PCG: Thinking About "The Work" Will Cure Your Discouragement

Steven Flurry has an article up in the Philadelphia Trumpet titled, You Can Conquer Discouragement!  So what could be the cause of all that discouragement and disappointment?  Could the headline of the next article be a cause of discouragement?  Can they really be this stupid?

• Commentary:  You Can Conquer Discouragement!
  God gives us the means.
• Commentary: DoYou Realize How Soon the World Could End?
  Events are moving far faster than most people grasp.
   
  So what is Little Stevie trying to get across?  It all revolves around money.  When you are depressed think about the "work."  That will solve all your problems!  Send your money in, it will make you happy to know you support the work.

  
  

  When you face discouragement, don’t let your mind dwell on the Jezebel obstacle in front of you. Get your mind on God and His work.

  The key to overcoming discouragement is to get our minds off ourselves and onto the power and might of God. Turn to God in humility, with prayer and fasting. Then get back to work. Concentrate on serving God and doing God’s work

  The cause of all that discouragement is this:
  
  

  Perhaps you’ve mulled some of those prophecies for years. Do you realize just how soon they could be full-blown reality?

  Are you ready? “[T]ake heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares,” Christ warned. “For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth” (Luke 21:34-35). Woe to those caught in that snare! And though Christ said it would entrap the vast majority, He gave this warning so you could be among the few who escape it (verse 36).

   

PCG: The Ten Commandments Will Cure Your Depression

The latest issue of the Philadelphia Church of God's rag, The Philadelphia Trumpet has an article about conquering depression, Defeat Depression - Master Your Mind.  This is appalling coming from one of the most morally bankrupt COG's out there!  More people have suffered, been abused and died because of this cult than any other COG - including LCG which had a shooting.

Families have been destroyed, marriages broken up, parents abandoning their children, grandparents refusing to see their grand-kids.  People have died because of their medical stance.  People are mentally and spiritually raped by this despotic cult, and, they have the gall to talk about depression!?

There is so much to mock in this article but too many to list here. Here are a few highlights.

The article starts out with

Twisted and distorted thinking is the major cause of suffering for people flattened by depression. Those who have experienced a major depressive episode feel locked onto a painfully negative mental and emotional tilt-o-whirl—a cruel carnival ride stuck on go!

Hellllllo!  Gerald Flurry needs to take a look at his own twisted and distorted preaching to see what it has done to members!

Mental health experts recognize that depression sufferers often resort to suicide “to achieve a peace of mindlessness.” Most seriously depressed people struggle to find the words to describe their mental torture. It is just as difficult for the non-depressed to relate to descriptions of it.

What about the PCG, LCG, WCG, UCG members who have killed themselves because of the mental torture that Armstrongism has put them through?  Never being good enough for God's love, never quite getting it right, always being beat down but disgusting sermons.  The list could go on and on!

So what causes mental health issues?  Here is PCG's example:

In order to conquer anxiety, depression, fear and worry, you must come to know how the human brain, empowered by the human spirit, works. You must learn how to properly operate your mind. In addition, you must come to face the truth about your human nature.

 i.e. - you are horrible sinful disgusting filth that is an abomination in God's sight.  Unless you repent there is no hope for you.

Then to support their stance they immediately get into Herb and his amazing knowledge:

Herbert W. Armstrong, the great theologian of the 20th century, understood special knowledge about the human mind. 

Greatest theologian??????? In who's eyes? The world?  The world did not know he was a theologian because Herb admitted himself that he could not go around the world talking about "god."  It was embarrassing to him.  Herb was NOT a theologian.  He had absolutely NO training in theology.  Was ignorant about bible study.  He also was no authority on the human brain!  He got the information he had from Robert Kuhn


So what is the ultimate cause of depression:

You must admit this next fact: Modern Christianity does not provide such education! In fact, most ministers and other Christian leaders teach that God’s law has been done away. People are not taught to practice the only way of life that produces true happiness—the way outlined by the Ten Commandments.

 All of you mentally ill people are rebellions sinners for not keeping the law!  Therefore Satan has been allowed to infiltrate and use your mind.

To truly solve our mental and emotional problems, which are all spiritual in nature, we must have the spiritual knowledge that can only come from God through His Holy Spirit. Yet the Bible states emphatically that God will only give the Holy Spirit to those willing to obey Him (Acts 5:32). Realize also that the Holy Spirit, actively living in a human mind, is sound mindedness (2 Timothy 1:7). A sound-minded person is in control of his thinking, emotions and moods.

 Your mental illness is from being a degenerate law breaker!

Here are some tough questions you must ask yourself. Is God’s Holy Spirit residing in me? How do I know for sure that I am obeying God? The answer to both of those questions is found in the practice of the Ten Commandments. If you are not actively keeping all of God’s Ten Commandments, you can be certain that the Holy Spirit is not actively leading, instructing and helping you. If you are depressed—meaning you have lost control of your thinking, emotions and moods—then look at your life. Where are you disobeying God? Study His Ten Commandments to find the answer. 

Hallelujah!  The Ten Commandments are the cure for depression!  What disgusting bullshit!  When you do not have the holy spirit in you you have a "carnal" mind and therefore are Satan's plaything.

 The carnal mind refuses to yield to and obey God in all things. The natural human mind is heavily influenced by Satan the devil (Ephesians 2:2-3). Satan’s top goal is to control your mind. 

So when Gerald Flurry was arrested parked along side the road while in a drunken stupor with beer cans piled on the ground outside his car door and in his lap, was he in a state of carnal mindedness?  Was Satan controlling his mind?

The PCG is the last COG than needs to be lecturing the world about depression considering you are a major cause of depression in the COG's.

Being A Thorn In The Side of the COG

click map to enlarge

A few interesting facts about this blog from the last month.  In September we had 13, 950 page views from over 6.500 visitors.  We average 400+ unique first time visitors every day (according to Blogger) with an average page view of 488 every day.  Visitors in the last 2 1/2 weeks (as long as I have had the country flag map up)  are from 97 different countries.

Mulling Things Over With Dennis has had over 1,400 readers. The UCG meltdown at the first of the year still continues to draw readers with 2,300+ views.

Not bad considering the hate mail I get occasionally from COG members who drawn down the fires of heaven on me hoping I will die.  Three people are actually praying that I will die a gruesome and painful death so "I can cry out to God for mercy."

Dennis and Douglas get the most views when it comes to their responses.

Some of the word searches that directed people to us were:

Adventist prostitute
spanking
Jim Franks
women rule
world devil
your fired
cry baby
earthquake
bake sale
abomination of desolation
Armstrongism
Dibar Apartian
Church of God a Worldwide Association
Herman Hoeh
shofar
new moons

Going "Knockers" Over HWA

There is an HWA worshiping splinter cult which produces a magazine called "The Knock" which makes Herbert W Armstrong out to be God's greatest gift to humanity.  I guess wimpy effeminate Jesus does not cut it.  This is produced and distributed by The Vigilant Church of God in Berwyn, Illinois.

Many claim to understand prophecy, but they have never had all of the pieces, God had scattered and hidden them from humanity intentionally! Sadly, many preachers of false prophecy say that they understand the puzzle by forcefully pressing a few pieces together, even though they’re not a natural fit.

God had RAISED UP a man, by the 1930’s, and showed him where most of the pieces were hidden. In the appointed time period, when knowledge would rapidly increase, God revealed to a man named Herbert W. Armstrong, the places where the pieces were scattered and hidden. Then, this man figuratively, went around the multi acre farm property and gathered up about 90% of the pieces which were the all important FRAMEWORK PIECES to this prophetic puzzle! When these puzzle pieces were put together, they created the beautiful picture that God intended His end time Church to understand. This massive, prophetic framework that had never, UP TO THAT TIME, been assembled before; was assembled by God, through Herbert W. Armstrong!

