Gerald Flurry Declares Fast Because of Exodus of Members

I affirm, it's only this big

Exit and Support had this little bit of information in the Letters section on their web site:

Gerald Flurry Calling for Worldwide Fast on January 8:
January 1, 2012
Gerald Flurry recently announced on December 24 that members worldwide are to fast on January 8. He said about 100 people a year for the past five years have been leaving PCG. --Anonymous

and

January 1, 2012
I, personally am thrilled to see Gerald Flurry admit that their numbers are falling, and over the past 5 years have lost 500 people, 100 a year in 5 years. Makes you wonder, how honest he is being. I believe that his numbers are a lot more than that. He himself is a liar, and I hope by this fast that he has ordered on the 8 of January that the people will see they are not growing by LEAPS and BOUNDS as my daughter tried to tell me some time ago. By admitting they have lost 500 people in the last 5 years, should prove that Gerald Flurry is indeed a liar.

It has been rumored for quite some time that Philadelphia Church of Goo is losing members.  Because of his Hitlarian style of government, his hundreds of failed prophecies, his failure to flee to Petra, and  his begging members to mortgage homes to  build his Mini-Me Auditorium in the middle of nowhere has led members to leave in droves.  With his aging membership and his declining health this is yet another splitter cult that may soon bite the dust.  The day he dies and little Stevie takes over you will see scores more leave.  Members only tolerate little Stevie because Gerald would make life hell for them if he knew.
See link above for the complete story.

Death of Joe Bauer - December 25, 2011

Those who were around Pasadena in the late 60's and 70's will know Joe Bauer. He had a passion for music and was one of the people in charge of the music for the America Listen campaigns.  He died Christmas morning.  Following is information about him and a link to his web sites for a trip down memory lane.

Joanna's husband just called to let me know that Joe passed away at around 5 am this morning...he had been at Joanna's home for a few days but was moved to a care facility some where in the area.  There are no plans solidified at this time but they will let us know as soon as they do.  Joanna asked that the band members/friends be notified.  I told Rubin that I did not want to offend anyone, but when I heard Joe was failing, I feared getting notification on Christmas or New Years as that would be a TRUE Joe Bauer exit....Rubin said that was one of Joanna's first thoughts!  Joe cut a huge swath in life, and positively affected thousands...I am personally a far richer person for having known, worked with, shared experiences and spent time with Joseph C. Bauer!!

Lucky for us, Bill Hughes made a reel-to-reel AC band tape into MP3 files and Wayne Bauer—Joe’s nephew—has kindly posted them on Joe’s website (which Wayne is keeping up himself). Wayne also posted all the scrapbook pages that were done.  Joe got to listen to one of the band tracks just a short time ago and it made him smile.  He also got to see (or had read to him) all the scrapbook pages that are posted and he really enjoyed them, even cried over some.  I hope everyone will send theirs that haven’t so we can post those too!  Wayne is happy to do that for us. 

The URL is: http://bauerfilms.com/josephcbauer/theband.htm 

And Joe’s website is: AssignmentAdventure.com

If you don’t remember how good the band was-and I didn’t even though I was in it!—you’ll really enjoy listening to the tracks that Bill Hughes supplied.  They were apparently recorded in the late 60's and are sure to bring back happy memories.

Secret Video of Approved Dancing For Church of Malm Feast 2012

Below is secret video ready to be sent out to those who will be attending James Malm's upcoming Feast of Tabernacles this fall.  Apostle Malm is thoroughly disgusted by ballroom dancing and any kind of dancing that is "touchy feely."  He does approve though of dancing in the style of David.  

In Apostle Malm's church I guess men obviously cannot control their sexual desires when they ballroom dance. I do have to wonder how women will react to naked or loin covered men cavorting down the aisles at the Feast. 

Since many COG have square dances during the Feast  I guess this gives a whole new meaning to "swing your partners round and round."

Malm seems to be typical of the various COGers that try to be wanna-be Jews.  They already think they alone are the world's best law keepers so it is a natural progression to want to be like the Jews. This pretend Jewish  atmosphere is what caused the Ambassador Foundation so many headaches.  Itzhak Perlman and  some other Jewish performers refused to perform in the auditorium because they though the church was pretending to be Jewish and that it was trying to lure Jews into the church through our fake Jewish observances.

Men, rip off those shirts and pants, gird up your loins and grind down the floor!  Ladies, please no laughing.  that would be so unchristian of you.

The King David Dance

Dance Like David

Is Attendance at a COG Service Life Threatening?

Check out The Supreme Cult today and it's article about how your life is in danger if you attend a Church of God Sabbath keeping church that has descended from Herbert Armstrong.

If you attend Sabbath Services or Feasts with the Living Church of God cult, you run the risk of being shot to death by another member who finally lost it after years of the craziness in the cult. You don’t really know what is going on in the deluded mind in the person sitting next to you.


