Herbert Armstrong's Tangled Web of Corrupt Leaders

Saturday, February 20, 2021

PCG Wayne Turgeon: You don't know who you are messing with if you mess with PCG


 

When I came to Pasadena in the mid-1970's it was still the era ministers were saying a lot of weird stuff (not that has ever stopped since then). 1975 in prophecy was sitting on their doorstep and nothing was happening. The church was still reeling from major defections of ministers when Walter Sharp left and new splinter groups were starting. Then the receivership hit and the craziness amplified. One of the things I heard over and over was that the State of California, the Governor and the Attorney Geranl had better be really careful because the Almighty God was standing behind the "work" and terrible things would soon be happening to those who persecuted the church.

That mythology still exists in the extreme COG splinter cults like the Philadelphia Church of God and that brings us to our buddy Wayne Turgeon. If there has ever been a better example of a self-righteous jackass in the church, it is Wayne. From his days as a puffed-up student and Auditorium usher to his marrying into the Flurry clan, Wayne is a walking textbook case latest DSM-5.

Before Turgeon was sent to PCG's Edstone, England cult college campus he left he made these comments:


PCG Members Told to Take a Stand and Die If Necessary:
February 19, 2021 
 
Before Wayne Turgeon moved to Edstone, England, he gave a Bible study where he kept quoting HWA and told how HWA in a 1984 sermon said (and I quote): “We are becoming God teachers.” 
 
He cited Romans 8:31 and then said, “How dare anyone come against a true Christian? They don’t know what they’re dealing with and what they’re messing with.” He went on to say, “But do we always realize who’s behind us, and who’s backing us when the times get tough? Or are we going to run like the flip-flopping politicians? Or are we willing to take a stand and die if necessary?” He added, “If we are loyal to God (translation: loyal to PCG govt.), He always watches over us.” 
 
He also said, “We pray we will all be together soon in that place of safety wherever that might be. Things are going to get worse before they get better.” –PCG source Exit &Support Network

Friday, February 19, 2021

Dave Pack: I know when God arrives, Now I just have to figure out when Christ arrives...

 


We never know today what will come out of Dave's mouth due to the absolute craziness over the last few years. He does not disappoint today.


Brief Note From Mr. Pack 
 
Greetings brethren! 
 
The Church is on fire with what we have learned—and particularly the 1,335 understanding! Everything is on track! 
 
Be assured, the overall prophetic “superstructure” remains intact. In fact more has been learned that strengthens the picture. 
 
I will give a short Bible Study to be posted tomorrow night. In the meantime, here is something to “puzzle” over… 
 
Read Ezekiel 21:24-26. Now an enigma. Verse 27 adds, “and it [the crown] shall be no more, until He [Christ] come whose right it is; and I [God] will give it him.” 
 
Think! There is a gap between the events of verses 24-26 and Christ’s coming to David’s throne to wear the crown. How could this be? 
 
The answer is shocking! We know when God arrives. The question becomes: 
 
When does Christ? Enjoy trying to figure out Ezekiel 21. Wait until you hear all that it opens up! 
 
David C. Pack 
 
P.S. A member/co-worker letter will finally arrive next week. You will learn why the delay.



 

When Herbert Armstrong Said Interracial Marriage Would Be Satan's Next Attack

 

A reader sent a link to Herbert Armstrong's 1982 article on interracial marriage. Here are several excerpts:

Satan's Next Attack:

Today I want to speak on what may possibly be the very next attack that Satan will use against this church. I was studying at lunch before the meeting last Sabbath, with our minister there and he said "I think that very likely, the next attack of Satan" — now there was the attack of the State of California against us. There's been another attack that most of you don't even know anything about. It only hit a few of us at the top. But there has been trouble and don't you think there hasn't. Satan is on the job. But Christ is on the job and Christ is winning. And always will win! It's like my executive assistant, Bob Fahey said, he's looked at the book to see how it comes out in the end, and he says we win. Yes we do. That's the way it's going to turn out. At least Christ is going to win and we'll only win if we're on Christ's side. We don't need to worry about getting Christ over on our side. But he said, the thing that's going to hit this church next, that Satan's going to use, is interracial marriage. 
 
Oh the pity. People can sometimes get their feelings all stirred up to a red hot pitch on something of that kind. Their prejudices, their emotions, their feelings. God almighty created us all. He put us here for a purpose. And we don't have much longer. And we need to look into this. Now that was in New York City last Sabbath. On the plane, coming back, Mr. Fahey showed me a letter that had been handed to him from a member. I believe this member is in, yes, just across in New Jersey, just across from New York but had attended the service. And she had been talking to another member who lives in Philadelphia. And there'd been quite a heated conversation on the telephone. And I want to read you just one slight little bit of what was in that message and what is coming up in the church now. And you're going to have to — IF GOD BE GOD GET ON HIS SIDE. AND IF YOU WANT TO GO WITH THIS WORLD AND THE WAY IT'S GOING, GET OVER ON THAT SIDE, and go into the lake of fire with it. That's all I have to say. 

