Ever on the quest to spend more tithe money and to gain favor in the eyes of the world, the Philadelphia Church of God resorts to all kinds of tricks to accomplish that. Because it is mocked and ridiculed in the various Churches of God for its horrendous treatment of members and their families it is constantly scrambling to make itself look good. Its horrendous reputation for not allowing medical treatment that can save lives, its breaking up of families, marriages, friendships and for causing the suicides of members, it will never have a positive light in the COG or the world.
Because its image is so tarnished in the COG's it has to go out to the world to find favor. Flurry had to build his mini-me auditorium that was totally unnecessary and without worth in the Edmond area. Millions of dollars went into it and now the PCG is suffering mightily because of the financial drain. Flurry is trying to bring in first class concerts and is courting the rich in Edmond to income partners in his "musical" endeavor, just as Herbert Armstrong did with the Ambassador Auditorium. Just like the Ambassador Auditorium, the Herbert W Armstrong Auditorium has became a white elephant sitting in the midst of the cult compound as a reminder that money was foolishly spent.
Now the story gets more complicated. Due to the history of British Israelism in the Church of God, Flurry has had to embrace it even more wholeheartedly. Without the myth of British Israelism the PCG would have no reason to exist. PCG's version of BI's goal is to promote white exclusionary exceptionalsim. That exceptionalisn dates back centuries as the supposed lost 12 tribes made their trek northwards trough Europe into Britain and Ireland. Its to those Irish "roots" that the PCG now has prostituted itself with its members money.
Like in the Worldwide Church of God, the elite of the organization lives lives of excess and luxury. That same trend is carried over into the PCG. Flurry, his family members, and the upper echelon of the PCG are reaping those rewards as their lives are pampered and upheld by the tithes of the lower class members of the church.
Tremendous amounts of money have been spent over the last several years by Gerald Flurry and Wayne Turgeon bringing Irish dance to the chosen people of God. Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent on bringing in teachers, building dance studios, paying for costumes, putting on dance performances, travel, etc. Many members are totally disgusted by this enormous waste of money.
Most of Flurry's grand kids and nearly every child in his Imperial Academy are now being taught Irish dance, all paid for by tithe money of the gullible sheeple. The PCG has even flown in teachers from Muggivan School of Irish Dance to train their kids.
PCG's most famous Irish dancer is Gerald Flurry's grandson, Jude Flurry.
Shane Granger of Armstrong Auditorium talks about the pagan roots of Irish dance and how the PCG celebrates the paganism:Jude Flurry is only eleven years old, but he’s already an accomplished Irish Dancer. Having danced since he was six years old, he placed 9th in this year’s world championships. My Outlook, Jude Flurry
Nothing like a little sun, moon and nature worship to go along with the worship of Herbert Armstrong in the PCG! The PCG talks about Riverdance in all its promotion when it comes to promoting its Irish dancing members. The show has always had a great following regardless of the countries it has played in. Its a fascinating evening of dance all filled with one pagan reference after another.Riverdance is based on the story of the Irish people. The beginning of the show deals with the first settlers coming to Ireland and realizing the power of the land. This part of the show incorporates symbolic elements representing the sun, the moon, thunder, lightning and water. The stories and themes are heavily influenced by Celtic mythology. The second half of the show deals with the Irish people’s emigration to America. Scenes depicting Irish immigrants and African-Americans sharing dance and song illustrate the unifying power of these human experiences. The Riverdance finale shows how the Irish people have joined the various communities of the world while retaining their heritage through music and dance.
Some of the lyrics of Riverdance include this in its opening act:
Out of the dark we cameBlessed Beltaine
Out of the sea
Where the long wave broke on the shore
As the day broke and the night rolled back
There we stood
On the land we would call home
Out of the dark we came
Out of the night,
The first of many mornings in this new place
When the sun rolled back the mist
We rose like a strong wave on land
Now we were the people of this place
What burns through through the mist?
What banishes rain and dark?
What makes the children straight and bright?
What makes the mountain sharp?
The sun is our lord and father
Bright face at the gate of day
Comfort of home, cattle, and crop
Lord of the morning, lord of the day
Lifting our hearts we sing his praise
Dance in his healing rays
Celtic Sun Worship
There is no doubt that Jude is a highly accomplished dancer and I think it is great he can accomplish this while still being part of a cult. It is sad to see a such a talented kid have his life wasted by being part of such a sick cult that has such a damaging history behind it.
