Saturday, October 13, 2018

GCI: Passing the Baton of Presidency



A new era for Grace Communion International.

Passing the GCI presidency baton   Posted by GCI Update on October 9, 2018 under GCI News | 14 Comments to ReadAn important event in GCI history will occur in a worship service to be held on October 14 in Charlotte, NC. In this setting of worship, we’ll be celebrating Dr. Joseph Tkach’s many years of service to our denomination, and the installation of Dr. Greg Williams as GCI’s new President (Dr. Tkach will continue as GCI Board Chairman). In the video below, Greg interviews Joseph concerning his tenure as GCI President and the preparations that have led to the passing of the GCI presidency baton to Greg. That weekend, we’ll also celebrate the retirement of a few other GCI leaders—we’ll include pictures and additional details in a special issue of GCI Update published on October 24. Thanks for your prayers concerning this event, including safe, trouble-free travel for those attending, some from overseas.

Would God Really Call You Into One Of The Saddest COG's Ever To Exist?



Would that trickster god of so many in the Church of God really "call" you into joining up with one of the silliest and unnecessary Churches of God ever to come into existence?  Has there ever been a church with more dubious credentials than the improperly named "continuing" Church of God?

If you have the stomach to watch the COG's greatest self-appointed prophet to ever exist you can see him here in all of his wildly jesting glory, with an updated backdrop of a hotel door, wall thermometer or alarm, and some dirty silk plants. And PLEASE, do something about that acid reflux condition!  The constant belching in ALL of his videos is painfully obvious!



The Great Church of God Dilemma


The man no one seems to know.

graphic courtesy of SHT

Friday, October 12, 2018

PCG Wants To start A College In Jerusalem





The Philadelphia Church of God, known today as the death church, is wanting to drag more youth of the church into its unaccredited "college" that it now wants to open in Jerusalem. It is using as a false front, its dig in Jerusalem, to legitimize itself in the eyes of Israel and the world.  The government of Israel needs to be warned about how vile the Philadelphia Church of God has become and how it is destroying lives in its very midst.




3. Keep Jerusalem in your prayers.
You naturally think most about the things you are most interested in. If you love Jerusalem, you will be thinking about it—and praying about it! And keeping Jerusalem in your prayers will motivate you to continue working hard and developing your talents in preparation for a future dig. 
Here are a few things you can add to your prayer list regarding Jerusalem: Pray that God opens doors and makes the next step in Jerusalem obvious to Pastor General Gerald Flurry. Pray that Dr. Eilat Mazar receives another excavation license from the Israel Antiquities Authority soon, as well as the financial aid she needs for it. Pray also for her health and the team of staff members who are helping her process the finds from the latest excavation right now. Pray that God would establish a branch of His college in Jerusalem. 
God has a lot to do in Jerusalem, and for the most part, the people He uses to do the Work there are young people. If you would like to be one of those people in the near future, learn to work hard, develop your native talents, and keep Jerusalem in your prayers always. If you do, why wouldn’t God bless you with an opportunity to go to Jerusalem and dig for Him?
The time to start preparing for the dig is now!


Not So Fast! I'm Dreaming!


This afternoon, during a nice nap, I had one of those “Church of God” Dreams that most people who grew up or were in the Worldwide Church of God often seem to have.

In this dream, I was led in the back of a large arena – obviously, where there was a convention going on. For some reason, I had the opportunity to have a conference with the Big Person in Charge, who happened to be Joseph Tkach. He was sitting behind a glass window, and I was in a line to talk to him. There were several behind me also waiting to talk to him.

When it was my turn, I asked him if I could return to the Orr, Minnesota SEP site. He began to answer with a rambling of some sort, I dared interrupt him, and his voice raised about two octaves with a “I am talking” in no uncertain terms intent, and I immediately shut up to let him speak. He then proceeded to tell me that the best times of a person's life are when they are 16 or 17. I told him that I was 16 or 17 when I went to SEP. He said something like “There you go”, and gave me a special green/white envelope of “Request to see the SEP Campus” that I had to fill out. I thanked him, and started walking down the hall to exit. As I was walking down the hall, I could hear the distinctive “Tkach Voice – Raised In Annoyance” lam-blasting someone else about something. When I left, someone else tried to get in to talk to Tkach, but the Secretary denied access and closed the camera-thing above the hall access-door.

A few years ago, I had another “COG” dream. In this dream, Herbert W. Armstrong himself – in spirit form – came down to Earth – alone. I was in the basement of what seemed to be a large, giant library. I heard Herbert call my name. I opened the box, and the “Spirit” of Herbert called out to me. Herbert apologized for everything that he did. I asked him why he did what he did, and he very remorsely said “I don't know.” He said he had to go, and I heard what sounded like a bell. I closed the small box that he was trapped in, and then, that was it. The voice was Herbert's, but a very, very mellow, humble, and contrite Herbert. I woke up, and thought “what a dream”.

I've had other “COG Dreams” because the COG was such a large, massive, over-whelming presence in my life over the years. I've had dreams where I'm back leading songs – but somehow screwing it up, or not having the proper hymns coordinated with the piano player, or forgetting I had the song service until the last moment. I've had dreams where I was giving the Sermonnette, but was wearing an awful, pathetic suit. I've had dreams where I felt that immense, consuming, powerful pride that I was in a higher position within the local church – and woke up completely disgusted and shameful about those untamed attitudes.