Herbert, being the Herbert he was, now has to use the proverbial threat of the "lake of fire" for anyone that dare questions him. 

I just want to read a few, this is about a 3 or 4 page letter, so, I'll just read a part of it. She says,
"During the conversation, [that's the telephone conversation, that's the telephone conversation she had with this woman in Philadelphia] it was stated that the blacks in God's church are dissatisfied with such doctrines that are not keeping with the current social trend in the world, which they feel are in keeping with the premises of international relationships that are a part of this nation's background"

So we should go along with our nation and the social trends of the world. And this letter also says that they are trying to line up a group of blacks, TO GIVE ME AN ULTIMATUM! THAT I GET ON THE SIDE OF THE TRENDS, THE SOCIAL TREND OF THIS WORLD. OR ELSE! I'll tell you what I'll give them. I'll give them OR ELSE. I won't compromise one millionth of an inch. And if you will, you can go into the lake of fire if you want to. Now, I've never started a fight in my life but let me tell you, I've won every fight I've ever been in. But someone else always started it. I don't want to start a fight. I'm the servant of the Most High God. And I'm as much a servant of blacks or of yellows or of any other color, pinks, polka dots, anything you want to mention - and the like. But I know what God has said. And that's what I'm teaching you and that's the way this church is going to go. We're getting this church back on God's track. That's where it's going to be and that's where it's going to stay.

Next, Herbert is not happy that the college was attempting to not discriminate on race and sought to increase its racial balance. Racial equity is a thing of Satan!

Also, I understand that some are saying, we've got to have racial balance at Ambassador College. Well, what does God say about that? WE'RE NOT GOING TO GO WITH THESE TRENDS OF THE WORLD!! THE POLITICAL FOOTBALLS, THE SOCIAL TRENDS, THE THINGS OF SATAN. Those are all the ways of Satan and now God is going to use us because there are laws in the supreme courts of the United States. They passed a law here a few years ago and they're taking advantage of it. Now, they may try to get laws, use the laws for the sake of the nation, against us if we don't approve interracial marriage. But I say, as for me and my house, we shall serve the Eternal God. What are you going to say?

Then he goes on to say this, which doesn't t compute with the above comments:

Now let me tell you something. This isn't anything to get all emotional about at all. I happened to be born white. I don't know why? I'm not white. They just call it that. I'm anything but white. So are any the rest of you that think you are. You're not. But what difference does it make? If we make it into the Kingdom of God, what color skin are we going to have? You ever think of that? We're not going to have any skin at all. But our eyes are going to be like flames of fire and our faces are going to be like the sun full strength. What color is that? It's so bright it'll blind you if you look without a smoked glass. And that's the way it's going to be.

Then Herbert takes a rapid descent down eh rabbit hole:

Matthew 24:37-38 But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. (38) For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark,

What's wrong with eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage? How did these things bring an end to that world? Those are the things he mentioned that brought an end to that world. And those same things are bringing an end to this world now. Alright, let's go back to that world and see what the history of it is.

Wives they chose:

Genesis 6:1-2 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, (2) That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

Which THEY chose. That's what they want to do today. A black man wants to take a white woman for a wife. That's what HE chooses. A white woman wants to become the wife of a black man. Now I don't know of any cases where a white man wants to marry a black woman. Why is that? Answer that for me! I'd like to have someone give me an answer to that. Why is it our white women want to marry black men? Why is it our black men want to marry white women? Black women don't seem to want to marry white men and white men don't seem to want to marry black women. Why? It's time we begin to think about these things and quit boiling up with our emotions.

Genesis 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 
 
So God just ended that world. Did you ever think about, why did God absolutely kill or murder if you want to call it that every human being that except Noah and his family, eight people? They were bringing us even unhappiness and misery on themselves. Sure they were getting a kick out of life. They were doing things they thought would be pleasurable. That they thought would be exciting. They had violence and oh how exciting that was. The earth was filled with violence. Something caused it. Jesus told the cause. He said they were eating and drinking; they were marrying and giving in marriage. That's the only thing that you can find in the Bible that will give you a cause for the end of that world then.

Eating and drinking is a bigger sin than racial bias, apparently. Eat that extra cupcake when you know you shouldn't have? Lake of fire for you! No kingdom of God for you!