Of course now that you know this secret hidden gnostic knowledge, you should immediately send in you money to the Vigilant Church of God because it, and ONLY it, is doing the work today!

Only ONE group of God’s called are actively doing this today!
Is Christ KNOCKING ON YOUR DOOR? Are YOU willing to AWAKE, RISE UP, and OPEN IT?
Christ has placed this unique opportunity before YOU!
You can

Prophecy Dr. Shocked "The Beast Power" Is Part of an American Think Tank

Edel Rodriguez


 

Living Church of God's most gifted prophecy dude is now shocked that The Beast is part of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.  How can Americans be sooooo stupid to allow this man to be in our governmental midst especially when he is going to be the one to imprison us in concentration camps and hang us from meathooks? Death and damnation are sure to come our way for allowing this abomination!


Prophet Thiel writes:

Baron Karl zu Guttenberg now has been appointed to be part of a US ‘think tank’:

The Local – Sept 30, 2011

The Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) announced Thursday that Guttenberg was joining the organization as a “distinguished statesman.”
Guttenberg would “lead a new transatlantic dialogue initiative at CSIS which will bring European and American thought-leaders, practitioners and officials together,” the CSIS said in a statement.
This would allow them to develop “a bold, new strategic vision to reinvigorate the transatlantic relationship and prevent strategic drift.” …

The unpaid position at the CSIS is an advisory post also held by Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak.  http://www.thelocal.de/national/20110930-37919.html

The above is interesting for several reasons, including something I posted about related to him in July 2011:

As regular readers of this page are aware, I have had my eye on one-time German Defense Minister Baron Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg since late 2009 as one who could possibly fulfill the role of the final King of the North…If he is the one, his coming stay in the USA will give him better insight into the USA and probably contacts that he may exploit later, perhaps as a subterfuge for an attack on the USA (cf. Daniel 11:39).

By becoming part of the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Baron Guttenberg will have contacts in the USA that he is likely to use politically in future.  And since there is at least one major Israeli leader in the same think tank, this may influence him enough so that he possibly can fulfill the prophecies Daniel 9:26-27 (which he may do directly, or perhaps only through confirmation indirectly).

Whether he is the one or not, I believe that the Baron’s scandal earlier this year and his current self-imposed ‘exile’ appear to be consistent with certain non-biblical prophecies about a leader commonly referred to as the Great Monarch and possibly biblical prophecies concerning the Beast, the final King of the North.

 But just to cover his ass the Prophet writes:

On the other hand, it is possible that Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg could simply be a normal politician, with ups and downs like many others. We will see.

Much is happening in the world, and a leader known as the final King of the North (or Beast) in Bible prophecy, will ultimately become the leader of Europe. And according to the Bible, he will have military abilities (Revelation 13:1-4) and apparently be popular and charismatic (cf. Daniel 7:20,11:21-24,31; Revelation 13:3-5).

Karl Guttenberg fulfills these requirements.
We all should watch (cf. Mark 13:37).

Wouldn't it just be simpler to keep your mouth shut and stop speculating than to continually make a fool of your self in front of LCG, Armstrongism and the rest of the world?

Rod Meredith Tells Jesus How Things Are REALLY Done!

Whew! It's Now Official - You Can Celebrate Feast of Trumpets Friday

Apostle Malm has declared that the New Moon was sighted in Jerusalem and you can officially observe the Feast of Trumpets Friday!  So get ready to start tooting that horn ALL day long!

The New Moon was not sighted east of Judea and at the same latitude last evening.  It has been sighted this evening making Friday the Feast of Trumpets as calculated and expected.

It was sighted at 6:30 pm by Pierre in Omer. That is adjacent to Beersheva in the Negev.

 

It was sighted at 6:45 pm by Nancy in Har Gilo. That is a suburb of Jerusalem.

 

This day is called Yom Teruah in the Hebrew, and Yom Teruah actually means a blast of rejoicing, or shouts of joy.

The instrument used is a Shofar which is primarily used to announce the presence of God; it is used as an alarm of war in the sense of warning the people and calling upon God to deliver.

We see from Lev 23 that:  1)   No work of any kind is to be done.  2)   This is to be a memorial of shouts of joy and Shofar blasts.  3)   A Sabbath and Holy Convocation of like minded persons.   4)   An offering made by fire [a burnt offering] is to be offered.

 4) Trumpets are commanded to be blown throughout the day. A loud sound is made by blowing or forcing air through the trumpet. This very thought of physical air reminds us of the raising to physical life of all Israel by the blowing of air or wind in Ezek 37. We know that this is physical life, for only the physical need air to live and only the physical have bone, flesh and sinew.

Bible Contradictions?

Theological doctrines:

1. God is satisfied with his works
Gen 1:31
God is dissatisfied with his works.
Gen 6:6

2. God dwells in chosen temples
2 Chron 7:12,16
God dwells not in temples
Acts 7:48

3. God dwells in light
Tim 6:16
God dwells in darkness
1 Kings 8:12/ Ps 18:11/ Ps 97:2

4. God is seen and heard
Ex 33:23/ Ex 33:11/ Gen 3:9,10/ Gen 32:30/ Is 6:1/
Ex 24:9-11
God is invisible and cannot be heard
John 1:18/ John 5:37/ Ex 33:20/ 1 Tim 6:16


5. God is tired and rests
Ex 31:17
God is never tired and never rests
Is 40:28

6. God is everywhere present, sees and knows all things
Prov 15:3/ Ps 139:7-10/ Job 34:22,21
God is not everywhere present, neither sees nor knows all
things
Gen 11:5/ Gen 18:20,21/ Gen 3:8

7. God knows the hearts of men
Acts 1:24/ Ps 139:2,3
God tries men to find out what is in their heart
Deut 13:3/ Deut 8:2/ Gen 22:12

8. God is all powerful
Jer 32:27/ Matt 19:26
God is not all powerful
Judg 1:19

9. God is unchangeable
James 1:17/ Mal 3:6/ Ezek 24:14/ Num 23:19
God is changeable
Gen 6:6/ Jonah 3:10/ 1 Sam 2:30,31/ 2 Kings 20:1,4,5,6/
Ex 33:1,3,17,14

10. God is just and impartial
Ps 92:15/ Gen 18:25/ Deut 32:4/ Rom 2:11/ Ezek 18:25
God is unjust and partial
Gen 9:25/ Ex 20:5/ Rom 9:11-13/ Matt 13:12

11. God is the author of evil
Lam 3:38/ Jer 18:11/ Is 45:7/ Amos 3:6/ Ezek 20:25
God is not the author of evil
1 Cor 14:33/ Deut 32:4/ James 1:13

12. God gives freely to those who ask
James 1:5/ Luke 11:10
God withholds his blessings and prevents men from receiving
them
John 12:40/ Josh 11:20/ Is 63:17

13. God is to be found by those who seek him
Matt 7:8/ Prov 8:17
God is not to be found by those who seek him
Prov 1:28

14. God is warlike
Ex 15:3/ Is 51:15
God is peaceful
Rom 15:33/ 1 Cor 14:33

15. God is cruel, unmerciful, destructive, and ferocious
Jer 13:14/ Deut 7:16/ 1 Sam 15:2,3/ 1 Sam 6:19
God is kind, merciful, and good
James 5:11/ Lam 3:33/ 1 Chron 16:34/ Ezek 18:32/ Ps 145:9/
1 Tim 2:4/ 1 John 4:16/ Ps 25:8

16. God’s anger is fierce and endures long
Num 32:13/ Num 25:4/ Jer 17:4
God’s anger is slow and endures but for a minute
Ps 103:8/ Ps 30:5

