More Construction On Pasadena Campus

This panorama shot is of the new condo complex being constructed
on the site of the old Fine Arts Hall.

The building in the background is where the Science Hall, parking lot and Mediterranean Garden fountains were behind Terrace Villa.

Ambassador Hall is currently being marketed as a private home for $9.5 million.

Philadelphia Church of God Helps Destroy Another Family!

Another story has popped up today by a person who left the Philadelphia Church of God cult and now is shunned by her family and friends.  The evil of Gerald Flurry, his cult ministers and ultimately Armstrongism itself,  continue to march on as present members who know the abuse is wrong stand by and do NOTHING!

My wife Kelly has spent her life helping people. From age 20-21, she moved to Amman, Jordan to volunteer, working at two schools helping children with physical  and mental disabilities , as well as outreach work throughout the Middle East.  She also later spent three weeks volunteering at a UN refugee camp in Somalia to help those wounded in the civil war, has been all over world touring and helping people.  She has been active in causes to stop child and human trafficking, and efforts to promote human and civil rights, both in her community and around the world.  She has worked tirelessly to help others, but now she cannot move forward with her life without receiving help from others.

Kelly is thirty-seven years old and disabled, but it wasn’t always that way.  Kelly was active in sports since the age of 5, and was even granted a scholarship to play college volleyball, but that dream was cut short before playing her first game as her health started taking a turn for the worse.  Now, life isn’t so easy.  She suffers from a neurological disease called Dystonia  (related to Parkinson’s), as well as DVT's (blood clots ), pulmonary embolisms  and other chronic serious pulmonary issues  keeping her reliant on oxygen, Antiphosphilipid Antibody Syndrome, digestive issues (she's lost 35 lbs in the past 6 weeks alone), neck and back issues, and chronically severe compression mega-migraines.  Medical staff has had to resuscitate her back to life three times in the past few years due to physical health problems combined with hospital mistakes.

Additionally, due to her parents joining a high-demand, abusive fundamentalist group at age 5, which Kelly tried to leave quietly at age 30, she has been shunned by her family and friends in the group. This has been very hard on her emotionally, and has led down a road where she also has been diagnosed and is being treated for  Complex PTSD, major depression disorder, and panic/anxiety disorder.   

#HelpSaveKelly - Mayo Clinic Trip

Philadelphia Church of God: More Evil from the Cult Compound of Gerald Flurry

It seems like almost every day now stories are popping up on various Internet sites about the horrendous spiritual, mental and physical abuse that is going on in the Philadelphia Church of God personalty cult.  Of all the hundreds of groups that make up Armstrongism now, this has to be the most vile and degenerate one out there.

With its evil ungodly doctrines and regulations to its equally degenerate leadership and ministry, the PCG is wrecking havoc in countless lives.

Below is the story of a man who recently left the cult and what the PCG did to rip his marriage apart.

When I left Philadelphia Church Of God (an extremely controlling cult that practice shunning of those members who decide to leave) my wife decided to divorce me.  She told me she counseled about it with the ministers, "every step of the way."  (Why is that not a comfort to me?  Google Mike's Enlightenment page and read there, or just google Philadelphia Church Of God and read some of the stories of people who left also the story from Fox News. ( I had a personal friend who committed suicide because of his experience.)    I did not want a divorce but I have no choice in Arizona.  Now I have to either sell my home or pay her $55000 for her half.  The problem is that I started building my home using a pre 1978 mobile home as the core and then refurbished it and added on to it more than doubling its' size.  This was to be our retirement home so we didn't intend to sell.  Now that I am forced to sell or to get an equity loan to pay my wife for her half, I find there is no financing available because of the age of that mobile I started with. This also means the sale price will be low. In my 70th year I have just a small social security check each month.  It is a frightening prospect to have to start over at this age. If you can identify with the treatment I am getting from a very nasty cult then perhaps you could spare a dollar or two.  I don't know if this will work but I have tried everything else.  Please help. Also please share this story. Thank you very much.  P.S. I still care about my wife and I've told her that we can both live in our home and enjoy our retirement but she absolutely refuses.  I know she is being manipulated.  They don't care about her well being either. Save My Home

New Bobby Fischer Movie Includes His Involvement With The Worldwide Church of God

A new movie about a moment in the life of Bobby Fischer is set to release around the country next Wednesday.  The producers of the film were in contact with The Painful Truth for information about Fischer's time spent being wrapped in Armstrongism. 

The WCG/Ambassador Foundation used Fischer as a publicity tool and took hundreds of thousands of dollars of his money over a ten year time period.  Many attribute his decline into madness to have been initiated by the church and is aberrant teachings.