Stevie Flurry had this to tweet out:
Here's another tidbit that an exPCG member sent me:
Do you remember how the church used to teach that God lived in the northern heavens? One would think that when HWA and Flurry built their auditoriums they would have the membership facing the throne of God while worshiping. Ambassador Auditorium faced East so that all worship was done towards the rising sun. Flurry's auditorium faces Southeast AWAY from the Northern skies. The PCG has turned their backs towards God!
21 comments:
Someone said:
"Do you remember how the church used to teach that God lived in the northern heavens? One would think that when HWA and Flurry built their auditoriums they would have the membership facing the throne of God while worshiping. Ambassador Auditorium faced East so that all worship was done towards the rising sun."
Sorry, can't resist. Even facing "God's throne on the sides of the north" is pure astrology + theology or astrotheolgy.
The Throne spoken of on the SIDES of the North is Cassiopea, commonly called "The Throne" and it looks like a big "W" to one side of the Polar Star Polaris. Like the Big Dipper, Casseopiea is circumpolar and never sets. The best description of God's Throne in the North is found in Revelation, a book rife with astrotheology.
Revelation 4:
5 Out from the throne (Casseopia) come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne,(The Seven Stars directly across from Casseopia in the Big Dipper) which are the seven Spirits of God; 6and before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal; (This is the Milky Way which clearly goes through Casseopia and between it and the polar star in summer )and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. (Casseopia, as the throne is made up of just FOUR bright stars making the letter "W")
7The first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like that of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle.…
These four creatures are merely the equidistant symbols for SUMMER, SPRING,WINTER and Fall.
Leo, the lion is in summer. Three months previous is Taurus the Bull in SPRING. Three months previous to that is Aquarius, the Waterman for WINTER and three months before that Aquila, the Eagle in Winter.
The Cherubs in Ezekiel made up the faces of man (Aquarius), a bull (Taurus), a Lion (Leo) and and Eagle (Aquilaa) are also seasonal symbols. The 6 wings each has x 4 = the hours of the day just as the 24 Elders surrounding the throne and God, in this case, the SUN, in Revelation do as well.
Hard to swallow but nevertheless true. "As above so below..."
Christianity is a solar religion as attested to by it's holidays and Judaism is a lunar holiday for the same reasons.
Pretty cool actually
:)
Finally someone has brought this up!
Well isn't that all nice and dandy!
While the Flurry kids can all play "Riverdance" and fly around the country for competitions and the like, the brethren can give up their retirements, dental treatment and all other manner of comforts for the continual "clarion calls" for more money for PCG to pay for this nonsense.
Glad to know that Irish Dancing was a sign given by Jesus as that of a true Christian.
Do the kids get a choice regarding participation in this, or as has always been the pattern in Armstrongism, are they relegated to the role of trained circus animals and forced to like it or thought of as being rebellious or in bad attitude? How many "swats" have been associated with this extracurricular activity?
We can forget about the tithe-payers, as they are conditioned to know not to have anything to say as to how the moneys are spent. In other words, once the money goes to Edmond, there is no way of obtaining accountability.
Also, as the leader of a homophobic institution, Flurry's naivete is somewhat shocking.
BB
Well duh!!! Anybody with any sense knows that God lives on a star (planet?) called Kolob. Joseph Smith of Moron- I mean Mormon, Inc. said so. Donnie and Marie even named a record label after it. Get with it, people!!!
Ronco
Ah, life in the WCG of yore, including:
There was always what one person aptly called a "polite racism" practiced by those who were "Israelite," as defined by Pervert W. Armstrong's British Israel variation, on those who were not, or only "partly Israelite" like me. The expectation was that they had an advantage to begin with, before any "works" in service to God were counted, because they were FULLY of the chosen race. [Chosen race -- hmmm, wasn't there someone in Germany, Adolf something, putting forth such an idea not that long ago?]
Now, being Irish, Flurry's gone all that one better, raising his "tribe" above them all . . . with other people's money, of course. The Apostle Paul's words, "There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28) -- well, who cares, old Gerald says, as long as I can have a grandson I can be proud of?
Sick, Gerald! Sick! Sick! Sick! Sick! Sick!
