So many in the various COG's see no problem with all the apocalyptic doom that their ministers continually spout out. After all, it's in the Bible so it has to be true. While this is an "old" story of a Church God member, it still has meaning today in light of the horrible rhetoric coming our of Dave Pack, Gerald Flurry, Bob Thiel, Rod Meredith/Gerald Weston and James Malm. How long will it be till these false prophets have blood on their hands? How will they lie their way out of it this time?
The video above is a reminder what can happen when people in the church are pushed over the edge by the ongoing rhetoric and lies of church ministers. Of course they all start making excuses as Living Church of God did when Terry Ratzman murdered LCG members in Milwaukee.
Ever wonder what it might look like if suddenly an ACOG had unlimited funds and the real visibility to get out an end time message? Look no further than Harold Camping. Lyn Benedetto was one of his people.
ReplyDeleteCamping was an annihilationist, was aquainted with the Old Covenant Hebrew holy days, the Hebrew calendar as well as the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and used chronologies, math, and the OC holy days to pinpoint the "second" coming of Jesus. He taught that all of the Christian churches had gone apostate.
His affluent followers funded his end times media campaign. A member in NYC pumped hundreds of thousands of dollars into "warning" the metropolitan NY area. Of course, though he apologized and stated that he had learned that setting dates was sinful, Camping also likened himself to Baalam in that ultimately he had drawn attention to God, Jesus, and the Bible. Still, he refused to return any of the donated moneys that had gone into publishing what ended up being a false message.
In my brief study, I was unable to learn whether Camping had been a megalomaniac, or inherently evil like HWA, but the high profile of Harold Camping's "wolf cry" made the message being preached by the ACOG splinters look like a "Horton Hears a Who" event by comparison. Adventist-influenced ministries have a 100% failure rate, and like HWA before him, Harold Camping falls well within the Adventist stereotype.
BB
In a sermon, GTA speculated what he would have done if he had Joe Tkatch Sr's budget.
ReplyDeleteWith some COG ministers telling people in an almost casual manner that the USA and "its Anglo-allies" will soon face financial collapse, invasion and enslavement, I can imagine the possible mental trauma of those who took their words seriously. Although some will dangle the "place of safety" carrot, they also claim to reserve the right to refuse entry to those they judge unworthy.
I always thought that Ron Dart's theme of "Born To Win" was much more positive in nature and tone than any of the COGs.
ReplyDeleteDanger! Danger, Will Robinson!
ReplyDeleteThe Armstrongists are Lost in Spaciness.
Connie wrote: "Born To Win" was much more positive
ReplyDeleteYes, seldom was heard a discouraging word from Ron. If he didn't know something, he admitted it, and he accepted that others may have different opinions.
But in the end, I felt he 'missed it by that much...'