Herbert Armstrong's Tangled Web of Corrupt Leaders

Saturday, October 31, 2020

The Wedding Of The Century! King Gerald Flurry Is Getting Married!

 



King Gerald Flurry is getting married! Woo hoo! 

Will Lil'Stevie marry daddy The King like GTA married Herbert? Will we then see a divorce 2 years later and a huge lawsuit in the works? After all, King Gerald has to imitate HWA as much as possible.

With the announcement soon to be given to fleeing to Petra, it is amazing to see King Gerald occupied with such worldly things!

Just imagine how much fun their honeymoon will be as they hop on King Gerald's private jet and fly to their honeymoon destination where the teachings of Herbert Armstrong's seminal work, The Missing Dimension in Sex will be put to such joyous use!

Exit and Support Network has this up:

TH E  F R I D A Y  P H I L A D E L P H I A N

PCG NEWS

October 30, 2020

The pastor general

On Wednesday, Pastor General Gerald Flurry recorded a new Key of David program titled “China’s Biggest Scandal Against the U.S” offering Russia and China in ProphecyHe Was Right and “The Rise and Fall of a Superpower.” At the end of Sabbath services last week, Evangelist Wayne Turgeon made a special announcement on Mr. Flurry’s behalf (see below). After services Mr. Flurry hosted a celebratory reception for the congregation in the balcony of Armstrong Auditorium. Today, Mr. Flurry approved the announcing of several ministerial relocations: Mr. and Mrs. Brian Davis will move from headquarters to the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area, a more central location for serving as Northeast regional director. Mr. and Mrs. Victor Vejil will move from Ohio to northern New Jersey. Mr. and Mrs. Greg Nice will move from New Jersey to the Phoenix, Arizona, area. Mr. and Mrs. Roger Brandon have moved from Phoenix back to headquarters to assist Western Regional Director Cal Culpepper with Oklahoma congregations outside of headquarters and to manage the food services department. Mr. and Mrs. John Krueger will switch from Food Services to assisting headquarters Pastor Fred Dattolo with the large headquarters congregation. Mr. Flurry hopes these moves will be made before or just after the ministerial conference at the end of December. Chief operations officer Andrew Locher said, “Your prayers for their smooth transition are not only appreciated, but quite necessary. This is a difficult time of year to move, and with COVID complications in the industry, they have a tough fight ahead of them.”

Special announcement

Dear brethren: I have been meeting with Vicki Barreiro for one year. It all started with ministerial counseling. We both developed feelings for each other in that process. We have been dating exclusively for the last four months. We plan to marry in a private wedding with only our immediate families on November 16.

Pastor General Gerald Flurry





CGI Is Competing With Pack, Flurry & Theil For Most Crazy!



CGI IS COMPETING WITH PACK, FLURRY & THIEL FOR MOST CRAZY!


The obsession of two of the leading pastors of the Church of God International with right-wing politics and conspiracy theories is clearly pushing that group into the “Bat Shit Crazy” category (Gary may soon be forced to add them to his poll). Recent sermons by Adrian Davis and Bill Watson have been literally chocked-full of warnings about folks on the left as socialists, communists, globalists, homosexuals, Jewish elites, Black Lives Matter supporters and pedophiles. In fact, listening to some of their most recent sermons one might conclude that the fall of the United States is imminent if Joe Biden and the Democrats are swept into power in the rapidly approaching U.S. election!

In his most recent sermon, Pastor Davis declared that no matter who wins the election “America is gone…It’s just a matter of time – It’s just how quickly America will collapse.” He went on to say that America is already gone as an idea, and that the communist takeover is almost complete! He goes on to suggest that anyone who supports those wicked globalists and communists is in reality worshipping Satan! Pastor Davis proceeds to decry the “beautiful rhetoric” of the Left about coming together to solve problems and helping the disadvantaged. He then goes on to attack those who have advocated for a more serious and sober approach to handling the Covid19 pandemic. Pastor Davis believes that those who are advocating for global cooperation in instituting scientific health measures to protect folks are pushing fear. He says the coronavirus is contagious, but not very lethal. He points to Donald Trump’s quick recovery from the virus as proof of his point. Davis then proceeds to denigrate anyone who would deign to find fault with what happened to George Floyd. After that rant, the good pastor returns to his attack on those nasty advocates of social distancing and mask wearing – even injecting a right-wing video to buttress his attack! And, if you think I’m making up stuff about poor Pastor Davis, then just listen to the sermon for yourself (if you have the stomach)...Mask and You Shall Receive

