecost: Ian Boyne toots his trumpet on local CGI attendance. There's even an invitation for Dennis Diehl and myself to wing our way to Jamaica and debate the great (grate?) issues of COGdom with Ian. ["We would allow Ambassador Watch webmaster Gavin Rumney and former-minister-turned-Bible-skeptic Dennis Diehl to present if they would come! (This is an open invitation.)"] Thanks Ian, no offense - and Jamaica is an alluring destination - but I'll be giving that a miss.

Bleak Knight Over Babylon: Another installment of - IMHO - ill-informed, offensive, speculative piffle from a COG7 author whose qualifications are... ??? That's without mentioning the tie-in anti-Catholic ad in the Connections section... sheeessh.

Knee Jerks: Dear Lord are there only Republicans in COGdom? Reactionary commentary from Dan White who, I think one can confidently assert, won't be barracking for Obama. After laying down the cover fire, he then moves on to the holy virtues of home schooling.

UCM: Wesley White reports on the UCM Women's conference in Alabama.

Den Again: Amidst the gloom, Dennis Diehl arises with another column that goes a long way toward washing away the aftertaste of some of the other articles.

The most striking news? The heathens of Harvest Rock in Pasadena have painted the egret scupture in front of the auditorium white. Is there no end to Pentecostal deviance?

Across in the Connections section my favorite ad is headed up: Is William F. Dankenbring really a true "Apostle" of God? The author? William F. Dankenbring!

Having said that, I'm a big fan of The Journal and proud to be a paid subscriber - even if only, to cadge a phrase from a certain esteemed resident of rocky Gibraltar, "to keep our disgust fresh." To check out the PDF of the front and back pages click here.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

A number of times I heard the reasoning was that Republicans "would buy us more time". "Thy kingdom come (but not yet...)"

Misogynist GTA blurted out that the fitting demise of the USA would be electing Hillary. It looks like it will be a female Republican VP or black Democrat president next year - enough to make GTA and HWA spin in their graves.

When I lived in Australia, some of the local churches seemed left-leaning. That was until Gough Whitlam became PM. By the next election the "no voting" rule was downplayed, hoping we would help keep Labor out.

Anonymous said...

Off topic, but I couldn't resist watching Dave Pack's three-part Crucial video, Today's "Evil Men and Seducers" Exposed! If only the splinter leaders could get together -- this has class action lawsuit all over it!

I can imagine Dave howling persecution for telling the truth in a few weeks...

        AMERICAN KABUKI said...

Did Harvest Rock confuse egrets with doves? As in a "white dove of the Holy Ghost" kind of way? Perhaps they didn't notice the long necks? It reeks of tackiness...

If Trinity Broadcasting owned them, they'd be plated in 24K gold.....

Anonymous said...

While I don't recall seeing John McCain's photo on the COGwriter blog, Obama has been there a few times. Bob likes his extrabiblical prophecies (from Catholics and Mayans) and suggests a Kenyan prophecy about the demise of the USA.

I've looked for biblical proof texts to support Dr Bob's speculation, but all I can find is the Obamanation of desolation.

Anonymous said...

Churtling to himself..Gavin noted

"Across in the Connections section my favorite ad is headed up: Is William F. Dankenbring really a true "Apostle" of God? The author? William F. Dankenbring!

Oh oh Pick me, pick me! I know the answer! Is it Bill Dankenbring?

Anonymous said...

Regarding Bill Dankenbring, and his kind: You know, it never ceases to absolutely amaze me how many WCG-trained splinter leaders are so "popping at the seams" desperate to be recognized as the next Apostle, or one of the Two Witnesses, or whatever God-ordained title they so openly lust after - Flurry, Weinland, Pack, Dankenbring, not to mention dozens of other lesser known loonies who are so eager to elbow aside other competitors to exclusively represent the Almighty.

Their rightful place really is a mental institution rather than in the pages of the Journal or at the head of their microscopic splinter groups. Wow, if HWA could only see how many wackos have eventually been spawned out of his “one and only true Church of God!”

Anonymous said...

I'm writing in Ron Paul. I've had it with the Republicrats.


Paul Ray

Anonymous said...

