I may devote either Thursday or Friday to reviewing some random past events in this blog. I remember being intimidated by arrogant INC ministers some time ago. Fortunately, by God’s grace and intervention, the event never turned bloody. However, the encounter tempted them to punch them which could’ve escalated things. They thought I was a Baptist pastor. One of the ministers warned about punching me. Looking at this interview at CNBC, it’s really frightening. I was lucky not to be at Taft Avenue where one of Felix Manalo’s grandchildren, Eduardo Manalo is the current executive minister. INC still denies they did this and let’s give them the benefit of the doubt. However, listening to this, I have my stand that the punched holes were approved by the INC. Take note that I’m writing this out of love for the lost people of the INC.
This full video from the Fifth Estate may be considered dangerous. However, I believe the evidence here is rather strong. Lowell Menorca, a former INC minister, has been separated from his family and has had refugee status in Canada. It’s a shame that politicians court the favor of the INC in hopes of winning the political race. The details provided by this video can be very chilling. INC keeps denying the charges given but time may tell otherwise. With the death threats and the like, what has happened to “Love your enemies.” in their case? Where is it on their part? What’s the use of criticizing the Roman Catholic institution if what happened is suspiciously similar to the Inquisition.
This example from CBC News shows the incredible arrogance of the INC. This was with the story of the late Barry Gammon. This really shows the lack of respect for the INC and it almost reminds me of what I often hear about the Mormons:
As far as new neighbours go, when the INC began constructing a church next to Gammon’s home in the hills southwest of Manila two years ago, he and his wife, Luzie, thought: How bad can it be?
Then they met the church members and their construction crews.
“They just are, like, arrogant,” said Luzie. “There’s some arrogance in them that they just do everything they want. They don’t care that they’re bothering us.”
The problems began from Day 1, she said, with construction noise late into the night. Vehicles came and went at all hours, headlights shining in their windows and waking them up. Construction vehicles left their road rutted and damaged.
Once the church was built, problems continued with vehicles and people arriving early in the morning and leaving late at night for church services.
Then one day, in December 2016, a group of church members parked in front of their gate blocking their driveway. Barry Gammon had had enough.
“You’re on my f–king property,” he can be heard saying in a video of the encounter captured on his cellphone.
The church member he confronted, it turned out, was a local lawyer.
“He knows the law and [that] my husband is just a foreigner and that he doesn’t belong to [the] Philippines,” said Luzie. “That’s exactly his words, and he’s going to deport him … he’s got a lot of connections to the immigration.”
“You’re an asshole, too,” the lawyer can be heard saying. “We’re not done. I will see you in court.”
Shortly after that, in 2016, the lawyer launched an immigration complaint with the Philippines Bureau of Immigration in an attempt to have Gammon deported.
“I was in my own home minding my own business and not looking for trouble,” Barry Gammon wrote in a letter of defence to the Bureau of Immigration. “This church group has a lot of pull, and no one wants to stand up against them.
“[The lawyer] stated I was a stupid American and was not wanted in the Philippines.”
Three months later, the case was dismissed for “lack of merit.”
But the confrontations didn’t stop there. They continued on for months, involving other members of the church. And finally, another heated exchange over late-night noise.
“That last time was really the worst,” said Luzie Gammon. “They were really, really mad that time. They said: ‘We’re not done.'”
Two days later, two men arrived on a motorcycle and shot Barry Gammon to death.
That was in June of this year. By August, Luzie and her son, JJ, landed in Vancouver. They rolled bags stacked high on carts through the international arrival doors at the airport looking tired, overwhelmed and sad. Lowell Menorca was there to meet them.
He is assisting Luzie Gammon find her feet in Vancouver, helping provide temporary accommodation and emotional support.
“You’re safe now,” Menorca said, leaning down to hug JJ at the airport. “You are with mommy and some friends. You are here in Canada.”
This reminds me of that a day after my tough encounter with arrogant INC members, I read the comic book The Enchanter by the late Jack T. Chick. Sure, I gave up reading Chick Publications but I wished they would publish the story about the Iglesia Ni Cristo and title it The Messenger and have a Tagalog version. There’s the brutal opening scene of The Enchanter involving Mormon murders, harassment, and the like. Sure, I may have dismissed the Alberto series more tha a decade later for their lack of merit. However, I’ve heard from several Baptist missionaries that Mormonism also has a death squad. Both Felix Manalo and Joseph Smith were also control freak cult leaders, who were also habitually adulterous. Gammon’s death at the hands of two men riding a motorcycle doesn’t seem coincidental. I believe they were actually INC death squad members. Take note that’s just my assumption due to how events unfolded.
The transcript I’ve given reminds me also of INC members entering Christian bookstores to look for a fight. I talked with some Baptist missionaries who admitted they’ve run into that. They would get mad when somebody makes a reaction that they’re INC members. I’ve had that encounter and wanted to give that person a blackeye. If I did, I may not even live to tell the tale. I think Gammon made a serious mistake using the f*** word to assert his rights. The arrogant INC members were breaking the rules. It’s no different than Catholic fake defenders who join Bible study groups to look for a fight and then play the poor innocent victim. It’s pretty much like a radical feminist who dares a man to a confrontation and then cries foul when the man hits her back out of frustration.
Remembering the conflict in 2015, I really was glad I didn’t stoop down to the level of the arrogant ministers I met in a Christian bookstore. However, one should look at members of the INC with compassion. They can get dangerous but one should be loving instead of hating them. These are lost people and they’re the mission field. All that can be done is to give them the Gospel. Only God knows who are the God’s elect from within this dreadful organization.
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