Now what's wrong about eating and drinking? Nothing at all if you eat and drink the right kind of — water or the right kind of, well orange juice is fine, and even wine in the small amounts, with temperance. But drunkenness is not right. No drunkard is ever going to enter into the Kingdom of God. And eating the wrong kind of food and eating too much is a sin. Now a little bit of it can be a very mild sin and I guess every one of us is guilty of that. We don't seem to realize that, that's important. What we eat is important. More than we realize. We just go along with what pleases us. What appeals to our appetite, our desire of wanting to get, wanting to have, wanting to enjoy. And we're in a very small wisp of a lifetime and judgment is on us as to whether we're going to have joy and happiness and peace and everything wonderful FOREVER. And we're just letting this time go by, most of us, without taking it very seriously.

The cause of our troubles:  

Now I want to go into some of that with you. Let's get a little bit about the Way of God. Turn to Deuteronomy. 
 
Deuteronomy 32:8 When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, 
 
Oh today they say that the cause of our troubles and racial troubles is segregation. So the Supreme Court of the United States, in human wisdom, without any wisdom from God, says we're going to have integration. Man wants to go — you see, man chooses him the way that seems right in his own eyes. He takes to himself the knowledge of what is good and evil. That's what our Supreme Court did. But… 
 
Deuteronomy 32:8 When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, [notice, segregation not integration] he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. 
 
Different people, different families or different races, had their own land, their own plot of the earth. And God's way is GEOGRAPHICAL SEGREGATION. AND INTEGRATION IS NOT THE WAY OF THE ETERNAL GOD (pounds on desk). It's the way of deceiving man. It's the way of Satan. And look what its doing in this country. Look what is going on in the 1960's in this nation and the violence that came here and there and all over the nation. I'll be going over this in other sermons that are coming on, like I did fifteen or twenty years ago. It's time to get back to a lot of that again. Because man always thinks he knows better than God. It's all what man thinks is the right way to go.  
Genesis 5:3 And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth: 

Herbert's god has decreed segregation! 

Adam begat a son in his likeness. A black man married to a black woman begets a son after his likeness or a daughter maybe and they will be black. A white man and a white woman begat a son or a daughter after their likeness, and the son or the daughter will be white. And if you mix it, they won't be either one. They'll be part one and part the other, a blend of the two. Now I want to go a little further. But man, going the way HE chose, marrying the ones HE chose, instead of the way God said it should be, wanted to amalgamate, wanted to integrate. God had decreed segregation. Man wanted integration. 

Genesis 11:1-8 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. (2) And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; [And this is after the flood now, shortly after the flood] and they dwelt there. (3) And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter. (4) And they said, Go to, [that is, "let's get going here"] let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; [skyscrapers, we call them] and let us make us a name, [WHY?] lest we be scattered [or segregated. We want integration WE don't want segregation. Lest we be segregated, scattered.] abroad upon the face of the whole earth. (5) And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. (6) And the Eternal said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. (7) Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. (8) So the Eternal scattered them [or segregated them — He didn't integrate them, He segregated them and scattered them] abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.
  
Genesis 10:5 By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families… 
 
Or their races. The Bible uses the word family instead of race. A family is what you generate, as I say, two Japanese married will produce a Japanese child which we might call the Yellow and not the Caucasian race. Two Caucasians or whites will produce a white. Two blacks will produce a black. But it was after their families, after their races, in their nations. Now the sons of Ham and he begins to give them and I won't go into those genealogies now. But there were a good many there.

Now, at the time of the flood, now let's see. Man going the way He chose, wanted to amalgamate and integrate the races. Now, at the time of the flood, again. Noah was righteous in his generationS, plural. Not his generation. Meaning in his ancestry. Noah, in Genesis 6, in a minute I'll have it here. Let's read this again.

Genesis 6:9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations… 
 
He wasn't perfect in himself or spiritually or anything of that kind. He was only perfect in generations or in his ancestry. He was the same strain that he had been. And if you want to check it all the way through, and his ancestry on down, you'll find Noah was white. Noah's wife was white. Now apparently, he was the only man left that was pure white. He had not mixed the strain. The family had remained intact, as God had decreed that it should.

But the others were not. They had intermarried and interracial, brought racial trouble they had racial violence and other violence in those days and we're back to the same things today. As it was in the days of Noah, so it is today and that's exactly where we are today.


