This is a reposting of a letter that was sent to us a long time ago. It is still as pertinent today considering the current debacle unfolding in the Restored Church of God.
An
Open Letter to All COG Churches, Leaders and Ministers
Twenty –two years have
passed since 1990 when the first of the splits occurred with with WCG by PCG
leaving. Subsequent splits occurred year after year. I
beg to ask the question, where has this gotten any of us? In recent
letters from a prominent minister who has joined RCG, he stated that when UCG
was formed, “The idea was to keep
our eyes open --- to watch for fruits of a work that might emerge in or from
one of the “Church of God” organizations. It would reflect the Government of
God at work, and have fruits similar to the WCG when it was on track and being
so obviously blessed by God. THIS would be the signal for all the groups to
reunite as one”! Well then, why even form United under the
guise of a voting democratic state if all you wanted to do was look for another
organization that was exactly the same as WCG was under Mr. Armstrong?
Why not start United, right off the bat as that organization that was exactly
the same as WCG? If the majority of
ministers would have stood up in 1993, you could have ousted Joe Jr. a long
time ago and got control of things. Now you have the “big fish in a
little pond” syndrome. Why didn’t all the ministers go with Flurry
when he split, he holds HWA in high esteem. Or, with
Meredith. They tried to keep things close to HWA too.
There were several opportunities to join forces before further
fracturing the church.
But no, split after
split occurred dragging brethren and their spiritual lives through the mud of
each “leader” thinking that they would restore the “true church” just as Mr.
Armstrong had the church on the track. Who’s to say Mr. Armstrong
had everything correct in his day. There are many examples of failed
prophecies, abuse of brethren and sheer avarice on his part. Does that
show a church that Jesus Christ founded? Did the Lord not criticize
a church that was rich and increased with goods? Did he not criticize
people who hoard up earthly treasures unto themselves? Many members
are tired of all this silliness perpetrated by the leadership. Many
are opting to stay home. Many of them discuss amongst themselves
how sick and tired they are that the ministry cannot work together, and think
that a churches fruits are how many buildings and riches it has.
As you may remember,
HWA taught that the age would end in 1975. An observation that a
few of us have made is why was he building a college and auditorium prior to
1975, if we were just going to flee and leave it? The Pasadena
Campus was built on the blood, sweat and tears of the brethren sacrificing
their financial future. For what? The present owners
are beginning demolition of part of the campus. If this was God’s
campus, wouldn’t He have done something about it? Hence I cite the Temple
in Jerusalem, a place where God’s presence dwelt. Did He spare
that? He saw that it became a monument to a religious organization and
men, not to God. If we are now in the “last years of the last days”
then why is RCG building a new building, new college? Why can’t he
buy a commercial property and refurb it? Why another monument to
nothing paid for again by the sweat and tears of the brethren. PCG
and Gerald Flurry have just built a $5million debacle (in debt and ready to go
bankrupt) all in the name of preserving God’s government. Is God
going to dwell in any of these places or are they going to become defunct
wrecks of human ambition?
Who among any of the
leaders and ministers can say that they are fulfilling the roll of an apostle
when Jesus Christ Himself said that “whoever of you would be great must be a
servant”? That those who exalt themselves will be
abased? That the greatest will be the least in the Kingdom.
What constitutes the office of Apostle? One who is sent
forth. Not one who sits in their edifices of glorification to
themselves and their organizations. Or, by merchandising the
brethren to pay for trips abroad and not preaching the name of Jesus Christ
does not equate with being sent forth. The apostle John sat in a
cave on an island in the middle of nowhere. The glory he received
was the Revelation of the coming of the Lord and also a vision of
heaven. John’s writings are in every Bible that has circled the
world. Are the writings of any of these groups as popular as the
Bible? The example of all the apostles were not that of setting
themselves up on pillars, but of poverty, rejection and sometimes dying as martyrs
for their faith. So what constitutes David Pack claiming
to be an apostle? Is he healing people by the
hundreds? Is he performing miracles? The way he
departed from Global was less then honorable. The membership is not
blind, they are aware of what happened when Global split. The same with
Gerald Flurry. He is not “that Prophet”. Even
Jews know that that title is reserved for the Messiah himself.
I’m not saying that
any leader, organization, or person has to be perfect. But seriously
there is one small word that has been forgotten over the years. Its
HUMILITY. Hey, I’m not claiming to be perfect. I’m a poor,
broke person who is a sinner just like everyone else.
