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A Work of Faith
by M. John Allen
I woke up this morning with
memories of the Ambassador College Library in Pasadena, where I worked for a time as a student years ago.
For those of you who have never
been there (and of course its gone now), the library
was a wonderful place, jam packed with resources unique in the world. The
collection of resource materials was great, and aided the church’s writers,
researchers, and ministry greatly, thus benefiting all of God’s people.
Now, that resource is no longer
available.
It is just one more blessing
that God has stripped away from His people? Why? Why does it seem that the
church has been under such a curse? Why do longtime ministers and evangelists
of the stature of Ronald Dart say that “The Worldwide Church of God was the
most colossal failure in church history?” Yes -- WHY? And why is this WAY OF
LIFE STILL SHRINKING?
My purpose today is to be like a
doctor, and show some additional reasons why the Body of Christ
is so sick, and to propose the only cure that can make it well.
I have touched on many of our
problems lately. In my sermon “The Hirelings,” I show what’s wrong with the
ministry. In other sermons, I have told people what is wrong with THEM, and
what they need to do to make course corrections in their own lives before
they have a smash up spiritually. But, sadly, YOU PEOPLE JUST AREN’T
GETTING THIS! So, I am going to discuss these topics from a different angle
today, in the hopes that you will get it! This is VERY SERIOUS BUSINESS! And
if you are offended by this and turn me off right now, only YOU are the one
who suffers! God can get along very nicely without you, but you CAN’T GET ALONG
WITHOUT HIM, SO I SUGGEST YOU LISTEN UP!
The smug, self righteous
attitude that has been coming at me lately is very interesting indeed.
People, in the midst of the crumbling temple walls all around them, still
refuse to get the point and repent. And the ministry is first and foremost in
this repugnant attitude that is a stench in the nostrils of Almighty God.
I have repeated until I am blue
in the face the words of Mr. Armstrong,, where he said, “Brethren, when this
church is on God’s Track, and is pleasing to Him, then He blesses it and it
grows. Since putting God’s Church back on His track, we have returned to the
30%+ annual growth rate we used to have. This is astounding for ANY
ORGANIZATION, and totally unheard of, but when God is pleased with this Work,
He blesses it. However, when God is not pleased with this Work, He curses it,
and it starts to shrink.
“Thus, in the ‘70’s, our growth
was stagnant and the church even began to shrink because God was not pleased.
But since I have put this church back on God’s track, He has blessed it
again.”
This is very simple, and has
been proven by years of experience. Yet, a hard headed and rebellious
ministry and people sniff at these words, turn up their heads, and call it
silly superstition. These men think that they know better than GOD HIMSELF!
But what has been the fruit of this attitude? What has been the end result of
WORLDLY, CARNAL thinking in God’s Church? God has turned His back on us and
we have seen the almost total destruction of years of hard work. For those
that refuse to obey God, as the building is falling down and still crumbling
around them, they still proclaim that they know best! Amazing!
This point and others were made
crystal clear to me in an email exchange with Richard Ritenbaugh,
son of minister John Ritenbaugh, who heads the tiny
Church of the Great God. I am going to share some of our exchange with you
today, because it illustrates a big part of our problem in stark clarity for
those who still have spiritual discernment.
It appears that Richard searches
the web regularly in a tireless search to see what people are saying about
his father. He was drawn like a magnet to my sermon on the hirelings, and he
resented every word of it! Rather than taking what I said to heart, his
defense mechanisms came into full play, and he blasted me for telling God’s
ministry the truth about their sins and why the church lays in ruins today.
But retraction of unpleasant statements was at the top of Richard’s mind, not
humble repentance! Let me share some of the messages with you now.
In doing a search on the
Internet of my father's name (something I do
regularly to see what is being
said about him and the Church of the Great
God), I found your web site and
the two references you make to John
Ritenbaugh. The first one I found--having to do with my father's
critique of
John Allen's book--I know
nothing about, though from what I saw on the web
site, it is probably true and accurate.
