THE CHURCHES OF GOD IN 2050
HASTA LA VISTA ARMSTRONGISM 
VIVA LA WHAID ROSE REVOLUCION
“Who are you trying to kid, Felix Taylor? Your whole desire is to see the Churches of God “doomed” to irrelevancy! So why bother to write an article of the Churches of God in the year 2050?”
Well this may be true; it is not true in its entirety. There is at least ONE church of God, I want to see still around in the year 2050 and the same man leading it that same year (I know, he will be 90 but I am hoping he is a very healthy and active 90 years old). The organization is: The Church of God (Seventh Day) and the man is none other than the God loving --- Whaid Rose! Of all Churches of God that deserve to survive, this one does. There are those in Armstrongism (i.e. Alan Knight) who want to infiltrate and poison that church with the religious bondage that Armstrongism brings, my prayers are for Brother Whaid to stand firm. Brother Whaid, I believe will push that denomination in a more grace oriented fashion in the 145 year old history of the church. It deserves it! Though it has not enjoyed success in North America, it has enjoyed success in Latin America, especially Mexico where it is booming.
2050, I would like to see the Church of God (Seventh Day)
To finally have an “official” Trinitarian position in their statement of faith, which will have many doors and opportunities open to them beyond their wildest dreams
To have at least 200,000 members in North America, not a measly 5000 and maybe have at least 500,000-700,000 overseas.
To increase its worship opportunities by promoting and sponsoring Biblical feast days as well as their own version and brand of an Advent worship festival in December
That as a sense of irony and justice that Whaid Rose will BUY OUT the Ambassador Auditorium and properties from Benny Hinn’s gang!
Continue to allow a pacifist position in the church as well as those who believe in a just war. This means people will not be penalized if they are in military and police service.
Still be a seventh day Sabbath observing church, but have a grace oriented approach
People and other churches by the year 2050:
The Phildelphia Church of God will die off, after the death of Gerald Flurry in 2032
The Living Church of God will die of after Rod Meredith is gone 2020, many will go to David Pack’s Restored Church of God. After he’s gone, his church will be gone and wither away.
Mark Armstrong, has the choice to earn a decent living and get out of the religious business altogether or suffer a loss of income after people are splintering and leaving the Intercontinental Church of God.
Church of God, International will wither away too.
It will be a much easier time for one being in Armstrongite splinters to leave that evil religious system for one to embrace the essentials of historic Christian faith.
It will also be easier for the children growing up in the Armstrongite splinters to leave that evil religious system and embrace Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.
Those that leave Armstrongism will find a comfortable and healthy home in Whaid Rose’s CG7, the Seventh Day Baptists and Messianic Judaism/Hebrew roots movement.
Doug Ward will have a successful Hebraic roots ministry. His magazine Grace and Knowledge will have subscription rate well over a million and twice the number in 2050.
Joe Jr. will have sense enough to merge Worldwide Church of God, or Grace International Fellowship or whatever the new name of his church becomes, with Christian and Missionary Alliance, The Foursquare Gospel or any other longstanding denomination. My hunch is that he won’t, he wants to be in control. May he learn the hard way if he can’t do a simple and easy solution.
The New Covenant Tkachites will learn tolerance that Sabbatarians are not all legalists, Armstrongites or distorters of the gospel. They will also learn that not all people interested in the Jewish roots of Christianity are NOT neo-Armstrongites or Judaizers .
May the revolution begin!!!
Well this may be true; it is not true in its entirety. There is at least ONE church of God, I want to see still around in the year 2050 and the same man leading it that same year (I know, he will be 90 but I am hoping he is a very healthy and active 90 years old). The organization is: The Church of God (Seventh Day) and the man is none other than the God loving --- Whaid Rose! Of all Churches of God that deserve to survive, this one does. There are those in Armstrongism (i.e. Alan Knight) who want to infiltrate and poison that church with the religious bondage that Armstrongism brings, my prayers are for Brother Whaid to stand firm. Brother Whaid, I believe will push that denomination in a more grace oriented fashion in the 145 year old history of the church. It deserves it! Though it has not enjoyed success in North America, it has enjoyed success in Latin America, especially Mexico where it is booming.
2050, I would like to see the Church of God (Seventh Day)
To finally have an “official” Trinitarian position in their statement of faith, which will have many doors and opportunities open to them beyond their wildest dreams
To have at least 200,000 members in North America, not a measly 5000 and maybe have at least 500,000-700,000 overseas.
To increase its worship opportunities by promoting and sponsoring Biblical feast days as well as their own version and brand of an Advent worship festival in December
That as a sense of irony and justice that Whaid Rose will BUY OUT the Ambassador Auditorium and properties from Benny Hinn’s gang!
Continue to allow a pacifist position in the church as well as those who believe in a just war. This means people will not be penalized if they are in military and police service.
Still be a seventh day Sabbath observing church, but have a grace oriented approach
People and other churches by the year 2050:
The Phildelphia Church of God will die off, after the death of Gerald Flurry in 2032
The Living Church of God will die of after Rod Meredith is gone 2020, many will go to David Pack’s Restored Church of God. After he’s gone, his church will be gone and wither away.
Mark Armstrong, has the choice to earn a decent living and get out of the religious business altogether or suffer a loss of income after people are splintering and leaving the Intercontinental Church of God.
Church of God, International will wither away too.
It will be a much easier time for one being in Armstrongite splinters to leave that evil religious system for one to embrace the essentials of historic Christian faith.
It will also be easier for the children growing up in the Armstrongite splinters to leave that evil religious system and embrace Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.
Those that leave Armstrongism will find a comfortable and healthy home in Whaid Rose’s CG7, the Seventh Day Baptists and Messianic Judaism/Hebrew roots movement.