I’m not putting my 2 cents in here because I think I’m better than anyone
else. The reason for this letter is too many people have been hurt
for too long in the name of “the Church of God”. Taking God’s
name in vain isn’t just cursing. It’s usurping God’s name and God’s word
to fulfill your own ambitions, no matter how many scriptures you use to support
your position. If you hurt people by lying, cheating, stealing, in
God’s name you are breaking the commandment of loving your
neighbor. Taking titles that you don’t deserve is receiving your
reward now.
In conclusion, I just
ask any minister or member who reads this to ask themselves what are the fruits
God is looking for? Buildings, magazines, booklets, or are they,
love, peace, mercy, kindness, justice?
Reread the New
Testament and for once, listen to what it really says.
Sincerely,
A Lowly Nobody
7 comments:
Gerald Flurry, the anti-Elijah who KILLS kids, strikes again!
From: Exit And Support Network
Letters From Those Impacted by Philadelphia Church of God
Little Girl Died from Lack of Medical Attention:
January 18, 2014
I want to relate another incident about neglecting child medical care in the PCG. There was a girl around 10 years old named Alicia who died horribly of a virulent viral infection around 2000. She and her parents attended the Cincinnati area congregation. (They have a lot of family members still in PCG.) Her parents refused to take her to a hospital even though she obviously had a bad infection and had pus coming out of her ears. She apparently died in great pain. All this could have been avoided and the girl saved if she had had medical attention. They were later investigated by child protection services when the local authorities read her autopsy report.
I visited the family numerous times and had dinner and fellowship with them. I liked them and they were decent folk. However, the Armstrong/Flurry hypocrisy told them that trusting in doctors is a sin and would make God angry. Therefore this otherwise attentive couple allowed their little girl to die for the sake of a false doctrine. I am still haunted by the memories of a once happy, healthy little girl sacrificed to a cultish fraud. It keeps me up at nights. --Ex member of PCG [name removed]
"Why didn’t all the ministers go with Flurry when he split, he holds HWA in high esteem."
Everyone should THANK GOD that at least the WCG ministers DID NOT go with a drunken false prophet like Gerald Flurry. Give them some credit. For all their faults, which were legion, at least they knew better than to do that. Of course, Gerald then proceeded to set up various ignorant, wicked, power-hungry, local perverts and abusers as PCG "ministers."
Also, it needs to be clearly pointed out that Gerald Flurry from the very start has falsely claimed to hold HWA in high esteem even as he always does the EXACT OPPOSITE of what HWA taught and did, even with what HWA thought were the most important things.
For example, Gerald Flurry quickly did away with the "great commission" to the church to preach the gospel of the kingdom of God to the whole world by saying that HWA had already done that and that with a new church era comes a new commission to the church to warn the "evil Laodiceans." It was a HUGE change done quickly.
The understanding in the WCG under HWA was that the prophet mentioned in Deuteronomy was Jesus, but Gerald started to teach that it was referring to himself. Even when forced to flip-flop a bit on this, he still kept for himself the title of "That Prophet." Very interesting considering that HWA had taught that there were no prophets in the church today--EXCEPT FALSE PROPHETS!
In his later years, HWA had emphasized the prophecy in Malachi that talked about turning the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers. In direct contrast and opposition, Gerald Flurry came up with a "no contact" rule to get grandparents, parents, children, and grandchildren to totally cut off all contact with each other. How satanic is that?
Any teachings about morality in the WCG under HWA got totally turned around backwards in Gerald's PCG, where people can get kicked out if they do not go along with old sex maniacs, sex perverts, and predators. That one comes as a real shocking surprise to some of the victims.
People who just carelessly repeat Gerald Flurry's lies about how he is faithfully following HWA's example simply do not know what they are talking about.
The PCG is a satanic fraud, and satanic frauds are not known for being nice.
In the first place to again reiterate the fact that all Gerald Flurry did was stole HWA's idea, stole Jules Dervaes writing, got some close friends together and ASKED THEM "What do you think about this plan??...But all the while CLAIMING it was from God.
John, on the Isle of Patmos never asked anyone else "What do you think about what God just inspired me to write?" Right?? Never asked anyone for their input.
And besides,Matthew 7:16...
Ye shall know them by their fruits. (NOT..."You will know them by them being fruits!"