17. God commands, approves of, and delights in burnt offerings,
sacrifices ,and holy days
Ex 29:36/ Lev 23:27/ Ex 29:18/ Lev 1:9
God disapproves of and has no pleasure in burnt offerings,
sacrifices, and holy days.
Jer 7:22/ Jer 6:20/ Ps 50:13,4/ Is 1:13,11,12

18. God accepts human sacrifices
2 Sam 21:8,9,14/ Gen 22:2/ Judg 11:30-32,34,38,39
God forbids human sacrifice
Deut 12:30,31

19. God tempts men
Gen 22:1/ 2 Sam 24:1/ Jer 20:7/ Matt 6:13
God tempts no man
James 1:13

20. God cannot lie
Heb 6:18
God lies by proxy; he sends forth lying spirits t deceive
2 Thes 2:11/ 1 Kings 22:23/ Ezek 14:9

21. Because of man’s wickedness God destroys him
Gen 6:5,7
Because of man’s wickedness God will not destroy him
Gen 8:21

22. God’s attributes are revealed in his works.
Rom 1:20
God’s attributes cannot be discovered
Job 11:7/ Is 40:28

23. There is but one God
Deut 6:4
There is a plurality of gods
Gen 1:26/ Gen 3:22/ Gen 18:1-3/ 1 John 5:7

Moral Precepts

24. Robbery commanded
Ex 3:21,22/ Ex 12:35,36
Robbery forbidden
Lev 19:13/ Ex 20:15

25. Lying approved and sanctioned
Josh 2:4-6/ James 2:25/ Ex 1:18-20/ 1 Kings 22:21,22
Lying forbidden
Ex 20:16/ Prov 12:22/ Rev 21:8

26. Hatred to the Edomite sanctioned
2 Kings 14:7,3
Hatred to the Edomite forbidden
Deut 23:7

27. Killing commanded
Ex 32:27
Killing forbidden
Ex 20:13

28. The blood-shedder must die
Gen 9:5,6
The blood-shedder must not die
Gen 4:15

29. The making of images forbidden
Ex 20:4
The making of images commanded
Ex 25:18,20

30. Slavery and oppression ordained
Gen 9:25/ Lev 25:45,46/ Joel 3:8
Slavery and oppression forbidden
Is 58:6/ Ex 22:21/ Ex 21:16/ Matt 23:10

31. Improvidence enjoyed
Matt 6:28,31,34/ Luke 6:30,35/ Luke 12:3
Improvidence condemned
1 Tim 5:8/ Prov 13:22

32. Anger approved
Eph 4:26
Anger disapproved
Eccl 7:9/ Prov 22:24/ James 1:20

33. Good works to be seen of men
Matt 5:16
Good works not to be seen of men
Matt 6:1

34. Judging of others forbidden
Matt 7:1,2
Judging of others approved
1 Cor 6:2-4/ 1 Cor 5:12

35. Christ taught non-resistance
Matt 5:39/ Matt 26:52
Christ taught and practiced physical resistance
Luke 22:36/ John 2:15

36. Christ warned his followers not to fear being killed
Luke 12:4
Christ himself avoided the Jews for fear of being killed
John 7:1

37. Public prayer sanctioned
1 Kings 8:22,54, 9:3
Public prayer disapproved
Matt 6:5,6

38. Importunity in prayer commended
Luke 18:5,7
Importunity in prayer condemned
Matt 6:7,8

39. The wearing of long hair by men sanctioned
Judg 13:5/ Num 6:5
The wearing of long hair by men condemned
1 Cor 11:14

40. Circumcision instituted
Gen 17:10
Circumcision condemned
Gal 5:2

41. The Sabbath instituted
Ex 20:8
The Sabbath repudiated
Is 1:13/ Rom 14:5/ Col 2:16

42. The Sabbath instituted because God rested on the seventh day
Ex 20:11
The Sabbath instituted because God brought the Israelites
out of Egypt
Deut 5:15

43. No work to be done on the Sabbath under penalty of death
Ex 31:15/ Num 15:32,36
Jesus Christ broke the Sabbath and justified his disciples in
the same
John 5:16/ Matt 12:1-3,5

44. Baptism commanded
Matt 28:19
Baptism not commanded
1 Cor 1:17,14

45. Every kind of animal allowed for food.
Gen 9:3/ 1 Cor 10:25/ Rom 14:14
Certain kinds of animals prohibited for food.
Deut 14:7,8

46. Taking of oaths sanctioned
Num 30:2/ Gen 21:23-24,31/ Gen 31:53/ Heb 6:13
Taking of oaths forbidden
Matt 5:34

47. Marriage approved
Gen 2:18/ Gen 1:28/ Matt 19:5/ Heb 13:4
Marriage disapproved
1 Cor 7:1/ 1 Cor 7:7,8

48. Freedom of divorce permitted
Deut 24:1/ Deut 21:10,11,14
Divorce restricted
Matt 5:32

49. Adultery forbidden
Ex 20:14/ Heb 13:4
Adultery allowed
Num 31:18/ Hos 1:2; 2:1-3

50. Marriage or cohabitation with a sister denounced
Deut 27:22/ Lev 20:17
Abraham married his sister and God blessed the union
Gen 20:11,12/ Gen 17:16

51. A man may marry his brother’s widow
Deut 25:5
A man may not marry his brother’s widow
Lev 20:21

52. Hatred to kindred enjoined
Luke 14:26
Hatred to kindred condemned
Eph 6:2/ Eph 5:25,29

53. Intoxicating beverages recommended
Prov 31:6,7/ 1 Tim 5:23/ Ps 104:15
Intoxicating beverages discountenanced
Prov 20:1/ Prov 23:31,32

54. It is our duty to obey our rulers, who are God’s ministers
and punish evil doers only
Rom 13:1-3,6
It is not our duty to obey rulers, who sometimes punish the
good and receive unto themselves damnation therefor
Ex 1:17,20/ Dan 3:16,18/ Dan 6:9,7,10/ Acts 4:26,27/
Mark 12:38,39,40/ Luke 23:11,24,33,35

55. Women’s rights denied
Gen 3:16/ 1 Tim 2:12/ 1 Cor 14:34/ 1 Pet 3:6
Women’s rights affirmed
Judg 4:4,14,15/ Judg 5:7/ Acts 2:18/ Acts 21:9

56. Obedience to masters enjoined
Col 3:22,23/ 1 Pet 2:18
Obedience due to God only
Matt 4:10/ 1 Cor 7:23/ Matt 23:10

57. There is an unpardonable sin
Mark 3:29
There is not unpardonable sin
Acts 13:39

Historical Facts

58. Man was created after the other animals
Gen 1:25,26,27
Man was created before the other animals
Gen 2:18,19

59. Seed time and harvest were never to cease
Gen 8:22
Seed time and harvest did cease for seven years
Gen 41:54,56/ Gen 45:6

60. God hardened Pharaoh’s heart
Ex 4:21/ Ed 9:12
Pharaoh hardened his own heart
Ex 8:15

61. All the cattle and horses in Egypt died
Ex 9:3,6/ 14:9
All the horses of Egypt did not die
Ex 14:9

62. Moses feared Pharaoh
Ex 2:14,15,23; 4:19
Moses did not fear Pharaoh
Heb 11:27

63. There died of the plague twenty-four thousand
Num 25:9
There died of the plague but twenty-three thousand
1 Cor 10:8

64. John the Baptist was Elias
Matt 11:14
John the Baptist was not Elias
John 1:21

65. The father of Joseph, Mary’s husband was Jacob
Matt 1:16
The father of Mary’s husband was Heli
Luke 3:23

66. The father of Salah was Arphaxad
Gen 11:12
The father of Salah was Cainan
Luke 3:35,36

67. There were fourteen generations from Abraham to David
Matt 1:17
There were but thirteen generations from Abraham to David
Matt 1:2-6

