PCG's Embarrassing Justification On Jet Plane Purchase

The latest The Philadelphian has an article on how glorious it is for the Philadelphia Church of God to now own a jet - just like Herb did.  The miracle of the jet purchase has not been accomplished by any man, but by the god, PCG claims to follow.

“Doors opened faster than I thought. It’s God opening the doors, not a man.” That is how Pastor General Gerald Flurry described the process that resulted in the Philadelphia Church of God purchasing a corporate jet on April 12. 

The histrionics that streams out of the mouths of Gerald Flurry and Stephen know no boundaries when it comes to drawing attention to themselves as the saviors of the PCG.  PCG has been under the deluded impression that they and they alone are raising up the ruins of the decimated kingdom of Herbert W Armstrong.  The Armstrong empire was the most glorious thing that has ever happened to humanity since the law was given on Mount Sinai. The fact that Herb owned three jets while running his kingdom has always been a sore spot in the PCG's status symbol.  In the quote below you will see that Gerald claims the purchase of the jet now completes all of the imitating left to do in regards to copying HWA.

In past sermons, Mr. Flurry has emphasized Amos 9:11, saying that God is using the pcg to “raise up the ruins” of His Work, which col- lapsed after the death of Herbert W. Armstrong in 1986. at work was re-established in publications, television, radio, foreign languages, personal appearances, copyright litigation, sermons, congregations, ministers, youth camps, colleges, a school, a cultural foundation and other projects. Mr. Flurry and other ministers had stated that one of the last major ruins to be raised was the use of a corporate plane to visit Church members and perhaps world leaders, as Mr. Armstrong did. Between 1966 and 1986, Mr. Armstrong met hundreds of presidents, prime ministers, legislators, diplomats, educators, businessmen and other prominent men and women, as well as thousands of Church members and youth.

“This looks like about the last piece of the raising of the ruins,” Mr. Flurry said. “It was just [a matter of] taking it to God and asking Him for guidance.”

God no more had a hand in PCG buying the jet than he did in raising up Bob Thiel.  The god of some of the splinter groups is the most magical god that has ever been invented by humans.  It has inspired men to invent the printing press so that the COG could publish its materials.  This same god invented the radio and TV so that the church could proclaim its message to the world.  This same god also invented jet planes so that COG leaders could fly all around the world talking about the "strong hands of the god who dwells in someplace."

No world leader has yet to accept the invitation from Gerald to come and speak to them about a "strong hand from someplace."  Even the Steuben Crystal gifts have not impressed them enough to invite him.  All that the jet is doing so far is to provide Gerald and Stephen a private flying experience uncluttered by the unwashed masses, germ belching travelers, and tiresome airport security issues.

Gerald was so stuck on imitating HWA that he even made an attempt to try and buy Herb's original jet when it went up for auction in 2013.

On Oct. 7, 2013, the G-iii aircraft Mr. Armstrong had once used came up for auction. Mr. Flurry told a handful of Church o cials to look into the possibility of purchasing the plane or perhaps another used aircraft. 

“I began to think a little about the raising of the ruins,” Mr. Flurry said. “I had been thinking and praying about it for a few months. It seemed to me that there were a lot of things we could do in the Work with a plane.” 

When they could not buy Herb's jet they started a feasibility study into whether or not the church should buy a jet.

Diving into the complex world of used corporate aircraft was a new experience for the team of pcg representatives, who had to consider not only the significant purchase cost but ongoing operating costs, maintenance and hangar costs, staffng costs, taxes, airport fees, federal and international regulations and other factors. ey also considered the city pairs that Mr. Flurry would most frequently travel: Oklahoma City to Edstone, England; Edstone to Jerusalem, and other potential destinations including the Church’s five inter- national offices, 16 major Feast sites and dozens of congregations. The Church budgeted for about 250 flight hours per year. 