The Los Angeles Times had an article up today about the movie:

Tobey Maguire moves through chess king Bobby Fischer's checkered life in 'Pawn Sacrifice'

The movie, which opens Wednesday in Los Angeles in limited release, works as a psychological thriller that begins in Fischer's troubled childhood, then shifts to a sports drama with all the tension building toward Fischer's match with Spassky. Schreiber, speaking beautiful Russian, plays against Maguire's wild-eyed intensity with elegance and humanity.
Together, they illustrate how both men were imprisoned by chess; Fischer by his own mind and Spassky by the Soviet regime.

Documentary footage is interspersed with the chess-playing dialogue-free scenes as Zwick aimed to shift between Fischer's private hell and the media circus he lived. The effect is "a fragmented portrait that wasn't dissimilar to what his life might have been," said Zwick.

Fischer joined the apocalyptic cult Worldwide Church of God for a time, then ended up in Pasadena, consumed by paranoia and living under a pseudonym. In 1992, he replayed Spassky in war-torn Yugoslavia. But the match violated U.N. sanctions and the U.S. issued an arrest warrant for Fischer. The chess champ lived the rest of his life in exile, occasionally coming out of seclusion to issue venomous attacks, particularly aimed at Jews.

Self-Appointed Church of God Prophet Warns COG Members They Will Go Through Tribulation If They Watch Football This Fall

It's that time of year again as God's most highly favored, doubly blessed, self-appointed prophet/apostle/chief overseer is back proclaiming his perceived evils of football.  The NFL and collegiate games have all started which is raised the hackles of the self-appointed prophet.

Bob Thiel considers his words so prophetic that he has quotes scripture to warn those that find him foolish:

Later today, the National Football League (NFL) is scheduled to begin its official season for this violent sport. Many do not wish to seriously consider that American football is harmful, despite the facts, and would prefer that I not post about it.

The Bible suggests otherwise:

1 Cry aloud, spare not;
Lift up your voice like a trumpet;
Tell My people their transgression,
And the house of Jacob their sins. (Isaiah 58:1)

Delusional Bob was not appointed by God.  He was not doubly blessed by God to be set apart to be a new splinter group leader.  Gaylyn Bonjour never even entertained the thought of such a thing happening when Theil asked for a blessing before going in to counsel with Meredith.  Thus, there is no concern to be had for anyone who disregards anything Theil says.  Quoting Isaiah as a threat does not mean God is going to back up that threat.

While there is an ongoing debate on the physical repercussions of tackle football, Thiel sets himself up as the FINAL authority on the matter. 

For some reason, he feels that his group is the true Philadelphian era and is filled with Philadelphia Christians.  For those that still believe the "era's" teachings, it is recognized by most that this would be considered the Laodicean era of the church.

He writes:

There is no doubt that American tackle football is dangerous to health. While some in the world consider watching it to be an ‘ethical uncertainty,’ true Philadelphia Christians (as well many who are not) realize that something about this sport is physically harmful and should not be encouraged.

Those who claim that encouraging American tackle football is fine are NOT Philadelphian Christians.  American tackle football causes real damage.  Damage that should not be encouraged.

These are some of the "proof's" Theil has for his nonsense:

Jesus taught not to intentionally hurt others, as it taught:

39… ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ (Matthew 22:39, NKJV)

The Apostle Paul also wrote:

29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it (Ephesians 5:29, NKJV)

Also, notice what John the Baptist taught soldiers:

14 And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages. (Luke 3:14, KJV)

Thiel cannot get past the cheerleaders either:

From the violence on the field, to the under-clothed cheerleaders, to some of the half-time antics, there is a lot wrong with American football.

Thiel also feels that the "gospel" prohibits football.  I can assure you that no writer of scripture ever entertained the thought of American football when writing out those verses.

Additionally, twice the New Testament refers to the good news message as “the gospel of peace”:

“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!” (Romans 10:15)
14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; (Ephesians 6:14-15)

Is not taking a stand against encouraging sports violence consistent with the gospel of peace and love? Or should ministers tell people that violent sports like American tackle football are not “inherently evil” as at least one minister has done?

Then like any good Armstrongite has to do, Theil has to bring Herbert into the picture:

Unlike stories of violence in books or movies, American football involves actual violence and often physical injury–including brain damaging ones that are often not obvious for years.

The Bible forbids harming others or encouraging sin. Early professors of Christ would not watch violent games as they felt that watching was encouraging and participating in sin. Herbert W. Armstrong categorized American football as evil.

For someone who supposedly characterized football as "evil." Herbert watched football as well as basketball on Friday nights and Saturdays.