There's a big difference between the dreams that any one of us hundreds of thousands of people who lived in the COG's have – and the dreams that our current splinter leaders have. It's directly proportional to who we think we are in the grand scope of the universe, the church, and life.

When a typical person with a COG history – like me – has a COG dream, they do exactly what I did. They wake up, say “Wow, what a dream”, think about it, then go about their day. When a Current Splinter Leader has a dream (I'm thinking of one person in particular who needs straighter bookcases and nicer curtains), they think about it in the form that it is of world-impacting significance and importance. They think of themselves in such high regard and importance to the world, that every parcel and fractal of the dream takes on a divine significance – to them, to the other characters in the dream, and eventually, to the world. Their feelings of grandiose importance are so tremendous that they nearly take on their own prophetic ministry and theology based on what went on in the dream.

I recall when our Cheap Bookcase Prophet wrote a pretty lengthy oratory about a dream he had where “someone's line went down”, like a graph, and “his line went up”. Suddenly, this dream about “lines” went from dream to blog post to our Bookcase King of Bad Curtains suddenly using this dream as a divine affirmation that he was to take over the place and position of the owner of the “first line” that was going down on his dreamland bar graph. It went from dream to affirmation, to using the dream as a basis for an elevation in his position! The Might Waver of Gestures then had to tell everyone how this somehow was linked in to his own assumptions about The Mighty Double Blessing That Wasn't – somehow asserting what he thought in his head that a healing-anointing somehow was a hidden and morphed Ordination that elevated him from a simple layperson to a role he's always wanted but never got of an Important Dude in the church.

If I was to use the methodology that he uses with dreams, I could start a whole new belief system. I could say that the Spirit of Herbert Armstrong is trapped in a prison, and that he has become remorseful and contrite, and that I was granted a lone audience with Herbert to convey his apology and remorse for his actions. I could say that Herbert was timed and a bell signaled that “he had to go”. But I recognize it was a dream. I could also say that somehow I was in a parallel universe with Joseph Tkach, where he was now reduced to a receptionist – a rather forceful, assertive, and mean receptionist at that. I could think on that and somehow come to a bunch of conclusions about what that meant for Tkach's ministry, and all sorts of different conclusions – based on a dream. And to me – that would be naive, stupid, and dangerous.

Of course, Bob, and any COG member who ever listened to these stories would never buy their authenticity in a million years, even if they were! Why? Because these dreams contradict the beliefs they have already formed in their head. There's no immortal soul, there's no heaven, there's no conscious spirit, they would forcefully say – so obviously, it's just a complete figment of imagination and needs to be summarily dismissed. However, if you have a weird dream where one bar graph line goes down, and one bar graph line goes up, then, because it seems to affirm an already held strong belief, it's lauded up to some sort of divine affirmation.

This is a methodology that the COG's have down to a science, and a methodology that Kairan Underwood said that the PCG used in writing many of it's own articles for it's own flagship magazine. Look for anything you can find to confirm your beliefs, then throw out everything you can find that dismisses them. Take the smallest rock and elevate it to universal proportions. Or, take the biggest evidence and dismiss it completely because it contradicts already concreted viewpoints.

It was this methodology that Herbert Armstrong used over and over again in his ministry to legitimize his dogmas and doctrines. It was this methodology that Herman Hoeh used to support Herbert Armstrong's dogmas and doctrines. It was this methodology that field ministers used each Saturday while preaching to their congregations on their own belief divergences – within the lines of Armstrong's dogmas and doctrines. All of this led to variances of belief – within the confines of Armstrong's beliefs – which is why one local congregation sometimes varied considerably with another local congregation's experience. Every minister had, within the confines of their rank, that extreme hubris – only tempered by the dictatorial hand of Herbert Armstrong, who forcefully shot down any challenge or rise on his beliefs or his authority.

Once Herbert Armstrong died, once the Church collapsed, and that dictatorial hand of Herbert Armstrong was no longer holding down the hubris, pride, and self-beliefs of field ministers and evangelists under him – the individual dogmas and doctrines held by all the field ministers exploded without temperance. Now, 23 years later from the collapse of the church, we have one of them preaching a horrifying “All things common” doctrine, another one idolizing a simple garden rock, another one claiming to be a minister but never was ordained to the position, another one trying so hard to hold down the fort of his own rapidly crumbling splinter, another one who went to prison for trying too hard to replicate Herbert Armstrong's luxurious lifestyle – and then you have the weird and wacky ones who've only been able to grab a few hundred viewers on YouTube – literally the bottom of the barrel in YouTube Statistics and video viewers.

The methodology of the splinter leaders – Look for anything you can find to confirm your beliefs, throw out everything else that dismisses them, is how the Armstrong Churches of God have operated for decades.

In a recent expose' by a former writer of the PCG's Magazine "The Trumpet", and a true PCG Insider himself published right here on Banned By HWA, Kieran Underwood confirmed himself that this methodology has been used to write several publications by that splinter. But it's not only that splinter. One can easily see the exact personalities and attitudes that each of the COG leaders have. You can tell who is greedy, who is angry, who is physically oriented. You can tell who is jealous, who is wanting, who is child-like, who is wishing they were important, and who wants to bring back the glory days. By using this formula, you can tell very easily what an individual person's COG-Beliefs are – but more than that, you can tell who they are as a person. It is said that "By your fruits shall you know them." Equally true is that by their methods, you can see right through them, I would say.