Herbert Armstrong had his "melodic" music, some classical and some Ragtime; Garner Ted Armstrong had Country / Western and Flurry has Irish River Dancing.
What we have here is personal opinions and preferences made into doctrine by the cultmeister: It is the signature of a cult.
Everybody wants to fit in (the kids don't have a choice) and so they adopt whatever the "Apostle" / "Prophet" has as his current obsession. They may not even like it, but they change who they are to fit in with the eccentricities of their oppressor... I mean "leader".
This sort of self-changing fits in with the adaptation of the sociopath who has a flexible conscience to fit the needs of the group even if it violates who they are as a person.
And as you can surmise, it's very bad for mental health to do that. The damage these people inflict on their own brains to accept lies and deceptions....
funny thing is a lot of people believe you should sleep with your bed facing north. Some new age groups say this. I have always slept with my bed and head facing north. It seemed to fit in with the bedroom layout and also maybe it's a good idea?
Fine. Sleep north / south. You will be parallel to the magnetic force field.
If you sleep east / west, you run a danger of generating an electric field in your body (because of the iron content) by cutting the lines of force.
More stuff Tesla never thought of.
Anyway, this adds to the mythology and may actually take off, even though the idea is rubbish.
British Israelism is rubbish and you see where that took us.
The east-west orientation of the Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena made the most sense for the site on which it was built. I don't recall any overt sun worshipping happening there, but maybe I was absent that day.
Now Glenn....don't forget the young nubile virgins that were sacrifice on the altar as it rose up out of the stage pit. That's the only reason the stage pit was installed.
Glenn, that orientation did make sense aesthetically. However, an "open" group, as if to beckon or invite, would probably have had the grand entrance facing the public, ie the street.
You are quite right that sun worship would have been verboten, even if it stemmed from the early roots of the leader's ethnic group.
BB
In the future, the Philadelphia Church of God will have a sacred memento to their Overlord...
Drunkeydance!
Every July 9th, members will re-enact Mr. Flurry's run-in with the law, and do a Drunkeydance in commemoration.
Deacons will play the part of arresting officers and Elders will play the part of the convicting Judge.
When the 'Judge' strikes the gavel, members erupt!- some vomiting, some asking for booklets, some contributing to the Building Fund, and others trying to shoot the Judge...
While EVERYONE does the Drunkeydance!
(It's a little like the Hokey Pokey.)
Ronco,
Thankfully, Joseph Smith translated an ancient Egyptian papyrus scroll to alert humanity -through the Book of Abraham- that God lives on the Planet/Star Kolob.
Yes, Donny and Marie's 70's hits were on the Kolob record label.
It's good to know that God is "a little bit country, a little bit rock and roll", and that He wants us to loose weight using Nutrisystem's "FAST 5 FREE" program.
Brood mare for the Mormon Church or not, Marie is so hot that I almost called the number even though I am of normal weight!
I thought it was built so that we could kill degenerate Hollywood personalIties like Bing Crosby.
>>There was always what one person aptly called a "polite racism" practiced by those who were "Israelite," as defined by Pervert W. Armstrong's British Israel variation, on those who were not, or only "partly Israelite" like me. The expectation was that they had an advantage to begin with, before any "works" in service to God were counted, because they were FULLY of the chosen race.<<
What would Gerald Flurry really think about these things? I would like to quote Gerald Flurry here.
"God has a small remnant in this end time. They too will be delivered when their nations are destroyed. Does it matter if we are white, black, brown or yellow? God is no respecter of persons. He is a respecter of faith! Ebed-melech knew where God was working. That is each person’s responsibility." (Gerald Flurry, Jeremiah and the Greatest Vision in the Bible, p. 18.)
Reading that one might think Flurry is enlightened about treating people equally and fairly.
But if Flurry really respects people for who they are then why does he, Leap and the late Ron Fraser condemn interracial marriage.
"Some of the nation’s princes reported to Ezra that the people were racially intermarrying with the nations around them. Moses had recorded that God forbade interracial marriage (Deuteronomy 7:1-3). Ezra was devastated that this sin was being committed in Judah. He immediately began a fast because this sin threatened to destroy the fledgling nation. But what depressed Ezra the most about this sin was that some priests, Levites and princes were leading the people into this catastrophic rebellion. God’s own ministers were the chief sinners." (Gerald Flurry and Dennis Leap, Ezra and Nehemiah: Building God's Temple, Chapter 5, p. 45.)