As usual with any COG, money was never an issue.  They knew they had a steady stream of income from gullible church members who with member letters, verbal threats and intimidation would fork over untold amounts of money to keep the Flurry family living in luxury.  The PCG 1% club is truly the Mile High club.

In February 2017, Mr. Flurry wrote a co-worker letter introducing an “aircraft fund” and soliciting pledges from those who were able to contribute to it. 

“We were overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of the brethren for this fund,” Mr. Locher said. “Not only did the members and even the youth respond, but we had a stron- ger-than-expected level of support from co-workers. To date, actual donations have kept up with the pledged amount, making it easier for us to take on this additional expense.” 

Now we get to the reasons why Gerald and Stephen needs a jet. It "zaps" Gerald;s energy to fly commercial. It zaps his energy because Gerald is under the same impression that HWA was that he was "special" and of a higher calling than the rest of humanity and deserved the best.

The corporate aircraft solves several problems that have limited Mr. Flurry’s ability to travel. It allows him to work in privacy and quiet. It also bypasses the need for Mr. Flurry to arrive early at the airport, check baggage, pass through security, and fly commercial routes that may stop in other cities before arriving at his destination. This comes in addition to the time spent in the air and stopping at airports to change flights. To fly to Birmingham, England, near the Church’s regional office in Edstone, requires about two hours at the airport and 14 hours of fight time. “[T]hat 14 hours is more of a hassle for me,” he said. “It zaps my energy more.”

With the Church’s new aircraft, Mr. Flurry can drive straight to the private hangar, board the plane and be in St. Louis in one hour. He can be in Phoenix, Houston, Minneapolis, Cincinnati or Chicago in less than 90 minutes and in any continental U.S. city in less than three hours. Mr. Flurry’s 14-hour trip to Edstone becomes an eight-hour trip (not including refueling time) and a six and a half- hour trip from Edstone to Tel, Aviv, Israel, becomes a four-hour trip. 

Edstone England is one of the main reasons for this jet.  More will be written about this in a post to come. The other reason PCG needed this plane is to give Gerald "credibility."  Gerald is still virtually unknown to the world, particularly to its leaders.  He has been so unknown that the PCG has spent decades focusing their attention on present day COG members in the various splinter groups.  It has always sought to entice COG members to join their group, to no avail.

Now that PCG has the jet, Satan is already attacking them. Or, is it Gerald's god "correcting" him?  they claim both below.

On July 16-17, Mr. Flurry and a handful of staff members planned to use the plane to fly to Mr. Flurry’s public appearance campaign in Chicago, Illinois, but a minor accident at the hangar grounded the aircraft, meaning that the group had to charter a jet for the campaign. Mr. Locher said the campaign was a success, “but the accident served as a reminder about our need to pray for God’s protection. Satan would love to disrupt God’s Work, and can do so through accidents like what just happened, so we must all be more detailed in our prayers.” Mr. Flurry said in a sermon that he also considered the incident to be correction from God to focus more on important dates such as July 16, the anniversary of when his founding book, Malachi’s Message, was first read. The wing has since been repaired and the plane is once again airworthy. 

Apparently, the PCG members have not been praying fervently enough to prevent Satan from sabotaging the jet or their god from correcting Gerald.

Gerald is also looking to establish his work in Jerusalem.  As will be shown in a post to come, an office in Jerusalem needs to be secured so that Gerald can take HWA's prayer rock there so that his 'jesus' can come and sit on it.

Mr. Flurry also hopes that doors for the Work will open in Jerusalem, and when they do, the Church will be ready to walk—or fly—through them. He said, “God is keeping us up to pace with racing world events.” 

Gerald is no more a prophet of God than Malm, Thiel, Pack or Weinland is.  All are professional liars milking their members out of hundreds of millions of dollars annually.  He no more needs an office in Jerusalem than the rest of the lying false prophets desire. God is not going to use any of these little men for some powerful work or end time witness in Jerusalem. Why in the world would God need some pissant COG leader doing a work in Jerusalem?