Things just get curiouser and curiouser in Armstrongism! The Kitchen clan have been threatened with a "cease and desist" order from Shirley Timmons who was one of the original plaintiffs in the lawsuit by the State of California against the WCG in 1978.
Apparently the WCG/Tkach gave the rights to the name The World Tomorrow to Shirley for taking care of his mother. Of course the Kitchens see this as an appalling attack by Satan against their "ministry" of plagiarizing everything HWA said for the last 60 some years.
All true followers of Herbert Armstrong have been asked to pray and fast to stop this satanic attack!
We have received notice again from Shirley Timmons, to cease and desist in the use of the "World Tomorrow" name. For example, on youtube, we listed the programs from Mr.Armstrong with it's original name, "The World Tomorrow TV Programs with Herbert W Armstrong".
We wrote it this way to solve any confusion, and to show it was presented by Herbert W Armstrong as archived video.
If you remember, our old Facebook page "The World Tomorrow TV"(which is now scheduled to be deleted) was temporary shut down due to their first cease and desist order of using the name "World Tomorrow". In order to continue on, we created this page, and God has blessed it. Within two weeks of creating the page, we gained 6,000 likes where we only had a little over a thousand on the old page. And now we have over 20,000 likes.
Shirley Timmons is claiming that these programs listed in their original name is confusing people, as they are continuing their own religious program called "the world tomorrow".
We are only calling it it's TRUE and FACTUAL NAME! But they are coming to us once again with a "cease and desist" as they own the trademark name "The World Tomorrow".
They received this trademark from Joe Tkach Jr, as a gift for taking care of his mother.
They claim they are the ones who went after Juliane Assuage, and his program "the World Tomorrow", and that is the reason why he got in so much trouble.
But notice who is backing these people! In 1979 it was the California State Government who jumped when they cracked their whip (so to speak). Under the claim that they went after Juliane Assuage and his tv show, it shows who jumped when they cracked their whip (connection?).
They were one of the six malcontent members who went to the California State Attorney General, and started the attack on God's Church with the false claim of "misappropriation of funds" which was proven in a court of law as being a false claim.
Alas, it is a conspiracy against the Kitchens! Satan is vehement in stopping their earth shattering work! Demons are working over time to bring them down. Demons are setting traps everywhere in order to ensnare the Kitchens.We want to ask for your help in prayers and in fasting, in asking God for direction and guidance in this most important matter. Perhaps it is time for all of this to go down.
Only God can deliver us from these attacks. We can't do it on human power and might, but only by the spirit of God. That is how God delivered the church from the 1979 attack, and every attack down through the ages! and so we put our trust and faith in Him. And we ask for everyone to fast and pray about this. We must walk by faith, the living faith of Jesus Christ not our own "worked up" faith. And perhaps it is time, and we are close to the Great tribulation. A lot is happening this year, and it does look like this year is the year! The United States of Europe is rising! And so we all need to draw ourselves to God the Father ,through more Bible Study, more prayer, more Fasting, and we must examine ourselves to see if we are right with God, or are we just kidding ourselves. We all need to do this, including ourselves, more and more. Time is short.
So yes, traps seem to be set for us everywhere we go. And so we do need your prayers and we do thank you for them and for your help in this matter.
All I can say is, "Go Shirley, Go!
You can read more about Shirley's original lawsuit against the WCG here.
34 comments:
Seriously, is there an address where we might make a financial contribution to Shirley Timmons and her group? We missed the boat when it came to stopping the Flurrys from getting the rights to many of the old, bogus Armstrong materials which should have passed into oblivion.
Seems like the Kitchens are becoming the cogwriter equivalent for PCG! I smell a splinter coming on! Hope Flurry doesn't have any French speaking elders who anoint people, and someone ought to send a message over to Kenya exhorting the Africans to gird up their loins!
BB
Doe he not understand trademark and copyright laws, and that breaking them can cause a big loss of buckaroos?..............
