Saturday, May 21, 2011

Popular Blog Postings

News about UCG still fascinates people.  Below are some of the popular postings so far this month on this blog.  Poor little Joel Meeker still battles to be seen as significant. :-)  We are averaging 425 hits a day. With 1,000 hits per day during the UCG debacle.

Oct 19, 2010, 6 comments
        2,344 Pageviews









Dec 24, 2010, 1 comment
          712 Pageviews









Jan 1, 2011, 5 comments
           529 Pageviews









Jan 30, 2011, 2 comments
         477 Pageviews









Dec 27, 2010
                            429 Pageviews









Feb 23, 2011, 7 comments
       400 Pageviews









Apr 28, 2011, 6 comments      
  289 Pageviews









Jan 5, 2011, 3 comments
           241 Pageviews









Dec 22, 2010, 2 comments
        227 Pageviews









Mar 21, 2011, 14 comments
      226 Pageviews









Friday, May 20, 2011

First Live Shot of Apocalypse Happening in New Zealand

First live photo from New Zealand of the apocalypse 
as it is happening! 

Earthquakes, fire and destruction!  

This same death and destruction 
will soon be upon us Saturday at 6:00 p.m. 
(according to your time zone)

Harold Camping was right! 
The prophet was without honor in his own country!

(Gavin, it was nice knowing you! Was it hot?)

Click on picture to expand to it's full size to witness the death and destruction!


Got Clean Underwear On For The Rapture (or Petra?)

Here is a great cartoon from The Naked Pastor Blog






The great hing about all this silliness going down right now with Harold Camping is that in decades past, few people got roped in by these morons. Their message was not widely spread.  Now with the internet the entire world can sit by and watch these idiots made out to be the liars they are.  The same thing is going to happen to Flurry, Meredith, Cox, Weinland and Pack.  The entire world will get to watch as these men are made out to be fools.  Armstrongism will soon be the laughing stock too.  Oh wait, it already is!!!!!!

Time is Short--The Eternal Carrot




Time is Short--The Eternal Carrot

Dennis Diehl - EzineArticles Expert AuthorAll fundamentalist and literalist Christians have grown up with the following scriptures burned into their minds...

I Thessalonians 4:15-17 "...For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout...Then WE which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air..."

I Corinthians 15:51,52 "...WE shall not all sleep, but WE shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump...and WE shall be changed."

Romans 13:11-12 "And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for NOW is OUR salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand..."

James 5:8 "Be YE also patient; establish YOUR hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh."

I John 2:18 "Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby WE know that it is the last time."

I Peter 4:7 "But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer."

Revelation 22:20 "He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly..."

Millions in Fundamentalist and Evangelical Churches have grown up with the idea that the return of Jesus, a return which will fix everything that is wrong with everything and reward the true saints, is always imminent. We read the above scriptures as if they were written for us, as it is we who are finally the ones "upon whom the end of the age has come." Unlike everyone before us, we really really are the ones who will see it and be changed, avoiding the reality of physical death.

There never has been, is not now and never will be a shortage of preachers and pastors who just know we are living in the final, absolutely last days. The signs are everywhere and every world event is assigned biblical import and meaning.



In Fundamentalist movements, the tradition goes on and becomes more pronounced as , earthquakes, floods, fire, volcanoes and "unusual" events, or wars and rumors of wars, especially in the middle east rear their ugly heads. If someone blew up the Dome of the Rock, well... there... see, now tell us that Jesus is not a few minutes away from returning.

The fact that most wars are waged by either the Christians, Israelis or the Islamic nations, among and between themselves, which are the religions whose teachings are supposed to save us and make our lives better, doesn't seem to strike us as odd. In fact, at some deep level deeply religious fundamentalists, seem to believe that millions must die violently, so that "all these things can come to pass" and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit can be visited upon the Christian survivors... or Islamic or Israeli depending on who wins. Well of course, the Christians win. Each knows who that it will be themselves that overcomes the other. It's in the book, all of them.

The most popular New Testament "proof texts" for this thinking among Christian Fundamentalists and Evangelicals, comes from Mark 13 and the parallel passages found in Matthew 24 and Luke 21. These written in answer to the disciples question... "WHEN shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of your coming?"
It's all about WHEN. The "when" is unknowable even if one believes with all their heart it has to be soon. The faithful forget that speculation on the future is always just that. It is not fact. It is not how it will be and all speculation over the past 2000 years as to "when", to date has been 100% wrong.

Far too many Pastor types base their entire ministry on the imminent return of Jesus. One would be hard pressed to find the actual word "Jesus" in any other context in their sermons, articles and pronouncements.

