Exposing the underbelly of Armstrongism in all of its wacky glory! Nothing you read here is made up. What you read here is the up to date face of Herbert W Armstrong's legacy. It's the gritty and dirty behind the scenes look at Armstrongism as you have never seen it before!
With all the new crazy self-appointed Chief Overseers, Apostles, Prophets, Pharisees, legalists, and outright liars leading various Churches of God today, it is important to hold these agents of deception accountable.
Herbert Armstrong's Tangled Web of Corrupt Leaders
How Well-Meaning, Intelligent People End Up In A Cult
12 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Very true, many well-meaning intelligent people end up in a cult!
New Years = Dead of winter The day begins at mid-night Groundhogs tell the weather Cupid (Valentine’s Day) Leprechauns (St. Patrick’s Day) Bunnies lay eggs (Easter) Devil worship (Halloween) Santa Claus (Christmas) Reindeer fly (Christmas) Elves live and make toys at the North-Pole (Christmas) Seventh day equals – Sunday Children should not lie, but we’ll teach them everything above! If you don't believe everything above, you are in a cult! LOL
Why don't we question things she said. We do. I know I did. One of the first sermons I ever heard was so horrible in reference to tempting a child to do evil and then punishing him for it (an 18 month old ministers son mind you) that I took years to go back before being baptized. I recognized it was awful stuff. But we often ignore the red flags of warning that go up in our heads and rationalize things. Some of us denigrate our own opinions on things. We place more value on the opinions of others. As the old saying goes, "I wouldn't join a club that would have me as a member!". A self devaluation is necessary for cults to succeed. Jewish members realized that HWA was extremely wrong on "Passover" which is really on 'the night to be much observed' and knew the laws of torah that render his own evaluation totally wrong and impossible! (You can't kill the passover sacrifice until all leaven is out of Israel which is complete at noon ON the 14th and #2. You cannot sacrifice at night (the evening 'sacrifice' is burning the fat of the day's sacrifices only never sacrifice of living things.) And that was only part of his lack of knowledge and understanding. HWA was ignorant of so many things like this but we ignored his ignorance and continued on knowing full well he was dead wrong. The human mind is a complex thing but I do suspect that self depreciation , not placing enough value on your own opinions has an awful lot to do with going along with a cult and its thinking. Then add in fear of tribulation that kept the tithes and offerings flowing in. (more Torah law broken as tithes can only be given to priesthood and as the NT declares: there being a change in the priesthood, there is also a change in the law!) We ignored far too much. We gave our money to a greedy man who used it for his personal enrichment. We knew it was wrong that he flew around in expensive jets and had mansions, servants, a rolls royce and stayed in expensive hotels. The grandeur of the campuses was wrong when the membership was composed of many who had very little. We knew it was wrong for him to marry Ramona and build an air conditioned dog house for his dog. We knew the art and collections of gold were wrong. We knew he acted every bit as silly as the Pope! We knew in our hearts that the state of California was right to want an audit of church funds. It was a hard lesson for us all. We got hurt but we ignored the red flags, the warning signs, the ill omens and our own true feelings. Like marrying the wrong person you end up repenting in leisure.
There are often momentary weaknesses, violations to, or end runs around our strengths and natural defenses that make us susceptible to others who claim to have all the answers, and who assume the position of doing the thinking for their followers. Some never even have a chance, because the cultmeisters had already claimed their parents or other relatives. The best approach for all is to read widely, and to be philosophically well grounded and well rounded. The only real defense and antidote is to always question "the answers".
HArmstrongism exploited gaps. HWA ignored natural historic progressions to go back and capture the zeitgeist of specific past times which he had identified as the true representation to be recaptured, and to use the beliefs of those dispensations as a filter for everything which came after. He used these much as Windows XP users could once use restoration points on their computers. He ignored the progressions from point A to point Z, in terms of human development, accumulation of knowledge, and the Keys of Peter thoughts of those who had come before him. That important input was largely lost to his followers. To invalidate what had transpired during those progressions or gaps, he painted himself into the role of the great restorer. Yet, the things he claimed to have restored did not give him the special insights into what was yet to come. Had he been the great restorer, we would all have entered the Kingdom in 1975. That disappointment, and all else he taught have proven to be unreliable for the purpose of guidance in one's life.