If you think this is a single incident, think again. In the Worldwide Church of God, a precursor of sorts to Living, Chuck Harris gunned down Brenda James and several others. He had been showing his gun to other members after church services in the hall they were meeting.

Read the rest of this article here:  Violence In Our Church: It's Killing Us

Should Ballroom Dancing To Be Banned At Feast Sites?

Has your local COG become a social club?  Do you play cards,  drink, dance and dare to have a little fun? Setting aside the fact that alcoholism is rampant in the COG's, is it really wrong to dance and play cards?  According to the person below it seems  to be.  He sounds more like a Southern Baptist than a COGer.

Apostle Malm (in bold) admits that the COG is over run by alcoholism, especially in the ordained ranks.  He then goes on to be ready to ban ballroom dancing at the Feast!  No more of this "touchy feely" type of dance.  You should be doing a Jewish style of dance where you jump and leap around the room.  That is what the new owners of Ambassador Auditorium do, they jump, leap, pogo, and do other ecstatic dancing.

Malm is thinking about setting up a Feast site this coming year.  Can you imagine how depressing it will be to attend this downer of a Feast site?  He has so many rules and regulations on what people should be doing and not doing on Saturdays, holy days and new moons that people will not be able to breathe without committing a major sin.

What I am telling you is certain (true). The majority of the churches have been converted into social clubs, fellowship and fun, and have pushed aside the spiritual focus. This even has happened with the observance of the Holy Days of God. I had the opportunity to attend here in Guatemala at the Feast of Tabernacles with the United Church of God and nothing new was ever said to us, always the same sermons, the same topics that in the millenium “we will govern over the rest” , as if to instill into our minds that Nicolaitan attitude of dominance over the rest. And, speaking about fun, what do you think about alcoholic beverages? HWA used to teach that one could drink, dance, go to the movies and play cards “in moderation”. Without exception I have seen some excesses mainly at the Feast of Tabernacles.

 I am familiar with Ottawa, Victoria and Pentiction Feast sites in Canada. The locals welcome our money and they welcome us leaving. There are always problems with alcohol, fighting [mostly marital and young people shouting at each other], rowdiness and drunk driving. In Pentiction the COG is known as the Church of Booze and the Feast as the Feast of Booze. My grandfather was editor of the Pentiction Herald until he retired and I was well familiar with things there; haven’t been there in the last ten years. The COGs are famous for alcoholism in many of their top elders. Of course this means that biblically they are not qualified as elders. 1 Cor 6:10. Being addicted to anything is to be a slave. The rampant abuse of alcohol by many in the ministry is a very sad matter; even HWA was an alcoholic. The Feasts are a chance to really let our light shine and they have in very many cases given us a black eye. Biblical dancing was never this touchy feely embracing dancing; it was always dancing as an expression of joy closer to the Jewish dancing or a kind of leaping for joy and rejoicing before God. We should be doing that at the Feasts and not the ballroom dancing style. Search for Jewish Religious Dance, Dancing for Joy, Davidic Dance etc.; I am not a fan of Modern Rabbinic Judaism, but this goes back well before the time of Christ to David and earlier. This is too energetic for Sabbath but excellent for the middle Feast days.

Stupid Camels, Lazy Corn Eaters and Soulless Veggies

First it was Arabs eating camels and now it's Mexicans eating corn.  Did you know that Mexicans are lazy because they eat too many tacos made out of corn? (see below)  It never ceases to amaze me with the racist and bigoted things that come out of Armstrongites who think they are of the "pure' strain of Israelites.

The person that posted the little article about Arabs eating camels is now backtracking that that she made it all up.  She did nothing of the sort.  She posted what she actually believes.  She made a fool of herself and is now trying to cover her tracks.  These bigoted comments are not the first that she has made towards others who are not of the Armstrongite pure Israelite mold.

Being a bigot is not an isolated case in Armstrongism.I have heard ministers pound from the pulpit over and over with bigoted comments about "gentile" nations, particularly Mexico.  Mexicans are dirty and unclean because they are non Israelites.  They live in gang infested neighborhoods and live in dirty cities because they are of the gentile strain. Non Israelite nations, such as Africa, are backwards, uneducated, dirty, violent, and filled with darker skinned races. Darker skinned races are stupider than whites. 

To back up her racist comments she uses Kabbalah to reinforce her wanna-be Jewish "beliefs."  According to one weird kaballah teacher, those Arabs that eat camel meat are not only eating their unclean flesh but they are eating the camels character traits.  The "impure sparks" in a camel affect the humans soul which then makes the person (i.e. Arabs) stupid humans. Your DNA absorbs the DNA of the unclean animal and then you become stupid.  With that kind of logic than I guess we know the reason why Armstrongites can be so dumb at times.  All those dumb cows and chickens have joined their DNA with the Armstorngites DNA and they are now just as equally dumb. I grew up on a farm and can attest that cows and chickens are not the smartest animals in the barnyard.