It's all about the second coming and it's all about SOON for the most rabid and judgmental COG splinters. Those who question the wisdom of this mistaken approach to life become the scoffers who nip at the heels of the saints.
"...there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation,"
But running that risk, and with all due respect to the sincere seeker of Biblical truth, I predict that Jesus will not be returning any time soon.

Why not? Because in the very predictions of Jesus lie the fact that he was himself wrong about them. Jesus put a time limit in the context of his own predictions that has long since passed no matter how apologists endeavor to resurrect his prophecies for a yet future time.



"Verily I say unto you", This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled" (Matthew 24:34).
We simply have to admit, at face value, Jesus was wrong and not only DID that generation pass away, but so have countless others that followed. Jesus has not been misunderstood in this statement. He was wrong. Sincere not doubt and it simply will not go into the bible-reader mind that this might be the simple truth of the matter. There has to be another explanation that makes Jesus right in this perspective not 2000 years past.


"This generation" was not the one Jesus was talking TO, but rather the generation that "these things" would begin to happen IN. Whew! It's in the far future and means a future society when all these signs accelerate and come to a crashing finale ending with the Second Coming.

We now have wiggle room to account for the fact that Jesus has not returned yet. Jesus wasn't mistaken about his own times, he was referring to another time.

Gleason Archer, who offers this solutions to the "Jesus didn't mean it would be in his time," notes accurately what we all know 2000 years later.

"Obviously these apocalyptic scenes and earth-shaking events did not take place within the generation of those who heard Christ's Olivet discourse. Therefore Jesus could not have been referring to his immediate audience when He made this prediction..." (Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, pg 338).

Archer has to say this as he cannot possibly entertain the idea that Jesus was himself wrong in his perceptions of the times in which he lived and his role in those times. Later in the Gospels, authors would lower the expectations of the early Church, who thought Jesus meant them by reminding them late in the game when it was obvious Jesus wasn't coming any time soon that "a day with the Lord is as a thousand years. Sorry, we forgot to tell you that in the beginning." As long as one is incapable of thinking Jesus was himself wrong the Kingdom of God being just around the corner if he did his part, the doctrine of disappointments would have to be addressed as time went on.

And so we simply need to ask a very simple question. To whom was Jesus speaking? From the opening NT texts, it is obvious that the disciples, apostles and members of the church thought it meant THEM and did not get any hint of Jesus meaning anything other than THEM in THEIR time, which was short. The idea that Jesus would "build my Church" came decades after Jesus death when most were dead or dying of old age and yet the end did not come. Jesus never envisioned a Church that would follow decades and millennia after his death. Jesus life would always be lived and lost in the context of Judaism and the Synagogue.

But back to the original question. To whom was Jesus speaking when he said the words and to whom did he mean for it to apply? The answer is within the context, plain and simple.

"Take heed that no man deceive YOU." (Matt 24:4)
"...YOU shall hear of wars, and rumors of wars..." (Matt 24:6)
"Then shall they deliver YOU up to be afflicted..." (Matt 24:9)
"When YOU therefore shall see the the abomination of desolation..." (Matt 24:15)
"But pray YOU that your flight be not in the winter..." (Matt 24:20)
"Behold, I have told YOU before." (Matt 24:25)

The context in which Jesus spoke was his own. The "you" that he was addressing was the group he was addressing then and the group to which all these things would happen for, and soon. Jesus was telling those disciples that these things would happen in their time. Jesus made a mistake in his perceptions.
In our time, Christians read the same words and see the "ye" and "you" as "me" and "us" just as the original disciples would have. The only difference is that the disciples actually were disappointed and this generation has yet to realize their own disappointment to come.

The proof that Jesus himself meant the people he was talking to is found in the fact that the "this generation" comment is actually the tale end of a much larger, often overlooked quote taken in it's entirety.

"So likewise YE when YE shall SEE ALL these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto YOU, THIS generation shall not pass, till ALL these things be fulfilled." (Matt 24:33-24 emphasis mine)

There is no reason to twist the words of Jesus to mean more than they were ever intended to mean. A scripture can never mean what it never meant. The early disciples and infant Church, knew it meant them and we see the gradual deterioration of their personal confidence in the immediacy of the Second Coming promise throughout the NT.

I Thessalonians 4:15-17 "...For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout...Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air..." Meaning...some would die, but not us who tell you this. Jesus still means us.

I Corinthians 15:51,52 "...We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump..." Meaning...you will die, but we won't but it all works out...Jesus still meant us.

Romans 13:11-12 "And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand..." Meaning...we had some doubts, but now we know it's almost here. Jesus still meant us.