Notice that this gentleman
didn’t know what my book was about, had never read it, nor did he know
anything abut what his father had said in the matter, but he mentioned that
it was “probably true” from “what I saw on the web site.” Just what did
Richard see? Did he see the mountain of literature in our library,
available in such volume nowhere else? Did he see the good meaty sermons and
articles to feed the flock and also to give a witness to this dying world?
For what reason is he making these snap judgment? As
we shall soon see, it is BECAUSE I DARE TO CHALLENGE AND TAKE TO TASK THE
PRACTICES THAT ARE DESTROYING THE CHURCH, THAT’S WHY!
Let’s continue reading this
message, because there is a statement I made that I wish to clarify and
apologize for. I can admit it when I AM WRONG, but it seems to be only a one
way street!
The second one, however, is
nothing but libelous. You accuse him of using
church funds, tithes and offerings "as his own private
piggy bank." How do you
know this? You offered no proof whatsoever of this. If you
had done your
homework, you would have written
or called us and asked us for financial
information, which we would gladly have sent you. We have nothing to
hide.
What I actually said in the
“Hirelings” sermon was that “it is reported that John Ritenbaugh
of the Church of the Great God uses the church as his own private little
piggy bank.” Technically and legally this is not slander or libel,
because I mention that it is only something reported to me. It is not
presented as fact. However, Richard is right to point out that this is the
result of shoddy research on my part. I should not have used his father’s
name in hearsay like this. In one sense, this could be construed as spreading
gossip, and for that I am now publicly apologizing. I went too far and made
my criticism too personal and specific. I don’t know if this statement is
true or not, and so therefore should not have made
it. It is therefore retracted. I am easy to be entreated when I am shown to
be wrong.
But this exchange is very
disturbing for other reasons, as I shall point out below. Far from ME having
the bad attitude, I think it will be clear that the situation is in reality
quite the opposite! This is an important lesson for us all to take to heart
before God punishes His church even more severely than He already has.
If you had done your research,
you would have found that John Ritenbaugh makes
only a few percent more money
per year than what he made as a pastor-rank
minister in WCG. All increases over his previous salary are a
result of
cost-of-living increases because of inflation. The Church of the Great
God
does have a large
checking/savings account from which it draws funds to preach
the gospel to the church at large (not just the 350
members). That takes a
great deal of money, especially in printing and taping costs
and postage. We
Just wait one moment, Richard!
Here we begin to discover part of a problem that has reached epidemic
proportions in the Church, and is one of the primary reasons for our continued
punishment. He says here that their church uses their funds to “preach the
Gospel to the church at large.” Uh huh. Where in the Bible can anyone point
to instructions to do this? Sure, there are examples of preaching and
teaching to instruct the brethren in the faith, but this is an implied
commission and is not a command. CHRIST DID NOT COME, PRIMARILY, TO BUILD A
CHURCH -- HE CAME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE WORLD! The only reason for the
existence of the church is to preach the Gospel to the world. In His final
instructions to His disciples in Mk. 16:15, Christ
specifically commands His people to “Go into all of the
world and preach the Gospel to every creature.”
I have known John Ritenbaugh for years, and I have followed his church
since it started. From the beginning, people have asked him why he did not
preach the Gospel to the world, as the verse above plainly states. His answer
is always, “we’re not ready.” Well, I have asked you this before, John, and I
ask it again, “Just when will you be ready to obey Jesus Christ
and do the Work He says your church should be
doing?” In my humble opinion, John is just simply AFRAID to preach the true
Gospel because of the persecution it might bring. Either that,
or it could be something more sinister, such as a secret deal with the New
World Order folks not to rock the boat of the one world religion they want to
create [note that this is sheer speculation].
Some really
strange things have happened since the death of Mr. Armstrong. It is my
belief that what happened to the church, and perhaps even the timing of the
death of Mr. Armstrong WERE NOT ACCIDENTS! For YEARS the New World Order
folks have tried to shut God’s church down, but God has intervened to stop it
from happening. But God is not mocked, and there were such SINS among the so
called church leaders that God could no longer ignore them, and so He removed
His protection, and Satan moved in in force
(actually, his agents had been in place for a long long
time, just waiting for the right moment to strike).