In his most recent sermon, Pastor Watson calls out those “self-proclaimed” socialist Democrats: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. Like his preferred president (Trump), the fact that none of these individuals is the current standard bearer of the Democratic Party makes no difference to him! He proceeds to decry just how much America has changed in his lifetime – things like two homosexuals being able to marry each other! Pastor Watson also spends a great deal of time defending his obsession with politics - often pointing to the moral implications of issues like abortion and transgender rights. He says that folks on the left want to replace the U.S. Constitution with a socialist platform. Watson proceeds to decry professional athletes taking a knee during the playing of the national anthem at sporting events. And, if that isn’t bad enough, Mr. Watson is outraged by the fact that Ohio has recently instituted a mask wearing mandate because of Covid19. The gall of these folks to interfere with his rights! For Pastor Watson, masks don’t make sense, and he glories in the fact that the mandate exempts him as a pastor. “America!” he declares, “Freedom to travel…freedom to breathe fresh air!” Mr. Watson is paranoid about the collection of data. He sees dark conspiracies at work everywhere. He decries the fact that we are “quarantining the healthy.” Watson says he has no problem with folks wearing masks, just don’t force him to wear one! Later, he launches into a diatribe about a socialist platform and suggests that these folks are coming for your guns and are going to take away your right to vote. Once again, you don’t have to take my word for it – If you can stomach the message, you can view it in its entirety here:  The Black Robe Regiment

Now, while I’m confident that these rants will appeal to a great many of the supporters of Donald Trump, I do not think that they have much to with proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ. And, if one is truly trying to reach the broadest possible audience with that message, how do you think an extremely partisan message will accomplish that? I have no idea how much of the leadership and membership of the Church of God International actually subscribes to these extreme views – hopefully not many of them. However, by providing a platform for these views, we are forced to conclude that that organization has clearly gone off the rails!


Miller Jones / Lonnie Hendrix

Friday, October 30, 2020

Dave Pack: What is he hiding from the world?

 

From a reader:

A special thanks to the courageous ones who have been providing this information. Standing up to the Wadsworth bully has provided enough information these last few years to severely weaken Mr. Pack's grandiose ambitions for years in the future.

One of the most asked questions from the early concerned membership sent to headquarters addressing Mr. Pack's departure from Herbert Armstrong's teachings and the great additions to Herbert Armstrong's teachings was: "if this is all all true, how come HWA didn't see it or understand it"?

Mr. Pack's answer to that was: "GOD COULDN'T HAVE LET MR. ARMSTRONG SEE OR UNDERSTAND ALL THIS BECAUSE HE KNEW IF HE DID UNDERSTAND IT, MR. ARMSTRONG WOULD HAVE THUNDERED IT TO THE WORLD".

So what is Mr. Pack hiding from the world? If his truth and understanding is so special that Herbert Armstrong would have thundered it to the whole world had he known it, what is holding him back from doing the same?

We just heard in one of the released sermons where Mr. Pack said his church is doing very well financially and is in very good shape and poised to do a great work. So presumably money is not an issue.

Now we have the RCG chasing ghosts real and imagined who my be pirating out of Wadsworth the supposed thunderous truth that the whole world needs to hear. 

That's alright Dave, keep your special message locked in a vault and plaster it into the walls of headquarters. For there is Dee Bunker, Ex RCG, NO2HWA, your son-in-law, Jeff, the three evil shepherds (sorry Kaidanneks), strong women and men whose marriages you have tried to destroy, many anonymouses, people that care and many others who have in their possession or in their minds the complete truth about you and all of them are glad to freely share it.


Restored Church of God: Lil'Dave's Dirty Tricks He Will Use To Catch His Moles


 


From a reader:


For anyone in RCG who leak materials out, understand that the leadership will lay traps to catch you. They will determine a short list of people who they determine are the most likely candidates who are leaking materials, then they will send you copies of messages that are slightly different from the rest of the membership. This will look something like a couple of added words in a member letter or perhaps a few additional seconds at the end of a sermon. When the material is leaked online, then they will know if it is from the larger membership, or in the smaller group they distributed the different copies to. I would recommend avoiding posting materials in their entirety. Instead excerpt segments of the full message to be posted. It is harder to compare if its the copy or the "approved" version. Another idea is to use a cell phone to make a recording of the video or audio file if you can no longer download them. I am sure there are other tricks they may try, so just be smart about it!

Restored Church of God: Suspicious Lil'Dave Pack Struggles To Find His Moles

 


Poor Davey Pack. The little guy is not happy these days. With his Jesus failing to appear, his ministers reading this blog and other exCOG sites, videos of his sermons leaking to the world, and members so tired of his lies that they are spilling the beans on his carefully crafted empire, Lil'Dave is lashing out again.

For many years Davey has been posting his superfantabulous sermons to the Member Area of the Restored Church of God website. Well, those days have come to a crashing end. Just like the non-existent Jesus that still can't be found on the RCG website or property, Davey's sermons will no longer be found on his site.  

Lil'Dave is on a campaign to find the moles in his organization.

This just in from an RCG source:

Something all cult leaders have in common is suspicion. They are suspicious to everything and everybody and David Pack is no exception. 

