COGWA Spending More Money to Keep Its Ministers Comfortable In Their Assumed Lifestyle Than It Does On A Gospel Message

All of those rebellious boys of Church of God a Worldwide Ass. thought they were hot stuff when they decided to apostatize from United Church of God.  For a while, they did pretty well considering they took a huge chunk of UCG's members and ministers with them along with a huge amount of income.  United Church of God has never recovered from the royal humiliation they received.

Now, it looks like COGWA is starting to have its own issues.  Its ministry and membership are aging and they have been incapable of drawing in new younger members that are money machines.   More money goes to pay for the privileged lifestyle of the ministry than it does to their "gospel" proclamation to the world.  43% of COWA's tithe money goes to pay the ministry.

Too lazy to branch out and make contact with world leaders and other movers and shakers, they resort to the internet to get their message out.  Even that is not working for them as they have one of the most boring web sites out there, except maybe for Bob Thiel's. Their concern for getting a message out is not too important, as they have an outside source that serves as its media department.

Britton Taylor, reporting on COGWA’s audit for the year ended December 31, 2018, wrote: “… income received for 2018 was just under $12.7 million – the highest in our history. This was a 6% increase over 2017, which was a strong year with income close to $12 million. Total expenses for 2018 and 2017 were about $11.8 million and $11.3 million respectively.”

So how is the money being spent?

Salaries and related expenses represented 43.8% of income. The ministry is elderly, so the rate of this expense will increase, in order to fund ministerial retirement pay and sickness benefits, and the recruitment of replacement ministers.

Public proclamation of the gospel, the focus of most ministries, amounted to $1,216,976 – which is 10.3% of annual income. This low percentage is due to its public proclamation being currently restricted to its website, Life, Hope & Truth – which is not as effective as the leadership had hoped.

Visitor numbers declined through 2018, so in January 2019 the media department (which is outsourced) was given the task of improving website visitor numbers and page views by refining its search engine optimization tactics, redesigning the website, adding and changing content, and other techniques to enhance its attraction.

Jim Franks goes on to complain that COGWA's message is not "attractive" to people in this day and age.

Jim Franks, writing in his September 2019 member letter, now recognizes that the content also needs to be attractive:

“… we are working hard at upgrading our Internet presence. For the past 18 months, our unique visitors to Life, Hope & Truth has leveled off at just under 500,000 per month. This is about half the number we were getting at our high point. We are investing resources to develop a strategy to increase our numbers. There are some technical things that we can do with the Internet, but we also realize the need for more compelling articles that get people’s attention and that proclaim the true gospel to a world that is spiritually starving.” Church of God News

Seriously?  When has the Church of God EVER proclaimed a "true gospel"?  It denies and mocks the one they claim to follow and places all of its emphasis on keeping the law and a pathetically disproven belief in British Israelism.  Jettison that belief and COGWA and the rest of Armstrongism falls apart.

COGWA is never going to amount to anything spectacular,  None of the COG's are today, either.  They are just mere shadows of the grand scheme they all try and imitate and fail miserably in doing so.

How would you rate your personal experience of the Worldwide Church of God in the Armstrong Era?

There is a new poll in the right-hand column under the revolving world map.

Cunning Self-Proclaimed COG Wanna-a-be Prophet Still trying to Prove He Is Legit

The great Bwana of Africa and deluded dreamer is once again trying to prove his self-appointment as a COG leader is the result of dreams.

09/03/19 p.m. Should any Church of God actually have the confirmed signs of Acts 2:17-18? 

The late Pastor General of the old Worldwide Church of God, Herbert W. Armstrong, basically said so in a 1981 sermon:

Joel 2:28-29 And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: (29) And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.
So there is a time coming when God will start pouring out His spirit on human beings. … Day of Pentecost, 3000 were baptized. Peter preached a sermon. They were pricked in their hearts. God began to draw them. God was now… Remember He said, “I will pour out of my spirit on all flesh.” All right, there’s a duality of that. (Armstrong HW. Building The Temple. Sermon, February 14, 1981)

Herbert W. Armstrong was correct about the time coming when God would pour out His Spirit as well the duality. There was a duality to what Peter preached in Acts 2–and that duality is for our current time! 

Do dreams and prophets have any place in the Christian Church today?  

Notice what the Apostle Peter taught: 

14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them,“Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. 15 For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16

 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

17 ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. 18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy.  (Acts 2:14-18)

We are in the last days.

Dreams and prophesy were expected for our day! In addition various fulfilled predictions and prayers, at least seven associated with the Continuing Church of God have had prophetic dreams which were later confirmed.

The Continuing Church of God is the only GCG-connected organization, and seemingly the only xWCOG-related organization, with so many of the confirmed signs of Acts 2:17-18. 

Would not that be expected of the most faithful remnant of the Philadelphian era in the last days?

Sadly the Church of God has been filled with hundreds of false prophets and outright liars over its 8 decades of existence. Never has a year gone by when there has not been some fool who has risen up in the church declaring himself a prophet, an Elijah or Elisha.  For 80 some years now every single one of them have been proven to be liars and frauds.

This has not stopped Bwana Elijah Elisha, Joshua, Amos, doubly blessed, self anointed, Bob Theil from self appointing himself as the end time Elijah, Elisha, and prophet for the end time church.  He seeks to prop up himself by declaring he has had dreams that prove he is the true prophet of God.

I can state for a fact that God did not appointed, anoint or give Thiel any vision in his dreams that sets him apart as a prophet.  He is a lair and a fraud.   He has bastardized the gospel message just as much as James Malm has. Why these men seek to whore themselves out to the law instead of following Jesus is beyond me. Sadly, their followers are being led into bondage instead of freedom.