Let’s look at the facts: the US
Government is, or is rapidly becoming, a police state. Almost EVERY ASPECT of
life is now regulated by the government. The two biggest areas of freedom
we have left are freedom of speech/the press and freedom
of religion. Now, big corporations control most of the media, and the only
remaining bastion of freedom of speech is the Internet, which they are trying to
subvert (it’s disguised as a “save the children” crusade, as usual). The
corporate media does exactly what it is supposed to do, which is to throw up
smokescreens to keep your mind off the real
issues. If you doubt this, then spend some time reading The Real Truth,
especially our Newsroom feature. God’s people need to watch world events, and
that means knowing what IS REALLY GOING ON, not just the homogenized,
sanitized slop trawled out by the Daily Pravda.
The other bastion, religious freedom,
has been a tougher nut for them to crack. However, the propaganda organs of
the controlled press have been hard at work driving home the government line
at every opportunity. The tragedy at Waco was a prime example. The government attacked and
murdered 69 innocent men, women, and children (and remember that a pretext
for going in, once more, was to “save the children”, whom they later burned
alive with their parents). All these people wanted to do was live their lives
according to their religion in peace (many will be shocked to discover that,
as an offshoot of the 7th Day Adventist Church, the Davidians
actually held beliefs very much like our own; it even appears they observed
at least SOME of God’s Holy Days, and they believed in the Sabbath!).
The only mistake these people
made was that some of them were gun dealers. I personally do not believe this
is a good profession for a Christian. But, the government used the pretext of a few
hundred dollars in unpaid gun license fees to go and make an example of these
people. The lesson was supposed to be twofold: 1. Don’t exercise your second
amendment rights, and 2. if you exercise your first amendment rights to
believe an officially unsanctioned religion and to live in a lifestyle the
government doesn’t like (i.e., semicommunal), then
THE GOVERNMENT IS GOING TO TAKE YOU OUT, ONE WAY OR ANOTHER!.
So the bottom line in this case,
and also with the government’s aborted attack upon God’s Church in 1979, was
that the government will take out religions it does not like. So much for freedom
of religion!
This, my friends, is, I believe,
the reason for Ritenbaugh’s position: He is simply
scared pissless of what will happen to him if he
doesn’t go along with the government’s outlined program. And the same can be
said, I feel, for the folks in Arcadia! It is the only explanation that makes sense. Anyone who
can read the Bible and has an ounce of the Holy Spirit can see that preaching
the Gospel to the world is a Christian’s first and primary responsibility. To shirk this
responsibility is simply reprehensible, to say the least!
Herbert Armstrong did not pay
attention to the government’s warning in 1979. He didn’t buckle under to the
harassment of having his plane inspected regularly at customs. He didn’t
care, because he knew what Christ wanted him to say, and he boldly said it. In fact, in
the last two years of his life, I sat in front of the television SHOCKED at
the strength of the message that was pouring forth. GOD’S TRUTH WAS GOING OUT
UNDILUTED AND FULL STRENGTH! I wondered to myself how long it could go on,
and I got the answer.
In the summer of 1985 he came
down with a mysterious illness that eventually led to his death a little over
6 months later. But he hung on for a long time. It is also reported that he
changed his successor designate over and over again during this period. Yet,
it just “turned out” that he died on Joe Tkach’s
turn. I am beginning to wonder if that is a coincidence. It is reported from
a reliable source that on the night of his death, far from dying peacefully
sitting in his wife’s favorite chair as the official story goes, he died in a
fit of rage telling Joe Tkach, Sr., “You are
fired.” There was then, according to a security guard present in the house, a
scuffle, after which there was silence. Then Tkach
came out straightening his tie. The security guard has since went into hiding, fearing for HIS LIFE, according to this
story.