Ideally if Armstrongites really wanted to be pure Israelites then they would be vegetarians like Adam and Eve were.  If they ate a vegetarian diet then the Kabbalah logic listed below would make them pure and clean,  since vegetables have no soul or evil character traits.  That is the logic that is beign trotted out below.

By the way, isn't Kabbalah in the Armstrongite view just as evil as witchcraft? I have heard that said straight from Spanky's mouth. All this talk about the "soul" also flies against Armstrongite thought.  It looks like these Armstrongites need to get their heads out of the Kaballah gutter and back into their Bibles (old testament only, of course).

BAD CHARACTER TRAITS. The Ramban and Rabbeinu Bachyei write that the nature of an animal or bird is contained in their flesh. Therefore, when a person eats their flesh, he not only ingests their nutritional components, but also their
character traits. Hashem, who knows the inherent nature of each specie,
prohibited eating all animals that are carnivorous as well as twenty-four
species of birds of prey (the ten permissible animals are herbivorous). By
eating these animals or birds, we ingest their cruel traits. (Commentary to the
Torah, Vayikra 11:13).

(Rav Shamshon Rafael Hirsch adds that even animals like the mouse that is
herbivores and not carnivores are prohibited since they are extremely active
creatures symbolizing a general excessive pre-occupation with the purely
physical side of the world. However, eating kosher cow and sheep that are docile
farm animals teach us that although we must engage the world, we should not be
totally pre-occupied with its physical side. (Horeb)

Kabbalistically, we can also explain this concept based on the Arizal's
principle cited above. Just as the impure sparks in non-kosher foods negatively
affect a person's soul, they also affect his character traits. However, this can
be better understood with the medical knowledge that a person's physical and
emotional makeup is determined and controlled by his DNA. The DNA absorbs both the animal nutrients and traits, hence the expression, "You are what you eat."

Based on this explanation, we can also understand why there are no non-kosher
species of fruits or vegetables. These have no soul or evil character traits
that can be absorbed by eating them. In addition, since the ten permitted
animals subsist on vegetative matter alone, there is no food in this chain that
can harms one's soul.

----------------------------------

At least the person that posted the little ditty about corn eating Mexicans had the wherewithall to say they had never seen it proven but then goes on to use violent drug gangs as proof that Mexicans aren't lazy.

Oh, so blogger posted that? Actually, I have read something similar about corn-eating vs wheat eating cultures and cultures that worship a female goddess vs. those that worship one male God.

The story was that Mexicans were peaceful and  lazy because they ate so much corn in tacos, etc., and the wheat eaters were warlike. I guess that is proven wrong by the recent war between the Zetas and "13" gangs over the drug routes into the USA. Or maybe they are rich enough not to eat so much corn?? Eating more white bread perhaps.

Thiel: It's All About ME and Baron Karl zu Guttenberg

The Drinking Beast

Apparently stung by the mounting criticism of his incessant speculations about Baron Karl Guttenberg (a German - and we all know what THAT means to Armstrongites) as the King of the North, he has written a long screed today justifying his speculations.

Prophet Thiel wants you to know that he is a lone voice crying out in the wilderness about Baron Guttenberg.  He also wants you to know that he is the worlds foremost authority on Baron Guttenberg over anyone else in the COG.

So where does he gather so much of his information that forms his speculations?  From an old Catholic manuscript that talks about the "Great Monarch."

As a student of prophecy, I found it interesting that Karl zu Guttenberg has characteristics that seem to line up with Catholic, Byzantine, and biblical prophecies related to an end time European leader.  Catholic and Byzantine prophecies seem to refer to this individual as the “Great Monarch” or “Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire,” while Bible prophecies tend to call him the final King of the North of Daniel 11 and the Beast of the sea in Revelation 13.

Some of that information that Prophet Thiel has latched on to are these silly reasons:

1. His name will begin with the letter K (Karl does).
2. His name will be Charles (Charles is the French and English version of the name Karl).
3. One of his names will be Joseph (this is one of his many names).
4. His name will be 80 characters in length.  
5. He will be educated since birth (he was).
6. He will speak English to those in his empire (he is fluent in English, but has no empire yet).
7. He will have dark hair (he does).
8. He will be balding in the front (he is).
9. He will have an eagle/aquiline nose (he seems to).
10. He will be handsome (it has been suggested that he is).
11. He will be a knight/duke, for “a valiant duke will arise from the ancient German house” (a German Baron who is a military leader seems to fit this).
12. He will be ecumenically-oriented (the Baron married a Lutheran)

Read Prophet Thiel's blog entry for the entire convoluted series of speculations:

 COGwriter Speculations on Karl zu Guttenberg Shown Correct

Now to show how annoying his article is, I have copied portions of his sentences so you can see the narcissistic bent he is on. It's all about him.  He knows all and has LCG backing him up.  He throws in LCG a couple of times because many of his detractors are complaining to LCG about him.

