Exposing the underbelly of Armstrongism in all of its wacky glory! Nothing you read here is made up. What you read here is the up to date face of Herbert W Armstrong's legacy. It's the gritty and dirty behind the scenes look at Armstrongism as you have never seen it before!
With all the new crazy self-appointed Chief Overseers, Apostles, Prophets, Pharisees, legalists, and outright liars leading various Churches of God today, it is important to hold these agents of deception accountable.
Herbert Armstrong's Tangled Web of Corrupt Leaders
Gerald Weston had a member update on June 24 and mentioned how Australia rejected a TV sermon by McNair, how Canada has a new law on gender expression and how Microsoft Word is telling them to stop using "mankind" and instead use "humankind." Weston does not see the logic in that and decries it a sign of the end times and further intense persecution of the only true church. Everyone is out to persecution Living Church of God and Bob Thiel. Please, everyone, give them a break! They and they alone are God's most highly favored. God forbid if they have to treat all people with some human decency regardless of who they are.
This has been a busy week here in Charlotte. Mr. Ames and I recorded portions for an upcoming Tomorrow’s World telecast as a tribute to Dr. Meredith. We also recorded the opening and closing sections for the Behind the Work festival film. We have four Tomorrow’s WorldPresentations scheduled for this weekend. Here in the U.S. we have Rolla, Missouri and Salisbury, Maryland. In Canada we have Windsor, Ontario and Grand Prairie, Alberta. We held a Living University Board of Regents meeting in which Dr. Germano presented me with a beautiful gavel and block set to mark the transition of leadership. Mr. Rod McNair’s excellent upcoming telecast on the Miracle of Dunkirk has been preliminarily rejected in Australia because Dr. Meredith’s booklet, Who Controls the Weather?, did not take into account global warming!Bill C-16 recently received Royal Assent in Canada, adding gender expression to the Human Rights Act. It supposedly gives protection to the transgender community by, among other things, making improper pronoun usage a prosecutable offense. I recently noticed using MS Word that it marked the word “mankind” and suggested substituting the word “humankind.” In other words, MS Word is now in the business of determining which words are politically correct and which are not. Look for far more intrusion into our everyday lives from these language police. I mention these examples to show how rapidly the noose is closing in as the “illiberal left” is taking control of a complacent world. We no longer have to wonder how persecution will come to the Church. Some good news is that this weekend the Tomorrow’s World program begins airing on Angel One at an additional time, 8:30 p.m. on Saturdays. This is additional nationwide exposure and will be a new Saturday evening audience for us.—Gerald Weston
Almost-arrested, Elisha, Elijah Thiel has a new sermon up, preached from his wing back chair and his usual crooked item on display, this time his wall. Is there ANYTHING straight around this guy? Really Bob!
This time he is preaching about the "ceremonies" that the improperly named "continuing" Church of God uses. What his sermon is ultimately about his continual quest to PROVE to all of us that he was anointed to be a Church of God leader. Gaylon Bonjour has emphatically denied he had any such thing in mind when he asked a double blessing on the self-appointed one.
What type of ceremonies does the Continuing Church of God have? What does the Bible teach about marriage, funerals, baptism, blessing of little children, healing/exorcism, and anointing of church leaders? Are related ceremonies detailed in the Bible? What about Passover? Dr, Thiel discusses ceremonies from the position of the Bible as well as practices in the early church, Radio/Worldwide Church of God, and the Continuing Church of God. This video is in English with simultaneous translation into Serbian.
If you have the stomach, just watch a few minutes of this pathetic mess:
Posted today regarding the sermon by Rod McNair at LCG services earlier today:
With all these new revelations on the Internet, and all the concern about whether LCG wants to oppress its members rather than help them flourish as Christians, what would you guess Rod McNair chose as the topic of his sermon in Charlotte today?
You guessed it. Government. McNair titled his sermon, “Peter and the Key Man Principle.”
McNair’s sermon revealed again just how sheltered and ignorant he really is. For example, he mentioned “key man insurance” as a proof that even people outside the church understand the importance of a strong leader. McNair seemed unaware that in its real world application, “key man insurance” is rarely taken out on replaceable CEOs, but much more often taken out on creatives or salesmen who make money for the CEO. In the real world, servant leaders not only value their subordinates but even put their money on it, a concept LCG leadership seems unable to understand.
You could see the political wheels turning in McNair’s head as he explained how, though Peter was the key apostle, Christ had a small “inner circle” of three or four apostles with whom he worked more closely than the other eight or nine. I can imagine the politicking going on in LCG right now to be one of Gerald Weston’s favorite “inner circle” people even as he pushes some COE members and HQ managers out of favor.
The main point of McNair’s sermon, though he wouldn’t have put it this way, was that twelve apostles with the Holy Spirit could not have functioned in harmony without an org chart that put one as the top man. In making his point, McNair completely screwed up HWA’s old explanation as to how both Peter and Paul could have been “top man” at the same time, a point that would have argued in favor of the Holy Spirit and against the need for an org chart. McNair also asserted that God needs to work through men with “brash” human spirits and that the Holy Spirit isn’t enough. Translation: don’t complain if your minister is an a$$h0le, because God hates the meek and favors the creeps, and can lead through a creep more easily than through a meek Christian.
McNair and his LCG peers want you to judge a leader by his position in the leadership. The last thing LCG wants you to do is use Jesus Christ’s own standard, as given in Matthew 7, verses 15 through 20:
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”
I guess the apostle John was wrong when he wrote in John 13:35, “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” The LCG version of this verse is, “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you obey the man in charge.” It’s the “Nuremberg Defense” made into a religion.
