p.26 of 2008 GFW (emphasis mine):
"One of the harshest realities people can face is to learn that they have been lied to about their religious beliefs--that they have been deceived. This is one of the most difficult barriers in life to break. People instinctively defend their beliefs because they are foundational to their entire outlook on life--the core of their decision making process in all matters of life.
Lying--deception--is one of the most refined character flaws of mankind."
Well, I do agree with that.
The problem with protecting something because it is a longstanding thing means you are sacrificing truth. I have said it before, I say it again; Why why why, would you sacrifice truth for a longstanding, time-invested lie?
Herbert didn't have truth. He was a sinful man who knowingly continued, for ten long years, in a very disgusting sin. He did not understand covenants, he didn't understand the Bible, and he plagiarized the large majority of his literature.
So many of the splinter groups proudly proclaim that they still teach the teachings of Herbert. Well... how about the teachings of Jesus? The teachings of the Bible?
You know you don't need to follow ANYONE but Jesus. You know you need to go to Him for the Word. You know you need to go to Him for the truth.
It is said that Herbert was the "End-Time Elijah." The problem is;
Elijah was a PROPHET.
1 Kings 18:36 "... the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed..."
But when calling people on Herbert's failed prophesies, we hear the patented excuse;
"Herbert's 'predictions' were wrong, because he wasn't a prophet, he was an apostle!"
Well, you can't have it both ways - He was either the end-time Elijah or he was an apostle. One, or the other. Not both.
It is not possible to be the end-time-Elijah, and NOT be a prophet! If he's not a prophet, he's not an Elijah. This is simple logic. Simple reasoning.
Let's see what the Bible says;
Malachi 4:5 "See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes.
People tend to hear only that which supports their own ideas and ignore contradictory evidence; in psychology, this is known as confirmation bias.
If you don't believe anything on this blog, it is a tell. In other words; I, therefore, know that you actually did not take out your Bible and study the information or ask God for guidance in your search. If you did, then you are guilty of the previous paragraph and really have no interest in the truth, rather, your interest is in protecting what you think to be true.
You know what I find interesting? And this is quite telling; I have noticed a pattern in people. Setting aside Christianity and looking at life in general, this is what I see- Some people have a particular trait; they want to be the best person they can be. I don't mean the best at their job or whatever, I mean the best Mom or Dad they can be, or the best spouse they can be, or the best friend they can be, etc. and therefore they are honest with themselves. They don't defend or deny when they are wrong about who said "I will fight no more forever" or make excuses when they turned right when they should have turned left, or deny the outcome of a scientific experiment or study. Why? Because they know that if they make excuses or deny the mistake, they cannot truly learn, they cannot grow, and if they cannot grow or learn, they cannot become the person they wish to be.
How about you? Are you the person who denies or defends a mistake? Or do you admit and say "Wow, I could have sworn it was (whatever), Hmm, you learn something everyday!" This is the way to growth. If you are the person who denies and makes excuses, you are less interested in truth and more interested in pride, saving face, etc.
If you are the individual who is honest with yourself, then you are honest in all aspects in your life, unless you have some area you've not become aware of yet. This means you are honest in you study of God's word as well. Why? Because you want truth. You don't want to delude yourself. You're not interested in living lies or living in the dark. You get no joy out of a game when your opponent lets you win, because you know it's not a win. There are some, however, who will delude themselves and say "I won!" and deny that they were given the win. They don't care. They don't mind living the lie.
With this type of individual, how do you think Bible study would go for them? Will they be in search of, interested in, truth, or will they also delude their self in this most important aspect of their life? Will this person be more interested in pride, saving face, etc. thus, living a lie and remaining in the dark?
Personally, regardless of the aspect of life; Christianity or any other aspect aside from Christianity, scientific or personal, I don't understand how or why an individual would be willing to or could live like that. I simply cannot relate. Never, would I want to live a lie in any aspect of my life.
Surely, you don't either.
Your instructor can tell you the result of an equation, and if you are lazy and truly don't care, you will accept the information as fact, after all, she is the instructor. However, if you are not lazy, and you do care, you will not take the instructors word for it, but you will work out the equation and prove it to yourself!
Surely, this is you.
But haven't you heard? Gerald Flurry is "THAT prophet" for our time today.
ReplyDeleteThe man who says the King of the South is Iran -- even though Iran is east of Jerusalem, not south of it.
I respectfully agree with you in most of your post. I am not so sure HWA was an Apostle, though. Even so, I don't think you said that in any way to prove him such, just that it was to show he was not a prophet. If he was a prophet, then he was a false one. For his sake, Apostle is a much more preferable title. In my opinion, he was an Elder and that's about it.
ReplyDeleteIt hurt for years to open my own eyes that Jesus Christ gave me, and place Jesus Christ as Head over all things to me, and accept the reality that HWA is a false prophet and was incorrect not only on how he accumulated and spent his wealth but also in matters of church government and the ministry, etc. I knew something was off because many things didn't make 100% sense - there was always some thorn in the side telling me the answer wasn't quite correctly reached. I don't have any more answers than the next guy, but I see how a real Berean study of the Bible can't be emphasized enough. I now see that Worldwide was not much other than Messianic Judaism, and Paul goes to great lengths to show that we do not have to be Jews to be Christians! (No offense intended towards Jews.)
Take clean/unclean meats for example. Only the Jews were under that law. HWA says we all are. But what does the symbol of the meats mean? None of the COGs can tell you. Some say it's a matter of Spirit (which it is - if you mean that in a 'burnt sacrifice' sort of way - which Christ did away with). Some say it's a matter of health - but you won't find that in the Bible. I'll tell you what it means: the meats represented the Gentiles, EXACTLY as Peter understood it to mean. The Gentiles were unclean and no Jew was to even be around them; hence why Christ took such flak when He ate with them. But clearly it was always God's intention to call the Gentiles. When He died, He cleansed them. Now listen to the logic of the COGs: they say Peter had the vision of the sheet 10 years after Jesus died, therefore Christ couldn't have cleaned the meats or he would have known about it by then. OK. Let's go with that. We must now also conclude God didn't call the Gentiles because Peter would have known about it. In fact, when Paul argued the point in Jerusalem, he couldn't overcome the Jewish converts by Biblical reasoning. It took miracles (a Gentile receiving God's Spirit and being baptized without Jewish conversion) to prove it. Now, OBVIOUSLY the meats represented the Gentiles. Why else would God use them in vision to show Peter to go to the Gentiles. Yet the COG's say "Peter said not so, Lord, and he was right." Are we to believe that God told Peter to do something THREE TIMES, and when Peter says "no way, not gonna do that God, you don't know what you're talkin about" we are then supposed to agree with Peter.... who DIDN'T KNOW THE MEANING OF WHAT HE SAW YET????? I don't think so.
Now, with that understanding, what Christ said about what goes into a man cannot defile him, and His instructions to eat whatever is set before you, and what Paul said about eating foods God created to be accepted with thanksgiving, it all becomes so clear. The Gentiles are cleansed, and the symbol of the Gentiles uncleanness is also set aside. [ranting ends]
Anyhow, thanks for your constant encouragement for people to read their Bibles with Christ as their guide.