James 5:8 "Be ye also patient; establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh." Meaning...impatience was growing, hang in there. Jesus still meant us.

I John 2:18 "Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time." Meaning...Jesus still meant us.

I Peter 4:7 "But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer."

Revelation 22:20 "He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly...."Meaning...ok, it's been about 60 years, but Jesus still means us.
Obviously, everyone of these quoted hopes and statements were wrong. Jesus did not return for them and to date has not returned for anyone. Paul and the early church who wrote in his name was just as wrong as the many COG prophetic types are wrong in this time. And it is based on the fact that Jesus himself was wrong which I know most Christians can never come to admit. For Paul it becomes....

" I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." Meaning...Ok, I give up, Jesus didn't mean us, or at least not me. I was wrong. 2 Timothy 4:8-9



...and at best, this will also become the reality for those alive today seeing the imminent return of Jesus in every newspaper and on every turn of the dial in this dangerous and contentious world of ours.

I'm not scoffing. Being accused of scoffing was a label for those in the early Church. The disciples expected Jesus return within days of his death and when they met him in Galilee, even doubted that. Its what you say to those that are becoming disillusioned but the others know that the return is still in their lifetime for sure. Scoffers were undermining the confidence of the early followers and disciples of Jesus. An observation is not scoffing.

Observations are based on the passage of millennia. It's a 2000 year old observation. To motivate with fear, false prophetic fulfillment's of non- prophecies, and imagined prophetic accuracy on topics anyone could speculate somewhat accurately about, is simply foolishness and makes the Church, in any form look stupid and ignorant. Jesus said his generation would not pass until the Son of Man be come. He was wrong.

So bent on not allowing the member to even remotely entertain the idea that Jesus was wrong, Paul was wrong and the Church is wrong , it was prudent to shift the blame for doubt to the member and thinker and away from the clergy, and thus we have...

2 Peter 3:3 "Knowing this first, (meaning---we forgot to add this apologetic) that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. 5 For this they willingly are ignorant of....."

Obviously, the Church took Jesus words literally for them and not for some future generation. But still Jesus doesn't return to them. This shifts the problem to the scoffers, doubters and those that misunderstood Jesus and not the Church who needs to keep the hope of imminent return going like a carrot before the horse. The Church never entertained until they had to, the idea that Jesus didn't mean what he said about soon. It also implies that this doubt is deliberate and calculated. It can never just be doubt based on evidence and time just going on without any evidence of Jesus return. Even with the temple gone and the Romans more in power than ever, He didn't return. It must have felt for them then as one might say today. "If Jesus didn't return for the Holocaust, what will it take."

The "scoffers will come" scripture was added when it was obvious to the Church that people could and were scoffing. And what some consider scoffing is merely noting that the thing spoken is not so. It's not evil, it's just stating the obvious and putting, in this case, the church on the spot to explain its continued use of imminent return going long. It also lends credibility to Jesus mournful cry at the end of his life..."my God, my God...why have you forsaken me." I expect Jesus really meant that. It was a real shock not to have had things work out as one had supposed. Jesus had done his part. He had pushed the Romans right up to the edge and himself, right up to execution...and still, God did not intervene, sweep the Romans from the earth and set up the Kingdom. Only after Jesus actually died did the followers of Jesus have to rethink it all.

I know... and expect it to be said, "you'll think differently when Jesus returns, or you find yourself in hell with lots of time to rethink your position." I speak in the hope that the average Christian church member won't be motivated and won't tolerate pastors who use the fear of living on this planet to promote their own misguided agendas and speculations. One does not have to see the world only through the eyes of those that speculate on how things are or will be because frankly they don't and can't know.


Dennis C. Diehl
DenniscDiehl@aol.com

"There is Nothing Worthwhile Out There In Space Worth Exploring"




An Armstrongite on Yahoo is not happy with the U.S. spending money on exploring space.  "There is nothing out there worthwhile"  Besides, "once we are spirit beings we will have plenty of time to explore space."  More magical thinking!  Once they become 'god' imagine what a hellish world these people would be in charge of! 



 I am sorry to say that I am in complete disagreement with you on this!! This business in space is the most expensive bunch of toys that this country could have ever come up with!! Billions of dollars in total waste. There is absolutely nothing of any value in being out there at this time in our human state! It all started with our trying to prove to Russia that we were better than them. All of those billions could have been used for good use instead of being a total waste,---and instrumental in  helping to destroy our economy!! We will have plenty of time to explore space when we become spirit beings!

Ambassador Reports In New Format


You can now read the Ambassador Reports in an easy reading format through FlippingBooks.  It also works great on your cell phone.  Ambassador Reports was the original source for exposing the underbelly of Armstrongism.  That tradition carries on today with countless blogs, web sites, and books.  The Internet has effectively opened Armstrongism wide open for all the world to see. The world is getting to witness the disintegration of the Churches of God.