Oh...wait....
Could that explain all that demands for funds, because of all the legal costs, and heaven forbid, the church sell an asset to pay for it?
HWA's WCG did not win the receivership case. They were not proven innocent. Actually Rader lobbied the legislators of the State of California to change the law so that that kind of lawsuit could not be pursued.
HWA's WCG was not proven innocent. They just lobbied California to change the law for their benefit.
The Kitchens need to be very careful here because their lack of faith in trademarks and copyrights may result in their becoming poor....
And to declare a fast for such triviality -- for their own aggrandizement? Isn't there something about that in the Old Testament books of the prophets?
Ha ha, you will not see a "splinter form" or anything of the type. And we are not part of nor associated, nor affiliated with the PCG or any other group. So no, you are misinformed again on this.
well, I see at least one Kitchen doesnt understand the word "equivalent"?
Oh, so if you are not associated with any other group, it sounds as if the splinter has already formed. Got it.
BB
First, Mikey, before he expects God to answer their fast, he needs to stop breaking their sabbath by wasting it posting here!
Every time he starts up his computer, as the light comes on for the screen, he is kindling a fire on the sabbath.
~Diarrhea Dan
If you remember, our old Facebook page "The World Tomorrow TV"(which is now scheduled to be deleted) was temporary shut down due to their first cease and desist order of using the name "World Tomorrow". In order to continue on, we created this page, and God has blessed it. Within two weeks of creating the page, we gained 6,000 likes where we only had a little over a thousand on the old page. And now we have over 20,000 likes.
So the reason for using the copyright / trademark that was not theirs (Thou Shalt Not Steal) was for purposes of self-aggrandizement -- it was used for the trivial pursuit of "likes" on Facebook (Thou Shalt Not Covet [covetousness is idolatry]).
So let me get this straight.
The proud (God resists the proud) want other people to fast so they can gain more attention by stealing the use of something that is not theirs.
Does anyone see the irony in this?
The World Tomorrow was a political mag published in the early 1900s, with with HWA was no doubt familiar. One un-original name.
Plain Truth was a pamphlet circulated during the American Revolution by James Chalmers, an apparent associate of Benjamin Franklin. Another un-original name.
The two flagship names of HWA's media empire were not original. Horrors, I know. However, at least he was the first one to come up with British-Israelism, har-de-har.
However, at least he was the first one to come up with British-Israelism, har-de-har.
Wrong, Assistant Deacon.
But funny!
A sort of history of British Israelism may be found at BritishIsraelism.com. You may find some amazing (if not downright hilarious) facts there. Sorry, but the misspelling of Yisrael Hawkins will be fixed some time in the next edition. Also added will be Dr. Michael Germano -- first he was for it, then agin it, then... if he's now working for Roderick Meredith, he's for it again. Can't these academic types ever make up their mind? It's not like it's global warming -- it's real science with DNA proof and he presented proof against British Israelism using DNA back in 2007. What a difference 7 years can make....
Yeah. It's all good, all funny. Some people out there are probably wondering why we even respond to the Bathroom Clan. On one hand, it's frustrating, like trying to communicate with someone who has had a frontal lobotomy. But, it's also making Armstrongism look even more ridiculous, and hot damn! Look at the new people participating!
And, remember, he or they are doing this on their sabbath! LOL!
BB
British-Israelism, "One of the first published accounts of the theory of an Israelite genealogy of the British was The Rights of the Kingdom by John Sadler, published in 1649." From Wikipedia...
HWA was a fraud with no originality. He refused to have bible studies with other brethren and refused to used the real names of the Father and Son. He was professing to be of the first century assembly, then he should of use the biblical names, not deities.
Tim said...
Ha ha, you will not see a "splinter form" or anything of the type. And we are not part of nor associated, nor affiliated with the PCG or any other group. So no, you are misinformed again on this.
May 31, 2014 at 2:17 PM
Doesn't matter. I just used "Tim" as an excuse to tell my story about the other Tim...Kucharsky...Ha ha!