And if you go by facts alone, the Splinter Leaders themselves have proven themselves to be completely enraptured in jealousy-driven, greed-oriented, physically-minded, money-loving, Herbert-worshiping religion that is not, never has been, and never will ever pass as any form of Christianity. All this is is a sham and a scam, exposing exactly who and what these splinters are – a reflection.

submitted by SHT

Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Wade Mohammed Cox Prophetic Timeline Starting in 2024



If you thought the batshit crazy prophets of the Church of God could not get any crazier, then check out Wade Mohammad Cox.

Besides dreaming up idiotic reasons as to why the Koran and Mohammad are central to Church of God beliefs, this dingy guy sinks further into the depths of prediction addiction.  Mohammad Cox, like James Malm, Bob Thiel and the rest of the false prophets of Armstrongism is doomed to failure.   Cox is about as dumb as Neville Stevens was when he made these same kind of outlandish predictions. Neville Sevens has faded into complete oblivion just like Mohammad Cox will.


The Restoration Begins
After the Feast of Tabernacles in 2024 the lands are then reorganised to allocate for the Treble Harvest of 2025.  The early harvest for Passover 2025 which is the Barley Harvest in the Northern Hemisphere is prepared. The food system is planned for and the world gets back under the Laws of God and the plenty that follows keeping those laws.

In the year 2025 the Treble Harvest will occur for the declaration of the Jubilee year from Atonement 2026 to Atonement 2027 when all nations and lands will be restored.

From 2025 there will never again be years where the servants of God under the Messiah will ever see hunger except where they wilfully disobey God.  No nation will be in want except where they failed to send their servants to Jerusalem at Tabernacles and failed to keep the Sabbaths, New Moons and Feasts and Holy Days of God.  The Islam of God will be the one true faith of the One True God and the false systems of Hadithic Islam and pseudo-Christianity and all false religion will be stamped out.

The system at Jerusalem will commence the healing of the nations and the regrowth of sea life from the rivers of Jerusalem from under the Temple Mount and the city and the trees planted along the rivers.

The Sabbath Year of 2026 will see the Nations come to be reorganised with the Jubilee year commence at Atonement 2026 and continue to Atonement 2027.

From Tabernacles 2027 the Laws of God will see the nations allocated their inheritance by tribes and nations under the supervision of the elect in both the spiritual host and the earthly priesthood. This is in effect the beginning of the Restoration of Ezekiel’s Temple and is run and controlled under the priesthood of Melchisdek at Jerusalem and all around the world.

After the Feast of Tabernacles 2027 preparation will begin for the Millennial Harvest at Passover 2028 (see The Golden Jubilee (No. 300)).

The rest of the world that is left alive will keep the Laws of God for the next thousand years or twenty Jubilees. At the end of the thousand years of his imprisonment Satan will be released again and the last war of the end will occur.   That will be for the short period from 3023-3024 before the Treble harvest of 3025 and the Sabbath and Jubilee years of 3026 and 3027. 

In 3027 the Second Resurrection of the Dead will occur and the world will be resurrected to the Second Resurrection of the Dead and the Great White Throne Judgment (No. 143B). The hundred years of the Second Resurrection of the Dead will occur from 3028 to 3127.                       

In 3127 the entire judgment will be completed and those that refuse to repent will be allowed to die and their bodies will be cremated in the Lake of Fire.

All those who have succeeded and found acceptable to God will be translated into Spirit beings and join the Heavenly Host as the City of God (No. 180).  

God will then come to the earth with the heavenly Jerusalem, the mother of us all, and we will rule the universe. Our tasks then can only be guessed at as we see through a glass darkly in our human forms.  The Wars of Amalek Part III: Armageddon and the Vials of the Wrath of God

Dingy Wade Cox and his tiny band of followers looking forward to destroying the earth



With so many end time prophets, guru's and leaders of the church that foolishly believe themselves to God's spokesman in this end times, it is hard to pick and choose which one should be followed.  Even though every single on of then have been exposed as lairs, they still keep regurgitating appalling predictions and end time scenarios.

This takes us to our old buddy Wade Cox. One of his latest predictions has his band of loony followers destroying the earth. He gets all heated up with orgasmic desire to wipe the people of the "isles" of the face of the earth.  Why do so many of these end time "profit's" of God get their rocks off with death and destruction? They get all squirrelly at the prospect of seeing people die and the world destroyed.

The Temple is being cleansed now on a  continual basis. Those of us that made it to this point are to be congratulated. We have shown the characteristics of spiritual discernment and loyalty and the ability to stand for the faith. It is those people who comprise the Church of God that stand before the throne of grace in honour and approved of God through the testimony of Jesus Christ.” (cf. No. 294 ibid).
The Sequence of the War
Over the period of the War of the Last Days we will virtually destroy the earth. The text says that fire will rain down on the people of the isles who are dwelling carelessly. This refers to the coastlands or isles far off. It is not just referring to the islands in the eastern Mediterranean. 
We might thus deduce that we will see nuclear or laser wars or both, or indeed comets.

