A Congregation Of God

Does the Bible detail what we are experiencing and what will happen next? Are there any reasons for hope in this confusing, frustrating mess? Does God provide any positive clear-cut solutions? Just where does HE stand in our plight?

What should our focus as individuals and as church organizations be in the light of current church events? Our membership is aging, not many new converts are being called and our young people are mostly leaving. Does God have specific reasons for this scenario? What is it? How will it work out?

It seems each organization thinks IT is in good shape spiritually, but the rest are Laodiceans. It seems the perspective for most is the old WCG view once removed. By this I mean that we originally thought that if we were in Worldwide, we had a ticket to the place of safety and on into the Kingdom of God. Now most organizations think—and some even openly proclaim—as long as people are in their group they will live out that dream but those in the other daughters of Worldwide are Laodicean and will go into the tribulation. Is this accurate? If each organization claims to be Philadelphian and that the others are thereby Laodicean, how can they all be right? Who is wrong? What dangers does this “good self-assessment” portend? Could there be any self-deception in us?

How much fault lies on the head of the ministry today, not just the Tkach foray into paganism, but how much of Jeremiah 23, Ezekiel 34 and Malachi apply to today’s ministry, including that of the daughters of Worldwide Church of God? What have we, the ministry, done wrong? The best answer most ministers have to offer is, “I’m the only good guy, the only Philadelphian ministry, follow me and all will be well with you.” Is there any vanity, ego or self-righteousness in that posture?

God has clearly detailed the often surprising and sometimes even shocking answers to the questions asked here, through the prophecies of the Bible, if we have the eyes to see and the ears to hear!

There are several sermon series on this website which answer all the frustrating questions asked above:

The Minor Prophets This series shows the parallel between physical and spiritual Israel (the church) and what will happen to each in the end-time. It gives graphic detail straight from scripture of what is happening to Worldwide, how far it will go and God’s solution to the problem--even before the 3 ½ year tribulation begins! A MUST LISTEN!

(Please give us room to grow! For example, in the Minor Prophets series, we sometimes defended the Jewish calendar. Not so anymore! There has been much learned since that series, but the main portions of it stand unassailable. The series was also first presented from the perspective of another organization, but that has changed also—see “Who Are We?” below.

How Exclusive Is the Church? Many today believe “some Sunday keepers will be in the first resurrection.” Is this so? Who ARE the 144,000? How many firstfruits are there? What about the “innumerable multitude,” “guests at the wedding,” and “sheep of another fold?” What happens at the first resurrection? Do the faithful come immediately back to earth? When does the new heaven and new earth actually appear? Was all of our understanding correct in these areas? These questions and many more are answered from the Bible in this series.

Babylon Who is the modern Babylon? The great whore of Revelation? The end-time beast? Is it JUST a ten nation dictatorship in Europe or something on a grander scale? MUCH is said in prophecy of the end-time Babylon, the great whore and the beast and false prophet. Are the false prophet and the great whore one and the same, or is there more to the story? It is CRITICAL that we understand these prophecies. Some of our viewpoints from early Worldwide must be adjusted to fit scripture in the light of current events in the world and nation. Some were well-intentioned but just plain wrong. This series has some interesting insights!

Isaiah and Jeremiah These two series are a verse by verse analysis of the end-time church and nation as described by these two prophets of God. They are a fine complement to the Minor Prophets series and add much detail and insight to that material.

Daniel This is the only book in the Bible that is sealed from understanding until the time of the end. Some parts of it are coming clearer since we are IN the end-time. Check it out!

God’s Standard For Us What does God expect of us now? Does He really expect us to think as He thinks and act as He acts, to have the very mind of Christ? To bring every thought into captivity? How much of the Old Testament is still binding? In what way? When Christ was here, did He make proper living easier or harder? This series of sermons on Christian living could be more important than any series on prophecy. What good does it do to understand prophecy if we do not please God in our lives? We could become a part of the negative side of prophecy if we are not careful…

Passover To our consternation—and relief—we have discovered some of our previous views on the Passover/ Unleavened Bread events were not biblically correct. And that does not mean we have adopted a late 14th/15th Passover. Sundown, beginning the 14th is correct. What we did not understand is the Night to be Much Observed and when the 7 days of unleavened bread actually occur. This is an astounding, but provable and undeniable new understanding—with scriptural answers, not men’s reasonings. See the paper on this site about Passover and also the one about the order of the Passover Service itself—does the footwashing ceremony belong before the bread and wine? Or are there important reasons and biblical proof the order should be reversed?

There are other sermon series and articles on this site and many individual sermons you might find enlightening, but the above is a good overview of our perspective and focus in the light of God’s Word.

WHO ARE WE?

Credentials seem to be of relatively minor importance today since “leading men” have abandoned the truth for paganism. True and correct answers to our frustrating questions are more important! “Who we are” is far less important than whether we have some godly insights into the dilemmas of the day.

We have taken the name “A Congregation of the Church of God” for several reasons.

First, we use “a” instead of “the” to recognize we are not the ONLY group of God’s people or “elite above the rest.” We are yet “another” daughter of Worldwide and hold fairly closely to the basic doctrines learned under Herbert W. Armstrong. However, we are never to remain static, but to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Savior.” On this site, we will present material which we feel augments our fund of knowledge. Rather than repeating the sameness of our beliefs with other groups, we will try to add what we have been additionally learning since the breakup of WCG. These topics are mostly in the areas of present focus and purpose, doctrinal and administrative adjustments and prophetic insights that are becoming clearer as time marches on and particularly as current events and the near future reveal information important to our standing before God. We feel that many have been called, few are now being chosen. We hope to be among those chosen.

We used “congregation” rather than “church” because the Greek word “ecclesia” is better defined as “assembly,” “called-out” or “congregation” rather than “church.” We felt congregation of God is more accurate than church of God, for we are part of the called-out congregation or assembly of God’s people.

We have also dropped the Mister/Master syndrome and call our elders by their first names as per the example of Christ Himself, Peter, James, John, Paul, Timothy and the rest of the New Testament ministry. Those men had surnames, but commonly and in scripture used their given names. The ministry was then and now should be there to serve and help the people of God as brothers, not to hold themselves above them and “be served.” See the section with short biographies of our elders to learn more about our background.

We have rejected the calculated Hebrew calendar in favor of following biblical instruction closer than the Jews are wont to do. Have you actually studied the history of the Hillel II calendar and its discrepancies or just reacted emotionally to the status quo and or the views of the ministry on the subject? Should you prove all things or ignore that instruction?

Our goals and purposes are the same as yours: Do all we can to insure our acceptance into the Kingdom of God and life eternal in the joy and presence of the Father and Son.

Our focus, priorities and plan for attaining that goal are further explained in the sermons and articles on this site.

You are welcome to duplicate and share any of our information. We only ask that you duplicate any sermon or article in its entirety in order to maintain the context and integrity of each. Our object is not numbers of people and money, but to provide information God’s called-out ones can use to help prepare them for the Kingdom of God. We welcome your questions and additional insights and have dedicated ourselves to the service of God’s people.

We hope you will find the information on our site to be spiritually profitable, enlightening, properly chastening and hopeful and encouraging in your quest for the Kingdom of God.