No love lost for Kitchen, but the Timmons have always been a pain in the butt personality too.
These two groups deserve each other.
Redfox712 said...
"HWA's WCG did not win the receivership case. They were not proven innocent. Actually Rader lobbied the legislators of the State of California to change the law so that that kind of lawsuit could not be pursued."
"HWA's WCG was not proven innocent. They just lobbied California to change the law for their benefit."
For Herbert W. Armstrong's version of events, check out page 267 of the original hardcover version of MOA:
Book: Mystery of the Ages
Chapter 6 - Mystery of the Church
Subheading: Part of the Lay Member
------------
The office of the attorney general of America's most populous state--California--had made a sudden, unexpected massive armed assault on the headquarters of the Worldwide Church of God at Pasadena, California. They claimed, in violation of the U.S. Constitution, that all church property and assets belong to the state, and a court had secretly appointed a receiver to TAKE OVER, RUN AND OPERATE the Church of the living GOD!
...
After three days they gave up. The receiver, an ex-judge of a non-Christian faith, resigned. The civil lawsuit went on "the back burner." And the OPERATION OF THE CHURCH CONTINUED! The higher appellate court later ruled that this lawsuit was without foundation and never should have been started.
------------
As always, I advise the cult leader to repent.
It never works, but it makes me feel better than if I hadn't warned him of the wrath to come... if it does.
I know that many regular posters here think that the receivership was fully justified but I was in Pasadena at the time and I still don't see it that way.
Remember that the Jim Jones murder/suicide horror just a few months earlier. I remember an employee meeting that fall in which someone asked Stan Rader if the Jim Jones affair would affect WCG and he assured us it would not because we were quite different. Yet the California attorney general's office was under harsh criticism for having missed obvious signs that something wasn't right with Jones.
The reason that the receivership was launched without notice was because the plaintiffs claimed that the Big Sandy campus was being sold at a fraction of its worth so someone (and they were pointing fingers at Ralph Helge) must have been taking a bribe from the buyer.
As some of you may recall, Big Sandy was being sold for $10.6 million to a businessman who was loosely associated with Jerry Falwell. He claimed he wanted to put an orphanage there, although there were later allegations that he wanted to use the airstrip to fly drugs into the country. He died not long after this in a tractor accident while mowing a field. My aunt lives a couple miles from there so I heard the details of his death.
The buyer bragged to a newspaper that the property was worth $30 million. Although this is not the kind of thing that a person paying bribes would say, his statement led to the plaintiff's claim that the church was being cheated out of a lot of money.
The lawsuit was hurriedly filed at the beginning of January because the sale was supposed to be finalized a few days later. However, if any of you still have your old issues of the Worldwide News, you will find an announcement a few weeks earlier saying that the buyer had asked for an extension to allow time to secure financing. The plaintiffs either did not read this announcement or chose not to mention it to the court.
The first thing the receiver did after taking control of the Pasadena campus (or, I should say, the first thing he did after searching for gold bars in the ceiling of HWA's office; he found none because the gold bars had been exchanged for the gold foil in the Auditorium) was to try to cancel the sale of Big Sandy.
The church argued in court that the sale should go through and produced a 100+ page appraisal by a nationally known appraisal firm that said the property was worth less than $7 million. (Norm Edwards submitted a letter to the editor of the Pasadena Star News saying that as a graduate of Big Sandy then living in Pasadena, he knew that the property would be worth far more than $30 million in Pasadena but in rural East Texas, its value was far, far less.)
Upon learning of this appraisal, the buyer backed out. The receiver immediately reversed course and tried to force the buyer to complete the sale. Hillel Chodos, the plaintiff's attorney, flew to Texas to try to force the sale but came back empty handed (but with large claims for reimbursement for his expenses).