Brethren, it doesn’t matter if
this story is true or not. The Gospel has been suppressed, and I think maybe
some of you are catching a glimpse as to just how brave Mr. Armstrong was and
just what kind of pressures he lived under. But, when he didn’t repent of his
own sins, which I won’t go into here, God finally had enough and allowed this
tragedy to occur. It is reported that he knew the Primacy of Peter doctrine
was heresy, but he put it into the church anyway because he feared people
would leave to follow his son out of the church. The fruit of this, if true,
is that Satan used this doctrine to destroy a lifetime of work.
But now, Satan smugly thinks he
has won. Well, it is far from over! God is going to strike back soon with
AMAZING FORCE! He is going to clean up His church and get His work back on
His track! That means that members and ministers will either repent or be
replaced. God has inspired me to sound this warning now for quite some time.
But the general reaction is denial, sneering, scorn, and accusations! Well,
God is not mocked and He is poised to move swiftly now to get this work
moving forward in more power than ever before!
Continuing, now, with Richard Ritenbaugh’s missive:
also have an investment account
as a "nest egg" for the church, not for John
Ritenbaugh. These monies are set aside just in case the U.S. economy goes in
the tank. If that happens, the church will be able to
function for a time on
its reserves. We feel this is only responsible stewardship.
This sounds very reasonable,
doesn’t it? Well, read my reply to this section:
While I am at it, I do have one
more thing to say to you and your father. This is straight from God. I
suggest that you go back and reread the parts of HWA's
Autobiography that deal with faith and how the Work was originally built.
Unlike the way inspired by
Satan's instrument, Joe Tkach, God taught Mr.
Armstrong the opposite lesson: while the false "apostle" taught
that the church should build up "nest eggs" and "reserves,"
God taught Mr. Armstrong though very HARSH lessons that he needed to step out
on faith and rely TOTALLY ON GOD for the support of the Work. Whenever he
"played it safe" and tried to do things the world's way, things
collapsed in a hurry and doors slammed in his face. Finally, he learned the
HARD LESSON that this was totally a work of FAITH, and that he had to rely on
GOD to provide the means to do the Work and to keep food on his table. I
suggest that you and your dad had better learn this lesson in a real
big hurry. Mr. Armstrong gave his all for the Work. he
stepped out on FAITH and walked through doors when they were open even if he
didn't know where the money was coming from.
He learned that playing it safe
was not the way, nor was it safe! You will soon learn the same lesson the
hard way unless you and your father repent before God right now. Stop relying
on financial statements and the wisdom of men. Or you WILL reap the whirlwind
UNTIL YOU LEARN!
I know you will probably laugh
at me in your Laodicean conceits. However, if I
were you, I would take this to heart. I am being blunt because most of the so
called "leadership" in God's Church is about to get a HUGE SPANKING
FROM GOD ALMIGHTY, and it will not be pleasant, I can assure you.
I have not received an answer to
this, but I am sure the answer will not be to repent and change.
I ask all of you: did the early
apostles have a nice little financial cushion to fall back on? Did Paul have
a nice nest egg? Did he draw a nice salary and live in a splendid home, while
refusing to preach the Gospel because he was “not ready?”
Did the Apostle John need a
fancy home, a nest egg, and government approval to teach as God instructed,
or did he not end his life as an exiled prisoner on the Isle of Patmos for refusing to compromise with God’s way?
In one of his replies, Richard
states:
As I wrote before, he makes only
a little more than he made in WCG
(which
was pitiful). He drives a 1993 minivan with over 80,000 miles on it. He
Now just one minute. Here is
part of the attitude and problem coming though. Paul worked as a tent maker,
and didn’t live off the brethren, yet here Richard is complaining that his
dad’s salary in WCG was “pitiful.” Well, in case you don’t know, let me
explain what the ministry considers “pitiful.” They only pay one tithe, not
three. The reasoning is that they work at the Feast, and the priests were to
receive tithes anyway, so...... the church gave them all a
nice fat festival allowance each year so that they could enjoy the
Feast in comfort. So add at least 10% to their salary. Next, ministers all
drove church owned or leased cars, so subtract car purchase and maintenance
from expenses. Next, I also believe they received a housing allowance, so
subtract the house payment from their salary. I could go on, but I think you
get the picture -- when the ministry said they “earned the average salary for
their area,” that was true -- until you look at the perks!