68. There were fourteen generations from the Babylonian captivity
to Christ.
Matt 1:17
There were but thirteen generations from the Babylonian
captivity to Christ
Matt 1:12-16

69. The infant Christ was taken into Egypt
Matt 2:14,15,19,21,23
The infant Christ was not taken into Egypt
Luke 2:22, 39

70. Christ was tempted in the wilderness
Mark 1:12,13
Christ was not tempted in the wilderness
John 2:1,2

71. Christ preached his first sermon on the mount
Matt 5:1,2
Christ preached his first sermon on the plain
Luke 6:17,20

72. John was in prison when Jesus went into Galilee
Mark 1:14
John was not in prison when Jesus went into Galilee
John 1:43/ John 3:22-24

73. Christ’s disciples were commanded to go forth with a staff
and sandals
Mark 6:8,9
Christ’s disciples were commanded to go forth with neither
staffs nor sandals.
Matt 10:9,10

74. A woman of Canaan besought Jesus
Matt 15:22
It was a Greek woman who besought Him
Mark 7:26

75. Two blind men besought Jesus
Matt 20:30
Only one blind man besought Him
Luke 18:35,38

76. Christ was crucified at the third hour
Mark 15:25
Christ was not crucified until the sixth hour
John 19:14,15

77. The two thieves reviled Christ.
Matt 27:44/ Mark 15:32
Only one of the thieves reviled Christ
Luke 23:39,40

78. Satan entered into Judas while at supper
John 13:27
Satan entered into him before the supper
Luke 22:3,4,7

79. Judas committed suicide by hanging
Matt 27:5
Judas did not hang himself, but died another way
Acts 1:18

80. The potter’s field was purchased by Judas
Acts 1:18
The potter’s field was purchased by the Chief Priests
Matt 27:6,7

81. There was but one woman who came to the sepulchre
John 20:1
There were two women who came to the sepulchre
Matt 28:1

82. There were three women who came to the sepulchre
Mark 16:1
There were more than three women who came to the sepulchre
Luke 24:10

83. It was at sunrise when they came to the sepulchre
Mark 16:2
It was some time before sunrise when they came.
John 20:1

84. There were two angels seen by the women at the sepulchre, and
they were standing up.
Luke 24:4
There was but one angel seen, and he was sitting down.
Matt 28:2,5

85. There were two angels seen within the sepulchre.
John 20:11,12
There was but one angel seen within the sepulchre
Mark 16:5

86. Christ was to be three days and three nights in the grave
Matt 12:40
Christ was but two days and two nights in the grave
Mark 15:25,42,44,45,46; 16:9

87. Holy ghost bestowed at pentecost
Acts 1:8,5
Holy ghost bestowed before pentecost
John 20:22

88. The disciples were commanded immediately after the
resurrection to go into Galilee
Matt 28:10
The disciples were commanded immediately after the
resurrection to go tarry at Jerusalem
Luke 24:49

89. Jesus first appeared to the eleven disciples in a room at
Jerusalem
Luke 24:33,36,37/ John 20:19
Jesus first appeared to the eleven on a mountain in Galilee
Matt 28:16,17

90. Christ ascended from Mount Olivet
Acts 1:9,12
Christ ascended from Bethany
Luke 24:50,51

91. Paul’s attendants heard the miraculous voice, and stood
speechless
Acts 9:7
Paul’s attendants heard not the voice and were prostrate
Acts 26:14

92. Abraham departed to go into Canaan
Gen 12:5
Abraham went not knowing where
Heb 11:8

93. Abraham had two sons
Gal 4:22
Abraham had but one son
Heb 11:17

94. Keturah was Abraham’s wife
Gen 25:1
Keturah was Abraham’s concubine
1 Chron 1:32

95. Abraham begat a son when he was a hundred years old, by the
interposition of Providence
Gen 21:2/ Rom 4:19/ Heb 11:12
Abraham begat six children more after he was a hundred years
old without any interposition of providence
Gen 25:1,2

96. Jacob bought a sepulchre from Hamor
Josh 24:32
Abraham bought it of Hamor
Acts 7:16

97. God promised the land of Canaan to Abraham and his seed
forever
Gen 13:14,15,17; 17:8
Abraham and his seed never received the promised land
Acts 7:5/ Heb 11:9,13

98. Goliath was slain by Elhanan
2 Sam 21:19 *note, was changed in translation to be
correct. Original manuscript was incorrect>
The brother of Goliath was slain by Elhanan
1 Chron 20:5

99. Ahaziah began to reign in the twelfth year of Joram
2 Kings 8:25
Ahaziah began to reign in the eleventh year of Joram
2 Kings 9:29

100. Michal had no child
2 Sam 6:23
Michal had five children
2 Sam 21:8

101. David was tempted by the Lord to number Israel
2 Sam 24:1
David was tempted by Satan to number the people
1 Chron 21:1

102. The number of fighting men of Israel was 800,000; and of
Judah 500,000
2 Sam 24:9
The number of fighting men of Israel was 1,100,000; and of
Judah 470,000
1 Chron 21:5

103. David sinned in numbering the people
2 Sam 24:10
David never sinned, except in the matter of Uriah
1 Kings 15:5

104. One of the penalties of David’s sin was seven years of
famine.
2 Sam 24:13
It was not seven years, but three years of famine
1 Chron 21:11,12

105. David took seven hundred horsemen
2 Sam 8:4
David took seven thousand horsemen
1 Chron 18:4

106. David bought a threshing floor for fifty shekels of silver
2 Sam 24:24
David bought the threshing floor for six hundred shekels of
gold
1 Chron 21:25

107. David’s throne was to endure forever.
Ps 89:35-37
David’s throne was cast down
Ps 89:44

Speculative Doctrines

108. Christ is equal with God
John 10:30/ Phil 2:5
Christ is not equal with God
John 14:28/ Matt 24:36

109. Jesus was all-powerful
Matt 28:18/ John 3:35
Jesus was not all-powerful
Mark 6:5

110. The law was superseded by the Christian dispensation
Luke 16:16/ Eph 2:15/ Rom 7:6
The law was not superseded by the Christian dispensation
Matt 5:17-19

111. Christ’s mission was peace
Luke 2:13,14
Christ’s mission was not peace
Matt 10:34

112. Christ received not testimony from man
John 5:33,34
Christ did receive testimony from man
John 15:27

113. Christ’s witness of himself is true.
John 8:18,14
Christ’s witness of himself is not true.
John 5:31

114. Christ laid down his life for his friends
John 15:13/ John 10:11
Christ laid down his life for his enemies
Rom 5:10

115. It was lawful for the Jews to put Christ to death
John 19:7
It was not lawful for the Jews to put Christ to death
John 18:31

116. Children are punished for the sins of the parents
Ex 20:5
Children are not punished for the sins of the parents
Ezek 18:20

117. Man is justified by faith alone
Rom 3:20/ Gal 2:16/ Gal 3:11,12/ Rom 4:2
Man is not justified by faith alone
James 2:21,24/ Rom 2:13

118. It is impossible to fall from grace
John 10:28/ Rom 8:38,39
It is possible to fall from grace
Ezek 18:24/ Heb 6:4-6, 2 Pet 2:20,21

119. No man is without sin
1 Kings 8:46/ Prov 20:9/ Eccl 7:20/ Rom 3:10
Christians are sinless
1 John 3: 9,6,8

120. There is to be a resurrection of the dead
1 Cor 15:52/ Rev 20:12,13/ Luke 20:37/ 1 Cor 15:16
There is to be no resurrection of the dead
Job 7:9/ Eccl 9:5/ Is 26:14

