As the worldwide Church of God was melting down in the late 1990's many Church of God members jumped ship to join the Hebrew Roots/Messianic movement. These expatriates had watched as Flurry, Meredith and United being formed and were totally disgusted by the way these groups went about starting their own churches. Many of these people were particularly disgusted by the men that connived and schemed behind the scenes, while still employed by the WCG, as they plotted to start United Church of God.
Because the Sabbath was so entrenched and forced upon people in the WCG, many thought they could not worship God in any other way than attending a Sabbath keeping group. So off to more law based beliefs systems they went. Quit a few COG members joined up with the Passion for Truth group.
Yesterday the Passion for Truth leader made news. It was in so many ways typical of the COG. Here was another leader, claiming to be God's true leader, preaching the only truth while he was screwing people over in the background.
The leader of the group, Jim Staley, was found guilty of fraud in taking 3.5 million dollars and giving himself a commission off that amount of $570,000.00. He is due to be sentenced in July to 3-8 years.
A June 25, 2014, release from the FBI highlighted the grave details of the indictment.
"James Staley was indicted for his alleged scheme to defraud investors by making false promises of high rates of return and minimal risk. The indictment states that Staley defrauded 11 investors/lenders by causing them to invest over $3.4 million, giving him commissions totaling over $570,000," it said.
In 2007, according to the indictment, Staley operated Wealth Financial International, the same year he started his church and the same year he became a sales agent for a premium financing company in California called B & B Equity. Staley, in his capacity as sales agent, found people to provide loans for life insurance policies.
"In many instances, several of these investor/lenders' funds were bundled together to provide financing to purchase one life insurance policy. Staley received a commission for each investor/lender that he found to contribute financing for the purchasing of the life insurance policies.
Staley has ties to another group that Church of God members also flock to, 119 Ministries. I had a small blurb on the 119 Ministries back in 2013 and how it was attracting a lot of Armstrongites to it. See: 119 Ministries: Attracting Armstrongites That Need The Law.
Another curious side note to these two groups and the Armstrongites they attract is that these guys also publicize their works on World Net Daily, an uber-conservative Christian focused "news" site. One of the top contributors on that site recently released a book that dealt with prophecy and end times stories that sounded like it came right out of Herbert Armstrong's literature....which it did. Many Church of God members look to World Net Daily as a legitimate news source. Some splinter group leaders even quote from it in their writings. (See Living Armstrongism: PCG's Reliance On WorldNetDaily)
Staley's criminal behavior has not discouraged his followers. They are turning a blind eye to the man's criminal behavior and are throwing their unending support behind him. Much like those entrenched in Armtrongism deny anything ever was wrong with the church or its leaders to this very day.
From Facebook:
- Just finished watching the service. All I can say is, WOW! What a congregation. You will get through this. Pastor Jim Staley your testimony of faith in trials will make more believers than you know. You will be in my prayers way down here in deep south Texas. I am sure YHVH has huge plans for you wherever He takes you. Stay faithful For HE is God.
Regardless
of what he has done....we all fall short of the glory of our Heavenly
Father.....no one has not sinned....that doesn't take away the gifting
on a persons life,and should be forgiven, so we too can be
forgiven......
- Romans 3:23 We have ALL sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God. But... 1 John 1:9 if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We stand behind you Pastor Jim and family, because you are willing to confess any shortcomings and pay for them if necessary.
- You and your family are in our prays. Father is protecting you with the blood of Yhashua and the enemy can not touch you. Shalom brother
Read more about Jim Staley's conviction here:
13 comments:
World Net Daily is notorious for being about as right wing as you can get.
PCG also pays attention to Worldnetdaily and quote them.
I think I heard that their boss is a Sabbatarian.
Honestly I feel sorry for anyone, Sabbatarian or not, who makes the mistake of taking that outfit seriously.
My favorite line, quoted in several of the articles, is that the fraud has nothing to do with his role as a pastor or his ministry. How can you separate a man's character from his ministry?
I get it, the fact that a downturn in the economy can cause anomalies in the world of high finance and investments. But, apparently the court did not feel that that factor applied in this case.
People who are committed to a philosophy are generally going to support the prominent teachers of
that philosophy, sometimes even when the evidence against such teachers is undeniable AND they have been proven to be false prophets.
BB
Hey thanks for pointing out how many within the COGs rely on WorldNetDaily.
I have made the following post showing that PCG's leaders use WorldNetDaily in their writings. And PCG's leaders never question what WorldNetDaily says in their articles.
http://livingarmstrongism.blogspot.com/2015/05/pcgs-reliance-on-worldnetdaily.html
The Excuse is the Thing!
These folks can now be just like PKG members!
BB, you're exactly right. The "we've all fallen short" drivel. What nonsense.
It's a line frequently spouted in the COGs, which comprise a gaggle of enablers, plain and simple. Faced with mounds of evidence about HWA, GTA, or any of their current "leaders," they'll respond with "Yes, but..." and go on from there, excusing just about anything to maintain the system in which they're entrenched. Staley's followers are clearly in that boat. Many of us were once participants, so we're able to look at things from an informed perspective.
Very sad. That's about all there is to say, because people who are so deeply entrenched in a system like that aren't about to change their minds any time soon.
Titus 1:6-9 Qualifications for an Elder. Jim Staley = FAIL.
6 IF A MAN IS BLAMELESS , the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of dissipation or insubordination.
7 For a bishop[a] must be BLAMELESS , as a steward of God, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, NOT GREEDY FOR MONEY
8 but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled,
9 holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.
The membership are lemmings. Blind fools.
Forty percent (40%) of the investment went to commissions! That is criminal! Normal investment returns would take a lifetime to re-cover the commissions let alone high returns promised to the elderly investors.
And this creep is a minister?
It reminds me of my definition of "broker" I usually tell stockbrokers who cold call me. My definition of a "broker" is "someone who churns your account until you are broke!" That usually ends the cold call.
Richard
It appears to me that he got way too greedy. He should have taken a huge salary, as HWA did, have a good lawyer, like Rader, to keep him on the right side of the law.
HWA's salary was $421,052 in 1981. He claimed charitable donations of only $46,589. Reprehensible, but not illegal.
But what if Jesus wanted him to have all that money?
Hahaha!
As far as WorldNetDaily goes, I remember someone on the anti-herbie internets who recommended WorldNetDaily and some of the nutter crap that was preached and endorsed on that site.
He was a sad case, even though I'd give him a gold star or lollipop for trying to sound intelligent.
Hey. Here's a news story about a mosque in Edmond, PCG's headquarters own hometown, getting vandalized.
http://kfor.com/2015/04/13/authorities-investigating-after-oklahoma-mosque-is-vandalized/
You do not understand, when you are brainwashed, you are at their mercy & cannot help yourself. What gets you is that a lot of what they teach IS true...you DO receive the Holy Spirit. A COG member knows their Bible & knows it very well. And yes, we love the Sabbath. Its the ministers, Satan does a number on them & they are powerless. You do not have to believe it...I just told you the truth. Bobbie
I have made another list showing the leaders of my former religion, LCG, quoting WorldNetDaily.
There are thirteen quotes dating back to 1999. All this time LCG's leaders have been relying on an outfit such as this.
And LCG's leaders also never question what WorldNetDaily says in their articles. Just like PCG's leaders.
http://livingarmstrongism.blogspot.com/2015/05/lcgs-reliance-on-worldnetdaily.html
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