"Most sites will follow the traditional Jewish dates for the festival,"

What did I miss? When did they switch from the "the Jews got their own calendar wrong" mentality to "let's piggyback on their festival dates mebbe nobody will notice" stance???

"But check the listing for details because several observances will follow other systems to determine the dates."

That's more like it.

Also note the ad on the back page for the "from the frying pan into the fire" "exit" counselor begging people to "Send for my free tape!!"

Yeah no.

I personally think the white egrets are an improvement; they're still not going to fly any Armageddon survivors to Petra, but at least they look a little snazzier while their owners rake in funds from the tithe slaves of Harvest Rock.

Additionally, I was unaware Antion had started up another splinter; looks like Cole is bucking for a promotion up the Levitical ladder, too.

Good article as always Den; I couldn't help but wonder how many of us here fall into the third category of friendship that you have listed? I think it's the human condition, to not meet the demands of the OT proverb. Which is rather the point.

My two bucks' worth.

Bill said...

White egrets? How culturally insensitive! At least one of them should have been painted a darker color.

Harumph harumph. . .

Bill Hohmann

Corky said...

Anonymous said...
I'm writing in Ron Paul. I've had it with the Republicrats.

Paul Ray

Well, you'd just be wasting your vote, so why bother to vote at all?

No one reads write ins and even if they did, they wouldn't know who wrote the name in. You might as well write in your own name, at least then, if anyone read it, they'd know who wrote it.

Vote or don't vote, that's the way I look at it.

Anonymous said...

Bobbie T wasted no time in posting two photos of Sarah Palin. Wow - dire times in store for the USA if she is elected! As if no other "Israelitish nation" ever elected a woman -- I remember a few who got Steuben crystal.

Gavin, is Helen Clark still ruling over you, leading you to err and destroying the way of your paths?

Anonymous said...

Gavin,

I wouldn't barrack for Obama,either.I like the word play.

You are wise to have turned down the Jamaican invitation to debate issues; it's the hurricane season in that part of the world.Mind you,the local rum added to your Chi Latte might have been a treat.

Noo Orlins is about to be hammered it seems.

Cheers,

jorgheinz

Anonymous said...

I was there when David Wynne was supervising the final assembly of the egrets. I believe we may have even played water polo with him and his crew. The metal was oxydized to artificially age the sculpture in accordance with his vision of his art.

In my opinion, painting them white is about like someone adding rouge and mascara to the face of the Mona Lisa! Whatever opinion one might have of AC,the WCG, or the Maranatha people is completely irrelevant to the debauching of an artist's work. Only cretins would do this.

BB

Anonymous said...

"Off topic, but I couldn't resist watching Dave Pack's three-part Crucial video, Today's "Evil Men and Seducers" Exposed! If only the splinter leaders could get together -- this has class action lawsuit all over it!"

Is it my imagination or is Part III of Dave's rant completely non functioning. And he was just getting to the interesting part, too.

Is it also my imagination, or does Mr. Pack have a drool control problem? The edits in his sermon certainly make it look that way.

Mark Lax

Anonymous said...

Re: Dave's denunciation, take 3

The clip ended with Dave scowling at the camera for a few seconds, then return of the title frame. From the opening spiel you can sure tell who was passed over for promotion to evangelist.

I recall only one edit, and while there was enough drivel, I didn't notice any oral fluid, if that's what you meant by drool. The buffering pauses on my computer would usually freeze Dave's image during a gyrating gesture, eyes bulging and mouth opened.

So makeup and birthdays are vital doctrines? So that's why they were condemned so repeatedly in Deuteronomy and the Sermon on the Mount! Oh, he forgot to mention voting!

Anonymous said...

"Well, you'd just be wasting your vote, so why bother to vote at all..."

I'm not wasting anything. I am voting for my candidate of choice. It's only a "wasted" vote if you believe that there are only two candidates running for President, and that if one or the other gets in office the country will implode, therefore you have to ensure that person does not get elected- by voting for the other person, who you probably aren't very impressed with.

The GOP and DNC loves this sort of mindset.

Paul Ray

Anonymous said...

Yes, I'm voting for None of the Above.