The Final Push! Place of Safety in YOUR Generation...


submitted by SHT

Tuesday, October 9, 2018

HWA's Reasoning of How To Know the WCG Had "The Truth"



In the Good News Magazine of January 1985, HWA decided to tackle the question of how one in the Church is to know they had "The Truth". He wrote:
Some time ago a man, who knew little or nothing about the truth that the living God is proclaiming to the world through us, asked:

"How can you know that you are any nearer right than anybody else? You say the whole world is deceived. You say the churches are wrong on many points of doctrine, but that you have the TRUTH. You say they are human, and have been deceived. It's human to err.

"But are you not also human? Are you not also fallible? How can you be sure you are any nearer right than any of the others?"
From there, he decided to give his own response of how, and why, his church knew he had the "TRUTH". Yes, all Capital letters.
I want to give our readers the clear, plain, understandable answer to those questions! I want to EXPLAIN, so plainly you can really comprehend it, HOW and WHY we know we have the TRUTH! 
I want to make clear how YOU may know what is the TRUTH, while this whole world is deceived and in utter darkness. I want to tell you HOW you may be SURE!
First, are we not also human? Yes, indeed! We can make mistakes, too! We, too, could be in error on this, that or the other point. But we do not need to be!
Alright, Herbert. So how can we be sure? First, it's not a matter, he says, of how smart you are.
A man may say: "Who does this Herbert W. Armstrong think he is? Is he any smarter than all these great theologians — these noted preachers and heads of great religious denominations?" 
The answer is NO — it is not a matter of intellectual capacity.
We are all human. We are all fallible. I have been wrong. I have made mistakes. The same is true of all those God is using in HIS WORK. 
That is the very first thing that we do recognize. That is the starting point in the search for truth. That is one reason why we do have the truth, in the midst of a very deceived world. I wish every religious leader would adopt this approach.

Because Herbert was human, fallible, has been wrong, and has made mistakes, this makes him different from all the others who were human, fallible, have been wrong, and have made mistakes. He fails to realize, or admit, that the entire movement of all of Christianity is full of entire denominations that believe that somewhere down the road, human, fallible, mistake-making people have gone down a different road. Hence the thousands of different denominations of Christianity.

God says, "PROVE all things." That means you are fallible. That means all the "great" men are fallible! ALL are human. ALL can be wrong — and nearly all are. The whole world is DECEIVED (Rev. 12:9). That means its religious leaders and churches are deceived!
Alright, let's break this down. Because God said "Prove" all things, you are fallible. Which means all the "great" men are fallible. Meaning, they can mike mistakes. He then says because the great men are human - then, they can all be wrong. Then states nearly all are, because the whole world is deceived - meaning because the whole world is deceived, it's religious leaders and churches are deceived.But somehow, he doesn't explain here at all how he is different from OTHER religious leaders and churches! He tries to:
   The very recognition of that fact is the beginning of right knowledge. We do recognize it — and that we ourselves could be wrong. That is the first step toward coming out of the fog of error and deception, starting toward truth.  
It is not a matter of who has the greater intellect. A man may have the highest IQ in the world, and in his intellectual VANITY refuse to admit he could be wrong — reject all correction — and thus embrace error and deception.
Here, he says that BECAUSE he recognizes that they - the Worldwide Church of God - COULD be wrong -that this differentiates them from any other church. That it doesn't matter who has the greater intellect - but the fact that they could admit they could be wrong and accept "correction". But did they?
   The second step, if you would know TRUTH, is to be willing to admit being deceived, or in error, and to reject it and accept truth. Ask yourself: "Am I really willing to confess error — to admit I'm wrong — when proved — and reject it? Am I willing to accept truth new to me — when proved — even though unpopular — even though it cuts me off from my family, friends, associates or club members — even though everything in my selfish and vain nature rebels against it? Am I willing to act on it — OBEY the truth — no matter what the cost?" 
Ah, yes! Perhaps now you are beginning to see why "all these great theologians — these noted preachers — these heads of religious denominations" could be in error.
In the 60+ Years of the Radio and the Worldwide Church of God under Herbert Armstrong:
  • They continually uttered the 3 to 5 year timeline of the return of Jesus Christ as imminent. 
  • They continually uttered false speculation and/or prophecy, only to alter it to another false speculation and/or prophecy. 
  • They continually extorted 10 to 30 percent of income from members under the threat of damnation. 
  • They continually used such income for mammon and the purchase and accumulation of earthly treasures. 
  • They continually disfellowshipped individuals for trivial reasons outside of the biblical authority. 
  • They, while accumulating funds for the Building Fund, perpetuated fear and falsehoods of the Place of Safety and the Tribulation to increase funds to complete their material ambitions. 
  • They propagated an incorrect and dis-proven theory of British Israel-ism to differentiate themselves from other religion. 
  • They continually, until the very end of Armstrong, convinced children and teens in the Church they would be pioneers in the whole new World Tomorrow that was supposed to happen 40+ years ago and forward. 
  • They continually covered up, lied, and ignored crimes and felonies within their congregations, knowingly enabling abusers to continue their abuse. 
What did they change?
  • Pentecost. 
  • Divorce and Remarriage Policies. 
  • Makeup. 
  • Internal Policies. 
  • Select Doctrines not impacting The Bottom Line.
They then used those few changes to convince the brethren that their "ability to change" was proof that they had "The Truth". Herbert continued, saying:
Did you ever know a person of great intellectual powers who did not have the kind of VANITY that shrinks from confessing he has been WRONG — and has misled others? To find and live the TRUTH requires a HUMBLED mind.