More to Philadelphia Church of God Family Horror Story


On November 18th, 2010 The Painful Truth web site posted a letter from a man who's niece had been thrown out on the street by her parents, members of Gerald Flurry's cult, The Philadelphia Church of God.

Philadelphia Church of God Parents Abandon Minor-Aged Daughter
When my 17 year-old niece told her parents she no longer wanted to participate in the Philadelphia Church of God, her cult-member parents abandoned her to the streets. “God’s Will,” her mother said.
For some time, my niece has been disillusioned by the Philadelphia Church of God. Her first awakening occurred when she asked her parents if she could stay with a non-cult member relative who lives on the East Coast, (that would be my wife and me), for two weeks, as part of her summer vacation. A boy her age, (a non cult member), who was enrolled in an accelerated program at school studying to become a doctor, was staying with us. My niece particularly wanted to meet this boy because she is also interested in studying medicine. The relative, that would be me and my wife, planned on taking the boy and my niece to see NYC and the NJ shore. My niece’s parents adamantly refused to let her visit the us. My niece’s “God ordained head of the household father,” who had been barred from practicing nursing in several States for violations, (I believe he showed up at the care facility in which he was employed, intoxicated. First, he was suspended for 2 years, then he had his license revoked permanently), especially wouldn’t even hear of the idea. My niece became distraught. Instead of letting their daughter enjoy her summer vacation with a like-minded teenager pursuing a career in medicine, her parents forced her to stay at home in the company of another girl from the Philadelphia Church of God. My niece says this cult member spent most of the time on her cell phone, bragging about having a three-way with two Mexican boys.
Another important event influencing my niece to leave the Philadelphia Church of God occurred while she was attending the Philadelphia Church of God youth camp in Edmonton, OK. Camp organizers forced my niece to play soccer in the heat, even though she had high fever. When she returned home, she had puss running out of her ears, and was deathly sick for two weeks afterwards. PCOG believes in relying on God’s faith to heal. Philadelphia Church of God “ministers,” camp organizers, and her parents refused to treat her medically.  The rest of the story is here: Horror Stories, How Bad Was It?

The follow up to this story is here: Wrecked Family: Part 1

After spending $2,000 on rescuing my niece from the streets after her PCOG parents abandoned her, she no longer talks to us, unless the topic of conversation is about money. I believe PCOG intimated her parents, threatening them with “disfellowship,” unless they stopped their daughter from telling us about PCOG. Perhaps PCOG read her story posted on this website.

As far as I know, my niece is back “dating” the younger, classmate boy referenced in my first story. Side note: According to my niece, her PCOG mother accused this non-cult member boy of statutory rape, confronting him in the hallway of her daughter’s public high school. My niece is actually almost a year older than him.

Ysrayl Hawkins: Armstrongism Weirdest Splinter Cult Leader

Click to enlarge

Armstrongism has produced some theological morons over the years, but none as weird as Yisrayl Hawkins, the convicted felon in charge of The House of Yahweh, in Abeline Texas.  Yisrayl has declared himself one of he two witnesses.

Read about this amazing man of god in his own words (warning-a barf bag may be necessary)

The man named Yisrayl, the one whom Yahshua Messiah and Mosheh testified would bear witness, teaching that Perfect Government based upon Perfect Laws, would be hidden through Yahweh's actions so that he would not be assassinated as a child by Yahweh's enemies.

Years ago, during the worst times of the Great Depression, a baby boy was born to a family in Oklahoma named Hawkins. At the time, these people were living in what was known in those days as the Dust Bowl. Due to severe droughts after World War I, that part of Oklahoma was a dry, desolate place, with poor people.

In that desolate area, a son was born to a family named Hawkins. Although the child's mother had a feeling this child was special, biblically, for some reason, she and her husband named the little boy Buffalo Bill Hawkins. The reason the child was named Buffalo Bill is a miracle in itself.

The man and his wife had an older son who was only eleven months old when the new baby was born on August 28, 1934. The father and mother were discussing what to name the new baby when out of the eleven month old child came the words "Buffalo Bill." They were amazed and all agreed that he had clearly said the name, Buffalo Bill.
 The parents did not understand how the child could suddenly say these words so clearly, but thought it must be coming from a Higher Power. Up until that time the eleven month old could only babble a few words. Yet, he said this name, Buffalo Bill, so clearly that everyone in the room understood. Thinking that a Higher Power spoke through the mouth of this eleven month old child, they named the baby Buffalo Bill Hawkins.
They had no idea that they or their newborn son started the fulfillment of Prophecy.
To most, the name Buffalo Bill Hawkins has no Scriptural or Prophetic meaning. It was the name of a famous showman. This was a part of Yahweh's Plan to hide the one man who would bear witness and teach that Perfect Government based upon Perfect Laws.