The RCG members were told this week, that all messages are no longer posted in the 'Member services' part of the RCG website, but will be sent by email to all the members instead. The RCG is trying to locate the mole in the organization. 

Good luck with that Dave! Because too many of the RCG members see you for what you really are: a liar and a fraude. And too many of your ministers are regular visitors of 'Banned' and the ESN. You are the captain on a sinking ship. 

The current state of the Restored Church of God


Thursday, October 29, 2020

Leaving one cult and joining another. From Armstrongism into NXIVM

 

A reader posted a link to the following article in one of the comments on another thread. It is a story from Rolling Stone Magazine about why people leave one cult and how they can be easily be attracted to another cult.

Teah Banks was born into an evangelical Christian sect called the Radio Church of God. Founded in the 1930s by an advertising sales representative turned minister, the insular group promoted an ultra-fundamentalist reading of the Old Testament, eschewing divorce, premarital sex and even wearing makeup. “It was a super closed religion,” Banks, now 42, remembers. “We had pictures of the leader in our home. We worshipped him like he was a god.”

Although Banks started having questions about the group, she attended services until her 20s, when she was expelled from the organization. In 2004, she and her then-boyfriend, a filmmaker named Mark Vicente (best known for the documentary What the Bleep Do We Know?), were approached by two women who wanted Vicente to make films for their organization, NXIVM, which taught a curriculum called the Executive Success Program, or ESP. The two women (one of whom was NXIVM co-founder Nancy Salzman) raved about their leader, a mathematician, scientist, judo champion and concert-level pianist who had patented a unique method of hacking the human brain. The man’s name, the women said, was Keith Raniere.

Banks and Vicente’s interest was piqued, and they agreed to join the women for lunch; when Salzman successfully used ESP methods to “cure” Banks of her lifelong lactose intolerance, she was even more intrigued. “I’m just like, wow, this is amazing. This woman is amazing,” she says. “And I said, ‘Nancy, I want to be one of your people.'” Blown away by the women and by ESP in general, Banks encouraged Vicente to take a NXIVM intensive; eventually, he bought an apartment in New York to be closer to group headquarters in Albany. She was involved with the group until 2005, when the two broke up, though she continued taking courses remotely for years afterward. Vicente, who eventually became a member of the NXIVM executive board, was involved with the group until 2017.

At the time she joined NXIVM, Banks had just left one large organization with an enigmatic leader at the helm. Vicente, too, had also just extricated himself from a similarly insular fringe spiritual organization: the Ramtha School of Enlightenment, a group led by a New Age figure named JZ Knight, who claimed to be channeling a 35,000-year-old warrior deity named Ramtha. But even though they were both disillusioned with spiritual organizations, NXIVM struck them as different. “The first day you’re there, they’re like, ‘We’re not a cult. Cult is a bad word. It is used loosely,'” Banks said. “‘[We’re] a success school. We’re helping you raise your ethics.'”

At this point, everyone knows the rest of the story: in March 2018, Raniere and five of his NXIVM cohorts, including Salzman, were arrested on such charges as sex trafficking, racketeering and conspiracy to commit forced labor. Raniere is currently standing trial in Brooklyn, where his former supporters (including Vicente) have testified that he, among other things, imprisoned a woman for nearly two years, convinced his followers that he controlled technology and the weather, and ran DOS, a secret all-female organization of “slaves” who were branded with his initials and told to have sex with him.

The general view in the media — and among former followers like Banks and Vicente, who declined to comment, presumably due to his involvement in the case against Raniere — is that NXIVM operated not as a self-improvement “school,” but as a cult run by Raniere, who used threats and coercion to keep his followers in line. The revelations came as a shock to Banks, now a makeup artist and YouTuber based in Oregon, who had fallen out with the community after her 2006 breakup with Vicente but had kept in touch with many members and taken classes for years afterwards. She even recorded an ASMR video about her time in NXIVM, speaking at length about her feelings of guilt over her involvement. “I truly thought that this group had answers, and isn’t that why we join any group? [Because] they have answers there that we don’t have inside ourselves,” she says in the video. How People Leave One Cult — and End Up in Another: As the NXIVM case shows, “cult-hopping” is more common than you think

Here is the video mentioned above. She apparently is a practitioner of ASMR (Autonomous sensory meridian response) which I find creepy as hell and also irritating to listen to due to the "'s's" and "sh's" that hit her microphone when she speaks. That alone destroyed the "calming" effect" she is supposedly getting across. I could only listen to a few minutes but others find her story to be fascinating.



