Never in human history has God had such a ridiculous crop of buffoons claiming to represent Him and who claim to be His "one true voice" in this day and age.
This brings us to Gerald Flurry, the current KING of the Church of God, the possessor of the Stone of Herb that Jesus is returning to sit on as he brings into fruition the Kingdom of the Church of God that he thinks the rest of the world wants or needs to long for. According to Flurry, all of this is a mystery that he and he alone now possess the keys to. His god is a mystery. Its kingdom is a mystery. Its plan for humankind is a mystery. No one in the entire 2,000+ years of Christianity has ever understood this mystery till now.
Flurry writes in his latest Trumpet rag this:
God’s mystery has been hidden from man and from the angels for eons and eons.The angels were charged with beautifying the Earth, and later the universe if they succeeded on Earth. God wasn’t going to implement His mystery plan unless the angels failed, which they did.Ancient Israel didn’t receive God’s mystery either because they didn’t have God’s Holy Spirit. Only a few of God’s prophets understood the mystery.When Jesus Christ came to the Earth the first time, He revealed the mystery to His Church and gave them access to the Holy Spirit and God the Father. Church members have every advantage possible, and it all revolves around the mystery.But in this end time, 95 percent of God’s people have rebelled against the mystery. Only 5 percent still cling to it. These two sides went to war in court for six years for the writings of Herbert W. Armstrong, primarily Mystery of the Ages, proving there’s always some kind of war going on around the mystery and the ministry that teaches it.
If there is any book in Armstrongism that needs to be burned in a bonfire, it is this book. No one and I repeat NO ONE needs any book or booklet by Herbert Armstrong in order to understand scriptures. No one needs a COG leader to tell them what to believe either. Their interpretations and opinions are irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.
Gerald Flurry, the King of the COG, goes on to claim we are in a battle. A holy war to defend the mystery.
In this end time, a lukewarm Church has the same attitude as those Laodiceans. They have rebelled against the mystery, a synopsis of the entire Bible!“For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh; That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ” (Colossians 2:1-2). Paul was saying, Most of you don’t really get it. Mr. Armstrong said something similar to the Worldwide Church of God toward the end of his life.It’s not easy to comprehend the mystery, but you absolutely can! This message is a warning to the Bride of Christ that will share the throne of David with Him throughout the Millennium and for eternity.“And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ” (verses 4-5). Steadfastness is a military word. We need faith and a willingness to fight for the mystery to prove we love it. We build the character we need to enter God’s Family by waging spiritual war for the mystery.
The Prophet of Coors continues on with this:
“If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit” (Ephesians 3:2-5).Again, Paul didn’t care about his fate while sitting in prison. He cared about the world learning the mystery. What dedication! What love for God and His will!“And to make all men see what is the fellowship [dispensation] of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ” (verse 9). The mystery was hidden from mankind in general until Christ’s first appearance on Earth. When He was crucified, the temple veil split in two, symbolizing the possibility of direct access to God the Father. The Father is the Author of the mystery. He wants to give us unimaginable joy and happiness. We must have the depth of faith to really believe this mystery and hold on to it no matter what.
Any COG member can read the verses of Ephesians 3:2-6 and discover that mystery. The New King James Version says this:
Ephesians 3:2-6 New King James Version
2 if indeed you have heard of the [a]dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, 3 how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, 4 by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), 5 which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: 6 that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel,
The Secret Plan of God
3 1-3 This is why I, Paul, am in jail for Christ, having taken up the cause of you outsiders, so-called. I take it that you’re familiar with the part I was given in God’s plan for including everybody. I got the inside story on this from God himself, as I just wrote you in brief.
4-6 As you read over what I have written to you, you’ll be able to see for yourselves into the mystery of Christ. None of our ancestors understood this. Only in our time has it been made clear by God’s Spirit through his holy apostles and prophets of this new order. The mystery is that people who have never heard of God and those who have heard of him all their lives (what I’ve been calling outsiders and insiders) stand on the same ground before God. They get the same offer, same help, same promises in Christ Jesus. The Message is accessible and welcoming to everyone, across the board.
It is pretty simple what that "mystery" is. All people, Jew or Gentile, those who have never heard of him and those that have heard of him their entire lives are all on equal ground before God. They get the same promises.No one needs some stinking turd masquerading in self-important glory over the head of some splinter church telling them this. The problem is that NONE of them do. Their god is an angry pissed off god who is just itching to fry the rebellious asses of those around them. They want this and need this in order to legitimize their self appointed titles as prophets and apostles of the church.