In the name Buffalo Bill Hawkins, the English word or name buffalo actually traces back to a Hebrew word written in the Holy Scriptures. A Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament by Julius Furst, page 1454, shows that in the original Hebrew Holy Scriptures, the Hebrew root word ta and its derivatives means a wild ox or a buffalo. This same Hebrew word ta, which Dr. Furst shows to mean buffalo is also listed on page 1641 of Volume 2 of the Hebrew-Aramaic-English Dictionary by Marcus Jastrow, which shows this word also means Yahash was kept hidden in the compartments of The House of Yahweh.

The name Yahash that Dr. Jastrow says is part of the meaning of the same Hebrew word ta that Dr. Furst said was translated buffalo in some Scriptures, is listed on page 375 of The Lexicon in Veteris Testamenti Libros by Koehler and Baumgartner, which shows this word or name is a compound word that combined the name Yah, the syllabic form of the Name Yahweh; and the Hebrew word owash. The Hebrew word owash that became the second part of the word or name Yahash is listed on page 691 of the Lexicon in Veteris Testamenti Libros by Koehler and Baumgartner, which shows this word means to restore.

What the Hebrew word ta that is translated buffalo actually means is: Yahweh hid him...in order to restore The House of Yahweh.

The name or word Bill that appears in the name Buffalo Bill Hawkins, when the English vowel I is removed, shows in the original phonetic Hebrew the Prophets and Apostles wrote and spoke to be a form of the Hebrew name Abel. This is shown on page 13 of A Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament by Julius Furst.

The word Hawkins in the name Buffalo Bill Hawkins, once the vowels are removed, and the phonetic letters of this name are reverted to phonetic original Hebrew, is listed on page 287 of the Students' Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary by Alexander Harkavy, which shows this word means a priest.

Without knowing it, by naming their child Buffalo Bill Hawkins, as suggested by his older brother, this man's parents gave him a name that means: He was hidden in order to restore The House of Yahweh at Abel and the Priesthood

.Psalms 27:5—
In the time of trouble You will hide me in Your Pavilion; in Your House in the Secret Place at Abel, You will hide me! You will set me high upon a rock! 

By the very name this man's parents gave him in order to hide him from his enemies, he also showed what he would do when he grew up. 


Not only is Yisrayl spoken of in the Bible but the Koran legitimizes this amazing man. 

The Qur'an
There is yet one more prophecy, found in the Qur'an, that we would like to bring to your attention.
Notice the following excerpts from The Meaning Of The Holy Qur'an by Abdullah Yusuf Ali, Amana Publications 8th Edition Revised Translation, Commentary and Newly Compiled Comprehensive Index, page 1586.
q1

Now I want you to carefully notice the messenger that sounds this warning as shown in the Qur'an.
The Name of the Caller, trumpeter, messenger is Yisrayl (Israyl) (Israfil).
q2
q3
This Prophecy agrees with the Holy Scriptures of Yahweh. Yahweh says the Messenger who brings this Prophecy is named by Yahweh. His name according to all Prophets, in all languages, is Yisrayl.]


This false prophet also has several failed prophecies just like Herbert  Armstrong:

September 12, 2006- Hawkins announced in the "House of Yahweh" newsletter (February 2006) that nuclear war would start September 12, 2006.[10] He claimed it is a part of the HoY's commission to warn the nations and the people of the world. Hawkins was interviewed on the Channel 4 web show "thisisaknife" about his apocalyptic predictions. Among other things, he claimed that Abilene, Texas would be saved from the impending destruction and invited the show's presenter to join him there so he would be safe.
June 12, 2007- Hawkins amended his prediction to state that a nuclear war was only conceived on September 12, 2006, and that it would follow the natural birth cycle of a woman, finally being "born" nine months later on June 12, 2007. On May 7, 2007 a new counter was put up on his website, counting down to the June 12 date when supposedly, the "Nuclear Baby" (conceived September 12) would be born.
Whether the entire nuclear event was to take place on that date, or in the months leading up to was never made clear. He also stated that by four months after June 12, October 13, 2007, four-fifths or 80% of the human race would be dead from nuclear war.
June 12, 2008- [11] Most recently, he has stated the nuclear war would begin on Thursday June 12, 2008. Since the passing of this date without incident, Hawkins has yet to predict another date for a nuclear war.