Wednesday, October 28, 2020

COGWA: Christians Should Be Considered Unbelievers If Looking To Marry Outside COGWA


 


One of the great myths of Armstrongism is that COG "believers" are special and set apart from the rest of Christianity. The rest of Christianity apparently is too stupid to understand God, Christ, and scriptures unlike COG sects located here and there in the United States. In spite of the fact that millions have died over the centuries standing up for their faith (which no COG leader or minister ever has ever done) American COG leaders and ministers claim to be able to determine just who is a good Christian and who is not. Given the track record of rebellious COG leaders that continue to cause denominational divisions and whose ranks are filled with abusive, adulterous, and alcoholic ministers, none of these groups are in a position to tell members who they can or cannot marry.

In an article on whether a COGWA member should marry outside the COGWA belief system there was this:

What, then, is an unbeliever? In brief, an unbeliever is the opposite of the person above. Regardless of his academic knowledge of Bible instruction, he does not believe the truth and does not follow Christ with commitment and action. Again, the Scriptures must be our guide.

John 3:36: He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

Acts 14:2: “But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brethren” (emphasis added throughout).

Romans 4:20: “He [Abraham] did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God,”

1 Timothy 1:13: “Although I [Paul] was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.

Hebrews 3:12: Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God.

Unbelief is thus described as a lack of belief or faith in God and His Son Jesus Christ. An unbeliever will not always worship idols or be hostile to God, but may simply not know or believe God and His truth. What about the millions today who “believe” in Christ? There is more to being a believer than just claiming the name of Jesusone has to understand and follow Jesus, as preached by the apostles. Notice Paul’s words:

2 Corinthians 11:4: “For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not acceptedyou may well put up with it!”

Today many preach “another Jesus”—for example, one who came to abolish God’s law by “nailing it to the cross.” Those in God’s Church are begotten through faith in the gospel of Christ, while others are attracted to a gospel about Christ. The point is that a person who does not share that same belief in (understanding and desire to obey) Jesus is not spirituallycompatible with one who is a believer. So a professing “Christian” is not necessarily a believer in biblical terms. Only those who are called by God can become believers (John 6:44). Marrying Within The Faith

Tuesday, October 27, 2020

LCG: After the COVID infections at the Feast, they now repsond with "neccesary steps"


 

Living Church of God was very lax in their recommendations for members to practice when they traveled to various Feast sites around the country. Masks were seldom worn, it at all, and social distancing was never practiced.  Now that members have become infected, the church has some "suggestions" for its members.

The recommendations that the CDC and local health departments recommend are "weapons of choice" in the eyes of Doug Winnail. While he is certainly correct in having good immune systems by proper diet and exercise and exposure to sunshine he tells members to "take necessary steps" in promoting health and preventing disease. 

In spite of infections, they still will not tell their members to wear masks or even avoid church if they feel sick or are afraid of being infected. With the aging membership of the church, this is vitally important that the money payers remain healthy.


Steps Toward Prevention: 
 
In 2020, the COVID-19 virus emerged to plague the world. The weapons of choice promoted by governments and the media to battle the virus are masks, sanitation, social distancing, and eventually a vaccine. While God promises His people special protection for obedience (Exodus 15:26) and healing (James 5:14–16), our Creator also expects us to do our part. Proverbs 22:3 states that a wise person sees evil and hides himself—he takes steps to avoid problems. God has created us with remarkable immune systems that are capable of fending off disease. Numerous scientific studies have shown that vitamins A, B, C, and D as well as zinc—from food sources or supplements—can strengthen the immune system and provide protection against disease-causing bacteria and viruses. Regular exercise, rest, exposure to sunshine, and learning to manage stress can also strengthen the immune system. The path to health involves making wise personal decisions about what we eat and how we live (see Deuteronomy 30:15–19)—and taking the necessary steps to promote health and prevent disease—so we can actually “prosper in all things and be in health” (3 John 2). We need to understand and apply these important steps.
Have a profitable Sabbath,
Douglas S. Winnail

LCG Exciting News! Church is ramping up for "faster pace" in gaining new members


 

Exciting times are ahead for the boys in Charlotte! This is so exciting that they CANNOT stand still and let other COG's pass them by!!! The boys have added 4 more issues to their Tomorrow's World rag and this is guaranteed to being in the searching masses. Woo hoo!

Magazine subscriptions are rocketing downwards across the publishing spectrum. With more and more people reading things online, magazines are less and less important. Never fear though, since those brilliant boys in Charlotte are always a year or two behind the national trends they WILL make this work! Untold thousands are waiting eagerly for 4 more issues to fill their mailboxes. It is an open door and those eager boys are jumping at the chance. So send in that excess 2nd tithe and that tithe of the tithe you are still holding on to. Important things are ahead and the church needs it!

In addition to the new issues for the magazine, they need MORE employees! After decades of nepotism and hiring of the Meredith clan to fill all kinds of spots, the church now needs more employees to actually do some work. With all those thousands of new members soon joining the church it now needs more employees to handle the influx. The Church of God is so amazing! What an amazing work!