I have been one of relatively few to regularly post prophetic articles about him, and seem to be the first newswriter to specify that Karl zu  Guttenberg may become the final King of the North of Bible prophecy and Great Monarch of Catholic and Byzantine (Eastern/Greek Orthodox) prophecy.

I personally have been following and reporting on Baron Karl zu Guttenberg since late 2009 (see America to be Replaced By China or Europe?) as one who may play an important role in the future of Europe and the entire world.

While I have long been wondering who may become the final King of the North, the release of my book 2012 and the Rise of the Secret Sect in September 2009, provided even further motivation to look for such a leader.

On February 13, 2010, I published an article about him,...

On February 20, 2010, after noticing certain comments that then German Defense Minister Guttenberg made about NATO, I posted...

A week ago, I posted an article containing some news items

 I noticed that I had written...  (My favorite!)

On May 12, 2010, I began to report about him...

On June 3, 2010, also at my Los Angeles Church History and End Time Prophecy Examiner column, I posted...

I posted an article titled Guttenberg to fulfill warning from Los Angeles End Time Prophecy Examiner?

On June 14, 2010, when he caught some flack about some of his statements related to Afghanistan, I posted...

Also, in June 2010, in my article Might German Baron Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg become the King of the North?, I posted the following:...

On August 6, 2010, at my Los Angeles Church History and End Time Prophecy Examiner column, I posted...

On October 21, 2010, at my Los Angeles Church History and End Time Prophecy Examiner column, I posted...

On February 25, 2011, I posted...

...a few days after I posted...

On March 4, 2011, I posted...

In that same March 4, 2011 post, I wrote...

I have had my eye on Karl Guttenberg since late 2009 when I initially reported about him

 As I reported before....

...is consistent with that speculation on my part...

I posted: If he becomes more involved in issues with the Vatican, a religious order, and/or the EU, watch out!

On May 10, 2011, I posted the following...

So, before he announced his exile, I suspected that he may fulfill exile prophecies.

I re-posted one of the old Eastern Orthodox prophecies about the Great Monarch

This is something that I covered at this National Church History and End Time Prophecy column on November 21, 2011

In that article I mentioned “23 items to consider as to why Karl zu Guttenberg could possibly fill the role that he now seems to be advocating,”  thus I felt that part of the purpose of his speech was to 

...notice something Karl zu Guttenberg said that I reported on November 30, 2011

I, as well as LCG, wrote back in March of this year...

Notice something that I posted on December 9, 2011...

...this is something that I am now, and have been for some time, watching for. And yes, I also suspect...


 ...what I feel may happen with him....

Also notice something that I had posted at the Examiner.com on December 11, 2012

While I do not  yet 100% know if the Baron is the final King of the North,

Why would I have concluded items about the Baron BEFORE these events happened that they may happen?

The first is that I try to follow Jesus’ admonitions...

Because of where we appear to be in the prophetic timeline, the writing of my 2012 and the Rise of the Secret Sect book...

Notice what I posted on March 11, 2011  ...

When I was working in 2010 on the article...

...it occurred to me that if the Baron is the one, that he may try to fulfill some of the Great Monarch prophecies, hence I felt that some were thus likely to be fulfilled....

I, thus, still consider that Karl zu Guttenberg is one to watch.

As a student of prophecy, I found it interesting...

I agree with Paul Thigpen...

It is quit apparent that Spanky Meredith's narcissistic personality has rubbed of on the Doctor of Prophecy.

It is also apparent that we should all be bowing down at Thiel's feet because of his prophetic voice that is crying out.  Apparently our salvation depends on what he writes.  Ho hum.

Check out this link for further information about Thiel and his Obsession with the Beast.



 

The Supreme Cult: Making a Mockery of Cult Religion

Check out the latest COG related blog that pokes fun at the hypocrisy 

of the cultic mindset of Bob Thiel and others.  

You would think after all these decades of failed prophecies and ignorant utterances 

that COG folk would keep their mouths shut and stop saying such incredibly stupid things. 

But no!  

Thiel and others continue to give the world daily fodder that deserves to be mocked and ridiculed.

So keep it up Dave, Wade, Sharon, Gerald, Spanky, Ronnie, Bob, Donna 

and the rest of you enlightened ones. 

You make us proud! Or something.....

The Supreme Cult

A Flow Chart for Choosing Your Religion

This needs to be expanded to include Armstrongism!

Click to enlarge

From Center for Inquiry

Blinded By The Liars

Prophet Thiel has another entry today condemning various non-COG false prophets that have been uttered stupid predictions over the last few years.  He points out all their foibles while promoting his cultic book that is supposed to have all the answers.

