From
Exit and Support:
Thinking For Yourself
December 2,2018
I have for the longest time been monitoring your site to keep updated on what is going on with the Philadelphia Church of God (PCG). It would seem that over the years it has become so secretive that hardly any information is coming out about what's happening in the PCG. It only makes sense that the supposedly only one true Church of God which is the only one that has the truth would want to hide its operations from the world and even its own members. There are a lot of clues for those who are paying attention that the PCG is not what it claims to be. Nowhere in the Bible is there any indication that the members of God's one, true Church are to mindlessly follow whoever comes along and appoints himself as the one having "THE” truth. In fact, the members of the Church are repeatedly warned of false teachers arising right from within the ministry and that each and every member of the church is responsible for proving for himself using the Bible whether what is taught them agrees with the truth of the Bible. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that members are to mindlessly follow the leaders in the Church as all are but fallible men whose ways can become evil; having been honest in the past is absolutely no guaranty of continuing to be honest in the future. Men are not to be trusted; none of them; all their preaching has to be constantly verified against the Bible and if they cannot be proven with the Bible, they are not to be believed.
Your well-being as a religious person does not depend on you finding the man that in your estimation looks the most trustworthy but in you personally and always verifying everything men say against your Bible. Your salvation does not and has never depended on any man. Your salvation is between you and God and your criterion for sorting truth from error is your Bible. Paul said, follow me as I follow Christ and if I am not following Christ then don't follow me.
There are many lamenting that they have been misled for years and had to endure all sorts of abuse from the ministry and I am sure this is very true. However, there was never any need for them to let themselves be the victims of such abuse. Our salvation does not depend upon belonging to a specific organization which has somewhere in its title the words "church of God.” It is not a question of belonging to the "right” organization or of following the "right” man. God places squarely on your individual shoulders the responsibility for your salvation which is wholly based on your personal efforts to understand the truth as written in your Bible — not according to what men say is the truth — and your resolve to apply it in your life to the best of your abilities.
You do not need to be at the mercy of men running organizations they call "churches of God” who abuse you (not very Christian to say the least) and who callously exploit you financially to provide a life of luxury for themselves and their inner circle supporters who are often family members and close relatives.
If you are feeling miserable and hopeless, the key to your freedom is and has always been in your own hands.
Your salvation is between you and God and not you and some organization or man who calls himself a prophet. God looks on the heart. Are you really trying to know and understand the truth and to follow it to the best of your abilities? Then there is a crown of glory reserved for you which Christ will bring at the time of His 2nd Coming for all those who will delight in his appearing. God's Church is not a physical organization but a spiritual organism made up of all those who sincerely are hungering and thirsting for the truth and who resolve to obey it when they find it whether they be by themselves or part of a group.
Don't let any man make your life miserable by impoverishing you, disrespecting you and your family while claiming to be God's true servant. Their actions speak louder than their words and make plain the truth about who they really are and what they are doing.
It just doesn't make any sense to believe that such an organization or person could be what and who they claim to be.
You have it in your power to set yourself free; right now. God will not forsake anyone who sincerely wants to obey Him.
--EX-PCG Member (left the PCG over 20 years ago and I'm still standing and YOU can too)
24 comments:
I've been a baptized member of PCG from day 1 and I have read some of the smut you post here and it is all lies! It's truth what is said by Mr. Flurry, if you are not a Philadelphia Church Christian you are nothing at all.
"God places squarely on your individual shoulders the responsibility for your salvation which is wholly based on your personal efforts to understand the truth as written in your Bible — not according to what men say is the truth...."
Is that something we find taught in the Bible itself?
There are 58 verses in the NT that mention following Christ. Members will never hear that from their ministers. They are too in love with being little Popes in their own congregation.
The little Pope syndrome is mentioned in 2Thess 2:4 "..so that he (the minister) as God sitteth in the temple of God (church), shewing himself that he is God."
The splinters leaders being the big Popes.
So there you have it, churches run by big Popes and little Popes.
3.51 AM
Most certainly. "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling" Phil 2.12
and, "prove all things.." 1Thess 5.21.
1.34 AM
Troll guy strikes again.
It’s in our nature to want to look to or to find a human teacher whom we believe is closer to God, and has more answers. Humans learn every day from other humans who ostensibly know more than we do, and in many different fields. The problem becomes that not every “guru” actually is what they represent themselves as being. Even when you look at doctors, lawyers, and accountants in the secular world, not all of them went to the top schools, and certainly not all of them carried 4.0 grade point averages.
This is why second and third opinions are so important, and also why you can’t cede your due diligence responsibilities to anyone else, except in rare cases like Alzheimers, senility, or dementia.