Greetings from Charlotte,
God has greatly blessed His Church this year and has opened doors that were not previously available. We have significant personnel needs and are working to fill some of those positions in the field ministry and in understaffed departments here in Charlotte. And now I am able to make a very exciting announcement. Beginning in 2021, the Tomorrow’s World English-language magazine will increase from six issues (one every other month) to ten issues per year. This is a major step forward! This will give subscribers more regular contact with the Church. We will drop four pages, from 36 down to 32, and make some other alterations, but overall there will be more content each year. While we cannot know at this time, as this is something not easily measured, we believe this will bring people along at a faster pace. Other Tomorrow’s World language magazines will stay on the six-per-year schedule for now, but this will give translators more articles from which to choose. We cannot stand still, and when God provides the means and an open door, we must walk through it. We are also increasing the impact of our social media efforts and television coverage. Please continue to pray for God to open doors, provide the means of going through them, and bless our human efforts to His glory!—Gerald Weston

Monday, October 26, 2020

Dave Pack: Dave Only Has One Thing On His Mind As Employees and Members Struggle with COVID and His "christ" Failed To Appear

 


From an RCG source:

Meanwhile, Dave Pack is pretending that all is well in Dave World. No mentioning of the COVID cases in his 'church'. No mentioning of any heartfelt concern for the RCG members that are sick. No mentioning of ministers (and members) leaving his 'true church'. What does Dave do? What he always does, asking for more money, like in this weeks announcements. Be good slaves and don't forget to send Dave your money boys and girls:

“Third Tithe Reminder: As many are aware, third tithe years begin after the Feast each year. At the bottom of the homepage in Member Services, you can find a link titled “Calculate Third Tithe Years.” This webpage will automatically calculate your third tithe year cycles for you. The cycles are based on your baptism date. Remember that one’s third tithe year occurs every three years in a seven-year cycle.

Those who have questions about third tithe years should contact their local minister.

Tithe of Tithe, Excess Second Tithe, and Holy Day Offerings Reminder: Many will recall that, before the Feast, an announcement was made for brethren to calculate and send in any tithe of tithe and excess second tithe ahead of time, if possible. We thank those who were able to do this. Now that the Feast is over, however, all excess second tithe should be calculated and sent to Headquarters, along with any tithe of tithe that was not already sent, noted as a separate amount. Please notate on your checks or money orders “excess second tithe” or “tithe of tithe,” whichever is applicable.

In addition, those who have missed services on any of the four fall Holy Days and have yet to mail in their offerings should do so as soon as possible. It is vitally important to God’s Work that all Holy Day offerings are accounted for. Please feel free to contact the Business & Accounting Office at bao@rcg.org if you have any questions concerning your offerings.” 

Sunday, October 25, 2020

Living Church of God Still Silent On COVID Infections From Branson Feast Site

 



From an LCG source:

The Living Church of God still refuses to acknowledge that COVID was passed around at one of their Branson feast sites.  They have had two weeks to mention something in their weekly update that's sent out to the church, but nothing so far.  Word from the beginning of this outbreak was that they wanted to keep it hush, hush, and not let it leak out on social media.  But as more and more cases started to appear, prayer request started to surface on Facebook.  However, not a word from HQ on the matter.  One would think they would want the church to pray for those who were sick, but no.  No love from HQ to those infected. 

Here We Go AGAIN...New Splinter Group Emerges Out Of Restored Church of God...Dave is NOT Happy!

 

And here we go AGAIN! Another splinter group emerges adding itself to the current cacophony of COG splinter groups.

One of Dave Pack's ministers inTexas has rebelled after listening to Dave expound on his magnificent biblical understanding in his now 270+ sermon series.

Word on the street is that this minister was not known to be a very dynamic person, so some question whether the man will be able to gather a following, though the church is filled with people with itching ears who are attracted to this kind of nonsense.

This is another man who worships Herbert Armstrong and thinks the man did no wrong. Another man who has to imitate HWA in everything.




Greetings brethren,

It is out of sincere love and concern that I write you this letter.

As you have noticed, a prophecy series titled “The Greatest Untold Story” (TGUS) has taken root in the Restored Church of God (RCG) with over 270 sermons given. This series has changed the entire landscape of, not only prophetic truth but also doctrinal truth. Strange, unusual, confusing, and dark teachings have been the result from this series. There have been over 100 changes to the precious truths that RCG once adhered to.

Many of you know that something is wrong in RCG but do not know what to do. The information contained in the articles in the following website and Drop box link are the key in helping you understand what is occurring in RCG and the action you must take. They will help you find the “way of escape” that has been promised by a loving God out of the severe trial that you are going through;

 

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3wyaqu95dohkb0l/AABCfWVok67Ft3Jcu0CWXdl4a?dl=0 

https://www.therwcg.org/articles  

 

These articles will begin to remove the false doctrines that you have absorbed during the last 5 years and they will begin to reestablish the doctrinal truths that were restored by Jesus Christ to the Worldwide Church of God during the Philadelphia era. They will help you identify the true end-time Elijah and will reassure you of the teachings that God’s 20th century apostle, Mr. Armstrong, who was known for not compromising, taught the Church. You will hear him talk to you as you read this material as these documents are filled with quotes from him. These articles will bring clarity in a time of doctrinal change and confusion.

