Another Journal hits the post

The September-October Journal is in November's mail. One of the intriguing things about Dixon Cartwright's newspaper is its unpredictability, and I don't mean when to expect the next issue to surface. No, I mean its content. Here's a sampler of what's on offer.

Mac Overton waxes eloquently on the subject of secession. (Unrelated bumper sticker no. 1: nothing secedes like secession. Unrelated bumper sticker no. 2: nothings succeeds like a budgerigar.) Mac's argument is that if it weren't for stroppy old beggars like Spanky and Hulme - I'm not sure whether he's prepared to draw Gerry and the Packatollah under the sacred canopy as well - all those precious Herbal truths would've been lost.

I've had the pleasure of exchanging a few emails with Mac, and he's both a decent bloke and a fine journalist, but this time you'll have to forgive a raised eyebrow on my part. Mac writes:

Those who remain in WCG follow a church that has not a dime's worth of difference with the First United Methodist Church in both doctrine and governance.

Stirring stuff, but I wonder if it's completely true, at least not if United Methodists in the US manage their affairs in a similar way to Methodists in the rest of the world. Do they have an unelected Pastor Generalissimo and toothless appointed boards of yes-persons? I doubt it.

Moving along, how's this for an article title: What can we learn from the man who circumcised Jesus? by Ken Westby? So many possible puns (cutting remarks and snippets); so few in good taste!

Ah, moving right along... how about a slapping around for Greg Doudna's book on WCG and AC at Big Sandy? I've reviewed this one myself, but Tom Adams is less enthusiastic. Referring to an earlier Journal review Tom opines:

[T]he previous reviewer recommended Showdown at Big Sandy as a good Feast present for friends. This is true if you also think a copy of Martin Luther’s 95 theses would be an appropriate confirmation gift for a Catholic.
Ouch! Tom has a point, I suppose, if we're talking about a COG-AIC, PCG or RCG cult FOT, but there are a lot of bright cookies out there in UCG and among the independents who might not agree. If I was Dixon I'd serialize the book: he'd be swamped with protesting emails from people who couldn't spell, but I bet his subscriber base would show a growth spurt.

Last and least, revealed in the ad section, Craig White has new book out with the portentous title: In Search of the Great German Nation: Origins and Destiny, which he seems to have self published. Among those paying tribute to the new opus is none other than Mac Overton who calls it "well researched" and "the best and most thorough treatment of the subject I've seen." Call me skeptical, but I'll treat that opinion seriously when I see a qualified ethnologist do something other than laugh hysterically at the suggestion that Germany is Assyria in prophecy. Tom Adams, however, may well feel differently.

Yep, each issue of The Journal is a proverbial curate's egg, but I still wouldn't want to miss an issue. There's a free download of the front and back pages here.

Cracked lamps

I like The Journal. It has the ability to treat important issues that affect the Churches of God with fairness and depth. That's an important counter-balance to the less than objective sources online - whether the various sect websites, Bob Thiel's blog, or - yes, it's true - even the one-eyed rants that crop up here on AW.

But along with the good stuff, there are features in The Journal that would drive the sanest person nuts. Take this month's cover story on a new ministry called "Lamp Fire" for example.

Lamp Fire is the brainchild of a troika that includes high-profile BI apologist Steven Collins. Their calling is to spread the good word "to inform the nations of the modern house of Israel about their heritage and warm them [sic] about the prophecies affecting them" via video.

Frankly, I'm not sure what if any relevant qualifications Mr Collins brings to this task. I know he's written a number of obscure books which gather dust on the shelves of the BI bookshop in Auckland. I also believe Fred Coulter is impressed by his research, though that is probably very faint praise.

But more seriously, Lamp Fire has "invited JOURNAL readers and others to consider making tax-deductible (in the U.S.A.) donations to help kick off the project."

Uh huh? The Gospel of fictive racial origins? My money? Yeah, right!

Then there's a long article by the aforesaid Mr Collins on the inside pages where he defends the idea of a "6,000-year period in prophetic calculations." It contains statements like "Until they [Adam and Eve] sinned, the entire physical world was perfect..."

Oh really? Nature has been "red in tooth and claw" since well before the first mammals (let alone humans) appeared on the face of Planet Earth. The food chain involves pain and suffering, and it always has. ADAM DIDN'T DO IT! In fact, Adam couldn't do it.

