September 3, 2010
(From July 28, 2007)

“Keep your heart (mind/attitude) with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. . . . If I regard iniquity in my heart, the LORD will NOT hear (Proverbs 4:23/Psalm 66:18)

“The Importance of Monitoring and Overcoming Attitude Problems”

Since I mentioned this particular Pastor’s Comments in my recorded sermon last Sabbath I felt it would be useful to resend it with minor edits. Having and keeping a right and positive attitude is all important for one who is a true Christian. And for that reason we MUST never let ourselves remain in a wrong frame of mind but cry out to Christ to help us to always overcome any and all of them.

Recently two members told me they would no longer be attending services with us locally though it was admitted this is the one and only true Church. The reason given by one is that he came home from the Feast of Tabernacles the last three years with a bad attitude. This was the first time that I knew about it.

The other member said he also had come home this last year from the Feast of Tabernacles with a bad attitude. This member had never said anything to me about his attitude problem either.

Neither one told me at this time what were the reasons for their attitude problems. Presumably, based on what another member told me, I, as the pastor, was responsible for not using the government of God as I should have in handling problems. What problems I really do not know for they would not tell me even though I asked at least three times to give me an example.

How Do Attitude Problems Begin

How do these kinds of attitudes begin and then lead to such a crisis that men and women leave the Church of God?

Over the 52 years of my ministry I have heard many reasons given— such as no love in the local Church! This was not true for every Church I have had the blessing of serving as its pastor had lots of love in it. Rarely have I ever heard the real reasons given as to why they choose to leave the Church.

A wrong attitude sometimes begins over the most insignificant things. As an example: One family in a Church area, where I was serving as an associate pastor, called the pastor and said he was leaving the Church.

After some investigation into the root of the problem it was found this family shared a house with another family during the previous Feast of Tabernacles in Squaw Valley, California. One day they were going to have a chicken dinner. One woman wanted to cook the chicken one way and the other another way.

This led into such an attitude problem between the two families this one family was going to leave the Church over it. The pastor was able to work with the family so they did not leave the Church.

Every person alive, whether in the Church or not, has had to struggle with attitude problems in life: marital problems, not being recognized as a person on whom praise should be lavished, not paid enough, others less qualified chosen in leadership responsibilities, etc.

Sometimes the attitude can become so strong with an employee he or she will then quit the job to try and show the supervisor they can shove the job (as one song has it).

We sometimes read of an employee becoming so embittered that he takes a gun to the job and kills fellow employees along with the supervisors. In more recent years: teens in school have taken a gun with them and killed classmates and teachers. Then there are the others who just give up and commit suicide.

Attitude problems often begin as a young child. If the child does not get his or her way they will often throw a temper tantrum in public and at home!

And unless the parents are able to work with the child in a godly manner to overcome the attitude with correct teachings he or she often comes to be a real problem in society. Too often they will end up in jail and worse!

As pastor it has been my responsibility over the years to work with members who have had some real attitude problems. Some I have been able to help and others I was not. Some even went so far as to commit suicide either before I came on the scene as pastor and or after I had been transferred to another Church area.

There was one young lad who blew the top of his head off over, if I remember correctly, the loss of a girlfriend in school while I was yet the pastor. His mother was in the Church but I do not believe the young lad attended Church with her. I officiated at his funeral.

Some members I heard of but never knew retained grave problems in their minds over time and never spoke to the pastor about them until the last moment before they left. With others the problems did not come to be known until they had already left the Church.

Under such circumstances there is very little if anything that can be done to help them for they had already made up their minds and there was no stopping them.

A Shock Last Sabbath (July 21, 2007)

This is what took place last Sabbath right after services were over. I had no inkling why I was led aside by the deacon to meet with him and his two sons-in-laws. Immediately I was told they were leaving the Church of God.

Sadly, they never tried to talk to me about the crisis that had been building over time to see if their problems could possibly be resolved. And they never indicated they wanted to talk to me then about them. Though I tried their minds were made up. The deacon had talked to me about a problem shortly before but never led me to believe that it was a major problem with him. He appeared to be satisfied with what I had said to him.

Resolving Attitude Problems

God Himself spoke to Israel about the need of reasoning together so the relationship could possibly be restored (Isaiah 1:18). This should be an example to us as well as the many Scriptures that make known what all of us should do if problems develop; and they always do in one form or another for we are human.

As long as the member approaches the pastor with a right spirit and attitude, the pastor should have the attitude of wanting the person or persons to voice any problems that he or she might have with him without any later repercussions from the pastor.

I could go on and on about people I have known who have had some real attitude problems over this and that and at the same time to spell out why and what but this I do not want to do. In this writing I just want to write enough to show how deadly an attitude can come to be unless it is monitored and when one is recognized then it becomes very important that it is overcome before it comes to be too late to help them.

My Personal Struggles

This subject is well understood by me because of my own struggles with my attitude over the many years I have been blessed to be a member since 1952: a deacon for one year, a local elder for 17 years, and then a pastor for 35 years. Numerous times I have cried, and fasted, while crying out to God to help me whip my attitude— and He always did help me. Not always immediately, but He did help me each time.

One pastor I worked under as a local elder was so oppressive during the three years I served under him that it came to the point I saw him one day from a short distance and I did not want him to see me. Then the thought entered my mind that this was terribly wrong of me. I repented.

I tried talking to him one day about the need to spend a little more time with my family. He listened, but there was no change, and then I experienced repercussions by voicing the problem.

In early 1995, he, like so many other longtime pastors, fully accepted the pagan Protestant teachings. He was even used by HQ to send to some Churches to try and win over all of the members to the liberation they now had from God’s teachings and laws, so they thought and proclaimed.

How Does an Attitude Problem Develop?