After this, there was no justification for the receivership. Stan Rader made sure that everything was done legally. You may argue (and I would agree) that Stan and Herbert were paying themselves too handsomely for a non-profit organization but that's not illegal. Ron Weinland is not in prison for paying himself too much but for not paying taxes on all that money. Stan made sure that a tax audit on him or Herb would find nothing out of place.
Stephen
I left WCG in 1975, following the Great Disappointment of 1972-75. When that great of a disturbance is created in one's life, starting in youth, and looms so large, and then is proven by its own nonhappening to have been false prophecy (even their 3 math equations failed!), they only get one strike and they're out.
However, I knew at the time I left about the lawsuit that was being put together. The question in my mind was why bring a lawsuit. Why not just leave? I was told that the people initiating it did not want to destroy the church. In fact, amazingly, they still believed that it was God's church! I was intrigued by this explanation, but was unable to fathom it. They felt that the fiscal matters had gotten way out of hand, had been frustrated that the issues could not be resolved by going through proper channels, and they wanted accountability. Abuses of third tithe were particularly repugnant to this group. Church "widows" (made so by the D& R doctrines of the day) and their children were being taken off third tithe and sent to collect welfare. A huge, expensive collection of art objects was mentioned in connection with this.
It amazed me that about 4 years later I finally read in the L.A. Times not only that receivership had been imposed, but that there were the types of sit-in demonstrations taking place that the church had loudly condemned when anti-war student groups and African American civil rights leaders had used them as part of their own tactics. This seemed shameful, and hypocritical, especially since we had always been taught to obey civil authorities. Careers of ministers who have never forsaken the church's doctrines even to this day were completely ruined, as they were thrown under the bus. And, in the end, nothing changed. There was no improvement in accountability. The church later lost millions in yet another HWA debacle that people also attempt to whitewash, his divorce from Ramona.
BB
Michael Germano -- Yes, he first supported BI, then wrote against it, then flipped when he joined LCG. It was especially delicious to see LCG squirm when Germano's supposedly-expunged writings were discovered in web archives. With that kind of hypocrisy, LCG members were understandably disturbed, so Germano puts out a video where he talks of the basic doctrines that he has believed for nearly 50 years, trying to placate the masses. But the one example he gave of those beliefs was British Israelism, the very issue he wrote against just a few years earlier! Unbelievable. A flat-out lie. Preserved on video.
I recently just finished reading all of the ambassador reports on the painful truth blog. I have never been apart of the Armstrong religion, but was curious because I have a relative who is a member of the United Church of God.
My conclusion--If what is called Armstrongism was put on trial it would be found guilty on all counts of being a very harmful mind control cult. A cult that has and continues to destroy thousands of lives through tactics of control.
Even the less extreme of the groups such as the UCG are serving members a regular dose of mind poison although it may be a more diluted form of poison.
I am glad to see that this blog isn't just exposing some of the more extreme groups and individules but also some of the less extreme groups also such as the UCG.
The UCG may be more extreme than you know -- it's just that they have processes in place to cover up the stalking, the fondling, the oppression through threats of disfellowship.
You have to know that with over 40 splits from the UCG (the largest of which seems to have been the CoGWA) that something's up.
Uh, yeah, the "har-de-har" was meant to signal a wink about HWA and British-Israelism.
My dog knows the guy didn't come up with that one. And she's not even an English Setter.
IIRC (and I may not, as I was born after those events and only read about them), the state took that initiative on the grounds that WCG had become a charitable trust,based on Raders creation of the AICF and therefore subject to state regulation.
HWAs mudslinging after the fact (really, the writings of a defendant who had so much to lose? Do you quote OJ as an authority on his case?) is somewhat misleading in that area.
Germano puts out a video where he talks of the basic doctrines that he has believed for nearly 50 years, trying to placate the masses. But the one example he gave of those beliefs was British Israelism, the very issue he wrote against just a few years earlier! Unbelievable. A flat-out lie. Preserved on video.
A liar in LCG leadership? How surprising... NOT!!!