121. Reward and punishment to be bestowed in this world
Prov 11:31
Reward and punishment to be bestowed in the next world
Rev 20:12/ Matt 16:27/ 2 Cor 5:10

122. Annihilation the portion of all mankind
Job 3: 11,13-17,19-22/ Eccl 9:5,10/ Eccl 3:19,20
Endless misery the portion of all mankind
Matt 25:46/ Rev 20:10,15/ Rev 14:11/ Dan 12:2

123. The Earth is to be destroyed
2 Pet 3:10/ Heb 1:11/ Rev 20:11
The Earth is never to be destroyed
Ps 104:5/ Eccl 1:4

124. No evil shall happen to the godly
Prov 12:21/ 1 Pet 3:13
Evil does happen to the godly
Heb 12:6/ Job 2:3,7

125. Worldly good and prosperity are the lot of the godly
Prov 12:21/ Ps 37:28,32,33,37/ Ps 1:1,3/ Gen 39:2/
Job 42:12
Worldly misery and destitution the lot of the godly
Heb 11:37,38/ Rev 7:14/ 2 Tim 3:12/ Luke 21:17

126. Worldly prosperity a reward of righteousness and a blessing
Mark 10:29,30/ Ps 37:25/ Ps 112:1,3/ Job 22:23,24/
Prov 15:6
Worldly prosperity a curse and a bar to future reward
Luke 6:20,24/ Matt 6:19,21/ Luke 16:22/ Matt 19:24/
Luke 6:24

127. The Christian yoke is easy
Matt 11:28,29,30
The Christian yoke is not easy
John 16:33/ 2 Tim 3:12/ Heb 12:6,8

128. The fruit of God’s spirit is love and gentleness
Gal 5:22
The fruit of God’s spirit is vengeance and fury
Judg 15:14/ 1 Sam 18:10,11

129. Longevity enjoyed by the wicked
Job 21:7,8/ Ps 17:14/ Eccl 8:12/ Is 65:20
Longevity denied to the wicked
Eccl 8:13/ Ps 55:23/ Prov 10:27/ Job 36:14/ Eccl 7:17

130. Poverty a blessing
Luke 6:20,24/ Jams 2:5
Riches a blessing
Prov 10:15/ Job 22:23,24/ Job 42:12
Neither poverty nor riches a blessing
Prov 30:8,9

131. Wisdom a source of enjoyment
Prov 3:13,17
Wisdom a source of vexation, grief and sorrow
Eccl 1:17,18

132. A good name is a blessing
Eccl 7:1/ Prov 22:1
A good name is a curse
Luke 6:26

133. Laughter commended
Eccl 3:1,4/ Eccl 8:15
Laughter condemned
Luke 6:25/ Eccl 7:3,4

134. The rod of correction a remedy for foolishness
Prov 22:15
There is no remedy for foolishness
Prov 27:22

135. A fool should be answered according to his folly
Prov 26:5
A fool should not be answered according to his folly
Prov 26:4

136. Temptation to be desired
James 1:2
Temptation not to be desired
Matt 6:13

137. Prophecy is sure
2 Pet 1:19
Prophecy is not sure
Jer 18:7-10

138. Man’s life was to be one hundred and twenty years
Gen 6:3/ Ps 90:10
Man’s life is but seventy years
Ps 90:10

139. The fear of man was to be upon every beast
Gen 9:2
The fear of man is not upon the lion
Prov 30:30

140. Miracles a proof of divine mission
Matt 11:2-5/ John 3:2/ Ex 14:31
Miracles not a proof of divine mission
Ex 7:10-12/ Deut 13:1-3/ Luke 11:19

141. Moses was a very meek man
Num 12:3
Moses was a very cruel man
Num 31:15,17

142. Elijah went up to heaven
2 Kings 2:11
None but Christ ever ascended into heaven
John 3:13

143. All scripture is inspired
2 Tim 3:16
Some scripture is not inspired
1 Cor 7:6/ 1 Cor 7:12/ 2 Cor 11:17

Former WCG Elder Writes Open Letter to Grace Communion International

A former elder/minister of the Worldwide Church of God has written an open letter to Grace Communion International about it's treatment of gays and lesbians in the church.  This would also apply to LCG. PCG, UCG and many of the other splinter groups.  They all have gay and lesbian members in their midst.  You can read his entire entry here: Open Letter  on The Progressive Christians Alliance blog

I have written this in both in honor of NC GLBT Pride Month, and also to help create a dialogue within the denomination in which I was originally baptized and ordained.

Friends and family in Grace Communion International (Formerly the Worldwide Church of God):
Greetings!

I am a long-lost spiritual family member, writing home to share some of my story and invite you into a conversation I should have entered with you a long time ago. I write this open letter to Grace Communion International hoping to see you become all God has called you to be.

Recently my wife Katharine and I were blessed to meet representatives of Faith in America, the faith-based organization founded in part by Reverend Jimmy Creech, and to read his autobiography telling of how he stubbornly stayed within the United Methodist Church fighting for that denomination to fully recognize its gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered members as fully loved and embraced by God in Jesus Christ by granting them full acceptance and welcome within that community. As his book Adam’s Gift demonstrates, this did not occur (at least yet) as a result of his efforts. Instead Rev. Creech was eventually de-frocked for the stance he took and removed from his post as a pastor in good standing with the United Methodist Church.

What struck me as I read his words was the courage this pastor had in the face of stifling pressure and resistance. He chose to not compromise the principles of the Gospel of Jesus while also refusing to give up on the church that ordained him. Though many felt Pastor Creech was attempting to destroy the United Methodist Church, for Creech he chose to stay and fight because he loved and believed in his church to the point he would not give up on it. Creech chose to believe that the heart and core of what it meant to be United Methodist was to be people who do justice, love mercy, and who walk humbly together with their God as Micah 6.8 describes. He dared to believe at great cost that in fact his denomination was not being true to its own best principles, that it was denying itself by its unjust actions. He loved it enough to not abandon its sheep to the wolves of injustice but instead to do as anyone who loved another would do when they saw them abandon their own best interests: call them to be true to themselves again.

Reading Creech’s words convicted me in a very deep and personal way and is what has inspired this confession.

You see I grew up within a tradition that I loved, that helped awaken the spark of saving faith in Jesus Christ within me, that nurtured me spiritually, where my mentoring and training in ministry went on, and where some seven years ago I was ordained into the ministry of Jesus Christ, a ministry which I continue to serve in today.
Yet shortly after my ordination I faced a dilemma I came face to face with a great injustice at work in that community of churches. While serving in Worldwide Church of God I became exposed to the great injustices experienced by many of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, and questioning members of my denomination.

This came first when a member of my congregation came to me for counsel and feedback about how to handle his struggle with his sexual orientation. He admitted to me that he was gay. He had seen therapists about his sexuality and found it could not be changed. Yet the church taught he could never have a loving faithful relationship with another man. And what’s more even though he followed its teaching he was rejected, treated like a pariah in the congregation. I gave him the feedback I had been taught to give in Worldwide Church of God and found it only made things worse for him. And his questions as a gay man about the Scriptures I shared shook up my theological apple-cart and sent me studying the texts more carefully.

Autocratic Government and the Church of God's

Checkout this blog Edge Induced Cohesion  It has an entry on autocratic regimes and how the WCG compared to them.

 I have long been a student of autocracy and its workings, as my passionate commitment to egalitarian practices has made me a recognized and determined enemy of tyranny from my youth. Today a conversation about Saudi Arabia prompted me to think on how different autocratic regimes appear on the inside and on the outside. I have already commented about this phenomenon once before from the perspective of solidity [1], but I would like to examine the problem again from a different angle, and offer insights on how autocracy works in practice, and why it is not always recognizable as such to those who are themselves in autocratic regimes.