Alright. Abraham was of the family of Noah. And Abraham was white. God called Abraham and told him to leave the family where he was and people of all of his race, his family, or his color or whatever you want to call it and go to a land where he would show him. In that land were people poaching there that didn't belong there and God had never given it to them and God intended to give him that land, because it is the geographical center of the Earth, and it's marvelous for climate. And once again, when God restores it like it used to be, it'll be a land of milk and honey, which it is not exactly today. But it's marvelous what has happened to it since the Israelis went back there. And the part that they have is rich in agriculture already. Whereas other parts that are occupied by Arabs are not. But Abraham went to a land that God showed him and it was a Promised Land that God was going to promise to him. Now God said to Abraham in that land, that he would give it to his children forever. That is the Promised Land but at that time, there were the Canaanites there. And they were black not white. Alright. Abraham finally had a son of his own through Sarah and the time came to select a wife for Abraham's son. So he sent this older servant, which was really, the manager of all of his properties and over all his other servants, of which he had many, he sent him to his own family, where his family lived, to select a wife for Isaac. "Isaac must not," he said. 
 
Because Of the wrong religion?

Now some people will say that when Ezra and Nehemiah cause people, who had intermarried with another race, to send their wives and even the children born back away from them, and divorce them, and put them away, they said, yeah but that was because of their wrong religion. Oh no, it wasn't. Abraham sent over to his kindred, to his color, but they were of a different religion. So a little later, you will find, Abraham's grandson, Jacob, who had worked for Laban for a long time you know, and when he left Laban, his wife Rachel stole the idols from her father Laban and carried those little idols with her. And Laban came out to find them. They were his gods. So they were worshipping a different god over there. But Abraham sent to get someone of that race, of that color, of that family, for a wife for Isaac, even though they were of a different religion. But I think they got God's religion, once Rebecca came over. She got God's religion through Abraham and through Isaac. So you can say that the only reason for not marrying another race is because it means that you'll be going into a different religion. That's not the reason. Rachel was of a different religion than knowing God and she stole those gods when they fled.

Now the ancient nation Israel is called the family of Israel. There were a family and they were of that race. I have traced it down and I find that God kept that family pretty well intact all the way down through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and down into the Children of Israel. And they didn't mix with the Egyptians. They were in a country of their own, geographically segregated in the land of Goshen and not with the rest of Israel. And they were making bricks and things that were carried over to the Egyptian part of the land and not the same at all.

Herb then discusses the millennium where everyone will be segregated according to skin color, though be assured that God does NOT discriminate! 

Now, that's what it will be like in the millennium when God is ruling. Now what of us in the Church? In the church, God said that in Abraham would all the families, all the races of the Earth will be blessed in Christ. One race has just as much chance and just as much blessing in Christ as any other. Race is only a matter of generation, of begetting children. And that's why the marriage is so important. God is not the author of discrimination. We should love one another and in God's Church, we've been trying to do that. But we find this racial prejudice, which gets down to hatred if you don't squelch it before it gets that far. It keeps cropping up every once in a while. I'm sorry. I don't want to have to get back to it like I did about fifteen years ago or twenty. But I see that it's coming out again and we're going to have to get back to it.

The millennium will be a place where skin color will not matter nor will sex. Sex was that thing that the unconverted masses did before the kingdom of God hit the earth. It was your duty then to raise children of the same skin color because God wanted the races kept separate.

Now in the resurrection and in the World Tomorrow, how many of us will be black and how many of us will be white, brethren? And how many will be yellow? If we're in the Kingdom of God, not one of us will be any one of those. Our faces will shine as bright as the sun. What's the color of the sun? That'll be the color of your faces and your skin. Well maybe not your whole body, but there isn't going to be any matter of color at all. You know why? 
 
What about sex in the millennium? There won't be any. There won't be men, there won't be women. We won't have sex. We'll be as the angels in heaven, so said Jesus Christ. Sex is a matter now of generations but it has nothing to do with coming to God through Christ and gaining Eternal life and getting into the Kingdom of God. It has to do with the raising of children and God wanted the races kept separate.

If we want to keep our stock "pure breed" then we cannot have sex with inferior breeds.

Now we have different color of roses. We have different variety in a lot of things. We have different variety of horses, different varieties of cows, different varieties of dogs. And different varieties can interbreed. But if you're a stock raiser and you're raising stock for display, to win a prize, at a stock show, you're not going to mix the breeds. It'll be a thoroughbred or a pure blood or whatever you want to call it. And that's the way it ought to be with us. 

Herbert then claims that when you integrate, you get dangerously close to interracial marriage. 

Race is only something that has nothing to do with your salvation. It has only to do with reproduction. Now that's why when you integrate, you get in danger of interracial marriage. We have integration at Ambassador College here. And this college was going so far over into Satan's way, that we had an interracial marriage here. I don't know was it, one year ago or three years ago? Something like that. Now one man who was one of our leading ministers, endorsed it and was going to perform that wedding. I understand he backed out at the last minute. And the couple, of course it was a black man and a white woman, they went over to Las Vegas and got married over there.