Perfect? No ice ages before Adam? No volcanoes erupting? No extinction of species? No predation by carnivores? Maybe somebody should take this up with the Discovery Channel!

But Mr Collins has a well-stocked battery of inerrant proof-texts, all to be taken literally, and who can argue against that when all you have at hand is facts? I guess if you can believe that, then it's no great stretch to imagine that the citizens of Milwaukee are Manassehites.

As to when it'll all end, Mr Collins reassures us: "At this juncture I’ll state that I agree with Mr. Nelte that Christ’s return should not be expected before 2010. We are already in 2007, and the prophesied 3 1⁄2-year ministry of the two witnesses (Revelation 11:3) has not yet begun, so it appears that the end of this age will not occur until 2011 or later."

Let me go on record here. Christ isn't returning in 2010. Or 2011. How about 2012? Nope. In fact, there's about as much chance of Christ returning in my lifetime or yours as Portugal has of winning this year's Rugby World Cup. Of course Mr Collins has given himself wiggle room by saying "or later." This is the famous "Dankenbring maneuver" (or have I got that confused with the more popular "Meredith maneuver"?)

Wise fellow.

You can read the Lamp Fire item, and peruse the front and back pages of the latest Journal issue here.

The latest Journal

The latest issue of The Journal (June-July) is in the post, and there's a range of interesting material on offer from editor Dixon Cartwright.

* Samuele Bacchiocchi, an Adventist scholar well known in COG circles, is battling claims that he inflated his qualifications from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. It seems incredible that his record could be questioned all these years after he was awarded a doctorate, and wrote openly about the process.

* On other matters pontifical, Bob Thiel gives unsolicited ecumenical advice to the Eastern Orthodox Church (no, really, would I make that up?) Doubtless the bearded Patriarchs of Moscow and Athens will be urgently meeting to carefully and prayerfully consider his cogent counsel.

* The remarkable Ian Boyne is once again strutting and preening about the accomplishments of his Jamaican CGI sub-sect. Thus saith Ian: "The Jamaican CGI is the largest and fastest-growing group derived from the Worldwide Church of God group in the English, Spanish, French and Dutch-speaking Caribbean and perhaps the fastest-growing Church of God (COG) group in the world." Ian's passionate advocacy is doubtless both admirable and unimpeachable, but it's not altogether clear whether those accomplishments include any internal system of checks and balances and elected offices in the cause of accountability. "The model we follow is what I have called “participatory hierarchy.”" - Say what?!

* One God Seminar speakers have again been chewing the unitarian fat, this time in Albany, NY.

* Brian Knowles has contributed a one-off column to put Bob Thiel right – and pass some remarks about an item I wrote on the blog a while ago.

The Journal website is www.thejournal.org and you don't need to be a subscriber to view the front and back pages in PDF format.

Journal coverage

The November-December issue of The Journal is rolling off the presses and into the mailbags. It includes a detailed report on UCG's hassles – self inflicted – in El Salvador. Quotable quote: “[Reg] Killingley says what he sees as the mishandling of the situation is not entirely Mr. [Leon] Walker’s fault because he is, “in so many ways, archetypically Anglo-Saxon and antithetically Latin.”

Another quotable comment, this time from Brian Knowles in the letters section: ““Evangelist” is not a rank but a role. It is a function, not a position in a pecking order.” We'll be sending Bob Thiel around to sort Brian out on that one!

Can't get to sleep worrying about the “70 Weeks Prophecy”? Anyone with a penchant for that kind of thing can indulge themselves in an essay by Gary Arvidson and Clyde Brown which serves as an extended ad for a couple of booklets they'll send you for a $5 donation. No thanks.

Willie Dankenbring gets front page treatment from Mac Overton, all positive. Jesus is the archangel Michael, the US is Ephraim (not Manasseh) in prophecy. No mention by Mac of all those embarrassing date-setting episodes (that have since been flushed) in the Flash.

For the visual learners among us, check out the photo that shows Jamaican CGI celebrity-leader Ian Boyne in an arm-upraised, finger-stabbing pose (almost Herbertesque) as he thrashes the pulpit during the FOT.

Perhaps surprisingly, there's no mention of the Bryce affair. I guess we'll have to wait for the Jan-Feb issue.

To get a peek at the issue, click across to www.thejournal.org/issues/issue116/jf113006.pdf. Compulsory reading for those who want to keep a non-stabbing finger on the pulse of life in the COGs.