Prior to 1986, a few of the members developed such attitude problems they just left and refused to even discuss the reasons why. I received letters from a few who just said they were leaving without writing about the problems they had. Further, they did not want to be contacted by me or anyone.

In some cases they had to be disfellowshipped due to the poison they began spreading to other members.

So how does such an attitude problem develop and grow to such a high level that members are ready to just quit and possibly throw away all that God has to offer them by remaining faithful to Him and His way of life?

To understand we need to go back and see how it developed with the greatest created being God ever brought into angel life.

Lucifer who became the Adversary

Mystery of the Ages, pages 83, 85, 81 Mr. Armstrong [Scriptures used from Ezekiel 28:12-17; Isaiah 14:12-15]:

“This superb spirit (Lucifer) being filled up the sum total of wisdom, perfection, and beauty. He was the supreme pinnacle, the master piece, of God’s creation, as an individually created being, the greatest one in the almighty power of God to create! The tragic thing is that he rebelled against his Maker. . . . He had complete knowledge, understanding and wisdom. And with all this foreknowledge – even of results and consequences – this superb being, the highest even God could create by fiat, turned to rebellion against his Maker – against the way that produces every good. He turned to lawlessness.

What Caused the Angels Sin?

“What caused the angels on earth to sin, to turn to lawlessness? Certainly the ordinary angels did not persuade this great superbeing to turn traitor. No, it was in him that iniquity was found . . . It is not revealed how long it took him to persuade all of the angels under him to turn traitor and follow him.

I know well the method he used. He uses the same method still today in leading deceived humans into disloyalty, rebellion, and self-centered opposition against God’s government. First, he turns one or two to envy, jealousy and resentment over an imagined injustice – then into disloyalty. Then he uses that one or two, like a rotten apple in a crate, to stir up resentment, feelings of self-pity, disloyalty and rebellion in others next to them. And, as each rotten apple rots those next to it until the whole crate is rotten, so Satan proceeds.

Satan’s rebel rule was NOT a government based upon the principle of love – of giving, of outgoing concern for the good of others, but based on SELF-CENTEREDNESS, on vanity, lust and greed, on envy, jealousy, the spirit of competition, hatred, violence and destruction, on darkness and error, instead of light and truth, on ugliness instead of beauty.”

A Right Attitude is All-Important to Protect

The attitude of a Christian, or really anyone, can be affected in many ways as I have already made known to some degree. It is an area a human being has to monitor and struggle very hard to overcome to remain in God’s way of life.

Satan the devil knows very well each member within the Church of God. He knows our every weakness and this is what he preys on while trying to destroy us (Job 1:11; 2:4).

As the prince of the air waves, Satan is continually broadcasting with his attitudes of selfishness and vanity, of competition and strife like television and radio broadcasting.

The human being can, and does, pick up these broadcasts because each human being is on his spiritual wavelength (Correspondence Course # 19, Ephesians 2:2).

Realizing the fact that each and every one of us is affected at one time or another in one way or another by his broadcasting, we MUST instantly know where this is coming from and pray hard to suppress it. If this does not work then one needs to fast while crying out to God to take it away from us.

Many years ago I personally learned that Jesus Christ does not always remove an attitude problem right away. He wants us to recognize it as being wrong and keep struggling against it until He gives us the help needed to make it go away.

In this way it is somewhat like physical healing. One time the healing is immediate and other times we have to wait while exercising faith that Christ will intervene when it is best for us. Godly character has to be developed in each of us in every way.

The Unfailing LOVE for God will always Triumph

Jesus said it would be impossible for us to escape offences for we are human and we have daily contact with other human beings (Matthew 18:7; Luke 17:1). And as Mr. Armstrong has said we will often rub people the wrong way or they us. When we are close to one another these things happen!

However the loving relationship that we have with our Father and Jesus Christ will always triumph over any and all bad attitude problems if we really love God with all of our hearts and love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:35-40).

We must never let a day go by without heartfelt prayer asking God for our daily supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ with all of its wonderful attributes as made known in Galatians 5:22-23. Though all of these attributes are essential for the stability we all must have to remain within God’s loving care, LOVE is the most important of all as the apostle Paul makes known in I Corinthians 13:1-13 and 14:1.

God is LOVE (I John 4:8, 16). And we should pray and ask that by His Holy Spirit He will pour out His LOVE throughout our hearts for His LOVE will never fail us (Romans 5:5; I Corinthians 13:8). It emanates from God and flows into us from His very mind. By having His love always within us we will endure unto the end and then be able to stand before the glorified presence of Jesus Christ at His coming.

God’s love is an outgoing love with caring concern for others as was written by Mr. Armstrong in his above writings from his book, the Mystery of the Ages.

We are not in this way of life for selfish reasons, thinking of only our own salvation, but we are to have a deep loving concern for all others as was manifested by Jesus Christ in His human ministry. I also made this known from the writings of the Correspondence Course # 44 in my Pastor’s Comments last week.

Always, and always, monitor our attitude and cry out to God to help you overcome it when you find it is not as it should be. Not one of us can overcome by ourselves.

One last example: Before President Nixon resigned from that high office and left the white house, he made the following statement to this effect: “I am not leaving with an attitude of bitterness for I know what that would do to me.”

The apostle Paul wrote about the root of bitterness that can cause us to lose our hope of salvation unless we struggle hard through the help and love of Jesus Christ to overcome it (Hebrews 12:12-17). We MUST NEVER EVER let an attitude problem overwhelm us! For as the apostle Paul wrote in using this example, we could be rejected as was Esau!

Please pray for these members and their wives who chose to leave us because of attitude problems and all others who have also left us since that time.

Your brother and servant in Christ,
Don Billingsley

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