Thiel continues:

I do not watch American football. I consider that it is evil (also, no Christian can really defend how professional football cheerleading females are often publicly dressed and displayed). Others want to falsely act like there is nothing wrong with watching it.

Thiel's final warning is that you WILL go through the tribulation of you watch football this coming season.

 Be warned!  Your salvation is at stake!

Those Laodicean Christians who are fans of American tackle football are NOT Philadelphians and will be subject to violence themselves as they will have to go through the Great Tribulation if they do not repent (Revelation 3:14-22).

You can read his pile of malarkey here: NFL 2015: Should Christians Watch?

The Modern Fundamentalist's Song

The Modern Fundamentalist's Song

Modern Fundamentalist:

   I am the very model of a Christian fundamentalist

   And by a strange coincidence a solid occidentalist.

   I cherry-pick the Bible for the verses close or distantly

   Amenable to straight white males, however inconsistently,

   Unless those verses might apply a little inconveniently

   In which case I interpret them a good deal more than leniently.

   We want to do just what we please however strange or horrible

   And still regard ourselves as wholly moral and adorable.

Congregation:

   We want to do just what we please however strange or horrible

   And still regard ourselves as wholly moral and adorable.

   And still regard ourselves as wholly moral and adorable.

MF:

   I call myself a Christian but it's really Paulist cultery

   Since Christ himself has said that my divorces were adultery.

   But I from man to man enjoy convexness and concavity

   And call whatever others do immoral and depravity.

Cong:

   But we from man to man enjoy convexness and concavity

   And call whatever others do immoral and depravity.

MF:

   I do not want to hear about the quantum or molecular

   Or how the Founding Fathers made our institutions secular

   I say the nation's Christian under Biblical authorities

   Rejecting what the Constitution says about majorities.

   The workings of the government may worry and perplex you all

   I say we're equal under God -- unless you're homosexual --

   Or black or brown or female or some kind of evolutionist

   For all attempts at reasoning are really persecutionist.

Cong:

   Or black or brown or female or some kind of evolutionist

    For all attempts at reasoning are really persecutionist.

MF:

   My freedom of religion trumps your Constitutionality

   Because the Constitution says it does with firm legality.

   I claim my rights from God or man, whichever's more commodious

   For what I want to do however evil, vile, or odious.

Cong:

   I claim my rights from God or man, whichever's more commodious

   For what I want to do however evil, vile, or odious.

MF:

   When I can issue licenses or not because I feel like it

   The public's just my piggy and the public can just squeal like it.

   I'll happily apply whichever law is most agreeable

   To what I want to do since what I want is unforseeable:

   The conscience of the person must control the way they view their job

   And not demands that public servants ought to serve and do their job.

   The Constitution's man-made law and God is not endorsing it;

   The SCOTUS made their law, and now good luck to them enforcing it.

Cong:

   The Constitution's man-made law and God is not endorsing it;

   The SCOTUS made their law, and now good luck to them enforcing it.

MF:

   There's nothing in my creed that advocates for love officially

   Except some quotes that God and Jesus handed down judicially --

   I don't see why I must obey the acts of which God sent a list

   And yet I am the model of a Christian fundamentalist.

Cong:

   We don't see why we must obey the acts of which God sent a list

   And yet we are the models of a Christian fundamentalist.

                                                        -- Marcus Bales

Philadelphia Church of "god", Gerald Flurry and Cal Culpepper Destroying Yet Another Marraige

Gerald Flurry's despotic reign continues to wreck more havoc as another marriage is being destroyed by Flurry's evil teachings. This sick cult takes great pride in splitting up marriages and families. 

From Exit and Support

August 31, 2015

I am grateful for your but devastated about my situation regarding my husband and PCOG. He believes this is the true church and remains dedicated to tithing, keeping the feasts, etc.

It is causing great turmoil in our marriage, and due to this group, PCOG, is disintegrating. It's like my husband is proud of this and claims Jesus says leave father, mother, wife, etc. This group has twisted, corrupt, ministers and the members are fear and guilt stricken. No religious group should have so much power and destructive capabilities.

How can you not assemble with your loved ones or attend a friend's funeral because they are "not of God's character" and that it is against their teachings? Honor thy father and thy mother? Really? And judgment? That's all PCOG does. I can't imagine that Cal Culpepper will teaching after Christ comes. Far from it!

I have a lot of pain from what has happened to my husband. He is fearful and has stopped living. I love him and pray that we will make it. However if we don't, it will be the PCOG's influence--100%. For years I have respected my husband's interest in PCOG (he is not yet baptized); but I have now been challenging the PCOG's behavior. More so, the ministers who control the organization. It's a shame that the PCOG website looks so "normal."

Please pray for me and my husband. --[name withheld]