Doug Ward will have a successful Hebraic roots ministry. His magazine Grace and Knowledge will have subscription rate well over a million and twice the number in 2050.
Joe Jr. will have sense enough to merge Worldwide Church of God, or Grace International Fellowship or whatever the new name of his church becomes, with Christian and Missionary Alliance, The Foursquare Gospel or any other longstanding denomination. My hunch is that he won’t, he wants to be in control. May he learn the hard way if he can’t do a simple and easy solution.
The New Covenant Tkachites will learn tolerance that Sabbatarians are not all legalists, Armstrongites or distorters of the gospel. They will also learn that not all people interested in the Jewish roots of Christianity are NOT neo-Armstrongites or Judaizers .
May the revolution begin!!!
Greetings Felix,
Would you really wish this on COG7? And how do you define "Armstrongism?"
I'm sure you're aware that COG7 existed long before Herbert Armstrong, and that he learned most of his core doctrines from them (and some of their offshoots). If you're talking core COG doctrine, most of it pre-dates Armstrong. That includes a non-trinitarian concept of God.
No doubt Whaid Rose would like to change a lot of things about COG7. Others before him have wanted to change things as well. But one thing always stopped them: COG7 is decentralized. One man, no matter how dynamic or charismatic, and no matter his leadership capabilities (or lack thereof) cannot impose his will on it.
When you get right down to it, that's probably the REAL reason HWA departed from COG7 in the first place. He realized that he could not dictate doctrine or policy to a church that did not have a centralized, top-down governing structure.
What was it that enabled Joe Tkach to impose his liberalizing on WCG in the 90's? It was the centralized, top-down structure that HWA had put in place. If not for that WCG would be little different today than it was in 1986.
Would you really wish this on COG7? Because that's the only way that one man (Whaid Rose or anyone else) could impose his doctrinal positions on it - against its will. That is a "revolution" I would not want to see happen under any circumstances.
It's no accident that the largest and most (more or less) healthy of the WCG spin off groups is UCG. Why is that? It has a decentralized governing structure that prevents a single individual from leading it down a path its membership is opposed to. For that reason, I predict that long after the other WCG spin offs have died, UCG will continue.
And that is also why COG7 has and will continue to be (more or less) what it always was. It may not be to your liking, or mine, or Whaid Rose's for that matter. But that's the beauty of it: it doesn't matter what one single individual thinks.
Viva la status quo!!!
Posted by
FYI Again |
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Thank you for your interest on this post. Your second response to this article is near and dear to your heart. I am also glad that we can agree to disagree. My vision as I express to you before is a positive vision for the CG7. Who can argue for a denomination that is more Christ-centred, grace-oriented, an influential and substantial player in the Christian world. I have said that I still wish that it would promote the neccesity of celebrating the Sabbath without the legalism and without the condescention and manipulative tactics for example, saying that Sunday observers have the mark of the beast. I have wished that the CG7 would promote Holy Day observance and understanding (something that past president Calvin Burrell would fanatically cringe). This is a positve vision you should share! What is wrong with it? Is my stance for a trinitarian position which is only a fragment(and a single point to be frank!) of a great vision of bigger greater issues that bothers you?
For the record, I am NOT for top-down church governance. There are biblical models for episcopal, presybeterian and congregational, there is no biblical precedent for papal (which the WCG and its daughters use in various forms).
You said,
((It's no accident that the largest and most (more or less) healthy of the WCG spin off groups is UCG. Why is that? It has a decentralized governing structure that prevents a single individual from leading it down a path its membership is opposed to. For that reason, I predict that long after the other WCG spin offs have died, UCG will continue))
Actually those in the UCG (and probably on their way out) may dispute that and there are quite a few ministers in that church who would prefer to slowly turn authoritarian with velvet gloves. There are those assert that the UCG is not cracked up what it supposed to be and these allegations are serious.
Brother Whaid is a man of God. I have met him over 5 years ago and is truly the anti-Armstrong in every word. If Brother Whaid has a vision for a his church and it is of God, may the changes in the CG7 happen by a Spirit-led consensus and not by Joe Jr.'s approach.
These are the reasons for a gentleman's disagreement and re-establish my committment to viva la revolucion!
Posted by
Felix Taylor, Jr. |
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Hi Felix,
Thanks for your reply. It's not really a matter of whether moving towards Holy Day observance, Trinitarianism, or anything else is the right or wrong way to go for COG7. Ultimately, if the majority wants to go in those directions then that's the way they will go.
Because COG7 is so decentralized, it's nearly impossible for one person, no matter who they are or what their skills may (or may not) be, to impose his will on it.
As for UCG, I haven't attended with them for quite a while so I'm really no up on current happenings there. If they are moving back towards more centralized government, that's a big change for them.
Posted by
FYI Again |
Thursday, December 22, 2005
Hi Felix,
Thanks for your reply. It's not really a matter of whether moving towards Holy Day observance, Trinitarianism, or anything else is the right or wrong way to go for COG7. Ultimately, if the majority wants to go in those directions then that's the way they will go.
Because COG7 is so decentralized, it's nearly impossible for one person, no matter who they are or what their skills may (or may not) be, to impose his will on it.
As for UCG, I haven't attended with them for quite a while so I'm really no up on current happenings there. If they are moving back towards more centralized government, that's a big change for them.
Posted by
FYI Again |
Thursday, December 22, 2005
Thanks for the double message FYI Again! LOL!!! I know that was not your intention and things like that do happen.
Point taken but my hope with any type of church governance model, the congregants need to be led by the Holy Spirit in order to have a successful ministry.
Pardon my digression, I guess you heard about Gavin Rumney closing down his Ambassador Watch website. It was too time consuming for him. I will miss that site very much.
Posted by
Felix Taylor, Jr. |
Friday, December 23, 2005