"Remember that Ezra had corrected the people for interracial marriage (Ezra 10). It appears that not everyone immediately complied. Nehemiah 9 includes the account of others who later also repented of this national sin. This chapter records the very moving, repentant prayer of the people. The people did deeply repent of some serious sins. If only our people could learn from their own history! The nations of Israel could be saved from a disastrous end if they repented of their sins like these people did anciently." (Gerald Flurry and Dennis Leap, Ezra and Nehemiah: Building God's Temple, Chapter 7, p. 73.)
As far as I understand it Judaism is not a universalistic religion and so in general they do not try to convert other people. Their rules were for themselves, not the whole world. Those Jews who lived in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah would have seen it as utterly bizarre and absurd that these Gentiles are pretending to be people they are not and enforcing among themselves things that were not intended for them. It's just crazy.
Now let's see what the late Ron Fraser has to say about this.
"In Genesis 6, the conditions at the time of Noah are explained. Three specific conditions are mentioned: 1) Marrying according to their own choice, rather than subscribing to God’s laws in the choice of a mate; 2) Extreme corruption; and 3) Extreme violence." (Ron Fraser, South Africa in Prophecy, 1997, p. 21.)
"Such anti-God themes are a precursor to CONFUSION, division and strife! South Africa will reap the curses of correction imposed by an all-wise, all-loving Father who created mankind and set the racial bounds over which He commanded Israel not to cross!" (Ron Fraser, South Africa in Prophecy, 1997, p. 23.)
So we see here what Flurry, Leap and Fraser have written about interracial relationships and have condemned them as sinful. What madness! How dare they assume for themselves to authority to decide who can or cannot marry.
PCG sure is spending a lot of time in paganism and worldliness these days.
Oh yes, good ol Shanie Granger. The bald almost fifty year old now that still lives with his mommy. I remember going out to eat with him and his mommy. If there was a bubble gum machine around, Shane would be right there sticking his quarters in the slot, "to get widdle Shanie some gummie!"
He called me up once and accused my son of cheating, said I was typing my son's papers. I told him, not so, would you like to see a demonstration of Uriah typing? He declined the offer. "Always be suspicious of others" just like cops. This should be the PCG motto.
Shanie's mommie told me a bold face lie when I asked her if Gerald Flurry had been arrested, right after I first started attending in 2004. She replied adamantly "NO!"
Let's all learn from the Granger's how to secure a position at the top of the PCG!
Anonymous July 30, 2014 at 5:47 AM was my comment.
And to add...Stephen Flurry always put down people "living off welfare", as he put it. What does he think HE is living off of?? It wouldn't be possible for his son to learn Irish Dance if he wasn't "living off the welfare of others". And notice it had to be THEIR CHILD out of all the others that placed first? Any child can accomplish what Jude did given the chance. Those people are all so vain and feeling so guiltless about whatever they do. It's sickening.
Where did Christ tell his disciples..."It's all about the Flurry's and the Irish and competition...remember that!"
In about 25-30 years, when Jude is heading up the PCG operation, and they are still revising the prophetic dates and pointing their fingers at Europe, the membership will probably see special significance in this recognition. They will likely equate this with King David's dancing activities. You know, "Brethren, it was a dancer who was considered to be a man after God's own heart!"
BB
Ok, so I get how all of you see all these issues with the PCG, but listen to me. I'm in the PCG right now, and I want to say that all the suicides and people leaving the church are a result of SATAN and having a short time to tear up the true church. Also, we don't go to hospitals for treatment because we are relying on God, not on man. Satan is trying to make you believe these people. As it says in Revelation 12:9, Satan deceived the WHOLE world, not all but one church but all of man. Can't you see that the world is getting worse with murder, suicide, and strange activity? It's all signs of Jesus Christ coming back. Also, tell me this, If the Philadelphia Church of God is sinning, then explain how we won the court case against the Worldwide Church of God, and why they would give us all the literature and knowledge of God, especially after Mr. Armstrong's death, and Joseph Tcatch leading the church in another direction.
I agree ! Herbert Armstrong worshipped the Creator and not the creation . These people attacking Mr. Armstrong ( Elijah ) are mixing truth and lies , which is common among those who worship creation and not the Creator .
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