These are the first TWO points in which one who has come to the TRUTH differs from those still steeped in deception and error.

Can you be SURE that we have the TRUTH, when we, too, as the critic argued, are fallible, with minds that are not perfect? Yes, you can be SURE!
It's pretty rich Herbert claimed he had a "humbled mind". This from a man who would disfellowship and fire nearly anyone who would dare challenge him, or threaten the stability of his financial empire. Remember, it took after he died for any change to happen within the Church. It would never have happened under Herbert's watch - right or wrong.
   
The greatest, ablest intellect in the world is still HUMAN — still fallible — still imperfect. Those who are deceived and steeped in error have simply not stopped to realize their own imperfections — their proneness to error. They assume, in their egotism, that whatever they believe is TRUE. And they are UNWILLING to humble themselves and confess their wrongs.
Pot, meet kettle! Herbert continues:
I can tell you how I started, 55 years ago, out of the darkness and into the light. And it is the basically sound and SURE way for you, or any other, to start.

First, I had to know whether there is a real BASIS for truth. Is there an INFALLIBLE AUTHORITY? In other words, does GOD exist? Is the all-wise — all-knowing — all-perfect GOD a reality? And if so, has He communicated basic TRUTH to mankind?
Herbert continued stating that everyone was to have faith in another Protestant leader's human assumption. That God offered proof of fulfilled prophecies. That God has the proof of answered prayer - while claiming few experience that.

He says it's because HE, Herbert, found proof of God in science. That HE, Herbert, found proof in the facts of matter. That HE, Herbert, found facts in reason and in the Bible. That HE, Herbert, found the Bible as the source of authoritive revelation from God to man - and HE, Herbert, found proof by irrefutable proofs. Herbert had a firm basis of faith. HERBERT had an infallible authority.

 

But this was not enough. Herbert said Herbert had the SOURCE of truth. But HE, Herbert, could not understand the Bible. And most scientists, Herbert said, or educators, or theologians, understood it. Herbert said a great mind and a superior intellect can't understand the spiritual revelation from God, because pure physical brain can't comprehend it. Only the Spirit can comprehend it. And only by receiving the Spirit can you understand it.

Until Herbert Armstrong came on the scene to be the ONLY ONE who got God's Spirit and could understand it.

That is precisely WHY, up until 55 years ago, I could not understand the Bible. That is why nearly all of the truly GREAT minds of world leaders cannot understand this TRUTH! It is not a matter of degree of intellect.
   So, in order to really perceive the deceptions that have BLINDED this world, once we have recognized our own fallibility and proneness to error — once we have become WILLING to admit it when proved wrong, and to accept TRUTH — the next step is to receive God's gift of His Holy Spirit. And the CONDITIONS to this are: 1) REPENTANCE, and 2) FAITH in Christ as personal Savior.
Repentance is toward GOD. Sin is against GOD. We may harm or injure people — but we SIN against GOD. Sin is the transgression of GOD'S LAW. Sin is rebellion against GOD. It has cut us off from God.

To repent means to be so HUMBLED, so broken up about the colossal crime of rebelling against the HOLY GOD — so abhorrent of our own rebellious, deceitful, vain, selfish SELVES — that in real contrition we turn to God for mercy and CHANGE of mind and attitude, now desiring to CHANGE OUR WAYS — to be obedient to GOD'S LAW.

Very few know what repentance really is. Then, through FAITH in Christ as Savior, we may be reconciled to God, and His PROMISE is that we shall then receive HIS HOLY SPIRIT.
Yes, it was Herbert ALONE who was given THE TRUTH, because God only gave Herbert the Holy Spirit, so Herbert says. God opened Herbert's mind. Herbert had to be willing. Herbert had to confess wrongs and embrace truths. Herbert now was the only one who understood everything properly. God was only opening Herbert's mind. Herbert was the only one being led. Herbert was the only one who corrected, turned, and proclaimed. Not one other theologian ever did, Herbert said.
But God had humbled me. He brought me to repentance and faith. And He opened my mind to His TRUTH by the gift of His Holy Spirit.

But I had to be willing, continuously, to confess being wrong, and to embrace truths constantly NEW to me.

That process has been going on, now, for 55 years.

As I studied a portion of the Bible, I could now understand it. But I had to walk in the "light" as God opened my mind to see. Regardless of the cost in the esteem of men, or in countering opposition and persecution, I had constantly to BE WILLING to follow GOD and not man.

It is a matter of WILLINGNESS — not of superior and lofty minds. It is a matter of being LED by GOD'S SPIRIT into His ways that are so CONTRARY to this world's established customs, not of personal human powers.

WHAT CHURCH do you know that has ever publicly confessed that its teaching and practice has been WRONG, and has CORRECTED IT, to conform to the Bible? What great, lauded and mighty churchman or religious leader has ever made such a public confession, turned from his nonbiblical ways and, despite persecution and ridicule, PROCLAIMED THE TRUTH?
Yes, Herbert was the only undeceived one. Herbert was the only one who could be humbled. Who surrendered unconditionally to God "And his Law".
   