-----

However, I have within my circle of acquaintances someone who has lived and worked in Saudi Arabia, and he tells a very different tale. He tells a story of kings and men making decisions by consensus in family councils, of a great deal of freedom in discussion, and a country where he felt comfortable and free. Such a Saudi Arabia is not the image I have when I think of the country. And yet I believe he is telling me the truth. That is because I have enough experience of my own in dealing with autocracies and how they work to understand that they are very different on the inside and on the outside. That is to say that they are a refracted mirror that appears very repressive for outsiders but very comfortable to insiders. The act of being granted inside status in such a regime (as my acquaintance was, by his ability to participate in the consensus-building family councils) itself makes the regime and how it operates feel and appear far less repressive and far less repressive. Indeed, what is autocratic can appear to be very egalitarian without losing its essential core of autocracy in how it appears to outsiders.

How is this possible? In fact, it’s very straightforward. That said, before I go into explaining the case intellectually, I would like to give a personal example that explains why the question interests me in the first place. I was born in the Worldwide Church of God during what was known to insiders as the period when Worldwide was “back on track” in the early 1980′s and what people like myself considered the “reign of the Ayatollahs”. (The relationship between the unholy theocratic autocracy of Iran or Saudi Arabia and that of the Worldwide Church of God, and many of its splinter groups, is not coincidental. Nor is my interest in it accidental.) Largely because of my own horrific childhood, I became driven to understand autocracy and tyranny and how it worked, and how I might avoid being its victim again, when I was able to speak up for myself and do something about it. It should be noted that my intense hostility to abuse of power and authority has tended to self-select me as an outsider when it comes to autocracy, as both those who support and those who rule in tyrannical regimes have tended to view me automatically and instinctively as an enemy.

Nonetheless, I have seen enough of how autocracies operate to realize that they are not what meets the eye. For outsiders to the Worldwide Church of God, the word “cult” gets thrown around a bit too freely. And when one examines the mental images of people drinking kool-aid in mass suicides, that is a bit over-the-top. But in an essential way (shared with, say, monarchies or theocracies in general) there clearly is a cult of personality in a vast majority of the Church of God culture. I do not share it, but I have suffered from it and I recognize it. Some truths cannot be spoken; some doors cannot be opened; some rails cannot be touched. When that is the case, one is dealing with an autocracy, regardless of its form of government. For the form is but the avatar; it is what is inside that matters. On the outside, the Worldwide Church of God (and many of its offshoots) have tended to seem like very barbaric autocracies. Marriages were broken up because someone had made an ill-advised marriage decades before conversion. Communication in sermon messages is, in times of crisis, often in code because some people know what is really going on but those people do not want others to know before their plans are complete and successful. People were told whether they could or could not wear make-up, how long their dresses had to be, how long their hair could be, what kind of sugar or flour they could cook with. Clearly this was an autocratic regime, and so it was.

But it did not appear so to those who were insiders. If you are an insider in an autocratic regime, you do not see the wizard behind the curtain. You do not feel your arms pulled by a puppeteer. Instead, you feel a very friendly atmosphere of meetings, hunting trips, conferences, frequent and friendly dinner conversations, golf outings, and the like. You see promotions through the ranks based on loyal service (which you do because you genuinely support what you feel as your party, your group, your organization). You see yourself supporting a group of orderly, orthodox men against rebellious upstarts or intellectual revolutionaries who want to destroy your order and bring chaos and heresy.

The rest of this interesting entry is here:  A Refracted Mirror: Consensus Building In Autocratic Regimes

COG Woman Shocked That Worldly Christians Study the Bible

We have a couple here in Southern California who are being threatened by legal action by their city because they are holding Bible Studies in their home that garner 50+ people in attendance.  It is impacting the neighborhood and people are complaining about it.  They are not upset with the Bible Study part, but at the number of people showing up each week.

This has led to a comment from a conservative COGger who's mind is so small she cannot grasp that people outside the COG study their Bibles.   Obviously in her view anyone outside a COG is a pagan Christian who does not care about Bible Study. She is shocked that over 50 people would show up at this pagan's Christian's home.  God knows only REAL Christians in the COG attend Bible Study! Can Armstrongites minds really be this shallow?

My mom used to have a Wednesday Bible study group at her house (it rotated among the members homes)--There were about 5-8 people. I can't imagine 50 people showing up for Bible Study who are not in a CoG!

Another person responds:

The bible in most people's hands is a dangerous thing. Especially Prostestants who are a bit more whacky than most with their once saved always saved nonsense etc.

Some of this is true when it comes literalists.  However, in this woman's mind no one outside of the COG can understand the Bible.  There are close to 700 splinter groups now with almost 700 different ways of interpreting the Bible, so I would think these Armstrongites would stop throwing stones because their own glass houses have been shattered beyond repair!

Thank God For Evolution

Evolution has always been a hot topic in Armstrongism. Well, at least WE thought it was. GTA was well know to mock the theory of evolution and published numerous books on it.  To the ordinary lay person in WCG this information was all they need to know about evolution and never studied into it further.  If HWA or GTA did not say it they could care less.  Most church members were totally ignorant about what evolution was all about.  

Since almost all the men in the COG's who write about the subject have never received higher education outside of Ambassador College they have no clue what is involved either. They are not up to speed on recent discoveries.  They do not even consider that there is another side to the argument which they have espoused all these years. 

A thinking person would inform themselves about the topic they wish to debate or critique.  They read, and read and read.  The COG leaders and members only look up a booklet about 20 or so pages long and take that as God's final word on the matter. 

Leaving Armstrongism led me to many interesting conversations with deeply religious people who believe in evolution.  It does not shatter their faith or destroy the message that scripture attempts to bring out. 

Here are a couple of books that might interest some here:

 "The earth is old, and animals and plants have changed over time. If you know somebody who doubts these two well-established propositions, this is the book to share with them. I remember, as a teenager, in the early 1980s, reading Duane Gish's "Evolution: The Fossils Say No," as well as the other standard texts of creationism, and Prothero's book would have helped me think through (and past) creationism a lot quicker than I did. Prothero's book might have been aptly titled, "Evolution: The Fossils Say Yes." It is a lavishly illustrated, thoroughly readable, and authoritative dismantling of creationism. Because of the patient work of contemporary scientists writing accessible popular texts on evolution, no thoughtful 21st century young person need be intellectually derailed by creationist literature. Dr. Prothero's is perhaps the best of the current spate of these types of books. I especially liked the chapter on the origins of life, and the chapter on the Grand Canyon. One of the strengths of this book is that Dr. Prothero does not dodge difficult questions, but attempts to address them directly. It is always refreshing to read somebody who does not obfuscate or downplay contrary lines of evidence, and who is willing to say "I don't know" when something is uncertain. The book is thus, in addition to its overt purpose, also an excellent model of sane and measured reflection. A good companion volume to Dr. Prothero's book might be "The Counter-Creationism Handbook," by Mark Isaak, recently published by the University of California Press"

 

A Groundbreaking Perspective

A movement has been growing over the past few decades that takes our common creation story—the epic of cosmic, biological, and human evolution revealed by science—as the basis for an inspiring and meaningful view of our place in the universe. Rev. Michael Dowd, “America's evolutionary evangelist,” is at the forefront of this movement. This well informed, thoroughly researched, and inspired book proclaims a gospel billions of years old. It builds bridges, provides guidance, and restores realistic hope for virtually everyone, regardless of belief or worldview.