Bits & Pieces

The Journal

The latest issue of The Journal is out (it reached the email in-tray on the same day the snail mail copy of the previous issue hit my letterbox.) The new issue includes:

* The shortest essay I've ever seen in The Journal. Congratulations to James McBride, who knows that an economy of words is worth more than an avalanche of over-explanation.

* Mark Kellner has a travel article (for lack of a better description) after visiting the sites of the Seven Churches of Revelation. Kellner's name last cropped up when he produced an article for Christianity Today that effectively pulled Rod Meredith's nuts out of the fire after the Wisconsin Sabbath shootings (many sins can be forgiven, Mark, but I'm not so sure about that one...) The writer has become a devotee of Ellen G. White and Seventh-day Adventism, and now serves as a PR official for the General Conference of that denomination.

The first and last pages of The Journal are available as a free download.

Marmite

The Marmite mystery has been solved. John Morgan's otherwise excellent book contained a minor gaffe on the famous yeast extract (see the review.) A correspondent clarifies: "it was Vegemite that we were told not to eat, because Kraft would, in those days, neither confirm nor deny whether Vegemite contained extracts of animal blood in the recipe. Blood was the point at issue, whereas Sanitarium, as you pointed out, vigorously denied using any such ingredient on account of their religion! I remember it well. Marmite was rather too sweet for my taste, and I remember the sigh of relief I passed when Vegemite was at last "kosherised", around 1978."

Ambassador books

An American correspondent - one of the heroes of the old AW - passed on a Press Release concerning the Ambassador College library in Big Sandy. You can read it here.

Spank-a-rama

The following comments were posted after the Dennis Leap item.

"LCG’s last update reported:

"This morning, Mr. Meredith called a Headquarters staff meeting to motivate us just before the Feast of Tabernacles. He told us to work harder, with more zeal and determination. He exhorted us to become bigger and sharper minded, to improve our skills—and not to waste time.
"A friend at LCG headquarters told me what really happened at that meeting. Meredith went on an angry rant, threatening to fire or demote people. He said the staff wasn’t working hard enough, and said they were stupid and lazy compared to the businessmen (the big tithers?) who advise him. Meredith was so cruel and harsh, he made some of the women cry.

"My friend said office morale has been trashed, and said last week's meeting isn't an isolated incident. Meredith has recently been screaming at people a lot... Many in LCG believe Meredith has lost his mind."

Mark Kellner take note.

The Devil's Web Browser

And finally, I confess that I've been trying the new Internet Explorer browser (IE7), and, um, *sob*, it's good. Up till last week I've used Firefox almost exclusively, with an occasional switch to Opera. Now I'm tempted to return to Holy Mother Microsoft. Somebody slap me QUICK!

The COGwatcher's Monthly

One of the highlights of any serious COGwatcher's month is the release of the latest Journal. Frankly, I can't imagine how anyone could keep up the state of play in the wider church community without it.

The June 30 issue is now out - or at the very least in the post. Included this month:

* Details on Ron Dart's new Holy day book, The Thread. Some of us once hung on every word that Ron delivered from his Tyler CGI pulpit, and he is a masterful public speaker. But author? Ron sounds much better, in my experience, than the content justifies. But you can punch the details into Amazon if you're still curious. I think I'll pass.

* Somebody called Jeff Maehr has written an article all about conspiracy, world government and "Israel's birthright." Keep a strong paper bag handy if you decide to read this one.

* Steve Collins has written a piece on not playing inter-COG one-upmanship. At least, that seems to be the thrust of his argument. Hey, fair is fair, the guy has a real point - unlike his stuff on BI. But be warned, the article is dripping with End Time prognostication.

* Then there's an article by Norm Edwards promoting COG7's Spring Vale Academy, "the only Sabbatarian boarding high school in the U.S.A. not affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventists."

* The passing of Richard Nickels and Rob Elliot are noted in the Notes & Quotes section.

You can get subscription info from www.thejournal.org, and you can download the front and back pages at www.thejournal.org/issues/issue111/jf063006.pdf

Sabbath vs Sunday

The latest Journal carries copies of two ads that appeared in a local Big Sandy paper. The opening shot came from a fundamentalist fellowship keen score a few points. If you've read anything intelligent from either side of this discussion, you'll recognize the howlers (click on the image to view a larger copy).

