THE LAODICEAN TIMES

"Rumors"

by

Joe Tkach Jr.

Lafayette - April 3, 1993

Someone is trying to make merchandise of you by spreading that rumor around - if you haven't heard it.

Another rumor that goes around, that circulates, is that we believe Mr. Armstrong was never inspired. That he derived all his knowledge from books. …. A…A...A…A…T - WRONG!

Another rumor that circulates is that I hate Mr. Armstrong. And I ... ah .. I find that one really absurd.

Another rumor that circulates is that Mr. Armstrong, at least the rumor circulates this way, that I or my dad or certain other ministers in Pasadena believe that Mr. Armstrong was a false prophet. …. A…A...A…A…T - WRONG!

Another rumor that circulates is that the reason that we changed our explanation and understanding on the words in Greek "gennao" and "anothen" is because we wanted to please some Protestant group. …. A…A...A…A…T - FALSE!

Another rumor that circulates is that we are doing away with the Sabbath. …. A…A...A…A…T - WRONG!   

I don t know how people can come to believe such a silly thing. But some do. We published all our distinctive doctrines in a little booklet like called "The Statement of Beliefs of the Worldwide Church of God." Hope all of you've seen it. In this booklet we have a very profound statement about the Sabbath. Allow me to share it with you. Even have one on prophecy, even have one on the law, even have one on the festivals, even have one on tithing. OK.. The Sabbath is an appointed day of rest and worship. It was scantified at creation because on the seventh day God rested from his work. The observance of the Sabbath was enjoined in the ten commandments, was a sign between God and His people Israel and was affirmed by the example of Jesus Christ and the apostles - Let s not forget we re the spiritual Israel as Galatians 6 tells us. Following these scriptural examples the Worldwide Church of God continues to observe the seventh day Sabbath. And then we quote several scriptures: Gen 2, Ex 20, Ex 31, Luke 4,16, Acts 17, Heb 4.

It's sad that some people would listen to such a rumor combined with the other rumors. That we're slowly turning Protestant and we're doing away with the law. >>  And they become emotionally polarized and leave.

But yet, the rumor circulates that we're doing away with it. Very sad that people devise such evil things and spread them around to polarize people and pull them out of the church.

These two rumors are said so that people then can go on to say that we re just doing away with the law. …. A…A...A…A…T - WRONG! Ephesians 5:6 says, "Let no man deceive you with vain words. For because of these things comes the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not you partakers with them."

People who tell you such rumors, who hear such surmisings - what you should say to them is, "you know, you're listening to a wrong source. You must be reading some bad material.

Because if you eat out of a garbage can long enough, you're gonna get sick.

And that's what happens to people who read that kind of literature.

We are being falsely accused of having a plan to do away with the law. There is a term for that in Biblical terms. The word is anti-nomianisism. Means those who are against the law. It's a heresy that teaches that you aren't supposed to or you don't have or have no obligation to keep God's Law. People who are anti-nomians believe that you just love God and do what comes naturally.

Antinomians feel that they don't need to study the law or submit to it. That's not what we teach!

Another rumor that circulates, and this one is really profoundly absurd, but I know what happens - is - you hear a rumor - cause I do this - we all do this - this is human, you hear a rumor and then you start to look for confirming evidence. So the rumor circulated that we're going ask members to start displaying crucifixes. …. A…A...A…A…T - FALSE!

Displaying a crucifix is a violation of the second commandment. Nowhere in any of those articles or explanations did we even suggest such a thing. >>>  >>>

Another rumor that's circulated, I hear recently, is that we're changing the Passover to another night. Or that we don t believe that there were three days and three nights between Christ's death and resurrection. I .. I don t know where that one comes from. I .. I m totally shocked that someone would come up with a that and believe it. Because we've had no discussion on the issue at all.

Another rumor that is circulated is that we don't believe Adam and Eve are real beings. That they were just fictional characters and that's kind of fairy tale in Genesis. …. A…A...A…A…T - WRONG!

Another one that really cracks me up - this rumor circulates around over and over - I heard this several times over the last several years, that Dr. Hoegh is secretly a Buddhist. …. A…A...A…A…T - Ha Ha Ha

Another rumor that is circulated is that we no longer teach that wives should be submissive to husbands. …. A…A...A…A…T - WRONG!

Another rumor that circulates is that we now believe that all who attend any church they want, who are baptized in those churches, are all saved. …. A…A...A…A…T - WRONG!

Another rumor that circulates is that we're in the process of merging with some other church. …. A…A...A…A…T - WRONG!

Another rumor that circulates is that we're gonna join the World Council of Churches. …. A…A...A…A…T - WRONG!

Then there's another rumor that circulates, that we don't believe in a place of safety. …. A…A...A…A…T - WRONG!

Another rumor that circulates is that we are now pro-choice on abortion. …. A…A...A…A…T - WRONG!

We believe that abortion is murder!

Another rumor that circulates is that we now believe - once saved - always saved. …. A…A...A…A…T - FALSE! We do not believe that!

Some people have even circulated that we don't believe in healing any more. …. A…A...A…A…T - ABSOLUTELY WRONG!

The things we have changed we have announced. We've written about them. We've put them in the Worldwide News. We include explanations about them in our literature. We're not hiding the things that have been changed, we re-explaining them. And with as patient as possibly we can be, we continue to explain them to the people who have a hard time understanding them.

So please don't fall prey to the rumors. Don't become emotionally polarized.