If someone were going to spread mistruth, I'd much rather have been lied to about the Easter Bunny laying the kind of eggs that resembled a bird's eggs, than about the Germans being Assyrians. Less damaging to the psyche.
Anonymous 5:03 The day DOES begin at midnight: "and the evening and the morning were the first day. Christ said " are there not 12 hours in a day? The answer is No Christ , there rarely really are. So now we look for another explanation and ah ha! He was not talking of science but of the division of days into AM and PM.. Morning and Evening. Noon to Midnight= night...a 12 hour division. Midnight to Noon = day.. a 12 hour division.
Churches do not believe Sunday is the 7th day at all. Both Catholic and Protestant know that Saturday was the sabbath. But they believe that meeting on Sunday celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. While the church of God twists scripture to have him resurrected after 72 hours or on the 4rth day, normal Christians understand he was raised ON the 3rd day. The Orthodox church recognizes both the Sabbath day and Sunday meeting time. Look it up. What is gone is the ridiculous strictures that revolved around that day. Not only can groundhogs tell weather, but so do the leaves on trees.. the back of the leaves showing signifying storms. Red clouds at night, sailors delight etc.
Orthodox Sunday worship is not a direct Sabbath observance. The Eastern Orthodox Church observes the first day (liturgical Sunday, beginning Saturday evening) as a weekly feast, the remembrance of Christ's resurrection, and a mini-Pascha. As such, it tends to hold the first place within a week's observances, sharing that place only with other major feasts which occur from time to time. The Divine Liturgy is always celebrated, joining the participants on earth with those who offer the worship in God's kingdom, and hence joining the first day to the eighth day, wherein the communion of the whole Church with Christ is fully realized. As such, it is never surpassed as a time for the Orthodox to assemble in worship. The Church affirms its authority to appoint the time of this feast (and all observances) as deriving from the authority given to the apostles and passed to the bishops through the laying-on of hands, for the sake of the governance of the Church on earth, and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit (John 20:22, John 14:26, Rom. 6:14-18, Rom. 7:6). It does not treat Sunday worship as a transference of Sabbath worship, but identifies the Sabbath, still on Saturday, as a Biblical "type", a precursor, realized fully only after Christ's fulfillment of the Mosaic Law (Mat. 5:17-18). Thus, the Sabbath and the Mosaic Law both remain as a teacher, reminding Christians to worship in holiness, but now according to grace, in Christian observations and Sunday worship.
Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches distinguish between the "Sabbath" (Saturday) and the "Lord's Day" (Sunday), and both continue to play a special role for the faithful. Many parishes and monasteries will serve the Divine Liturgy on both Saturday morning and Sunday morning. The church never allows strict fasting on any Saturday (except Holy Saturday) or Sunday, and the fasting rules on those Saturdays and Sundays which fall during one of the fasting seasons (such as Great Lent, Apostles' Fast, etc.) are always relaxed to some degree. During Great Lent, when the celebration of the Liturgy is forbidden on weekdays, there is always Liturgy on Saturday as well as Sunday. The church also has a special cycle of Bible readings (Epistle and Gospel) for Saturdays and Sundays which is different from the cycle of readings allotted to weekdays. However, the Lord's Day, being a celebration of the Resurrection, is clearly given more emphasis. For instance, in the Russian Orthodox Church Sunday is always observed with an all-night vigil on Saturday night, and in all of the Eastern Churches it is amplified with special hymns which are chanted only on Sunday. If a feast day falls on a Sunday it is always combined with the hymns for Sunday (unless it is a Great Feast). Saturday is celebrated as a sort of afterfeast for the previous Sunday, on which several of the hymns from the previous Sunday are repeated. In part, Eastern Christians continue to celebrate Saturday as Sabbath because of its role in the history of salvation: it was on a Saturday that Jesus "rested" in the cave tomb after the Passion. For this reason also, Saturday is a day for general commemoration of the departed, and special requiem hymns are often chanted on this day. Orthodox Christians make time to help the poor and needy as well on this day. Lutheranism[edit]
12 comments:
Very true, many well-meaning intelligent people end up in a cult!