Instead, what you hear is this crap:
God is re-creating Himself in man! That’s at the core of God’s mystery. Verse 9 seems to indicate that God will keep re-creating Himself in human beings throughout the universe for all eternity! (My free booklet Prophesy Again will explain this to you. This truth will blow you away.)
“But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin [is about] to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets” (verse 7). The seventh trumpet blast, the very last one, is a warning tied to Mystery of the Ages.Verse 7 dates this prophecy. Jesus Christ will return when the mystery has been fully declared! We can know that His Coming is at the door.“And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings” (verse 11). The commission of God’s Church today is to prophesy again. This is necessary because God’s own people almost destroyed the mystery! They “cast down the truth to the ground” (Daniel 8:12).
This is why Jesus said to rest in him and stop worrying and fighting with one's self over whether or not you have done it correctly:
Mathew 12:28-30 (The Message) “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
“My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:2–3).
15 comments:
The best thing you have posted recently!
As long as he doesn't have the key to the liquor cabinet...
The only mystery about Flurry that I see, is the mystery of WHY anyone would ever be one of this followers!
A perfect description of the Church of God leadership today.
"the quagmire of theological slop these guys dish out is enough to keep a heard of swine contented for the rest of their lives."
The ACOGs need to focus on improving their product. Marketing, no matter how good, won't work if the product is flawed. No one wants to join an abusive organisation. And God will not bless any such group.
Gerry, you have the inside line. The inside story.
I will let you pick my Lottery numbers for next week.
You can have 10% of the winnings.
Win/win for all.
What say you?
Mystery of the Ages is a great set of keys for unlocking the mysteries of Armstrongism, but I'm afraid that it's the wrong set of keys for understanding any of God's mysteries. We need to remind ourselves and others that it is the work of an incestuous pedophile who pieced together his life's work while descending into senility.
Like his mentor, Herbert Armstrong, Gerald Flurry is a man of limited education and understanding who is NOT well-acquainted with biblical scholarship or history and is implacably hostile to science. Hence, it is not surprising that the efforts of these charlatans to enlighten others about Divine mysteries would turn out to be deficient.
One would think that even a small measure of humility would go a long way in attempting to address such topics. Consider for just a moment the massive ego necessary for anyone to claim that he has plumbed the depths of the mysteries of Almighty God! I'm thinking that such an understanding would require a much greater intellect and level of spirituality than either one of these old men (Herbie and Gerry) ever displayed!
Well written. Spot on.
But they are too arrogant and unwilling to admit the truth. So they dig their lies deeper and turn quite nasty in anyone who tells the truth on them.
"The Prophet of Coors continues on with this"
Incorrect. It is Budweiser.
Is Ron Weinland still at it? I have seen nothing written about him here for ages, other than listed as a COG cult leader. What’s up with him and Laura and the daughter? They still operating?
I have had so many mysteries, now revealed, puzzles solved, unveilings at last and The Plain Truth about everything brought to my attention, there must be no more excuse for my skepticism. Just my luck. I have misplaced the keys after all these years and know not where I have laid them.
They’re probably in the last box you will unpack after your move Dennis!
"Anonymous said...
They’re probably in the last box you will unpack after your move Dennis!"
I found them! Oh wait....old car keys
"God is re-creating Himself in man! That’s at the core of God’s mystery."
After all the build up, to discover the mystery is a patent heresy (as viewed by the Christian Movement) is pretty disappointing - like getting a lump of coal in your stocking.
The question I raised when commenting on a previous, similar post: "Is God creatable?" If God belongs to a creatable class doesn't that open the possibility that he might have been created by someone else? Might creatability not also open the Arianistic possibility that God may have created the Logos? If God is creatable can he be uncreated? There are many other such perplexing questions.
HWA, in his exegesis of Genesis, made God a reproducible being in the same manner as the animals that reproduce after their kind. God is then reproducing after his kind (actually HWA makes the word "image" do service as "kind" to make the language consistent with the animal mode of reproduction - a dubious rhetoric). If this is true then this means that man will be truly "god as god is god."
But there is a problem. The New Testament is rife with language that clearly indicates that our salvific blessings, including the partaking of the divine nature, is “in Christ” and by the will of God. This means that we will not be necessary beings as God is but contingent beings. Hence, we will not be “god as god is god” and god is not reproducing himself in his essence in man.
The only mystery here is how HWA could arrive at this conclusion. In brief, the error that god is reproducing himself in man requires that one diminish God to a mere reproducible being. And this diminishment is a clear contradiction of the Biblical testimony about God's status and ours. This is a heretical notion and a malformation of the orthodox Christian doctrine of theosis.
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Dennis:
What is happening with the Earthhaven adventure? Are you putting some notes on the web someplace?
Hope all is going well.
- Neotherm
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