These lauded, lofty "greats" of this world could become undeceived and have their eyes opened to God's truth — IF THEY WOULD BE HUMBLED, REPENT AND SURRENDER UNCONDITIONALLY TO ALMIGHTY GOD AND HIS LAW! 
But if you would know what GOD says of these "great and eminent" religious leaders of the great denominations, read God's PROPHECIES describing these very leaders of OUR OWN 20TH CENTURY, in Jeremiah 23; Ezekiel 34; Ezekiel 22, especially verses 21-31, referring to British and United States peoples and their religious leaders NOW, at the time leading directly to "God's WRATH" — the time of the last PLAGUES, just prior to, and at, the Second Coming of Christ!
Herbert was the ONLY one who submitted to God. No one else.
Yes, we CAN KNOW, if willing to know, whether we are right or wrong. It is not a matter of superior intellect, but of SUBMISSION TO GOD.
So what is the conclusion? That the only way you can know that they have THE TRUTH is to believe GOD was only working through Herbert Armstrong, because God forced Herbert into submission, and plunged Herbert to do it all - and that that can easily be proved.
But the conclusion of the whole question is this: I did not start this Work of my own accord at all. It is the very last thing I would have wanted, in my days of carnality, to do. IT IS GOD'S DOING!

By circumstances, God forced me to submission. The living CHRIST so manipulated events and the force of circumstance that He literally PLUNGED me into His Work. It is not my work — it is THE VERY WORK OF GOD.
And THIS can be easily proved, to those willing to know the TRUTH!p

The Bible has a different answer.
"Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will knowb]" data-mce-style="line-height: 0;">[b] my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” (John 14). 
It was never about Herbert. It was never about trusting in Herbert or Herbert's submission or Herbert's theology. Jesus said HE is the Way, and HE IS THE TRUTH, and He is the life. The only way one knows if one has "THE TRUTH" is if they are IN JESUS CHRIST, not following the man Herbert Armstrong. You don't know Jesus by following Herbert Armstrong, or any man. You know Jesus by knowing Jesus, and by knowing Jesus, you know the Father. It is not dependent, and never has been dependent, on the proven lies, distortions, false prophecies, material greed, idolatry, worldly businesses of Armstrongism who have burdened and oppressed good-hearted people under an obsolete law that pointed to Christ who had not yet come. Herbert's bastardizing of the Law - along with all those who follow Herbert's path - should know that Jesus is the way, and Jesus is the truth. And Jesus is both the resurrection and the life. Something all of the personalities of Armstrongism who bastardize the Law and burden and oppress people are absolutely blind to.

submitted by SHT

A Personal Note:

There may be some here on Banned who know Karen Fuessel Diehl, the mom of my two boys, Jeff and Chris Diehl.  I just returned from time with the boys, grandkids and Karen in South Carolina. Karen has been diagnosed with 4th Stage  Glioblastoma. She currently is having difficulty with expressing herself with the correct words etc and cannot write or read words. All symptomatic of this type of brain cancer. Karen and I spent some quality time talking on this recent visit. She is undergoing daily chemo and radiation treatments for the next six weeks.  She is woman of great personal faith and has as good an attitude as one can have in such a situation.  

If you wish to keep updated , please feel free to email me at DennisCDiehl@aol.com .  Karen is unable to talk on the phone or read cards and respond at this time.  

Sincere thanks to all who have been so kind to date.  She deserves all the love and consideration due her for her life well lived in her faith.  Thank you Gary for this venue to inform those who may know and love her but would not know of her situation without my access to this site. 

Dennis

How Subtly the MInistry Changed Scripture to Meet Their Own Agenda


This particular quote was found in the Good News Magazine of January - April, 1971. Look carefully at the quote and see exactly where the change came in. 



Did you find where the Ministry subtly changed the entire meaning of the verse to fit their already conceived agenda? Take a look at the parallel Bible to see if the inserted text is anywhere in here: 


The correct text was "He that believeth on Him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already."

What the author added into the text was "In His purpose". 

"In His Purpose" was not in any text or translation anywhere of John 3:18. It was added to support what they already believed: That the world is not being "called now", only the "elect", being the Worldwide Church of God, and the rest of the world would not be given opportunity until after Christ - in direct opposition from the reality of what the verse actually says

Every translation, including the King James translation, agrees that this verse says that God so loved the world that he gave his Son Jesus Christ that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life - and that it is believing in HIM that there is no condemnation, but anyone who does not believe IN HIM is already condemned. That's what the translation says. 

This flies directly in contradiction to the Church's belief. And to support their twisting of the Word of God, they added "In His Purpose" to completely change the meaning of scripture, downplaying the role of belief in Christ because they didn't believe the WORLD could know Christ. 

But what exactly did he mean "In His Purpose"? The article states:
"If you truly believe in God's purpose through Jesus Christ and are going ALL OUT for that purpose in your life, then you are properly discerning the Lord's Body and are eating and drinking eternal life unto yourself. But if your life and actions show a half-hearted, lethargic support and dedication to His work, you are eating and drinking damnation to yourself."
The author - Albert J. Portune - took the clear and unmistakable intent and clarity of the Word of God - in every translation - as to what it meant, inserted his own bracket text, changed the entire meaning of the verse to fit their own doctrinal bias, and then claimed that it was not belief in JESUS but in "His Purpose" which mattered - which of course meant supporting the Work and being dedicated to it with your whole heart. In other words - sending in your money. Without inserting in this text John 3:16-18 is completely against the doctrinal position of Armstrongism. This is why Armstrongism was and is ANOTHER GOSPEL.  