It is important to note that when heresy takes root in the Church, Christ will cease to guide it and He will remove Himself from it. This is what He commands all Christians to do in Romans 16:17, it is what Mr. Armstrong instructed the Church members to do, and because Christ would not disobey His own command, it is what He would do as well. Therefore, once the heresies from the TGUS took root in RCG, Christ stopped leading this organization and it ceased from being the one true Church, the body of Christ. The following are a couple of helpful quotes from the teachings of the Philadelphia era of the Church of God:

 

“Before Jesus answered His disciples as to WHEN the END of the age and His return would come, He warned them against FALSE MINISTERS, deceiving the many. If possible, He said, they would deceive the VERY ELECT — YOU in God's Church. 

 

“As the Apostle Paul warned the elders at Ephesus: ‘For I know this, that... grievous wolves shall enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also OF YOUR OWN SELVES [the ministers in God's Churchshall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore WATCH... ‘! (Acts 20:29-31.) 

 

Brethren, could this BE God's true Church, and such things not happen to us? This sort of thing DID HAPPEN to God's TRUE CHURCH in the very first century. They only PROVE this is GOD'S Church which He is USING and blessing! But SATAN IS ANGRY. Satan deceives even some from within us. They will falsely accuse. They will MISLEAD with false doctrines which they will palm off as TRUTH! 

              Good News Magazine, “Why Did God Put You in His Church?”, Herbert W Armstrong, May 1974 

 

“But during these 43 years, I have frequently been pressured to compromise – ‘just a little’ – with God’s TRUTH.  

 

“But honestly, now, WHAT DO YOU THINK? Wouldn't it be all right to compromise, ‘just a little,’ on some ‘unimportant minor point’? Especially on some ostensibly unimportant point where we appear ‘crazy’ to the world. 

 

Nevertheless, if we begin to compromise with God's TRUTH, even in smallest, slightest manner, we have allowed Satan to get a foot into the door of the Church, and soon he will push open the door (he is stronger than we) and take over the whole Church. 

 

“A little leaven leavens the WHOLE LUMP! In my position, as chosen by the living CHRIST to be first under Him in AUTHORITY over the Church and the Work, I have been charged with the commission of KEEPING GOD'S WORD. Keeping it inviolate – NO COMPROMISE! I have NEVER compromised with God's TRUTH – regardless of the cost or the circumstances. I never shall!” 

                            Good News Magazine, “Personal”, Herbert W. Armstrong, December 1976, Page 1 & 28

 

Let it be known that the individuals who introduce false doctrines, which are teachings that are contrary to the truth, are the ones responsible for causing division and not those who stand up for the truth (Romans 16:17).

And let there be no doubt that when a true minister or leader of the Church begins teaching error, i.e. doctrines contrary to the truths that were restored to the Church by Jesus Christ through His chosen apostle Mr. Armstrong, they disqualify themselves as men of truth (Exodus 18:21) and as ministers of the one true God. And the ministers that allow these individuals to deceive the members of the Church also disqualify themselves as ministers if they do not stand up for the truth. This is confirmed in the Word of God (II Corinthians 11:4, 13-15) and it is perfectly in line with what Mr. Armstrong taught the Church:

“A true minister of God must study, preach and live by EVERY word of God! If a man tells you something that he knows disagrees with God's revealed Word, he instantly disqualifies himself from being a true minister of Christ! Isaiah 8:20 and Matthew 4:4 confirm this! 

                             Tomorrows World, “What About False Prophets?”, November –December 1970 

 

In the very beginning of the Church of God in the 1st century, there were false apostles and there were those who went out from the Church for selfish gain or for revenge even as today. The apostle Paul speaking to the elders, which means the ministers of the Church of Ephesus said quote, ‘Also of your own selves’ that is speaking of you ministers ‘shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them’ Acts 20:30. That’s exactly what happened… 

 

“To the Church at Corinth Paul wrote, this is quoted from the Bible ‘But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus’ which they do. They don’t preach the same Jesus. ‘whom we have not preached, or ifye receive another spirit’ and they are of a different spirit ‘which ye have not received, or another gospel ‘another doctrine’ which ye have not accepted’ II Corinthians 11:3-4.  