World Religious News had this  about him.  I can't figure out if this felon is still in jail or not.  Reading his cult's web site you would think he was there in Texas.  But then we also need to remember that Mark Armstrong is still promoting his dad as if he were still alive.  There is money and control to made with a name!

House of Yahweh's Hawkins sentenced to 30 years for sexual assault
By Daralyn Schoenewald ("Abilene Reporter News," December 10, 2008)
Abilene, USA - A House of Yahweh elder found guilty in October of aggravated sexual assault of a child was sentenced Wednesday by a judge to 30 years in prison.

Yedidiyah Hawkins, 41, used a vaginal speculum — a medical instrument used by gynecologists — to perform an examination on his then 11-year-old stepdaughter in January 2005.

Hawkins told the girl that he wanted to check her for cervical cancer, though he has no medical training, testimony at the trial showed.

Lisa Thornton, a former House of Yahweh member, testified that Hawkins was worried the girl was no longer a virgin.

Aggravated sexual assault of a child is a first-degree felony, and Hawkins could have received life in prison.

The gallery of the courtroom, which seats 48, was full, and more than 10 people — not including members of the media — were forced to stand.

Other witnesses for the defense testified Wednesday during the sentencing phase that they never saw Hawkins abuse any of his 11 children. Several of the character witnesses became emotional, teary even, when pleading for leniency for Hawkins.

“We need him,” Erica Hawkins, a 16-year-old member of the House of Yahweh, told 42nd District Court Judge John Weeks.

“I know and believe him to be innocent. What he’s been through is more than anyone should ever have to go through. He’s innocent. He would never do anything like that,” former sect member Meleana Segura said.

Dressed in a standard-issue orange jumpsuit, Hawkins occasionally appeared agitated during the proceedings and was frequently jotting notes to his attorneys. One of his two Dallas-based attorneys, John Read, mispronounced Hawkins’ first name more than 30 times, leading one witness to correct him.

Read was pronouncing it “Yed-uh-DYE-uh,” which he said was “close enough” to the correct pronunciation of “Yeh-DID-ee-uh.”

Read seemed derisive when prosecutor Shane Deel referred to Hawkins by only his last name.

“Which Hawkins are you referring to?” Read asked, adding that there were a “lot of Hawkinses around here.”

Read and second defense attorney C. Tony Wright vociferously objected to Deel entering into evidence letters that Hawkins had sent to friends and family while incarcerated in the Taylor County Jail.

Jail administrator Lynn Franklin testified that all inmate correspondence is regularly inspected and photocopied by jail staff, and inmates are supposed to be aware that their mail is checked.

Read and Wright objected, alleging that the letters had been illegally seized by the jail staff. Weeks overruled the objection, and the letters were admitted. Later during closing arguments, Deel read portions of the letters. The letters showed a growing obsession with a young House of Yahweh member, whom Deel said Hawkins had chosen as his fifth bride.

“He not only abused his stepdaughter with the speculum he bought from a sex toy Web site, he’s got an eye on another girl. He’s got four wives, all on welfare because he doesn’t support them, and he wants to add the girl,” Deel said, pushing for a lengthier sentence than the minimum of five years that character witnesses and the defense wanted. “He was the only father the victim ever knew.”

Wright said in his closing arguments that Hawkins is a man who turned a troubled childhood into a useful adulthood. Deel, Wright said, is trying to smear Hawkins because of his religious beliefs.

“He is capable of doing good and deserves a sentence on the low end of the guideline. A very appropriate sentence would be five to six years,” Wright said.

Hawkins showed little emotion as Weeks announced the sentence. He still faces several other charges, including aggravated perjury, indecency with a child, engaging in organized criminal activity and bigamy. The cases will remain pending until Hawkins has exhausted all appeals on this case, according to the Callahan County district attorney’s office, which prosecuted the case.


Thursday, May 19, 2011

48 Hours Left Before the End-times Hits May 21, 6:00 p.m.







There is a little over 48 hours left before you can kiss your a....family goodbye.  Do you have your Petra Pack ready?  


Harold Camping has predicted the beginning of the end-times on Saturday, May 21st at 6:00 p.m. exactly..  He and his little band of idiots will be raptured off to heaven while Flurry and his little band of idiots will still be waiting in Edmond.


People have sold their houses, their businesses and left families in order to prepare for this great day.  What is going to happen at 6:05 p.m. Saturday night when they are still sitting on their sofa's? Will Jesus have delayed his coming yet again because people just were NOT ready?