This is exactly how the scam worked. This is how the Word of God was twisted and distorted. It's one example of MANY. 


submitted by SHT

Monday, October 8, 2018

COG Chief Pharisee Claims It Is Possible to Be Sinless


Where would the Church of God be without all of the lying false teachers it currently has?  It would be boring indeed!  Crazy prophets have always inhabited the church over the last 8 decades, but over the last few years, the craziness has reached new levels of idiocy.

James Malm, the self-appointed prophet and guru of the Shining Light crapfest of legalistic mumbo-jumbo puts forth loads of nonsense that would send anyone to an early grave if they tried to attain his high level of legalism.

In his ongoing effort to bastardize the law and make it into something it is not, he claims that current members of the church can remain sinless after baptism.

The sacrifice of Christ is only APPLIED to the REPENTANT; to those who STOP sinning! and it is sincere repentance to stop sinning and the application of the atonement of Christ for our PAST sins; which justifies and purifies us.
After that, we are to go forward; avoiding sin and living by every Word of God. But keeping the commandments does not justify anyone from PAST sins. It is sacrifice of Christ which justifies us and makes us right with God and atones for past sins.
But apparently not for future sins.

Sunday, October 7, 2018

The Firm Bond: The Book That May Have Triggered George Geis' Termination from the Church


Today, while researching some historical anecdotes on the Church and College, I came across a bit of interesting information from the Los Angeles times, dated January 12, 1985. 

It seems that a book, entitled "The Firm Bond", which was written by Robert Kuhn and Goerge Geis, may have triggered Geis being called into Headquarters and asked for his resignation. Granted, this was an allegation purported by Garner Ted Armstrong: 

Soon after the book, published in October, appeared in Vroman's bookstore in Pasadena--where it is enjoying brisk sales--Geis was called in by Worldwide authorities and asked to submit his resignation. Apparently, according to Ted Armstrong, "people (church leaders) thought they saw themselves in the book." The Worldwide Church of God is not mentioned in the book, nor does it reveal the connection of either Geis or co-author Robert Kuhn, a former top Worldwide official who has also been disfellowshipped, with the church or college.

The book in question was thought by GTA to be a problem with the Church, probably because of it's content:

A section of the book (Praeger, $21.95) deals with personal meaning and entrepreneurial drives within an unaccommodating structure. "How does one deal with such people and pressures?" the authors ask.
“The easy answer--get rid of them!--deprives the company of innovative potential. On the other hand, strategies that allow for the expression of such needs promote mutual benefit for employee and organization.”
"The resignation was his (Geis') choice; the book was something he chose to write," said La Ravia, the Worldwide Church press secretary, who would not explain the reasons for the dismissal.

One of the reviewers of the book was from Harvard Business School - C. Roland Christenson. He writes:

This is a book not simply to be read, but to be savored. It poses for the reflective practioner the question of relationship between religion and economic creativity and productivity. It gives practical suggestions to any leader on the achievement of that critical motivational force--the linkage between personal inner needs and corporate mission.--C. Roland Christensen, Harvard Business School

One of the reasons why a business may possibly terminate an employee is if they, without authorization, released or revealed confidential intellectual property to the public. If this book revealed some of the internal corporate strategies used within the Church - it could well explain a possible reason why Gies was terminated from the Church. In a response to questions by the TImes concerning his termination, Ellis LaRavia said, "He chose to write the book."; seemingly confirming that the book did have something to do with it. 

Or, it could have just been because he was collaborating with a disfellowshipped individual outside of the Church - the co-author, Robert Kuhn, something that he, as a minister of the Church, would have been looked on as an act of rebellion, since disfellowshipped members were to be shunned and avoided.  

This book is available at Amazon for 12.95. As of this writing, 37 New and Used copies are available.




submitted by SHT

Rob Steel: A Story For Young People!




Banned By HWA, in honor of 6,000,000 views, is proud and honored to release, for the first time in it's history, a Story For Young People! Enjoy! It's about a man named Rob Steel. Any semblance to any person, real or fictional, might be entirely coincidental. Or it might not. 



(Read slowly for young people!) 

And now, our story.

- - - 

Once upon a time, there was a man.

His name was Rob Steel.

Rob Steel really wanted to be somebody important.

So Rob hung out with the most important people he could find.

People who wore suits. And talked loud. 

Rob liked to learn a lot. So Rob went and learned.

He really wanted recognition!


So Rob went and got himself.... a Degree.


(Say Degree). Good job! I knew you could.


Well, Rob REALLY admired a man a lot.

His name was Bob Feredith.

Rob gave Bob lots of money. Bob liked that a lot.


(Say money). Good job! I knew you could.


Well, Bob did not want Rob to go anwhere else!

So Bob told Rob he really knew a lot.

And maybe, just maybe, Rob had a very, very special job!


Rob believed him so much! And Rob tried all he could

to get as close to Bob as Rob could.

They would go eat together. They would talk together.

And Bob even asked Rob for advice.

Bob could not afford not to have Rob.

Rob really began to think highly of himself.


He was getting proud. 