You'd have to suspect that the good folk at New Life Church thought this would be a wonderful ministry to those poor, deluded Armstrongists in their midst. I don't know much if anything about the Big Sandy community (actually, the whole State of Texas is a complete mystery to me) but I'm guessing the WCG/ UCG/ CGI/ ICG/ CGBS groups are something of a local distinctive.

What's interesting is the quality of the argument. Pastor Billy falls back on "Joshua's Long Day" to "prove" his point. I doubt that particular objection would raise anything more than a guffaw from most literate readers, whether Sabbatarian or not.

The Sabbath issue is important enough to discuss openly, but this is hardly the way to raise it. A response the following week from the Church of God - Big Sandy (penned by Reg Killingley) provided a thoughtful and reasonable contrast.

Perhaps it's relevant here to put in a plug for Henry Sturcke's book, Encountering the Rest of God. Sturcke is a former WCG minister who has earned his doctor of theology at the University of Zurich with a disseration on Jesus and the Sabbath. I've got to admit that it's a little too academic to be coffee table material, but reverend gentlemen with pontifical tendencies like Pastor Billy could learn a lot if they bothered to persevere. And no, Joshua's Long Day doesn't get a mention!

But back to the ad. This is the level of debate that was going on in the 1930s when Herb was catching a few zzzzzzzzz's away from Loma in the public library. Wise up Billy, the world has moved on!

Also from the Journal letters section, joyous news that Geoffrey Neilson of South Africa has composed a new hymn in honor of "the 81st prophetic anniversary" of Herb's calling. To be sung to the catchy Dwight Armstrong tune “Lord, Teach Me That I May Know.”

God sent the end-time Elijah,
As promised to Israel’s Tribes,
After He identified
Where they’d all gone worldwide.

Elijah was the first to grasp
That the end time had begun;
He restored the first Truth and last
And every other one.

Elijah sowed God’s end-time crop,
Reached more hearts than all the
prophets,
Proclaiming the Kingdom of God;
His disciples still haven’t stopped.

After Elijah’s Restoration
Came the great Falling Away.
Hold fast, Philadelphians,
Never let God’s Truth slip again.

Beautiful, huh?

(The front and back pages of the May 31 Journal can be downloaded in PDF format at www.thejournal.org/issues/issue110/jf053106.pdf)

Journal holds up a mirror to our identity

I'm a big fan of The Journal. It's not something that many of the more radical ex-COG folk understand, but Dixon Cartwright strikes me as a decent man and a highly professional editor. The Journal exists to cater for those still within the wider fold, and overall it does a great job.

That doesn't mean agreeing with everything that appears there. The latest issue is no exception. To start with there's a lead article by Ian Boyne about the latest success his Jamaican branch of CGI has chalked up.

"Some Church of God critics say it is in decline, but it is certainly not declining in Jamaica!"

I've exchanged a few emails with Ian, and without giving away any confidences I think I can safely say that the man is something of a puzzle: part intellectual gadfly, part dogmatist and 100% self publicist. How does he hold it all together? And how will the Ian-o-centric Jamaican CGI hold itself together when he eventually, inevitably goes the way of all flesh?

James Tabor responds to Ken Westby's review of The Jesus Dynasty in the letters section, followed by a lengthy rave on Herbal themes from Eric Snow. There are only three letters in this issue, which must be a new minimalist record, but the third is a hoot: a brief (!), humorous comment on the WCG's on-off name change.

If there's a focus to this issue it's the brutal act of disfellowship, and Dixon launches it with a rare editorial on the subject, focusing on the treatment Dan Cafourek received at the hands of those Holy Spirit-led fellows who determine the direction of the United Church of God. Dixon writes:

"The institution of disfellowship in the COGs over the years has been a hateloaded weapon for church leaders to keep lower-echelon church members in line through one of the cruelest forms of intimidation: hanging over people’s heads the threat of the loss of their very salvation."

BI enthusiast Steve Collins soaks up most of the remaining column inches with an essay on the Babylonian Captivity (not the historic one - the coming one y'know.) I'd give you a precis, but would rather leap naked off a very tall building than waste the valuable time.

So it's another mixed bag. But the genius of The Journal is in the combination of the good, the bad and the ugly. It holds up a mirror to the community that calls itself the Church of God, and the reflection is uncannily accurate.

(The Journal website is www.thejournal.org )