What's shocking isn't that Germano is a liar. What's shocking is that LCG members have decided that his lies don't matter.
You know, I suspect that by now membership in these various groups is much more of a social/family thing for most people than it is a matter of belief. People know their leaders are liars and that their doctrines don't stand up to scrutiny, but when you have so many family members whose lives have been entwined with WCG and the splinters, it's easier to just hang out with the group instead of going to some other church group that will have its own problems.
If they already know it's all BS, Germano's BS wouldn't bother them that much more than any of the other BS. But if they were true believers, I can't believe they would stand for such lies and hypocrisy. So I prefer to believe that the members of LCG are, like their leaders, mostly non-believers who are in it for reasons other than truth.
Black Ops Mikey said...
"The UCG may be more extreme than you know -- it's just that they have processes in place to cover up the stalking, the fondling, the oppression through threats of disfellowship."
You got that right. The UCG is extremely godless. And they do not just threaten people with disfellowshipment. They actually do get rid of anyone who tells the plain truth about what is going on there. Malicious outright liars, on the other hand, are welcomed in and supported. The UCG has totally abandoned truth and justice for what they think is politically expedient. Lacking real faith in God they think they can grow the church through their own cleverness. So far, it does not seem to be working out very well.
In response to Anonymous:
From Ambassador Report 14 (December 1, 1980), http://hwarmstrong.com/ar/AR14.html:
"In our last newsletter we wrote how the so-called Petris bill (SB1493) - intended to limit the state attorney general's power in investigations of religious corporations had been passed by the California legislature and had gone to Governor Brown's desk for signing. Based on comments from sources in the attorney general's office, we were confident the bill would not have any effect on the state's lawsuit against Rader and company.
"We were wrong. And so were many legal experts in California - including many of the legislators who helped pass the bill and who had stated it would not effect pending cases. ...
"Nevertheless, on Oct. 14 [1980], California Attorney General George Deukmejian announced that he was dropping his case against the Worldwide Church of God's leadership. Ironically, Deukmejian's announcement came just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court once again refused to hear arguments by the WCG's lawyers that state prosecutors acted unconstitutionally in their seizure of church records.
"That afternoon, a jubilant Stanley Rader, returning to the Los Angeles area after a trip to northern California, was met at the airport by a throng of wildly cheering followers who were ecstatic over the news. The next day, at a press conference, Rader stated, "Mr. Armstrong and I and the church as a whole feel that in the state legislature and in the governor's office we have been vindicated legally and morally." Rader actually heaped praise on Deukmejian for "moral courage" and for being "a man of his word." He also praised the state legislature, which he described as the guardian of the public against excesses of the judiciary.
"It is interesting that just a few days before, Rader had stated to the Pasadena Star-News:
""If the attorney general were an honorable man, it [the lawsuit] would come to an end. But the attorney general is not an honorable man. He is not bound by the constitution. So I don't think he will drop the case. He hasn't proved to me that he can deal with the truth" (Oct. 2, 1980). ...
"When Deukmejian announced on Oct. 14 that the state's suit against Worldwide was being dropped, the reason given was that the Petris law has curtailed his power to the point that the suit could never be brought to a successful end. Under the law, he said, the attorney general will be able to prosecute for fraud only. He cannot recover money improperly received or misapplied by church officials. He felt that the case against the WCG's leadership could not be completed before June 1 [1981] when the Petris law officially goes into effect. Thus continuing the suit would only mean wasting money on a suit that would have to be discontinued on that date."
That is how HWA's WCG "won" the receivership. They lobbied the State of California to pass a law that made that kind of lawsuit impossible to do.
Furthermore, in regards to what HWA wrote, when precisely did this "higher appellate court" case occur?