But Rob was getting impatient.

Rob wanted to be somebody. But Rob felt ignored.

He never became what he wanted to be.


Rob waited months. And years.

And finally, Rob was tired of waiting.


Bob told Rob he loved Rob.

But Rob was not the right person.


Now Rob got his feelings hurt really bad.

Rob really thought he was going to be somebody.

But now, he knew that was never going to happen.


At least not with Bob.


So Rob decided to be what Bob was.

But Rob really wasn't Bob.

As much as Rob tried to be Bob.

Rob was no Bob.


Rob was good with things that help people.

Rob liked to do things to keep them in health.

It was good what Rob was doing.


But Rob had a lot of pride. And he felt hurt.

So he bit off more than he could chew.


What is the moral of the story?


Be yourself, and do good and help people.

It's ok to try new things. But before you try new things.

Be sure you are doing it for the right reasons.

And be sure you know what you are doing.

Because when you try something and you don't understand it

You could hurt others, and yourself.

And worst of all, 

you could believe in something that just isn't true.


submitted by SHT

PCG: God Inspired Wayne Turgeon Into Forcing PCG Students To Work On Sunday



One thing Herbert Armstrong never took into consideration when he designed his opulent buildings was the upkeep of the facility.  When the Ambassador Auditorium as built, no expense was spared on the materials used inside and outside the facility.  Then, as the advancing opening night approached, corners were cut in the final details.  As a result, the college and church had to spend hundreds and hundreds of man-hours, and millions of dollars in tithe money to maintain the monument to excess self-indulgence.

The same goes on today in Edmond Oklahoma where Gerald Flurry had to build his mini-me Herbert W Armstrong Auditorium.  This opulent monstrosity is filled with the same mistakes Herbert made, though the building itself is on a much smaller scale because Flurry was unable to duplicate the Pasadena monument as excessively.

Flurry's boondoggle has ended up costing the church members millions in tithe money for upkeep just so Flurry's grand kids can have a stage to dance on or sing in a play that is based upon some Old Testament prophet, though NEVER EVER in a story about a New Testament character or even Jesus.

The PCG website has a long story up justifying the expense and the amount of time required to keep the auditorium clean.  The PCG goes above board in trying to impress the non-believing community of Edmond.  That extra work done to impress came about because PCG's god apparently "inspired" Wayne Turgeon to make PCG students work on Sunday.  "Six days shalt though labor..." is the rallying cry of the indulged Flurry family members who get to take off as much time as they want and spend Sundays relaxing and doing family things while the lower caste students have to work.

Concerts

Although they are largely unseen, custodians play a part in Armstrong Auditorium’s Armstrong International Cultural Foundation Performing Arts series. The crew spends an average of eight manhours before a concert freshening the bathrooms, adding crispness to the vacuumed patterns in the royal purple carpet, and dusting the wood paneling so that arriving concertgoers see the auditorium at its best. 
Once the concert has begun and the guests are almost all in the theater, the custodians emerge from the hallway on a mission, pushing their yellow carts laden with the tools of the trade: polishing cloths, paper towel restocks, toilet scrubbers, and other equipment. Four groups rapidly clean the four bathrooms on both levels with the objective of leaving them as pristine in the middle of the concert as they were before the first guest arrived. After the last note has been sung or played and guests have finished conversing with artists, staff members and each other and left for the night, the custodians reemerge to complete their mission with a final clean of vacuuming and mopping the main floor and the crumbs left behind from concessions in the balcony. 

Schedule

Students clean immediately after concerts and other auditorium events, such as the annual seven-day Feast of Tabernacles. Students clean every day immediately after services (waiting until after sunset on high days and Sabbaths). 
During a regular week, Armstrong Auditorium is cleaned every day, with eight auditorium custodial staff spending an average of 34 manhours each week. The amount of time required has doubled with the opening of the Seals of Isaiah and King Hezekiah exhibit, which requires at least three hours to scrub bathrooms, vacuum carpets and dust wood.
During the typical work week, the crew cleans the auditorium every Sunday morning. If they did not, “God’s house will be dirty for a whole day after the Sabbath,” said Lamberth. “I don’t believe He’d like that.” 
Lamberth said that the way the cleaning schedule for the auditorium worked out was miraculous. Initially, custodians cleaned the building on Monday, rather than Sunday, the day after services. Yet working out conflicts in the schedule proved to be a struggle, and it was difficult to complete the work in time and preserve the students’ 20-hour work weeks while college was in session. Lamberth brought the situation to buildings and grounds department head Wayne Turgeon, who reminded him, “six days shall you work.” Lamberth built the suggestion into his new schedule. 
“After that, all the scheduling lined up,” and all of the work was completed within the students’ 20-hour work time frame. Lamberth said in regards to the decision to clean on Sundays, “I believe he was inspired.”
Sadly, this story is written by the child of a family the PCG destroyed in order to get back at the father, a former minister. who tried to expose the spiritual abuse dealt out by Cal Culpepper.

You can read the PCG story here:  Custodial Crew Keeps Armstrong Auditorium Clean 

Also, see:

Gerald Flurry Demands That Aaron Eagle's Wife Divorce Him When He Tried To Expose Cal Culpepper's Abuse


Gerald Flurry Gives Aaron Eagles Wife A Job To Further Drive A Wedge In Their Marriage