One of the many splinter cults to break off of Armstrongism was the Church of God in Truth run by James Russell. Russell, like all other other splinter cult leaders believes he has the only truth out there and that all other Churches of God are of the Synagogue of Satan. Poor Elijah Bob Thiel and Pharisee James Malm! I bet this burns their righteous lazy behinds to know that they are wrong!
James is so adamant that he knows how things should be that he claims that all the COG's are keeping the Feast of Trumpets on the wrong day. It was actually last night, August 31. Most Church of God's accept October 3 as Trumpets. Unless you are Pharisee Malm and you may either be October 2 or 4th.
Russell is also big into the "postponements" malarky. Those silly Jews set their own calendar and it is wrong! Only Church of God leaders know the correct calendar!
Russell is also so sure of his message that he has been sending out wedding invitations for the marriage supper with the lamb.
The Church of God, In Truth, has been sending out God’s wedding invitations for the last twenty three years beginning with the first PROVE ALL THINGS NEWS LETTER, dated December 1993. The way things are shaping up this year, it might be the last opportunity to accept God's dated invitation to His wedding . Are you ready? Are you going to be calibrating the wedding on the right date? Or are you going to be like the 5 foolish virgin having to go and buy God's truth [Pro 23:23] after the Bridegroom has come. Many are called, but too many are sitting on a fence waiting for someone else to make a decision for them before jumping to the right side, away from the wrong side! We are told, "Be not conformed to this world: but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God" (Rom.12:2). "For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?" (I Peter 4:17)Douglas has this about the COGiT over on the Painful Truth site.
The Church of God in Truth with James Russell? He said himself that “we haven’t learned anything new in 40 years”. He does claim that because the other Churches of God don’t keep the Feast Days at the right time, they will be those described in Revelation 3:9, “Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.” Yes, friends, all the other Armstrongists are the synagogue of Satan saying they are Jews but are not, will suffer in the Millennium while CoGIT members will be God as God is God, lording it over everybody else. With this ‘holier than thou’ attitude, there is no chance that there’s going to be much change: Expect stagnation. If there is an afterlife, someone is in for a BIG surprise! You should all get their flagship magazine, Prove All Things. It’s worth it for the misprints in every issue. For example, a favorite is “Herbert Armstrong Pasture General”. Replete with manure? Watch where you step? They have something every issue. It’s hilarious! They should Proof Read All Things.
You'd think that in the age of the Hubble Telescope, James could come up with a better logo for his church. He's going to get the Wonderful World Tomorrow sooner than he thinks with those planetary configurations.
ReplyDeleteLoving the title of his publication. If there's one thing no christian has ever been able to do, it's to prove anything at all regarding christianity. We know this is so because there's just simply no information or evidence upon which to build such a proof. But then, aren't christians just supposed to be taking everything on faith? So which is it? Are christians supposed to be taking things on faith or proving them? Makes no sense.
ReplyDeleteI love Pasture General Armstrong for letting us know EXACTLY the date of the Feast of Trumpets!
ReplyDelete(I used to think the Feast of Trumpets was whenever Mr. Armstrong farted uncontrollably when being carried to bed after drinking himself into oblivion with Dom Pérignon.)
Oh, will no one save us from these poor fools who thought Herbert Armstrong was Somebody with Something Precious to preserve and carry on with?
ReplyDeleteOr from those who are so wrapped up in the importance of their messages that they forget to review and edit before printing and sending?
Sheesh.
Yes, and while you're over at the Painful Truth for the article, be sure to catch the YouTube video, Minus IQ -- how to permanently lower your IQ.
ReplyDeleteWell, instead of taking Minus IQ, you could always join an Armstrongist church like postponement.com ... um, COGIT (which sounds vaguely like Latin).
You too can learn nothing new for 40 years.
So much for growing in grace and truth.
40 years... this is like something out of Honest Trailers.
I am very sorry, how could I forget NO2HWA?? Please forgive.
ReplyDeletesomeone said:
ReplyDeleteSo much for growing in grace and truth.
I thought it was "groaning and over gumming"?
"Crowing and overdumbing?"
"Groaning in Space and carnage"?
"Mowing in hay and silage"?
Something like that.
It's worse than you can know.
ReplyDeleteOriginally, it was Wayne Bedwell who did all the research in the New York Library in a section dedicated to Jewish historical documents. After considerable research he came up with "The Original Calendar for Our Day" which you may see over at studiesintheword.org. He let others know about the calendar around 1991 or so. James Russell was one of those who bought into it and used it.
There were actually 3 ACoGs which used the Wayne Bedwell calendar -- Church of God Most High, founded by Wayne Bedwell, James Russell and his CoGiT and another independent in California. The last one had a church and held Feasts, but the minister appointed his 19 year old son over the congregation and the people began dropping off. Shortly thereafter, the church disappeared without a trace.