He can rightly discern that these men are liars and false prophets, yet, he is blinded to the fact he follows one of Armstrongism's biggest liars and false prophets, Roderick C Meredith. Meredith has uttered  many damnable lies over the decades that have been publicly exposed over and over.  Yet, Prophet Thiel turns a blind eye to them, just as he refused to acknowledge the lies of Herbert Armstrong, Herman Hoeh, Dean Blackwell, Gerald Waterhouse and others.

They still gloss over the fact that Herbert Armstrong and Roderick Meredith lied in the early 70's when they said that we would be fleeing to Petra by 1972.  They lied that famine, disease and pestilence would destroy the nation in 1975.  They lied over and over and still today they have followers who deny they ever uttered a false prophecy. 

Thiel writes:

On January 2, 2011, in an article titled False Predictions for 2011 I had denounced several false predictions for 2011.
The false prediction with the largest following was Harold Egbert Camping of Family Radio.  And I stated that the following were some of his predictions which would be proven false in late May and October of 2011:

As we have noted, God further solidifies or locks in this date, May 21, 2011, by placing the day of shutting the door, when the rapture will occur, on the 17th day of the second month of the Biblical calendar. Significantly, the number 17 links perfectly to the fact of the rapture because spiritually, the number 17 signifies heaven. Moreover, the number 2 (second month) spiritually identifies with those who have been commissioned to bring the Gospel. Is it not amazing that they will be raptured on the 17th day of the second month? Is that coincidental? We also have learned that the last day of the earth’s existence, October 21, 2011, is the 23rd day of the seventh month of the Biblical calendar. The number 23 normally signifies God’s wrath being poured out. The number 7 (seventh month) signifies the perfect fulfillment of God’s purposes. Could this also be coincidental, that the final completion of God’s punishment on the unsaved occurs in the seventh month on a day that features the number 23, which is a number that completely identifies with God’s wrath, thus signifying God’s perfect wrath on the unsaved? (Camping H. We are Almost There! 2008 edition, p. 61-62)

Jesus did not return on May 21, 2011 nor did the world end on October 21, 2011.  Tens of thousands read my long article about him titled Harold Camping’s Teachings About the End of the World Do Not Agree with the Bible.

Then in true COG fashion, Prophet Thiel pulls a Dave Pack rabbit out of the air to promote his new book.  Dave Pack has the worlds largest and best web site on "the truth" while Prophet Thiel has the worlds most important and ONLY book currently dealing with false prophecies.  It is the worlds best documented book on the topic.

Those who seriously would like to compare various predictions and how they align (or in certain cases do not align) with Bible prophecy should check out my book 2012 and the Rise of the Secret Sect as it seems to be the most documented book on the market to do so (also world events have already aligned with at least 20 predictions that it contains, with none shown to be false).

It just goes to show that Prophet Thiel is as big of a liar as his spiritual leader Roderick C Meredith is.

Dennis On: "They Come...They Go"

They come....They Go

Having been a 26 year pastor in 13 congregations in 5 states, and after having gone through the theological slaughter of the 90's perpetuated upon the membership by "leadership," of the WCG, I have to ask the question, where did all the friends go?


I found myself in an odd situation. I loved the people in my congregations and had many wonderful friendships and friends, I thought.  This final congregation in South Carolina was the toughest by far, even if everything was going well.  They were used to being rewarded by the minister for their loyalty and friends became deacons and included in the lives of all the brethren. There were always three or four waiting and chaffing at the chance to be the real minister.  Ugh!  I didn't work that way so quickly fell afoul of their system. I didn't take deacons on visits to  know and hear the problems of others.  That was not their business and people aren't honest when they feel they are being grilled.  One on one worked for me, because someday I'd be moving on.  At any rate, Church Picnics went from really fun to drama events. We stopped having them.


Some would tell me what the church was really up to at HQ and that this or that really was going to change. Dumb me would call Joe Tkach and simply ask him if A/B or C was true or not.  It was never true according to Joe.  It was ALWAYS true according to what actually came to be. As a result , I'd come back and tell the church all was well and then end up looking like a fool caught between the Administration that lied to me and the members who thought I was stupid and naive.  Of course I was..ha.   Thus, as the baloney in the middle of the sandwich, neither side kept much in touch.  That was my experience with friends.


The only time those who have either stayed with the new and improved version of the Church, which has changed it's name to distance itself from it's own past, or those that have left it for splinter groups that profess to keep the old ways intact, or those that have moved on to greener and more stable pastures, or the disillusioned meet is at funerals or in the final days of some former church friend. Sad isn't it? One has to be dying or dead to find out you had friends after all. But then unless you were having an out of body experience attending your own funeral, you'd not know. It is more comfortable being friends to the dying than the living. And I am sure after I am dead, thousands will once again say that we were friends. Dealing with a dead Diehl is easier than dealing with the real Diehl. :)


When churches implode, as they do, friendships explode. I can count on one hand the friendships that have stayed in tact since my being labeled a minister who "knew a lot about Jesus, but did not know Jesus" and then being terminated.  Don't misunderstand. I was outgrowing the literalism of any church but was in a transtion.  And...I have fingers left over!
It is reckless change and administration of policy that tears friendships apart when associated with churches and the hope the promote in their teachings. Local ministers, who can have their own dictatorial ways, can tear friendships apart as well by causing "friends" to make choices and take sides in endless and stupid disputes or personality cults.