 

“Now who was trying to turn these members of God’s Church to some watered down doctrine or other teaching. Paul says they were men serving Satan and therefore Satan’s ministers. Notice, the same chapter, just a few verses later he says ‘For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into’ and that is professing themselves to be ‘apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers’ now notice that, it is actually Satan’s ministers, his ministers, perhaps even themselves deceived into believing they are serving Christ. But if Satan’s ministers ‘also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness’, these ministers will never admit they’re Satan’s ministers. They’ll tell you they’re ministers of Christ. 

              Bible Study, “Romans 15-16”, Herbert W Armstrong, July 7, 1980 

 

Some have asked, “Why would God allow heresy, false teachers or false prophets to infiltrate the one true Church?” Although God has allowed this to happen, He is not the author of it. But God allows this to happen as a test for His people. It is a way that He can know whether you will follow the truth, and thus the living HEAD of the Church Jesus Christ, no matter the consequences.

 

Why does God allow wolves to have access to His flock? Why doesn't He expose them before they do any harm? He has His reasons! 

    

“The first and most basic scripture about false prophets explains why. ‘If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul’ (Deut. 13:1-3). 

    

God wants his flock to stay with Him and the truth no matter what.” 

              Good News Magazine, “Beware of False Prophets”, May 1979 

 

Brethren of the one true God, a test such as this is meant to reveal your loyalty to the one true God. It is intended to establish your faithfulness to your Creator. And it is designed to develop the gold in your character that can only come from a trial such as this. But this will only happen if you “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints”, which are the truths that were established during the Philadelphia era of the Church by Jesus Christ (Revelation 3:8 & 10), the living HEAD of the Church, through His faithful apostle, Mr. Herbert W Armstrong.

I was a minister in RCG who served in Florida and Texas from 2012 through 2019. My family and I left this organization in the spring of 2019 because of the many doctrinal changes that were a result from TGUS. We had to leave in order to stay in the truth and in the Church that is led by Jesus Christ. One final quote from Mr. Armstrong is in order as he instructs you on the course of action that you must take:

Well, supposing that one even who has received the Holy Spirit changes his mind and wants to go off a different way and he begins to cause friction and trouble. Some will say ‘Yeah, you are still going to have friction in the Church.’ Oh, no. We are not, brethren. No we're not! And I want to show you why.  

 

“Next we have to turn back to Romans, the last chapter of Romans, the 16th chapter and verse 17 where Paul says; ‘Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned, and avoid them.’ 

 
Different doctrines, they are causing division, they are causing trouble. That is what we had in the past. And the REASON that we had it was we said, ‘Well, we must be more loving and more kind and more good than God and we must just leave them in among us.’ God says, MARK THEM AND AVOID THEM. Now there are two ways we can avoid them, and only two that I know. One is if we leave them in the Church and we all go out, we're no longer in the Church. The other is that we put them out, and we stay in.
 

                             Sermon, “Unity”, Herbert W Armstrong, February 4, 1984 

 


You now have the tools with the articles in the reference website and in the Drop box link that will help you recover from the path that you are currently in. May God help each and every one of you find your way back to the faith that was once delivered unto the saints before it’s too late!

With love and sincerity and in Christ’s service,

Luis Garcia 

(phone number deleted)

www.TheRWCG.org 

Lgarciatexas@gmail.com 

 

P.S. Should you have any questions or if you would like to talk, please do not hesitate to contact me by phone or by email. If I am unable to answer the phone, please leave a voicemail and I will call you back as soon as I am able. You will not hear from me again unless you initiate the next contact.

Dear Bob Thiel


 

From Tonto:

Seven Billion people on the planet, with multitudes of issues and problems in the world to tackle. Many things that can use a helping hand, likely within 10 blocks of Thiel's house, and what does he spend time and effort on??...

Worrying whether or not he is accepted by the hooligans on BANNED!  

Really Boob, look deep within yourself and quit worrying about whether or not the people at LCG or the COG in general, or the folks here at Banned, giving a rats ass about you. Go forth into the world and do whatever good you think you are going to do, put your head down and quit having "Rabbit Ears" about what or who you think you are, your title , or recognition of your "great works". 

By your fruits you shall be known. Do good works and STOP IT with wanting accolades, recognition, and status. Dont let the right hand know what the left hand is doing. Let those that you have helped be the ones to sing your praises. 

If you could only DO and perform even half as good as you "brag and self proclaim and self accolade" you might deserve a nod. But alas... you dont!

Doubly Blessed COG Prophet Melts Down After Getting Rkt By This Blog

 


It is another fun day in paradise! Woo Hoo! Banned just had another sermon preached about how evil we all are! We are used to this as we have already dealt with Rod Meredith telling his followers to not read this blog, which incidentally caused a huge spike in readership that continues to this day. But now, we have one of the greatest ministers God has ever chosen in the history of the church preach ANOTHER video sermonette about this blog.

The one and only doubly-blessed and perpetually butt-hurt prophet of God, Bob Thiel, whom the world has dreamed about, recently became infuriated with us after we published some comments sent in about his so-called evangelists and church hopping members in Africa.

