IGLESIA NI CRISTO DOCTRINES EXPOSED, PART 19 (1 OF 3)

This is a continuation of the series.

Q. What is Gospel of Manalo Doctrine Lesson No. 19 and what are its fallacies?
A. The following is the Gospel of Manalo Doctrine No. 19:
"LESSON NO.19 - OUR VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTIONS
Theme: It is God's command that we give contributions and Thanksgiving offerings.
Summary: The Church of Christ believes that it is God who gave the command to contribute and give thanksgiving offerings to support the needs of the Church. To fulfill these obligtions is to lay up a good foundation for the attainment of eternal life."
(Fundamental Beliefs of the Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ), Erano G. Manalo, 1989, p.75)

The fallacies of this Gospel of Manalo Doctrine #19:

FYM and his Administrator son Erano, are liars. God did not command his people to support the needs of the Church of Christ of Felix Manalo. Erano and his father also lied that the offerings and thanksgivings in the Iglesia ni Cristo are voluntary. They are never voluntary. EGM had established strict rules and procedures to compel members to make the offerings and money thanksgivings. We will highlight these procedures later. It is true that there were contributions done by the early Christians, but, they were contributions to help God's people. The following two commands of God are clearly people based:

1) Love your neighbor as yourself (Mt.5:43)

It is a command of God to love your neighbor. Who is the neighbor? Do you think the neighbor is the Iglesia ni Cristo chapel? No! Even if it were, Manalo will only pocket your monies. Why? The Iglesia ni Cristo is not in the business of helping poor people not like the Catholics and Protestant churches. The proof of this is that Erano continues to declare that the INC is not for social welfare. It does not dole out monies to help the poor. Technically, the INC is doing the reverse--taking monies from its poor members. The Iglesia ni Cristo is a cult that does not exempt poor INC brethren from giving offerings and thanksgivings. Manalo is cunning as the devil in using the poor widow as a ruse in order to get monies from its poor members. Let's read the verse that EGM is using:

"And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. So He said, "Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had." (Lk.21:1-2 NKJV)

After reading this verse, Manalo will gloat, "You see, you see, the poor widow had given offerings, so therefore, you poor members must give, too!" Get out, wise guy! Reread the verse. Who are the ones who gAve the offerings besides the poor widow? That's right, the RICH! The rich are the ones who gave to the treasury. Why are we sure that it is the rich who are required to give? Let's read:

"Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, read to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life." (1 Tim.6:17-19 NKJV)

Who are commanded to give? The RICH! How can the rich lay hold on eternal life? If they do good, be rich in good works, and willing to share.

What about those nor rich and not poor? What are they supposed to do? As we have known before, each part of the body or each member has not the same function. There is no body that is composed of only one part. Never. Have you seen a body that has a body of all eyes, or body of all ears, or all mouths? No! If there is, such body is a freak of nature or a monster.

But if those not rich or not poor wanted to give, they have the prerogative to give. Supposing there is a scammer from the gutter who commands you, "Hey you, everyone poor or not, you must give offerings and thanksgivings or else you will not be saved!" What kind of gospel does this man from the gutter is spreading? That's right, he is bringing the Gospel of Manalo. It is not the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Who are the neighbors whom you must love. Every people around you. But, how do you love your neighbor? If you will ask Pervert Felix Y. Manalo, he will tell you, "You must love them by inviting them to the Iglesia bible expositions so that they, too, will become Iglesia members." Perverts gave perverted answer. Loving your neighbor is helping them in their dire needs (2 Cpr.9:10-15).

2. Love the brotherhood (1 Pet.2:17)

It is the command of God to love your brother or sister, both in blood and in faith (2 Cor.9:13;Gal.6:10). How shall we love the brotherhood? If you will ask the Pervert Erano G. Manalo, he will tell you, "Love the brotherhood by making sure that your brother or sister will not be absent from the Iglesia ni Cristo worship service!" This perverted love of the brotherhood is basically commissioning all Iglesia members to become secondary guards (primary guards are the deacons and deaconesses) of all INC members to prevent them from escaping the cult. The true context of loving the brotherhood is helping them in their basic (food, clothing, shelter) needs (Js.2:15-16).

Therefore, from the foregoing, it is clear that the collections and contributions done by the early Christians were to help the poor. Neither is it to get monies from the poor nor to help an organization that does not help the poor.