Thank God for Evolution presents in a lively and accessible manner the reasons why it is now possible to view evolution as a call to deep integrity; how a dozen scientific disciplines reveal evolution to be measurably creative, rather than meaningless blind chance; practical methods for using evolutionary insights to achieve greater joy and personal fulfillment; and how aligning with evolutionary trends can guide activists and others hoping to make our world a better place. As a Christian minister, Dowd especially addresses the concerns that Christians have about evolution, but this book contains insights that will appeal to all people of faith and of no faith. Fun and uplifting, Thank God for Evolution goes beyond the current debate to offer up a whole new way of thinking about science and religion.

As evidenced by endorsements from a long list of Nobel laureates and other science luminaries, including noted skeptics, and by religious leaders across the spectrum, this is a book the world has been waiting for.

Book web site is here with lots of interesting facts:  Thank God For Evolution

Two New Books On Biblicism

The Bible Made Impossible: Why Biblicism Is Not a Truly Evangelical Reading of Scripture

By Christian Smith

Product Description (Amazon)

Biblicism, an approach to the Bible common among some American evangelicals, emphasizes together the Bible's exclusive authority, infallibility, clarity, self-sufficiency, internal consistency, self-evident meaning, and universal applicability. Acclaimed sociologist Christian Smith argues that this approach is misguided and unable to live up to its own claims. If evangelical biblicism worked as its proponents say it should, there would not be the vast variety of interpretive differences that biblicists themselves reach when they actually read and interpret the Bible.

Smith describes the assumptions, beliefs, and practices of evangelical biblicism and sets it in historical, sociological, and philosophical context. He explains why it is an impossible approach to the Bible as an authority and provides constructive alternative approaches to help evangelicals be more honest and faithful in reading the Bible. Far from challenging the inspiration and authority of Scripture, Smith critiques a particular rendering of it, encouraging evangelicals to seek a more responsible, coherent, and defensible approach to biblical authority.

From the Inside Flap

"Many books have been written either defending or detracting from an evangelical view of the Bible. Christian Smith, as a trained sociologist, offers a much-needed perspective: explaining evangelical biblicism as a sociological phenomenon. Smith demonstrates, respectfully but critically, that the type of biblicism that often characterizes evangelicalism cannot account for how scripture itself behaves. Biblicism is retained, however, because of its sociological value for 'maintaining safe identity boundaries.' Smith's analysis of the problem of biblicism and his offer of a way forward are important contributions to the current developments surrounding evangelicalism and the Bible."--Peter Enns, author, Inspiration and Incarnation: Evangelicals and the Problem of the Old Testament

"Christian Smith plainly says what so many others have been thinking or implying for some time--namely, that many strands of evangelicalism believe things about the Bible and theology that are simply impossible. Smith exposes the scholastic alchemy that holds this fragile theological edifice together and helps us understand that serious damage is done to the church and its witness when we perpetuate the errors of biblicism."--Kenton L. Sparks, Eastern University

"Smith vigorously presents a compelling possibility: The Bible could be more alive, the church could be more unified, those of us who care deeply about scripture could be less fearful about some collapse of authority and more honest about what is actually in the Bible if we simply began to listen with more humility and openness to what it is God seems most concerned to reveal. A great book for this time in the life of evangelicalism."--Debbie Blue, pastor, House of Mercy; author, Sensual Orthodoxy and From Stone to Living Word

 

 Confessions of a Bible Thumper:
My Homebrewed Quest for a Reasoned Faith


Whether you are a restless evangelical or consider yourself spiritual-but-not religious, you'll enjoy this spiritual memoir and vision for progressive Christianity. Michael Camp was on a tenacious quest for a vibrant and reasonable faith in God. Thinking he found it among evangelicals, he eventually faced deepening doubts and uncovered eight startling discoveries that turned conservative Christian theology on its head—and himself into a heretic among his peers.

Without running into the arms of angry atheists or throwing the baby out with the baptismal bathwater, Camp reveals a vision for an open, broad-minded faith in Christ, ironically based on a fair exegetical reading of the Bible and the history of the early church. His conclusions are eye opening, yet rarely stereotypical.

 

You can read an excerpt here:  Pub Theology

 

 

*WARNING: Camp’s heresies are hard to detect. He critiques
both religious and secular dogma. He actually thinks for himself.
What a concept. While deploring the Religious Right, he
is also known to good-naturely mock Richard Dawkins fans
who buy A-is-for-Atheist pins and is sympathetic to intelligent
design theory. Besides Jesus (and gay activist Mel White and
author Frank Schaeffer), one of his heroes is another brand of
atheist—Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Somali champion of Muslim women’s
rights. Go figure. (Hint: she’s better looking than Dawkins).
Then go read his screeds and forthcoming book.

The Happy Heretic

Esteemed LCG Scientist Speaks Out

Who knew LCG had any scientists in their midst.  Take a guess as to who one of these scientists are.  It is none other than our esteemed Chiro/naturo/Eschatology-wizard/2012 authority/Author Bob Thiel!

He writes:

As a scientist, I have long known that proponents of evolution treat the subject more like a religious view than a scientific theory. This is somewhat also what the Ben Stein movie Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed revealed (see Ben Stein’s Expelled).

Which was?

Scientists who challenge too many claims associated with evolution are shunned by many academic institutions, as there is a tremendous amount of pressure at most “leading” academic institutions to squelch research that is not in support of evolution because it will affect their beliefs.

Evolution, as the explanation for the origin of life, is unscientific and false. It also requires students to accept a belief that violates other known laws of biological science, and it develops a scoffer’s attitude towards truth.

Perhaps I should add that when the world does not end in 2012, around December 22, 2012 I expect scoffers to abound related to prophecy (2 Peter 2-3).

This was all in response to a LCG article on the Tomorrow's World web site The Real God: Proofs and Promises, by Doug Winnail.  I had Winnail as a biology teacher while a student at Embarrassing College.  Talk about one INCREDIBLY boring man!


Winnail writes:

It may come as a shock to you, but our modern, sophisticated, well-educated world has been deceived when it comes to life's biggest questions! The truth about the real God has been perverted and suppressed—not just by atheistic philosophers and secular scientists, but by misguided theologians! This may sound like an outrageous statement, but it is exactly what the Bible revealed would happen, and it is verified by historical facts, as we will see in this booklet.

Winnail needs to look no further than LCG to find "misguided theologians!"  LCG is filled with theologically bankrupt "theologians."  I cannot call them real theologians because none of them have any real degrees in theology..

Winnail continues:

Today, many practice a superficial "consumer Christianity" or "cafeteria religion"—that is, people pick and choose what religious tenets they wish to believe and reject those teachings that do not appeal to their interests. For many people, religious beliefs are often personal, vague, generalized and casual. Levels of confidence and conviction are often rather low. Doctrinal specifics are usually fuzzy. Each person tends to believe what seems to be right in his or her own eyes. This is part of the legacy of the Protestant Reformation—where the individual, not the church or the Bible—becomes the sole authority (ibid., pp. 61–62). As one teenager responded when asked by a reporter about what she thought about God: "God is everywhere. God is in me. I am God." These are, as we shall see, sadly misinformed opinions!

Well if that's not calling the kettle black I don't know what is!  Look at the people who picked and chose what they wanted to believe when they helped for GCG (while on WCG payroll) so that Lord Meredith could move into his new church after WCG had finished defending him in court for his flapping loud mouth.

Doctrinal specifies have changed so many times in LCG it would take numerous posts to list them all.  Like all the various harlot daughters of the great mother church - WCG- LCG looks outside the Bible for much of it's authority.

Check out the article above if you want to read all about the evils of evolution and to be astounded at the awesomeness of LCG's mind boggling knowledge.

COGWA Using It's Own Church Members To Audit It's Books

COGWA has apparently chosen  McNeely and McNeely as it's auditors over it's church accounts. Melton McNeely is  a member of COGWA.