Byker Bob said:
"However, I knew at the time I left about the lawsuit that was being put together. The question in my mind was why bring a lawsuit. Why not just leave? I was told that the people initiating it did not want to destroy the church. In fact, amazingly, they still believed that it was God's church! I was intrigued by this explanation, but was unable to fathom it. "
When I read John Tuit's book, The Truth Shall Set You Free, I also was quite surprised to learn that the initiators of the lawsuit actually passionately believed what HWA taught. They were not trying to destroy the church as HWA so viciously and deceptively claimed. They were desperately trying to reform WCG in order to make it an organization more responsive to the needs of WCG lay members.
While I was an Armstrongite I was under the impression that the initiators of the lawsuit were inspired by Satan, bitter ex-members whose minds had been perverted by the Devil. How surprising it was to discover that they were people of faith who deeply believed what HWA taught and who courageously resisted HWA's tyranny on behalf of WCG lay members. They should be viewed as heroes, not vilified as they are even among some of the more legalistic COGs today.
RSK: WCG and AICF were separately incorporated. AICF was never a party to the receivership. The attorney general claimed that all churches were charitable trusts subject to state supervision and, if deemed necessary by the AG, state control.
Redfox712,
If you think the plaintiffs were heroes, you must think the same of Edward Snowden.
Some people think he is a hero; some think he isn't.
At the time, the plaintiffs claimed that they were only interested in reforming the church. Removing the church's leadership and replacing it with a Jewish retired judge seemed like an odd way to achieve that goal. I have wondered if their lawyers took their case in a direction that they did not understand.
"If you think the plaintiffs were heroes, you must think the same of Edward Snowden."
Why did you bring up Edward Snowden? What does he have to do with anything?
"At the time, the plaintiffs claimed that they were only interested in reforming the church. Removing the church's leadership and replacing it with a Jewish retired judge seemed like an odd way to achieve that goal. I have wondered if their lawyers took their case in a direction that they did not understand."
I cannot speak for them. All I can say is to recommend anyone interested in this topic to read the Ambassador Report and John Tuit's book, The Truth Shall Set You Free. He does have some viewpoints I can't agree with, especially near the end, but I think the initiators of the lawsuit did a good thing in trying to gain greater accountability from WCG's leaders.
Also, the retired judge who was the receiver was Jewish? I will not comment on that except to say that whether he was Jewish or not is immaterial in regards to the receivership crisis. He did not cause the crisis. HWA, Rader and WCG's leadership of the time caused it by being so secretive regarding WCG's finances.
Also I find it curious how you make no response regarding the quotes from the Ambassador Report concerning the Petris Bill and how it was that piece of legislation that saved HWA's WCG from the receivership. HWA's WCG was not vindicated in court on this matter.
4:40, those things you mention may not have been part of anyone's design or master plan. I am certain that there were any number of unintended consequences as this process took on a life of its own. We know how that can often happen in a simple divorce case! Probably the lawyers did exert their own influences, as it became no longer possible to have a nice, rational, orderly correction of HWA's, Stan Rader's, and other members of senior management's ethics.
HWA was not the type of leader who would either listen to valid concerns and make corrections, or to simply pray this thing away. Although either of those two courses might have caused his membership and the outsiders to respect him more, It is doubtful that Stan Rader would have permitted it.
I personally believe the initiators of the suit would have been better off walking away. Hell, we've got the example of all these little Livingroom Churches of God floating around today. If their consciences were so inclined, these folks could have observed the doctrines privately at home. I've heard innuendos that GTA might have been pulling their strings from the background, but this was never proven to my knowledge.
BB
Had the receivership been allowed to run its course, HWA and SR would likely have both ended up in Ron Weinland's position, although not necessarily for exactly the same set of offenses. It is my expectation that especially these two would have been caught by a receiver with hands in cookie jars, and so not shutting it down would have meant a crisis of near-existential proportion.
Ok, whats it matter if the receiver was Jewish? So was Stanley Rader. And if Herbert Armstrong's claimed descent from King David was true, so was HWA! But more to the point, a Baptist receiver would have probably raised "conflict of interest" counterclaims quickly.
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