Procedures and Techniques of Manalo in making offerings and thanksgivings compulsory:

1. Thursday worship offerings - The collectors are the deacons for males and deaconesses for females. The deacons and deaconesses comb the congregation aisles with opened pouches stopping at each and evey seated member so that each member will drop his/her money offerings. This procedure allows no escapees. The act of dropping is witnessed by your left and right seated neighbors. This procedure of giving monies violates Christ's command not to make contributions be seen (Mt.6:1). Although the procedure is prohibited by Christ, why does Erano enforces it? Because he wants to make it compulsory. Erano knows that a member will be ashamed of not dropping his/her offerings because prying eyes are looking. Moreover, Manalo teaches those who won't give offerings are robbers. Who would refuse to drop offerings and become labeled as a "robber"? Nobody! Therefore, the display of the act of giving is designed to compel each and every member to give the offerings.

Are offerings required in worship services?

If you will ask the father and son, Felix and Erano, they will categorically say "Yes!". What about if we will ask the Apostles? Let's read the teaching of the Apostles:

"How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification." (1 Cor.14:26 NKJV)

Based on the verse, was offering required? Was the word "offering" or "offerings" ever mentioned? No! Therefore, there was no offerings done by the early Christians. Why is it so? What is the reason? It is because the offering was already done by our Lord Jesus Christ in the cross. Let's read this:

"By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." (Heb.10:10 NKJV)

Offerings have already been done for us by the Lord Jesus Christ. If there is a man who requires you to give offerings that man is a scam artist. What if that scam artist uses a concealed weapon to scare you to surrender your monies? In such case, the offense becomes a robbery! As we have known already, Erano's concealed weapons are the verses of the Bible being used out of context (Ps.50:22, Mal.3:8, Acts 5:1-10).

2. Wednesday worship offerings - How come there is a Wednesday worship? The Manalo cult owner always gives remedies for causes of money losses. There are Iglesia members who in one way or another could not attend the Thursday worships due to work conflicts or other reasons. If you are in business, as a savvy store owner what would you do to increase income knowing that two days a week of business is not generating enough income? That's right, you have to increase the number of days you will open your business. This is precisely what Erano does. He added the Wednesday worship for the excused Thursday worshippers. What about those excused Sunday worshippers? Erano licked them good, too. Erano commanded them to attend the Saturday worships in lieu of the Sunday. What about making the full seven days a week worships? This superb idea is not far fetch considering EGM's greed for money and considering EGM's faithfulness to the IR Law (Iglesia law of increasing the responsibilities of members). The members might not know it but EGM is already testing enforcement of the 7 days a week worship service via the 7 days devotional prayers at the chapels wherein members are required to go nightly to the chapel for seven consecutive nights to do prayers. Attendances to these devotional prayers are checked. There are brief sermons being said. What is lacking is the collection of offerings.

3. Sunday worship offerings - The same procedures of offering collections done in Thursday worship is being done in the Sunday worships. A member is always watched as to whether he or she is a robber of God. To Manalo, a robber is one who forgets to give offerings.

4. Youth worship offerings - No one is exempted from worshipping the Iglesia ni Cristo idol. Babies, toddlers, and children must worship the idol, too. Why are they required to worship the idol despite that they have immature minds? Two reasons. One reason is greed for money. Another reason is to train the children from childhood so they they will not forget to give offerings to the Iglesia idol when they grow old.

Where do these infants and children get their monies to offer to the Iglesia idol? They get their monies from their parents. This is worse than double taxation of parents. Imagine a parent having one dozen children. Erano will benefit twelve times from that parent. This is another reason why the Iglesia cult does not enforce population control. The more babies the more monies to be collected.

But there is another surprise. Erano has another sideline income from such babies and infants. How? He requires the babies and infants to be offered by their parents in the worship service. What does this mean? The parents are required to give loose big bills of money to the officiating minister. This money in turn will be channeled to the minister's thanksgiving deposits and ends up in Manalo's pocket.

The significance of offerings babies in the Iglesia ni Cristo cult -

What does offering of babies in the Iglesia ni Cristo signify? The conduct of offering practised by the Israelites is killing what is to be offered. When the Israelites offer bulls what do they do to the bulls? That's right, they will have to kill the bulls to become burnt offerings. When God commanded Abraham to offer his son Isaac, what did Abraham understood? He understood that he will have to kill his son Isaac and burn the corpse as a burnt offering. Therefore, offering of babies in the Iglesia ni Cristo signifies killing of the babies. The babies are killed constructively because henceforth, such babies become Iglesia ni Cristo children of the devil. They are from henceforth prohibited from leaving the cult and prohibited from being absent from the Iglesia worship services. They are chained and bolted to the cult with no more escaping. They are said to be dead and killed by the Iglesia ni Cristo minister officiating the offering of the babies. Human sacrifices performed by the Iglesia ni Cristo is a reintroduction of the human sacrifices performed by the Israelites which brought the wrath from the Lord. Let's read this:

"They served their idols,
Which became a snare to them.
They even sacrificed their sons
And their daughters to demons,
And shed innocent blood.
The blood of their sons and daughters,
Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan;
And the land was polluted with blood." (Ps.106:36-38 NKJV)

How does the Iglesia ni Cristo shed the blood of the infants and children being offered or sacrificed in the Iglesia chapels? The minister prays that the child be registered in the imitation book of life of the devil. This is constructive shedding of blood or killing because henceforth, the life, body, and soul of the infant is owned by the devil. Why devil? The god of the Iglesia ni Cristo is the devil who had deceived them. Let's remember that the magnificent obsession of the devil is to take the seat of God and to be served (Is.14:12-14). What's the difference between God and the devil? God does not want to be served but to be loved (Dt.6:5). What about the devil? Tht's right, he wants to be served and worshipped (Lk.4:5-7). Is the devil's skin present in the Iglesia ni Cristo? You bet. It has worship SERVICE. It has GEM and bible exposition SERVICE. It has members SERVING the Iglesia ni Cristo without any compensation. Therefore, who is their God who is very much thrilled in having people serving him? The devil. Let's read the likes of Lucifer:

"For you have said in your heart:
I will ascend into the heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
on the farthest sides of the north;" (Is.13:13 NKJV)

Which is the mount of the Iglesia ni Cristo congregation? That's right, it is their chapel buildings. The devil is always sitting there and waiting for his deceived Iglesia worshippers. And when they begin to close their eyes in prayers, that's the time when the demons (soldiers of the devil) start to play.

4. Locality offerings - This offering is given weekly every Sunday through a box placed before the assembly door. This offering ostensibly is for paying the local congregation expenses such as utilities, telephone, supplies, etc. But this is not so. This offering is another pocket of EGM. It is a money of EGM. Why? Before a money is spent, petition is required to EGM for his approval.

How does EGM makes sure that every member gives to this offering? All members are required to use a 5x7 envelope in order to write the giver's name, amount, and district number. This information serve as basis for preparing the list of givers that is given to EGM. Who are the escapees? Those whose names are missing are the escapees. These escapees names are given to their assigned guards (deacon and deaconess)to remind them of their obligations in the weekly committee prayer group gatherings. These culprit brethren who have drawn back from their obligations are admonished that God has no pleasure in them. This implies that at any time God will punish or kill them.

During the early Iglesia years (1914-1950's) this obligation was done once a month. Later, it became twice a month. What do think happened thereafter? That's right, it is now a weekly offering in accordance with the Iglesia's IR Law.

The New Iglesia HMSC Law -

There is now a new Iglesia ni Cristo law (promulgated laterly in 2002). What is this new Iglesia law? It is called Law of Hiding the Many Splendored Collections (HMSC Law). This law teaches that the many splendored collections or offerings divided into many names are to be hidden from non Iglesia's prying eyes. The theme of this law is: "Erano's monies are for Iglesia members' eyes only." In conformance to this law, members must not use the name "EGM Fund" or "Local Fund" printed on the envelopes previously cannot be used anymore. No such fund names should appear from henceforth. Members can use two envelopes for these offerings. It does not matter whether the member giver's name appear twice on the list of givers because such list is for members' eyes only.

5. District worship offerings - How did this offerings came about? Erano being a cheap executive minister, does not want to spend monies for his district ministers. Erano is always thinking of increasing collections while at the same time thinking of decreasing expenses in order to pocket more monies. What is his solution? That's right, he wants members to shoulder this district expense, too. His method is superb. He dipped his hands into the locality offerings contributed weekly by members. Henceforth, one of the four or five locality offerings in a month is taken out as district offerings. If there are four or five Sundays in a month, one of them becomes offering for the district to pay district ministers and their expenses. It's up to the minister to machinate the members so they can cough up more monies to pay their local's utilities.