You can see his name listed here on those who left UCG: http://ambassadorreports.blogspot.com/2011/01/ucg-v-cogawa-war-update.html (about 40th elder down)

The Journal also mentions McNeely in 2004  http://www.thejournal.org/issues/issue94/ucgbsndy.html  Melton McNeely of UCG from Hawkins TX (where this auditing firm is also located).

You would  think they would have learned a lesson from having Stan Rader as a church auditor and the mess that it caused .  But no.  The COG's seem to conveniently be able to forget the past because they think they are far more enlightened today.

You Are All A Bunch of God-Hating Functionally Constipated Sleepy Sheepie Nicolatanes!!!!

For all of you that have dared to disagree with Apostle Malm, one of his acolytes has this to say about you!

COMMENT: In reply to your detractors, who pose the “who do you think you are…” challenges, we should see their contempt as exposing the defective orientation that it is.

It reflects the God-hated Nicolaitane condition, which allows only those ‘ordained’ to be authorized to speak in any capacity.

No, in fact, the general membership are obligated, and may we say ‘commanded’, to speak out and speak often among themselves. Malachi 3:16-18 says it as well as anything could. It is our acceptance of the “only the ministry can speak / if anyone speaks, he’s making himself out to be a minister”  mentality that exposes our biblical misalignment on this matter.
Not only does our ‘ministry’ impose that prohibition, but our membership seems also trained to have that same reaction.

The Nicolaitane establishments have done their job well in that department. We were often reminded of the “pray and pay” situation, with the failure to emphasize the obvious, but unspoken follow-up: “you have no say!” It is our failure to use the faculties God has given us that largely accounts for our functionally constipated condition.

The ‘body’ in concert could have prevented many of the apostasies and abuses, but we created way too many ‘sleepy sheepies’!!  We have more liability for our own demise than we choose to admit. The real question is, “who do they imagine THEY are?”

They facilitate a condition that Christ plainly states that He hates (Rev.2:6&15) and frustrate one that He greatly appreciates! (Mal 3:16)

The Apostle Clarifies His Legitimacy, Says Tribulation Will Start Early 2013 and Says He only Has A Year or So to Live

A couple of things from the Apostle today.  He has a new command for the FOT - you are to study Deuteronomy every seven years.

 We have a command to study through the Book of Deuteronomy every seventh year at the Feast of Tabernacles.  Very few COG organizations have ever done that so they do not understand that Deuteronomy is a final warning of the consequences of disobedience and the blessing of obeying God.

The Apostle also seems to have been getting a lot of flak lately about people thinking he is starting a new "church."  He claims he is not, but lays out what he is specifically anointed to to do:

1)   I see myself as providing a wake up call, a kind of early warning, a kind of watchman’s warning that things are finally coming to a head.  It is my purpose and I have always declared that my purpose is to wake people up, to shock  if necessary, but to get people to begin to think, to question, to study diligently, to seek God with all their hearts and to turn to him; in preparation for the trials to come.

I am not trying to start any group; I am trying to wake up ALL the groups!

2)   I honestly believe that we are at the very edge of the hour of trial and that the tribulation of Jacob’s trouble could begin within a very short time.  It is my personal opinion that the final false prophet the abomination, could be set up in Rome as early as mid Sep of 2012, and the tribulation could begin within the following 75 days.

But in order to cover his ass when his prediction fails, which it will, he takes the easy wayy out:

Regardless of whether this does come in 2012 or a year or two later, we can all be properly prepared by turning to our God with whole hearted, zealous, passionate, enthusiasm.

Indeed if this does not come for a very long time, the situation in the COGs still requires a revival of zeal and godliness before our light flickers out and God turns away from us.  We tend to think so very much of ourselves when we are NOTHING unless we are zealous for our Father and our Maker.  God will NOT forsake us, yet we are forsaking HIM by our lack of zeal for him and his ways; and our sins have come between us.

3)   The ongoing situation in the COGs is one of deepening lukewarmness and laxity rather than a revival of zeal for God and his commandments.  This falls directly into the prophecies of Laodicea. 

4)   I am very ill with the end game complications of diabetes which runs in my family; and I do not have more that a year or two left, without a miracle from God.  I have no interest in pleasing any man or organization, my only interest is in pleasing God.  That places me in a position to reach out to ALL the groups and to ALL of God’s people with the wake up call.

5)   I believe that the brethren and elders consist of: A. the deeply converted, B. the lax and lukewarm and C. many tares.  In short ALL the groups are a mix of these three.

6)   I expect that God will send his two prophets to take his faithful and that they shall reveal themselves through meeting the biblical description and shall have the power to remove God’s faithful who will choose to respond to them.  Then my job will be completed.

7)   A small number who have learned to stand on God’s word and not to idolize men, will respond and leave the groups; the groups will remain and they shall be destroyed, for God will destroy the idols of the people.  God will force the decades old spiritual babes to stand on their own spiritual feet.

It is my mission to give the warning; to boldly declare that the Eternal is God and beside him there is NO other!!!

I am trying to wake people up and get them questioning, thinking, proving, studying and turning to our Father with all our hearts in a passionate dedicated zeal for him and his ways.

That is may agenda; I will not lie to anyone.  My agenda is to give an early warning,  to encourage questioning and truth seeking; and that will divide the zealous and faithful from the lax, lukewarm and faithless.

COGWA/UCG Poaching Saga Continues

The behind the scenes shenanigans of Jim Franks continues.  Malm had this to say (below)about Jim Franks and  Gary Petty today:  Gary was in school when I was in Pasadena.  He always had a reputation of wanting to be seen as this great spiritual person.  If halo's could glow any brighter his would have been up there illuminating the entire earth - at least in his assumptions.  By having his face presented on TV around the world I am sure he is feeling very grandiose!  It would not surprise me if he took the money and jumped ship, but I would hope he was a little more ethical than that!

It is amazing to  watch as each successive COG reincarnation is more corrupt than the previous organization all the while claiming they are the most righteous.  What disgusting men!

Jim Franks requests that:   “Effective immediately, please send all donations to the Chase bank processing facility. The address they have assigned to us is:
Church of God, a Worldwide Association, Inc.
P.O. Box 731480
Dallas, TX 75373-1480”


This is apparently where the accountants live and work and does not constitute the setting up of a church office.  The actual location for a church office has not yet been officially decided.

It is reported that Jim Franks is working hard on a sweet package to lure Gary Petty from his position as the UCG television presenter.  Jim is reported as justifying this with his peers by claiming that hundreds of people, perhaps a thousand will follow Gary into COGWA.

Jim Franks COGWA's Most Perfect Leader?

In between all the silly doctrines and pronouncements of Apostate Malm there are little tidbits of COG history that are on the mark.  We have all heard how Franks manipulated behind the scenes to help form two break way COG's, all while remaining on his present church payroll.  Malm had this to say:

Jim Franks lied straight out to his peers on the Council denying that he was involved with the dissidents while he was their leader, a facebook group associated with them spread rumurs through 2010, the UCG Current Crisis site was run by the dissenters through 2010, another password protected site was available for elders to contact about joining the rebellion, Franks and Kilough are well known slick politicians and spin doctors long time closely associated. Larry Salyer was deeply involved and tried to make out that he was fired for answering questions. The IAO formed supposedly to help LA and suddenly began to finance the dissidents [preplanned as the financing of the new group all along?]: and they dare to try and deceive people that this was not a planned split. This split was all about control and power as Denny and events make clear. Just wait until they have their system fully in place and then watch the spectre of “OUR AUTHORITY” rise up in COGWA. These guys are smooth politicians like Denny and are well know to be big time bullies if they are questioned. James PS guess who Franks is trying to lure away from UCG to be the public spokesman for any future COGWA outreach? A little hint initials GP of San Antonio.