Imagine if you will that God has set you apart from the rest of humanity and the entirety of Christendom to be the one chosen vessel of the wisdom of God and that it is your duty to inform the wayward Church of God members the exact moment they need to flee to Petra or some other "place of safety". Imagine what it would feel like to have God send dreams to your amazing brain and into the minds of other people around the world to CONFIRM your legitimacy as the one true prophet of God. Imagine what it would feel like to have ministers of the church lay hands upon you and pour out a double blessing on your head that sets you apart from the rest of the ministry in the entire Church of God movement and of the entirety of Christiandom. Imagine if you can, that you are the world's foremost historian on the Mayans, Catholicism, church history, and the ONLY source of true doctrine left on the earth today.

After imagining all of that, wouldn't you be emboldened and feel powerful as a true warrior of God? Imagine how the prophets of old felt when they were boldly speaking out to religious and secular leaders of the day. Do you think they felt perpetually butt-hurt by every bit of criticism that was thrown at them?

After imagining these powerful men (and a few women) standing up with truth to power, imagine what it feels like to be a small-time naturopathic pettifogger trying to run God's most amazing church out of a little storefront on the central coast of California and as one who spends his days, while ignoring his family, searching the internet for things to complain about. Get the picture?

Bob Thiel is the ultimate cockalorum and snollygoster in the Church of God today. After trying so hard to be an obsequious follower of Rod Meredith and then having that rug pulled out from under him Thiel has been on the ultimate quest to make himself look important to the rest of us. Which incidentally, is NOT something that any prophet of God ever did. Fake ones certainly did though. 

Living Church of God members soundly rejected him and refused to follow him when he started his little group. Church members from across the entire COG movement have soundly rejected him. Thiel is a peddler of spiritual junk food.

2 Corinthians 11:12-15 

12-15 And I’m not changing my position on this. I’d die before taking your money. I’m giving nobody grounds for lumping me in with those money-grubbing “preachers,” vaunting themselves as something special. They’re a sorry bunch—pseudo-apostles, lying preachers, crooked workers—posing as Christ’s agents but sham to the core. And no wonder! Satan does it all the time, dressing up as a beautiful angel of light. So it shouldn’t surprise us when his servants masquerade as servants of God. But they’re not getting by with anything. They’ll pay for it in the end. 
 
Deuteronomy 18:20-22  

20 “But any prophet who fakes it, who claims to speak in my name something I haven’t commanded him to say, or speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die.”
21-22 You may be wondering among yourselves, “How can we tell the difference, whether it was God who spoke or not?” Here’s how: If what the prophet spoke in God’s name doesn’t happen, then obviously God wasn't behind it; the prophet made it up. Forget about him.

Jeremiah 23:16 

“Don’t listen to the sermons of the prophets.
It’s all hot air. Lies, lies, and more lies.
They make it all up.
Not a word they speak comes from me.
They preach their ‘Everything Will Turn Out Fine’ sermon
to congregations with no taste for God,
Their ‘Nothing Bad Will Ever Happen to You’ sermon
to people who are set in their own ways.

Jeremiah 14:14 

Then God said, “These preachers are liars, and they use my name to cover their lies. I never sent them, I never commanded them, and I don’t talk with them. The sermons they’ve been handing out are sheer illusion, tissues of lies, whistlings in the dark.

2 Timothy 4:3-4 

You’re going to find that there will be times when people will have no stomach for solid teaching, but will fill up on spiritual junk food—catchy opinions that tickle their fancy. They’ll turn their backs on truth and chase mirages. But you—keep your eye on what you’re doing; accept the hard times along with the good; keep the Message alive; do a thorough job as God’s servant.

Jude 1:4  

For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

Ezekiel 13:6 

God, the Master, pronounces doom on the empty-headed prophets who do their own thing and know nothing of what’s going on! Your prophets, Israel, are like jackals scavenging through the ruins. They haven’t lifted a finger to repair the defenses of the city and have risked nothing to help Israel stand on God’s Day of Judgment. All they do is fantasize comforting illusions and preach lying sermons. They say ‘Godsays . . .’ when God hasn’t so much as breathed in their direction. And yet they stand around thinking that something they said is going to happen.

Jeremiah 23:21

“I never sent these prophets, but they ran anyway. I never spoke to them, but they preached away. If they’d have bothered to sit down and meet with me, they’d have preached my Message to my people. They’d have gotten them back on the right track, gotten them out of their evil ruts.

Deuteronomy 18:21 - 22

You may be wondering among yourselves, “How can we tell the difference, whether it was God who spoke or not?” Here’s how: If what the prophet spoke in God’s name doesn’t happen, then obviously God wasn't behind it; the prophet made it up. Forget about him.

I'd like to leave Bob with one thought...but I'm not sure he'd have anywhere to put it.