6. Year End Thanksgiving offerings -

This is the classic December thanksgiving offerings required of all members. Everyone is required to deposit monies weekly on Sundays from the first week of January through the second week of December. According to Manalo, members who do not deposit are guilty of forgetting God. Forgetting God according to Manalo has the consequence of risk that at any moment they will be destroyed or killed by God. Manalo has assigned tellers in a section of their chapel buildings to collect their deposits. Deposit booklets are used to record manually the weekly deposits. This deposit booklet will be turned in on December after the last deposit in order to get the certificate. This certificate together with supplementary cash and money orders constitute the member's December thanksgiving. This certificate gives the impression the member are still in possession of their monies when in truth their monies were long gone and taken by Manalo at the time of deposit. Therefore, what is their actual thanksgivings in December? The supplementary cash and money orders are their actual thanksgivings. Manalo just throws out the certificates into his garbage can.

7. Annivery Thanksgiving offerings - Formerly, there was only once a year thanksgiving obligation. Erano, who is faithful in obeying the IR Law had increased the thanksgiving obligation from annual to semi annual. It is now done in December and in July. The one given in December is the Year End Thanksgving while the one given in July is the Anniversary Thanksgiving. As in the Year End Thanksgiving, EGM gets a list of the givers and knows what amounts the members are giving. Erano will not sleep at night of the thanksgiving day waiting for the total monies he will be getting and to know which minister will be punished or rewarded. The Anniversary Thanksgiving at present does not require weekly depositing. In a not so distant future, EGM may pronounce the following Church Administration commandment:

"Dear Brethren:

Starting immediately, the Church Administration instructs all brethren that all your weekly deposits from the first Sunday of January through the third Sunday of July, will become your Anniversary
Thanksgivings to be offered in the Anniversary worship service in July. Your deposits from the first Sunday of August through the second Sunday of December, will become your Year End Thanksgiving to be offered in the December Thanksgiving worship service. God wants us to abound always in our thanksgiving offerings whether in the Anniversay of our Church or in the End of Year thanksgivings. The Apostle Paul exhorts us: "Let all things be done decently and in order." (1 Cor.14:40).

Please be guided accordingly.

Your brother in Christ,

Erano G. Manalo,
Executive Minister"

What will this Manalo trick do? The effect of the change is a boon to Manalo and a devastating money loss to members. Member's year end thanksgivings will dramatically decrease while member's anniversay thanksgiving will gigantically increase as Erano wants them to be. The effect will be that members' anniversay thanksgiving will start from a high end. It could no longer be decreased from henceforth because members are stopped by the drawing back doctrine. According to the Manalo's drawing back doctrine, you cannot retreat, retrogress, decrease, withdraw, or go back from what you have been doing or done already. The consequence of drawing back according to Manalo is God will not have pleasure in you.

What about the effect of the change in the year end thanksgiving starting at a very low end? Manalo has created a very big gap in which members must recover. Members must lay up and deposit more monies to even the decrease created by Manalo. The members are now covered by Manalo's abounding doctrine. According to the abounding doctrine, thanksgivings must increase yearly. Not only a simple increase but it's an increase over the increase from previous year.

To illustrate:

Thanksgivings of INC member Feljun Fuentes:

Dec 2001....$1,000.00 July 2001....$500.00
Dec 2002....$1,500.00 July 2002....$750.00
Dec 2003....$1,500.00 July 2003....$850.00

Thanksgivings of INC member Rommel V. San Pedro:

Dec 2001....$3,000.00 July 2001....$100.00
Dec 2002....$2,000.00 July 2002....$ 50.00
Dec 2003....$1,000.00 July 2003....$ 5.00

Analysis of Feljun and Rommel's thanksgivings:

On Feljun's, his obligation for his Dec 2003 thanksgiving should increase over his last year. Since he offered the same amount, there was no increase. Therefore, he fell short of the simple increase doctrine.In his July thanksgivings, although he increased $100.00 from his 2002 thanksgiving, he fell short of the abounding doctrine (compound increase)which is increase over the increase in 2002 from 2001. In 2002, his increase was $250.00 ($750.00 -$500.00). Therefore, he is required to have no less than $250.00 increase for 2003. Feljun did not comply with the Iglesia abounding thanksgiving doctrine because he had only $100.00 increase.

On Rommel's, his December and July thanksgivings will incur the wrath of EGM. He violated the drawing back and abounding doctrines. Not only that he did not increase his thanksgivings, he had also drawn back from his responsibilities of annual increases. Instead of increasing, he had decreased instead. The decreases are so deplorable and will surely invite the wrath of the Executive Minister or Iglesia Money Administrator. Since Rommel is an Iglesia minister, bad boy Rommel is eligible to be thrown into the Abu Sayyaf lairs in Basilan, Southern Philippines, to fend off against the kidnapper gang of Al Qaeda.

TO BE CONTINUED