James Russell continued for awhile with the Wayne Bedwell calendar, but Russell got it in his head some how that the new moon began on the night the moon went down after sunset, meaning that his new calculations were up to 17 hours off from the Wayne Bedwell calendar. They went their separate ways and postponements.com was born. Of course, this meant that the full moon beginning the Feast of Tabernacles was often too early (as was the Night to be Much Observed). No matter. No one can prove that the ancient Israelites actually could know exactly when the conjunction of the sun, moon and earth occurred, which is why the priests in the first century probably noted when the moon came up just after sunrise and declared that coming sunset as the beginning of the new moon. [All this is also complicated by the idea that maybe, just perhaps, the Israelites actually kept the lunar Sabbath instead of having the Sabbath every seventh day.] If the priests did it that way, then, of course, the Feast would begin in the glory of the full moon. Otherwise, you have Israelites leaving Egypt before the full moon [not that anyone could ever prove that they were in Egypt and that the Exodus occurred].
James Russell does seem to be the last man standing in this scenario, because if you check the sermons, Wayne Bedwell gave his last sermon 12/22/2013 -- he would have been in his 90's. The absolute last audio sermon was given by Philip Edwards 1/23/2016. It may well be that the Church of God Most High may be inactive now.
So if James Russell expects us to believe that he's the one who invented his calendar all by himself, he's got another thing coming. He's not one to create new things, just changing things, claiming them as his own, without attribution.
Or so it would seem.
We don't see him as the one doing the heavy lifting here.
And... do you really expect to be able to keep the feasts on exactly the right day? Especially since all the Armstrongists can't seem to read and do simple math about when the Days of Unleavened Bread are [hint: what does 'until' mean?]. Good luck with that -- if you think you can, you are stupid and delusional... and furthermore, since there is no priesthood and there are to be no more animal sacrifices, the feasts were done away because they are bound to the animal sacrifices and there cannot be a feast without them.
I have not observed the weekly Sabbath or any of the annual Holy Days, or been stupid enough to give anyone 1/10th of my income since 1973, and my life has only gotten better since that time in my life. No visible curse, only improvement.
ReplyDeleteYou do not need anyone telling you what to do or believe. It is all a con-game. Do yourself a favor and walk, no run away. You are wasting your life and your energy trying to follow some useless and invalid hoax.
The answers are not in the bible, and your faith is void. Seek sanity. Avoid believing things you cannot observe to be true. Get out of the clutches of con-artists. They bleed you dry! Are you so weak and helpless you cannot direct your own life? If so, maybe you are in the right place.
If I seem harsh, it is because I care about people who are abused in the name of god and religion. These so-called men of god piss me off.
Gerald Bronkar10:52pm said "The answers are not in the bible", I think they are Gerald, but men have read into the bible their own answers, and in so doing are making something so simple and so easy into nothing but frustration and confusion and people's minds are being filled with doubt instead of faith.
ReplyDeleteGerald, does that mean that there are useful and valid hoaxes?
ReplyDelete"Gerald Bronkar10:52pm said "The answers are not in the bible", I think they are Gerald..."
ReplyDeleteThere are 2.2 billion christians who think the answers are in the jewish and christian canons. There are 1.6 billion muslims who think the answers are in the qur'an and hadiths. There are 1 billion hindus who think the answers are in the shruti and smriti texts. There are a half billion hindus who think the answers are in the kangyur and tengyur texts. And on and on it goes.
Assuming that such "answers" even exist, who should I trust to tell me where these "answers" really are, Charlie?
Charlie Speck (interesting name) if your bible is simple and easy, it is nothing like the one I read for all those dismal years. Has your religion really improved your life? You probably wouldn't know if you have no other perspective.
ReplyDeleteI would pray for you, if I thought it would help, but I do not.
BOM, I don't follow the nature of your question, but I suppose a hoax could be useful to a religious leader who dupes others to provide for his lifestyle, but it would not be useful to those being duped.
ReplyDeleteI would put most politicians in the same bag with religious leaders. Generally, their true endeavor is self-service. No?? And honesty is not their priority.
I am unable to imagine a useful or valid hoax. Sorry if my comment was somehow misleading. Most of the time, people do not misunderstand me. I like being direct.
Charlie Speck said..."The answers are not in the bible", I think they are Gerald, but men have read into the bible their own answers,..."
ReplyDeleteMaybe there are, possibly, some actually good answers in the Bible, but the problem is that they were ALL written down by men. I mean, if we can read into the Bible our own misunderstandings, couldn't some men in the past have written down some of theirs?
DBP
The bibles description of the way people behave is way, way too accurate to be written by mere mortals. It is still more accurate than most books on human behaviour.
ReplyDeleteAnd two us believe in evidence and science.
ReplyDelete