The problems will always multiply when you have a system based on strict enforcement of inflexible legalism. That alone, without the false prophecy, and without ridiculous theories such as British Israelism, would defy the love and grace of God, and turn a church into the equivalent of a Nazi concentration camp. Exploitation of, and willful mistreatment of His children is NOT the way to please God.
A message for the deceived: If you are worried about what the Germans might do to you for 3-1/2 years, you should not be. Make a simple cost-benefit analysis! Cumulatively, your own ministers have done far worse to you already in some cases for decades!
BB
This letter is very good and well describes the morass of hatred and vindictive turf wars the more authoritarian COG groups have engaged in to the utter dismay of most of the membership.
The writer says PCG's Armstrong Auditorium cost $5 million. It actually cost $25 million. (See the very last letter at the following link.)
http://www.exitsupportnetwork.com/mike_ep/letters/ltrspcg12.htm
Anonymous 11:42,
You make some very insightful comments about how Gerald Flurry has in fact altered his message compared to what HWA taught.
>>For example, Gerald Flurry quickly did away with the "great commission" to the church to preach the gospel of the kingdom of God to the whole world by saying that HWA had already done that and that with a new church era comes a new commission to the church to warn the "evil Laodiceans." It was a HUGE change done quickly.<<
This is true. This is what Gerald Flurry wrote in page 78 of the 1990 edition of Malachi's Message.
"If the work to the world is basically finished - most of what remains to be done is separating the Laodiceans and the Philadelphians.... That should not taken very long - but it will be painful! Very painful - in some cases it will break up families."
I was shocked when I saw that passage. This is what I said about it when I read it.
"My word! This has to be one of the most disgusting, horrid and shocking statements Flurry ever says in this book. Here is the terrible no contact policy in embryo. Although (as far as I know) the no contact policy was not yet in force then, it seems clear that the seeds of self-righteous hatred against so-called Laodiceans (WCG members and members of other COGs) is already there in Flurry's heart.
"He knows the hatred he is teaching towards those he defines as Laodiceans will tear up families. But it seems clear from these words he is determined to do it regardless, as early as February 1990.
It is a terrible tragedy that Flurry found himself in just the right time to gain enough converts from WCG to became one of the major Armstrongite COGs."
This is from:
http://livingarmstrongism.blogspot.com/2013/03/reading-malachis-message-1990-ediion.html
>>Everyone should THANK GOD that at least the WCG ministers DID NOT go with a drunken false prophet like Gerald Flurry. Give them some credit. For all their faults, which were legion, at least they knew better than to do that. Of course, Gerald then proceeded to set up various ignorant, wicked, power-hungry, local perverts and abusers as PCG "ministers."<<
When I looked at PCG while I was an Armstrongite I could not help but notice that the leaders of PCG were of no importance within old WCG, while other splinter groups had more prominent WCG personalities within their groups. That is a major reason why I decided to ignore PCG after investigating them for a little while.
A lowly nobody concluded with writing: "...I just ask any minister or member who reads this to ask themselves what are the fruits God is looking for? Buildings, magazines, booklets, or are they, love, peace, mercy, kindness, justice?..."
Good question! I'd like to share some NT thoughts, and one or two from the OT, with you, because if God is looking for fruits He knows, by the power of His Spirit, where to find them and Galatians 5 lists some of them as you, lowly nobody, pointed out.
None of us develops these fruits on our own. God does have the workmanship of His hands and if He wants fruit in somebody He will make it happen by measure. For example, choose the fruit of faith:
Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the MEASURE of FAITH.
The same applies to any of God's fruits He wants to share and give out. He does it by His Spirit by proportion:
:6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the PROPORTION of FAITH;
God knows that this world currently lies in wickedness, that it is a creation made subject to vanity. The fruits are evident all around us. What can change it? Not SELF!
"Yet the LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day." Deuteronomy 29:4
Like faith, fruits of God's Spirit, if God wants to see them...and perceiving hearts, seeing eyes, hearing ears, then He must do something, produce change(s), repentance if you will.
To lowly nobody, Jesus Christ also told us this:
Matthew 15:13 But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.
14 Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
Someday the splits, the scattering of hirelings and sheep, will cease; however, we're going to experience some patience waiting for it, because again God must do something to cause that to happen.
"And I will put my spirit within you, and CAUSE you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." Ezekiel 36:27
Continue to be strong, encouraged, and of a good courage...change is coming! There really is something being worked out (Psalm 74:12) whether we are aware of it or not.
John
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