In my own case, I have had more than one former member, whose children I had married and whose husbands I had buried, pass by me at the lobby desk in a hospital where work to make ends meet. I simply do not exist to them because I am no longer one of them, whatever that might mean. I have known minister friends who have drank themselves to death after reckless change confused them and their friends marginalized them for being hurt and confused. One minister even jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge if you can imagine that. That takes planning and a total lack of friends left to help you through. Suicide seems often the mistaken idea that the death of an old idea mistranslates into we think we have to die  It's a permanent solution to a short term problem. . Very sad but I understand it.


So when your church implodes, why do your friendships explode? There are several types of friendships built when we become a part of a church and their dynamics are all a bit different.
First of all, everyone in any particular believes that "we all have to be friends," because, well, we are in the Church. The common bond of similar or same beliefs is what constitutes the friendship. In any other setting, we would not be friends with most of these people as we would really have nothing else in common to hold it together. Thus, when the church implodes, the friendships explode, fall apart and are not salvageable. They are based on being in the common church with a common belief. When that falls apart, that is generally the end of your friendships.


If you leave the church in discouragement, anger or theology fatigue, you are now a seed fallen on bad ground. Those who you leave behind will read about you in Matthew as one of the seeds that fell on hard ground and when trials came alone etc, did not have the ability to survive. Of course, it will be a bullshit explanation, but it makes them feel good to see that they are off the friendship hook with you for being disillusioned, hurt, marginalized or just worn out by controversy. Without the church work, doctrine or goals, you have no friendship. These people will disappear quickly should you ever begin to wake up to the fact that NO church knows all it needs to know about the Bible to be THE one true church. Of course, since no one attends the one false church, you will be labeled, disfellowshipped, avoided and generally cast into the Lake of Fire, Hell or other imagined bad places for the wicked person you are. These are mere not friends that stick closer than brothers, or at least not unless you live in the same house. Since you moved out, you are no brother of theirs.


The second kind of church friends you will cultivate are genuine friends that are friends in spite of church. You have the church in common. You met at church, but you also have kids, ideas and needs in common and develop a friendship outside of just church stuff. Your kids grow up together, make fun of the church and minister together, as do you from time to time and it's just normal. But if you leave the Church or the Church leaves you, they have agonizing decisions to make. If they stay, they might sneak your friendship but if the Church was still the main draw, they eventually will leave you alone, high and dry. They might even leave the church themselves, but if they move on to an even more righteous church than the one they left, and you just became disillusioned and non-committal, they will spend some time getting you to follow them into the truer church, or drop you in time as well. They don't mean it. You're not being theologically tied to any belief and even willing to step outside boxes that lead to different conclusions about religion will leave you without these friends in time. They will feel sorry for you for not moving on to even an more true church in their quest for the one true one. These friends will make you feel icky if you insist on staying around them just because they are all you have left. They will make you feel inferior for your beliefs or lack of them compared to their now new and improved ones, which is always a sign you might need to just forget the friendship. It's not real.

Another group are those that may be somewhat like you in your skepticism and having learned more than the church would have wished you to learn from the whole experience. You'll have all the bitching in common about the past. You will have quality time living in, mulling over and analyzing the past, but when you tire of that and realize that your life is not going forward in the past, these friends will also dry up and blow away.

You may outgrow them and bring your life up into the present while they wallow in the past and you grow tired of it, or you may stay stuck and they move on. Either way, the friendship will dissolve in time, as friendship based on sharing only a bad experience is doomed in the long run. You'll know the "friendship" is over when they keep sending you updates on the goings on the past Church and you don't care. In the world of blogging and email, you may have attracted these types of friends because of your common disastrous experience, but you have never even met these people in real time and would not know them if they sat next to you. But you were friends, until you weren't.


I am writing this while listening to the great hymns of the Church. Me...Mr. Skeptical, listening to the old hymns. I get teary because it provokes the chemistry of a more simple time, when I was younger and didn't know I was going to learn and experience all I was going to with regards to Church, ministers, theology, politics, behavior, humans and reality.
Wait a sec, It is Well With My Soul is playing...gotta get teary...ok, back.


Seems a shame church friends who have suffered through the ridiculous and reckless folly of those who are determined to not think change through, have to meet only at funerals of the wounded and now dead friends of the past. Maybe if someone had been a real friend, in spite of Church, they would still be alive.