That is what HWA blamed the church for in 1972 when the world did not end according to his plan.  It was the membership's fault because they were not ready!  Gerald Flurry, the certified dingbat Armstrongite in Edmond, OK has predicted the end-times several times now.  They are still parked on their sorry asses in Oklahoma.  Rod Meredith has made so many predictions over the decades that no one pays attention to his silliness anymore.  Well, may Bob Thiel does.  But even Thiel has made his own silly predictions.  2012 anyone?


Harold is just one more in a long line of ministers who are delusional liars.  Sunday, May 22 will prove him wrong.  Camping is a false prophet just like Armstrong, Meredith, Hoeh, Blackwell, Flurry, Cox, Pack, Weinland, and Steven's.


Below are just a few of HWA's and Meredith's false prophecies:


1964 Coworkers letter: "only 7 years before H-bomb warfare breaks out"

Feb 1965: by Meredith: "documented proof Hitler did not die in his bunker"

Nov 30, 1963, coworkers letter: "we have only eight years to finish the Work"; Nov 22, 1963, coworkers letter: "in eight years all of our ministers will be silenced" - religious persecution on WWCG

13 Dec 1965, HWA in co-workers letter: "We are in the grand smash climax - only 6 years left."

1959 PT: "Doom for US within 10-15 years

1934 PT: "Christ will return in 1936

1940 PT: "Christ will come after 3.5 years of tribulation in October 43

 1960's PT repeatedly claimed 1972 would be the year of Christ's coming

 after 1969: HWA claimed it would be 1975

Gerald Waterhouse continually: if HWA died, God would destroy the world

through 1960's/70's until 1978 in coworkers letters: he & GTA will be two witnesses Zerubbabel and Joshua

January 1955 PT: hoeh: "We face a national catastrophe by 1975.. . we will be totally consumed and carried away captive to other nations as slaves within twenty years." No.

"Why has God called so many construction workers, plumbers and electricians into HIS Church? It is because we are going to build a city for Him in Petra during the three and a half years the Church is protected from Tribulation." - Carn Catherwood at Feast sites as late as the late 1980s.

If Herbert Armstrong dies before the Coming of Christ, he will sleep until the Coming and then be the top ruler of the world under only Christ himself.

It was Hoeh's 1950s "calculations in that ludicrous "Compendium" which convinced him, and, for at least 15 years, Herbert, that Christ would return in 1975 and that the three and a half years of Tribulation would therefore start at Passover 1972.    

1982 Coworkers letter: (for those who claim he mellowed with the years) "I hope to arrange for the use of Petra as a possible refuge or place of safety during the Great Tribulation when I see King Hussein. Pray for this please."      


For more of Herbert W Armstrong's failed prophecies click on this link:

How Proud Should We Be of William Miller?


Armstrongism has always loved to connect it's self to William Miller as proof we are in a continual chain of Sabbath keepers.  But, just how proud should we be of our association with Miller?  The It's OK Not to be a Seventh Day Adventist web site has several postings on it's sidebar from newspapers that had articles about Miller and his cult in the late 1800's.  Like Armstrongism, Millerism is riddled with one failed prophecy after another.  People have died because of Millerite teachings just as they have under Armstrongism.

Instead of bragging about our connection to him we should have been examining what he said and taught.  We should have been reading about how people sold their homes, farms and personal belongings because of his rantings so that our own people would not have done the same thing in 1969-1972. Maybe then we would have been more willing to see the lies and false prophecies that emanated from Herbert Armstrong, Rod Meredith, Herman  Hoeh, Dean Blackwell and Gerald Waterhouse.

How many more need to die in Armstrongism before people finally wake up?

Check out It's OK Not to be Seventh Day Adventist  for more of these articles.

They have also published a book that details the Millerite movement that Armstrongism broke off from.  One interesting thing about the book is the cover. 


It shows someone trying to sew the Temple curtain back together again.  That is exactly what Armstrongism tries to do day in and day out.  Sew the curtain back together by forcing the law on humanity.  It's not gonna work bubba!



Click on article to enlarge


Other Pasadena Locations

Below is an idea of how Pasadena has been changing over the years.  For those that made the walk from the campus to the Salt Shaker you passed by this area.  It is the old Amtrack train station on Raymond.  Now it is a great restaurant (that is far too expensive and noisy for a quite night out) called La Grande Orange.  Surrounding it are hundreds of apartments and condos that cover the Gold Line Metro Rail tracks.

Click for larger pictures









This is looking towards where the Salt Shaker Restaurant used to be that was kept in business by Ambassador students over the decades.

The following are shots of the third construction project that sits where the Pasadena Mall originally was in the late 70's.  The mall was changed in the late 80's because it was so hideous, and then torn down in the 90's and replaced with shops that are covered by apartments and condos. 
A so called 'urban village' that only the uprising young urbanites can afford.