New Years = Dead of winter
The day begins at mid-night
Groundhogs tell the weather
Cupid (Valentine’s Day)
Leprechauns (St. Patrick’s Day)
Bunnies lay eggs (Easter)
Devil worship (Halloween)
Santa Claus (Christmas)
Reindeer fly (Christmas)
Elves live and make toys at the North-Pole (Christmas)
Seventh day equals – Sunday
Children should not lie, but we’ll teach them everything above!
If you don't believe everything above, you are in a cult! LOL
Did you teach your children those things?
Here's another thought-provoking film on cults. Quite good. We were all victims of the techniques discussed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clS6USdnB58
Why don't we question things she said.
We do. I know I did.
One of the first sermons I ever heard was so horrible in reference to tempting a child to do evil and then punishing him for it (an 18 month old ministers son mind you) that I took years to go back before being baptized.
I recognized it was awful stuff. But we often ignore the red flags of warning that go up in our heads and rationalize things. Some of us denigrate our own opinions on things. We place more value on the opinions of others. As the old saying goes, "I wouldn't join a club that would have me as a member!". A self devaluation is necessary for cults to succeed.
Jewish members realized that HWA was extremely wrong on "Passover" which is really on 'the night to be much observed' and knew the laws of torah that render his own evaluation totally wrong and impossible!
(You can't kill the passover sacrifice until all leaven is out of Israel which is complete at noon ON the 14th and #2. You cannot sacrifice at night (the evening 'sacrifice' is burning the fat of the day's sacrifices only never sacrifice of living things.) And that was only part of his lack of knowledge and understanding.
HWA was ignorant of so many things like this but we ignored his ignorance and continued on knowing full well he was dead wrong.
The human mind is a complex thing but I do suspect that self depreciation , not placing enough value on your own opinions has an awful lot to do with going along with a cult and its thinking.
Then add in fear of tribulation that kept the tithes and offerings flowing in. (more Torah law broken as tithes can only be given to priesthood and as the NT declares: there being a change in the priesthood, there is also a change in the law!)
We ignored far too much.
We gave our money to a greedy man who used it for his personal enrichment.
We knew it was wrong that he flew around in expensive jets and had mansions, servants, a rolls royce and stayed in expensive hotels.
The grandeur of the campuses was wrong when the membership was composed of many who had very little.
We knew it was wrong for him to marry Ramona and build an air conditioned dog house for his dog.
We knew the art and collections of gold were wrong. We knew he acted every bit as silly as the Pope!
We knew in our hearts that the state of California was right to want an audit of church funds.
It was a hard lesson for us all.
We got hurt but we ignored the red flags, the warning signs, the ill omens and our own true feelings.
Like marrying the wrong person you end up repenting in leisure.
There are often momentary weaknesses, violations to, or end runs around our strengths and natural defenses that make us susceptible to others who claim to have all the answers, and who assume the position of doing the thinking for their followers. Some never even have a chance, because the cultmeisters had already claimed their parents or other relatives. The best approach for all is to read widely, and to be philosophically well grounded and well rounded. The only real defense and antidote is to always question "the answers".
HArmstrongism exploited gaps. HWA ignored natural historic progressions to go back and capture the zeitgeist of specific past times which he had identified as the true representation to be recaptured, and to use the beliefs of those dispensations as a filter for everything which came after. He used these much as Windows XP users could once use restoration points on their computers. He ignored the progressions from point A to point Z, in terms of human development, accumulation of knowledge, and the Keys of Peter thoughts of those who had come before him. That important input was largely lost to his followers. To invalidate what had transpired during those progressions or gaps, he painted himself into the role of the great restorer. Yet, the things he claimed to have restored did not give him the special insights into what was yet to come. Had he been the great restorer, we would all have entered the Kingdom in 1975. That disappointment, and all else he taught have proven to be unreliable for the purpose of guidance in one's life.
If someone were going to spread mistruth, I'd much rather have been lied to about the Easter Bunny laying the kind of eggs that resembled a bird's eggs, than about the Germans being Assyrians. Less damaging to the psyche.
BB
Anonymous 5:03
The day DOES begin at midnight: "and the evening and the morning were the first day.