Well, I guess that answers in part, where did they all go? People who hop from truer church to truer church in pursuit of the TRUE Church build friendships based on being a member of that particular church or set of beliefs. That is one kind of friendship but they also tend to dissolve quickly when conditions in that church change. That has been my experience in spades.
While the Bible says "a friend loves at all times", that has proven elusive to say the least among the survivors of the WCG debacle.



In reality, I  find that many who say they love you or are you best friend don't tell you it's conditional.

Dennis C. Diehl
DenniscDiehl@aol.com

Armstrongism Guilt

While this is not about Armstrongism, it has similar parallels.  Catholics are always the first to talk about Catholic "guilt."  They know what it is like to have ingrained in you over the years all the rules and regulations that revolve around Catholicism.  Then when you leave it, even though you know it is not important anymore or you may not even believe it any more, you have guilt pangs when you do something you think you shouldn't

The same can apply to Armstrongism.  We have our own version that could be called "Church of God Guilt", or "Armstrongism Guilt."  When you leave the cultic mentality and move on, every once in a while you stop and think, "...what if it was all true...", "what if eating bacon really is wrong," "what if we were supposed to keep the holy days," etc.

If my perusal of COGlet web sites and groups I run into that every once in a while with my self.  When you start reading  the writings of adamant people you get wrapped back up in the subtleties of what they are saying and then you begin to doubt things that you know are blatantly wrong.  That question of "What if..." pops into your head.  Because of that it is easy to see why so many still remain entrenched in the unholy mess of Armstrongism when they realize much of it is not true.  That "What If..." has enslaved them

 Hat tip to Van Robison for this.

The serious consequences of childhood religious indoctrination

by mirandaceleste on September 6, 2011

The concept of “Catholic guilt” has become a cliche, a joke, a truism. But it’s real. For many of us who experienced Catholic childhood religious indoctrination, Catholic guilt is a pernicious and inescapable burden with serious lifelong repercussions. It clings to us, a dark spectre of our pasts, a cruel and vicious voice whispering to us, reminding us of the lessons of our childhood: that we are unworthy, that we cannot do anything right, that we do not deserve to be happy, that we are dirty tainted sinners who must constantly punish ourselves and atone for our sins, and that we are nothing. Nothing. 

Read the rest of her entry here.

Sinful UCG Kids Break Sabbath By Playing Corn Hole

A writer sent in the following comments to Apostle Malm the other day concerning the UCG split and complaining about how "liberal" UCG has become.  While many of UCG's ministers are "snakes-in-the-grass" who worked behind the scenes to form UCG while on WCG's payroll, I do have to hand it to them that they have eased up on controlling the lives of members with unnecessary 'sabbath' regulations.

In spite of that, far too many of UCG's leaders are liars and manipulators.  The same applies for many of the UCG ministers who jumped ship to COGWA.  COGWA is in no better shape ethically than UCG is.

Far too many of the splinter group leaders want to bury their members under an incredible amount of useless legalistic rules and regulations that they "claim" God has commanded.

There is absolutely nothing that could ever get me to set foot in a UCG church, but of all the COGlets out there UCG at least as a small ray of light trying to seep into it.

But even more amazing is the absolute venom dripping because UCG kids played a simple game of corn hole.  It's not as if the kids were playing a ruff game of tackle football or soccer, they were tossing bean bags!  

Even worse is that those sinful reprobates in UCG were wishing each other Happy New Year on Facebook. 

Damnable sinners all!  

How stupid can Armstrongites get?

Many of the men who went with UCG came to LCG (then GlobalCG) headquarters to check out whether they wanted to go with them in the 90s.    I did get the distinct impression that if they didn’t get offered a highly esteemed position or enough dollars, they would just continue taking their paychecks from WCG and wait for UCG to form.

The inception of UCG from the get-go was “underground” most of the men took their paychecks from WCG until they were completely formed! Those ministers allowed their assistant pastors to preach unchecked and their flocks were scattered while they preached smooth things and didn’t take a stand! THEY TOOK THEIR PAYCHECKS and waited! That is how UCG formed!

From the perspective of those in GCG in Pasadena at the time, it sure looked like they didn’t want to join with GCG b/c they wanted more money. 

They stayed so long, they were completely suspect doctrinally!! Certainly suspect as to being true shepherds, they let their flocks get totally devoured!

 MANY of the ministers that came with GCG lost everything first, didn’t get promised anything b/c GCG didn’t have a HUGE following…it was a step of faith!! Most of the men had to go and get jobs…they weren’t hired on first thing!

So whatever happens now to UCG seems silly…isn’t UCG reaping what they sowed from their very inception!!?? It makes me sad to see another split…but they had the biggest group and they first set up a doctrinal team to reinvent what they believed, which took years…when they did FINALLY get on the stick and get a program or some work going…you have to admit it’s a total waste of time and money!! They aren’t warning ANYONE, their program is a complete sham!

Of all the churches of God I’m familiar with they are SO LIBERAL! I have seen it all! Basically it’s been some of the most wretched excuses for breaking the Sabbath, they keep it like most people keep Sunday!