 Pasadena Convention Center being torn down and buildings replaced (new buildings are up)

 Looking towards the Main Library







Pasadena Convention Center in background

Demolition Ambassador East Campus



Below are pictures of the demolition of the old Ambassador Press building and Mail Processing Department area.  These pictures are four years old, so this is not new demolition.  There are also pictures of some of the new buildings rising on the East Campus.

Mail Processing where the roll up doors were
(Click for larger pictures)







Small parking lot between Accounting building and rear of Machine Maintenance


 Looking East towards the old Publishing area



Foreground is where the cabinet shop was.  Building in background is there the Office Facilitates 
parking lot was
Standing where the rear door of the cabinet shop was looking towards the old maintenance storage area.


These condo's are in the rear parking lot of the Transportation Department including the lot of the old printing press on the corner.

Entrance area to the old Accounting Department - building has since been torn down.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

UCG, the SDA's, COG7th Day and Sin City


One interesting thing about UCG that has been floating around for a while now involves UCG supposedly reaching out to the Seventh Day Adventists and the Church of God 7th Day.  There has always been a lot of bad blood between Armstrongism and our mother churches that we split from.  Many of the COG doctrines are similar to these two groups, but with Armstrong placing more emphasis on holy day observance.

Is UCG ready to chuck some of the more controversial elements of Armstrongism and make it's self look more legitimate in the eyes of our mother churches?

One thing UCG is distancing itself from is the end time freak show that seems to permeate the United States right now.  However, if UCG is ready to get in bed with the SDA's they might want to send some delegates to Las Vegas for the upcoming SDA Conference at the Cashman Center May 25-28th.

The SDA's and Armstrongites  have always looked upon the Catholic Church as the Great Whore of Babylon.  The title of the SDA conference is "Babylon Rising."  I can just picture three days of preaching about the Great Whore, and the Mark of the Beast (Sunday worship).  What a trip that will be in Sin City!





You’re Invited to Be a Part of ‘Babylon Rising’ This May
This May, a four-night event called Babylon Rising will take a new look at the age-old controversy between Christ and Satan. From May 25-28, It Is Written’s new speaker/director, Pastor John Bradshaw, will host a timely, interactive series live from the Cashman Center in Las Vegas.
These meetings will take full advantage of new technologies to reach as many people as possible. Anyone—anywhere—will be able to host the meetings via satellite or the Internet in their home, church or business. There will even be a way for viewers to get involved with the live event through Facebook and Twitter.
“Babylon Rising will look at current world events and answer the questions people are wrestling with today, by examining ancient prophecies that have long been neglected,” said Bradshaw of the series.

What Is Babylon?
In the Bible, we read about a power that rose up in rebellion, defied divinity and conquered kingdoms and nations. Babylon was the greatest kingdom on the face of the earth, and rose to such prominence in all areas of life that it was able to impose its dominance on the world.
The Bible says that in the last days of this planet’s history, a revived Babylon will again be the dominant force in the world, and will again impose itself on a planet searching for solutions to pressing problems. “This is all so relevant because…history repeats,” said Bradshaw.
Babylon Rising will not only look at the issues in the world today—religiously, politically, socially and environmentally—but it will also see the cosmic connection between a reeling planet and a rising Babylon.




UCG Council of Elders: Kubik and Dean Replaced by Elliot and Ward

Kubik

Elliot



Dean
Ward




The United Church of God has finished its annual conference. Kubik and Dean are no longer on the council.  John Elliot has replaced Kubik.  Donald Ward will be replacing Aaron Dean starting July 1st. In the meantime Roc Corbett will be filling Dean's shoes till Ward takes over.

Once again we get to see the same old guard ruling over the members.  When will they ever bring new blood in?  Don Ward has so much baggage attached to his name that many UCG members are not pleased.

Then there is this tidbit about all the ministry standing around singing "Thank the Lord" at the close of the last day  is a creepy one to envision.  After losing close to 50% of their elders and ministers, they are getting all clappy happy.

Finally, to close this year’s general conference, Dan Salcedo, an elder from Southern California, led everyone in a closing hymn: “Thank You Lord.” The closing prayer was offered to God the Father by long-time pastor, Vernon Hargrove.

UCG's new Council of Elders Board is as follows:

  • Gary Antion
  • Scott Ashley
  • Bob Berendt
  • Bill Bradford
  • Roc Corbett (On July 1, 2011, Donald Ward will take Roc Corbett’s seat.)
  • Bill Eddington
  • John Elliott
  • Roy Holladay
  • Darris McNeely
  • Melvin Rhodes (chairman)
  • Mario Seiglie
  • Robin Webber