I just bet that Ritenbaugh lives in a church owned house and doesn’t pay
second tithe and has all of his travel expenses paid for, yet he now earns
“only” slightly more than he did as a WCG minister. I have always wondered
what ministers spent their money on, since so much else was paid for by the
church. The only real expenses I could think of were food and clothing, but I
am sure there was a clothing allowance for those nice Sabbath suits! Seems to
me one could save a great deal of money for one’s self with such an
arrangement, and I am sure there are a lot of brethren who would like to trade
places with this “royal priesthood.”
I understand that “a workman is
worthy of his hire,” but people should give an honest picture to the brethren
instead of obfuscating the facts and hoping people don’t understand what you
are saying because they don’t know all the facts. If some of the above is not
true, I will be happy to give Ritenbaugh equal time
in The Restoration Times to state his case. I think that is more than
fair.
About the family home:
lives in a nice home here in Charlotte, though hardly extravagant and
certainly less than the
average-priced home here
Now where, exactly, is “here,”
Richard? Do you mean all of Charlotte, or just one posh little neighborhood? Notice how vague
this is.
The thing that is really
disappointing is that these people refuse to take even a little correction.
Yet, they can dish out the condemnation, and say that “ I perceive a very
pompous attitude on your part” because I dare to criticize them, and show
them from Mr. Armstrong’s experience that they lack the proper faith to do
the work God’s way. They don’t even address the points I raised, all they
spout is their human reasoning about nest eggs and economic conditions. This
is really the heart of the problem: a self righteous attitude of
“I am right, and you are wrong,” combined with faithlessness and trusting in
money instead of God. Mr. Armstrong learned the hard way that this is not how
God works. Yet these men refuse to listen!
Mr. Armstrong sometimes
even set out to the radio station without enough money to do that day’s
broadcast, but God ALWAYS PROVIDED! The only nest egg he knew back then was
maybe some pasta at home for dinner if he was lucky! Yet these pompous, fat
hirelings, who think that what they have isn’t even enough, have the gall to
laugh at and ignore these Godly lessons.
And let’s face it, the church is filled with worldly attitudes. Brethren,
we must ROOT THESE THINGS OUT AND DEEPLY REPENT LEST GOD REJECT US! The
hirelings read correction, and only get mad and defensive. What about you?
In closing, let me give some
sound advice to the ministry and the brethren straight from the mouth of Christ
Himself. If that’s not enough, I don’t know what is: “And He said to His
disciples, ‘Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you
will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on.
Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Consider the
ravens, fir they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouses nor
barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are
you than the birds?
“And which of you by worrying
can add one cubit to his stature? If you then are not able to do the least,
why are you anxious for the rest? [this also applies
to God’s Work: it is HIS WORK, and HE WILL PROVIDE, so we need not have
anxious care for it, but we must step boldly through the doors that Christ
opens, in faith that He will provide the means to carry through! For the life
of me, I can’t comprehend why the hirelings can’t understand this SIMPLE
POINT!]
“Consider the lilies, how they
grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all
his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothes the
grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how
much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith? And do not
seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind.
For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your
Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. [God is not asking us to give up the good things in life,
He merely wants us to have the focus of our minds on Him and His Kingdom
first, and then we shall be given these things as well.]
“Do not fear, little flock, for
it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell what you have
and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a
treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief
approaches nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your
heart will be also.” [When, pray tell, is the last time you heard THIS
PASSAGE read in church? I wonder why.] [Lk.
12:22-34]
I think that’s enough for today.
Those who have an ear to hear will hear, and act. Those who don’t, won’t. Have a pleasant and enjoyable Sabbath!
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