In Lafayette they did a bbq ON THE SABBATH while the kids played corn hole…it might as well have been Sunday! SHOCKER, I was aghast! Gary Antion was there as well as Victor Kubik! Mr. Antion’s sermon was on self esteem…most of the material was from secular sources or so it seemed. He had a handout! The sad thing was that he NEVER mentioned our self esteem is from our relationship with God…HWA brought that out years ago! It was VERY much a touchy feel-ly love love sermon!
 
At the Indy church I asked Darris McNeely why they don’t seem to have any urgency in their prophetic magazine….he said because they want the material to be true now and 50 years from now!  One time while he was speaking, he told us of his goal to read a book a week…a secular book…he proceeded to give a sermon on The Count of Monte Cristo, where he talked about treasure without EVER mentioning anything truly spiritual! It would have been so easy, but he started saying things about treasure…what your treasure is, isn’t mine…and talked about his grandma’s treasure box.

MANY of my friends who are UCG got pregnant with in vitro fertilization. It’s totally WRONG and ungodly!  I could go on, they are NOT the only ones.

On Facebook the last couple of days many of my liberal UCG “friends” are all wishing each other “happy new year!” That shouldn’t surprise me, but it does! Wow, they have really slipped down the slope and they can’t see it!!

God and the International Date Line

Did you know that God deliberately did not create land masses and allow humans (particularly COG members) to live throughout most of the Pacific ocean because he knew that humans would create an international date line several thousand years down the road and he did not want a lot of people (COG members, of course) being confused about when to celebrate the Sabbath?  Just one more mind boggling fact that is necessary for our salvation...

We know when the Sabbath is in Jerusalem. The seven day cycle has never been lost. Christ kept the Sabbath, we know that. The Sabbath is 24 hours. This is not rocket science. "Knowledge is easy to him that is in the way". There's a decision to make near the date line, but there's a reason God created the vast pacific ocean and why there's so little out there. God knew what he was doing.

You Sinned If You Watched New Years Celebrations

The legalistic hate mongers in the Church of God have been on a roll this year. Apostle Malm, Prophet Thiel, and others have all been in a rage about Christmas and New Years celebrations.  You would think people were slaughtering first born on both of these days.  For some reason the COGers seem to think these are the worlds two most offensive and putrid celebrations the face of the earth.

Why do so many Church of God folk watch New Year's celebrations?

Some of these people give sermonettes (because they are related to someone or are wealthy not because of ability or knowledge). I must say that their 'sermonettes' are nothing but piffle and dribble anyway with no depth of understanding. As such, as a Church of God member I am under no obligation to listen to them...

So what's the difference between celebrating New Year's and Christmas? They are part of the same Babylonian Mark of the Beast! So should Christians be celebrating it or watching the fireworks? Time is short; life is short; why are members no longer interested in studying God's Word? Study and discuss the Bible, not get into New Year's trash!

The COG has always had a tradition of working the Rose Parade in Pasadena for well over 50 years.  The college and church basically ran all grandstands, parking lots and most concession stands on the parade route for years.  Even to this day members from the various splinter groups still do some activities to raise money. They park cars, usher in grandstands, sell programs or concessions and are even members of the organization.  LCG even has a member of their church in the Tournament of Roses.  Yet Prophet Thiel spits and sputters about the evilness of New Years. I am sure that LCG member appreciates being lied about by Prophet Bob.

William Ellis wrote in a 1964 Plain Truth the following that COGers just love to promote this time of year:

The New Year's festivities that had originated in Babylon found their way to Greece and finally to Rome. The Romans called it "Saturnalia" -- in honor of Saturn. Among them it was extremely popular -- a time of revelings, drinking bouts, orgies -- finally ending in HUMAN SACRIFICE!

There is nothing better to start the new year off than a fresh sacrifice on the altar, especially if it is a pink juicy baby!  Then he goes on to talk about many Feast of tabernacles sites:  "... a time of revelings, drinking bouts, orgies..."  There have been many reports over the years of the drunken and gluttonous COG members at Feast sites.  There have been sex orgies and wife swapping by ministers and members.  I would think these Armstrongites would get their own houses in order before damning the world around them.


Ellis goes on to write:  

Today, New Year's Eve has become a time for people to wallow in excesses of liquor! The modern attitude seems to be, "have a wild time on New Year's Eve, and turn over a new leaf on New Year's Day!"

New Year's resolutions are empty and meaningless, usually trifling matters of jest! Few people make a lasting change. (OrginalWCG Yahoo Group)

The first paragraph describes a typical COG Feast site and the second sounds exactly like COG members who make all kinds of promises to God right before Passover and afterwards.  They beg God to forgive them for the past years sins and make promises not to make the same mistakes for the coming year.  Then like the people who make New Years resolutions they then proceed to break all those promises.Hypocrites!