In short, it was just like a typical RCM sermon on government. It appears that LCG isn’t going to change much under a Weston administration.
After Living Church of God sent the Scarboroughs the pathetic release of claims (see the previous posting) the Scarboroughs sought out an attorney. After reading the release form, it should be quite obvious that no lawyer would have ever let a client sign such a release as that. The letter below was sent by the Scarboroughs attorney in response to the release form.
If you notice the last paragraph of the letter, the Scarbroughs made it quite plain that they "would prefer to resolve this matter outside of court and are hopeful that Living Church will be agreeable to beginning discussions in furtherance of such goal."
LCG was written to over 40 times per the letter posted a few days ago and then they were sent a letter from the Scarboroughs attorney asking for "discussion" to work toward peaceful resolution. Instead of acting like the Christians they pretend to be, LCG made the decision to let the 7 day time period pass without a response. They could have PREVENTED THE WHOLE THING with discussion but they are so stiff-necked that they refused. It's inconceivable!
They are so short-sighted. Imagine how much bad PR LCG could have avoided.
It would be interesting to hear what LCG brethren will feel knowing that the entire lawsuit could have been so easily prevented?
LCG ministry has stated that they had insurance to cover this type of situation and I have heard from several ministers in LCG that that is true. What they don't want the members to realize is that the insurance has a HUGE deductible which they paid with tithe-payer money.
Can you imagine some poor LCG member who works his ass off to send in 10% of his money, thinking it's going to "preach the gospel" but in fact, it's paying insurance deductibles because the men at their headquarters have their heads so far up their asses that they can't be peacemakers (or grown-ups for that matter) and sit at a table for "discussion".
July 13, 2015
Living Church of God
P.O. Box 3810 Charlotte, NC 28227
Re: Patrick & Elizabeth Scarborough Representation
To Whom It May Concern:
This letter serves as formal notification that Mr. Patrick Scarborough and Mrs. Elizabeth Scarborough (hereinafter referred collectively as “the Scarboroughs”) have retained the Law Office of Nesmith & Rucker, LLP with regards to defamatory statements made against them by several agents of Living Church of God (hereinafter “Living Church”).
On or around September 20, 2014 during a church service at the Living Church in Charlotte, North Carolina there were several defamatory statements made about the Scarboroughs. The statements made specifically about the Scarboroughs were made during the announcements portion of the service by Mr. Bob League. These statements were made to communicate to the congregation that the Scarboroughs were what the Living Church terms as “marked” and were of such vile and loathsome character as not to be associated with by other members of the congregation. Members of the congregation reached out to the Scarboroughs during the church service making inquire about what had caused them to be “marked”. Thus, from the statements made during this service, it was clear that the statements were of and concerning the Scarboroughs.
In the accompanying sermonette on that same day that it was announced the Scarboroughs were “marked”, the sermonette was in its entirety articulating distinctions of congregation members that had discontinued coming to the Living Church, those “disfellowshiped”, those suspended, and those “marked” or “noted”. The speaker spent sufficient time explaining that members marked were done for the protection of the congregation because this designation “denotes the most severe of all” the categories. The speaker explained, using Biblical Scripture to support his position, that those members “marked” must be brought up by name because those persons cause discord and congregation members were to be put on notice so that they would not be at risk of following their “sinful” ways. While the speaker indicated that the details of why the member was badged with such “marking” were not disclosed to ensure slanderous statements were not made, the actualdesignation of this “marking” and statements made about the Scarboroughs at the time of the marking were, in fact, slanderous.
The accompanying sermon made by Mr. Rod McNair during this same service made many references to what can occur if the congregation associates with those that are “evil”, “liars” or those against the ministry and why it was deemed necessary to “get rid” of those persons or what the Living Church calls as “disfellowship.” This accompanying sermon to the defamatory statements previously made about the Scarboroughs earlier in the service, further painted an overall sentiment that the Scarboroughs were of vile character and should not be associated with by persons of the congregation. Mr. McNair indicated that former members of the congregation who were “put out” of the church were in risk of being “herded into concentration camps andtortured.”
Pursuant to North Carolina law, a Plaintiff has a cause of action for defamation by showing that the defendant: 1) made false, defamatory statements of or concerning the plaintiff; 2.) which were published to a third person; and 3.) causing injury to the plaintiff’s reputation. The statements made by agents of your church were defamatory and would constitute as slander per se in which the Scarboroughs would not have to prove special damages or malice as it is presumed based on the nature of your defamatory statements.
If this case is litigated, the Scarboroughs will be able to provide evidence that includes but is not limited to: testimony from members of your congregation that heard the defamatory statements; corroborating testimony that the Scarboroughs were “marked” based on a letter sent from your international headquarters written by Mr. Bob League and Mr. Rob McNair; Mr. Scarborough’s unique knowledge of the workings of Living Church based on him working in the church a history of defamatory statements made against former congregation members; and previous judgments won against you in a court of law for these same types of defamatory statements. If this case is litigated the Scarboroughs will likely prevail and be awarded a substantial judgment. The Scarboroughs will also seek attorney’s fees and punitive damages.
The Scarboroughs would prefer to resolve this matter outside of court and is hopeful that Living Church will be agreeable to beginning discussions in furtherance of such goal. We expect to receive your response on how you wish to proceed with this matter in seven (7) days from the date of this correspondence. If we do not hear from you by this time we will see your lack of response as an unwillingness to resolve this out of court and will initiate civil action in the Superior Court of Mecklenburg County. This letter is formal notice that any communication you have regarding this matter should not be directed to the Scarboroughs but should be directed to our office. If you should have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact our office.