In Armstrongism, we learned to subject our teachers to the criteria which they themselves provided. That’s what passed for “proving all things”. They set criteria that only they could meet, and virtually forbid second opinions once an individual was in the fold. That was a sham process.
BB
this is something that has gotten me in trouble with various ministers through the years.
my loyalty is to God, and Him alone, not to any man or organization. if the minister is wrong on something I just ignore him.
we can learn from them even when they get it wrong.
the whole "government" & "keys to the kingdom" things are so misapplied it's not funny...and it's the ministry that will suffer.
I've known far too many people that take the "just do what the minister says and you'll be ok" route....so sad.....it's basically just idolatry, they might as well be Roman Catholic.
Anon at 1:34--
You are (in effect) fellowshipping with us here on the Banned Forum. You are also reading "dissident material" here as well. Both activities are majorly and heavily verboten in the Flurry Church.
You are hereby disfellowshipped from Flurry's Church , by order of me, "The Eternal Bosom of the order of the Imperial Navy of New Hampshire, Queen Consort of the Earl of Sandwich"
I went from WCG (birth in 1973) to CGI (in 1992) to Catholic (confirmed in 2010).
It was hard to become Catholic, but the Bible made me do it: There are no scriptures that say we are all in charge of determining the meaning of the Bible ourselves and deciding what to believe and do. Ironically that idea is a tradition of men, exactly opposite of what the apostles taught.
HWA, Flurry, Pack, and their kind err because they are self-appointed "popes" over others—and very bad ones at that. Protestants err because they make themselves their own popes (primacy of the individual). But Catholics have been poping and maintaining the same Faith since Day 1. The one visible historic apostolic Church that continues to operate today.
It's common to have the sense that "working out your salvation" is a top priority, one of the most important objectives that anyone could pursue, that ought to be taken with the utmost of seriousness and gravity:
Matthew 13:
45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls,
46 who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
Most christians don't do this.
What's more, I don't recommend that anyone set about seriously trying to "work out their salvation." I recommend that you keep doing it the same way you're doing it now: superficially.
Because if someone were to seriously set about the task of "working out their salvation," that would necessitate that they begin both to care about what is true and what is not as well as to seek to establish both what is true as well as what cannot be true. So if you care about your christian faith at all, please, do not try any of these things. Doing so will lead to nowhere you want to go.
Stay superficial, my friends.
Well, you'll just love the ESN page where these letters are originally posted.
Darren - the apostolic church consisted of converted Jews on day 1 - completely different from 99.99% of Christian churches today - including all the COGs.
Connie: Wasn't that a Ham sandwich he the Earl)had??
Both United and COGWA could be guilty of the same things. They are just not publicized as much as Flurries circus. They just cover it up better especially the leaders of COGWA.
Darren C
In that case, before you go to bed each night, don't forget to say a dozen Hail Marys to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Using rosary beads will help with the count. Rosary beads can by purchased from EBay for a few dollars.
@ 2:19 PM, please consider that the ACOG member who brings a briefcase to church is relying on physical props just as much as any Catholic with beads. At least the Catholic is probably using his beads to help him reach a state of prayerful contemplation, unlike the ACOG member whose briefcase sits in a car trunk or a closet the other six days of the week, and is only brought out for appearance's sake at services.
1:34, explain yourself. "If you are not a Philadelphia Church Christian you are nothing at all". Really? Do tell, please.
TLA, the Catholic Church still consists of converted Jews to this day - - as well as Gentile converts from "all the nations of the earth."
is that Dr. Bob in here pushing Catholicism??
going to let us in on some prophecy?
Sam, no, I am not your babysitter. I don't have to tell you anything.
"...before you go to bed each night, don't forget to say a dozen Hail Marys to the Blessed Virgin Mary."
hmmm, seems like God had something to say about praying to the dead...
7:44, you don't know the meaning of sarcasm.
I don't believe in Catholicism however many churches condemn the Catholic church but basically do the same thing like... Idolizing church leaders, turning eyes to the abusive behavior of their leaders, idolizing the church to the point it is considered the ultimate authority on all matters, not allowing their leaders to be held accountable to anyone, believing they alone have the TRUTH.. E. T. C,, point? Idolatry is Idolatry and Sin is Sin however you spin it.
I'm a faithful Catholic, and thus I don't idolize our leaders (that's against the Commandment). I call out all abusers and cover-ups. The Bible says the Church is the pillar and foundation of the truth, so I wouldn't call that idolatry. I also believe the Bible is God-breathed and therefore infallible, yet neither is that idolatry.
What is more problematic is people thinking truth is best derived by reading the Scriptures alone and deciding for themselves what it means, even if it's different from everyone else's interpretations. That approach is (1) not biblical, (2) not historical, and (3) not workable. It's not the Christian way.
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