Christ said " are there not 12 hours in a day?
The answer is No Christ , there rarely really are. So now we look for another explanation and ah ha! He was not talking of science but of the division of days into AM and PM.. Morning and Evening.
Noon to Midnight= night...a 12 hour division.
Midnight to Noon = day.. a 12 hour division.
Churches do not believe Sunday is the 7th day at all. Both Catholic and Protestant know that Saturday was the sabbath. But they believe that meeting on Sunday celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
While the church of God twists scripture to have him resurrected after 72 hours or on the 4rth day, normal Christians understand he was raised ON the 3rd day.
The Orthodox church recognizes both the Sabbath day and Sunday meeting time. Look it up.
What is gone is the ridiculous strictures that revolved around that day.
Not only can groundhogs tell weather, but so do the leaves on trees.. the back of the leaves showing signifying storms. Red clouds at night, sailors delight etc.
Orthodox Sunday worship is not a direct Sabbath observance. The Eastern Orthodox Church observes the first day (liturgical Sunday, beginning Saturday evening) as a weekly feast, the remembrance of Christ's resurrection, and a mini-Pascha. As such, it tends to hold the first place within a week's observances, sharing that place only with other major feasts which occur from time to time. The Divine Liturgy is always celebrated, joining the participants on earth with those who offer the worship in God's kingdom, and hence joining the first day to the eighth day, wherein the communion of the whole Church with Christ is fully realized. As such, it is never surpassed as a time for the Orthodox to assemble in worship.
The Church affirms its authority to appoint the time of this feast (and all observances) as deriving from the authority given to the apostles and passed to the bishops through the laying-on of hands, for the sake of the governance of the Church on earth, and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit (John 20:22, John 14:26, Rom. 6:14-18, Rom. 7:6). It does not treat Sunday worship as a transference of Sabbath worship, but identifies the Sabbath, still on Saturday, as a Biblical "type", a precursor, realized fully only after Christ's fulfillment of the Mosaic Law (Mat. 5:17-18). Thus, the Sabbath and the Mosaic Law both remain as a teacher, reminding Christians to worship in holiness, but now according to grace, in Christian observations and Sunday worship.
Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches distinguish between the "Sabbath" (Saturday) and the "Lord's Day" (Sunday), and both continue to play a special role for the faithful. Many parishes and monasteries will serve the Divine Liturgy on both Saturday morning and Sunday morning. The church never allows strict fasting on any Saturday (except Holy Saturday) or Sunday, and the fasting rules on those Saturdays and Sundays which fall during one of the fasting seasons (such as Great Lent, Apostles' Fast, etc.) are always relaxed to some degree. During Great Lent, when the celebration of the Liturgy is forbidden on weekdays, there is always Liturgy on Saturday as well as Sunday. The church also has a special cycle of Bible readings (Epistle and Gospel) for Saturdays and Sundays which is different from the cycle of readings allotted to weekdays. However, the Lord's Day, being a celebration of the Resurrection, is clearly given more emphasis. For instance, in the Russian Orthodox Church Sunday is always observed with an all-night vigil on Saturday night, and in all of the Eastern Churches it is amplified with special hymns which are chanted only on Sunday. If a feast day falls on a Sunday it is always combined with the hymns for Sunday (unless it is a Great Feast). Saturday is celebrated as a sort of afterfeast for the previous Sunday, on which several of the hymns from the previous Sunday are repeated.
In part, Eastern Christians continue to celebrate Saturday as Sabbath because of its role in the history of salvation: it was on a Saturday that Jesus "rested" in the cave tomb after the Passion. For this reason also, Saturday is a day for general commemoration of the departed, and special requiem hymns are often chanted on this day. Orthodox Christians make time to help the poor and needy as well on this day.
Lutheranism[edit]
Evilutionary Enlightenment?
Ha ha ha....
Wow, one of my family's cult of choice during my childhood, is now teaching about cults and their destructive power. Try on this hairsuit of longsuffering. Don't!
"...my time is going fast."
sure,...just like being down at the DMV!
WWHD?
WWHD?
?
the mask almost came off, around 37:35
a freudian slip maybe?
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