Herbert wants you to know that he always thought about the black man. It has always done everything it could for blacks in the church. We accept you as members but don't DARE to intermarry any of the white folk, because that is your inclination!

God is not in favor of interracial marriage. God is not in favor of discrimination either. But marriage and the reproduction of children is another thing altogether. Now this church has done everything it could for the black people. We've tried to have no discrimination of any kind. You know how the college in Bricketwood actually got started? I went over there in 1969. We'd outgrown the office. We had to get a bigger office in London. And at the time, I had the idea, because we had not gone to integration in the college. But we wanted to do what we could for our black people. Because they were in the church but we were not accepting them in the college just because we were afraid it would lead to interracial marriage. But they were accepted in the church. And one thing I wanted was an office that would be on the kind of a property where we could also have a school for black men since we could not accept them at Ambassador College. Because I thought a lot about them. And I didn't want to discriminate and I wanted to give them every opportunity that the white man had, and that is as ministers. And we were only thinking of men only at that time because we were only thinking of a school for ministers. Actually what we found, we ran across the place that we did, and when we saw that, we said, "well God wants a whole, liberal arts college over here. He led us to a property for an entire big college. Not just a little small place. We found a little place that would have taken of the kind of the little school. I thought about only having thirty five students. And we found a small place that would have taken care of that. The office and 35 students and a school. It led to an entire college. But that's what we had in mind at the time. 
 
Geographical Segregation:

Now in the millennium, there's going to be one pure language so that all nations can worship God but they are going to be segregated geographically in their own different places. Now if you turn to Nehemiah 13: 
 
Nehemiah 13:23-26 In those days also saw I Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab: (24) And their children spake half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews' language, but according to the language of each people. (25) And I contended with them, [and God had divided them and divided their language in order to divide the nations, geographically] and cursed them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves. (26) Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did outlandish women cause to sin. 

Those wicked wily women! They are always at fault, even though the men couldn't keep their robes closed. Just like Adam standing next to Eve when she had him the apple and he takes it, but it's her fault. 

Well anyway, Ezra and Nehemiah just simply caused them to divorce those wives and to send them away. And they were the ministers of God and that is the way of God. Now there is a great deal more to this. I only wanted to give you just sort of a foundation and the background today. But we're going to have to go into this. This church still has a little leaven to clean up and get out of our house. But we've been getting it out and we're going to continue getting it out. And we're going to continue right along to now. So that's as much as I'm going to take time for today. But I'm going to write some more on this God willing.

Many COG leaders today want to make excuses for this kind of crap and claim it was just Herbert speaking with the understanding he grew up with and he did not really mean it like we perceive it today.

If that were true then why over the last several decades have so many African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, and other people of color in the church spoken up about what they endured in the church? Why have books been written about it if it never happened? 

The Church of God movement is broken and has always been broken. There were no "glory days" of the past but the wreckage of hurt and injured people by a church that claimed it was exemplifying 1st-century Christianity.


Thursday, February 18, 2021

Ex-COG Member Tells Story Of Racism In The Church


Screenshot of article


This is an excerpt of the main story:

Former racist emerges from the dark Racism wasn't about hate, as one living on the inside of this story as a brainwashed kid.


MONTANA, USA — I was around four years old when my family joined the Worldwide Church of God. It coincided with the Nixon Presidency.

One of my earliest memories is watching a Nixon rally from my dad’s shoulders. The energy of the crowd was supercharged and left a series of posterized moments in my brain. My dad, Bill, was a traveling sales rep for Ralston Purina. He spent long hours on Oklahoma’s flats with a bombastic apocalyptic AM radio preacher as his company. Herbert W. Armstrong was a voice of White Male outrage and certainty, contrasting with uncertainty. 
 
Dark as a child, when he went by another name. 
 
Our identity was racial. This cult is one of several that might be called “British Israelism.” Only the (White) descendants of the British Empire are God’s chosen people and can earn salvation. All other races are not in that club. Everybody else is going to Hell to suffer unimaginable torment. 



Author's comments:


 
When Dark was still in junior high, the family stopped going to church in Tulsa—an hour car trip each way—but it wasn’t until years later he discovered they had been ex-communicated. He later learned the rift coincided with David Robinson’s tell-all book, “Herbert Armstrong’s Tangled Web,” which caused a schism within the church. Robinson had been the pastor of Dark’s family’s church, and because his family was part of Robinson’s flock, they got lumped in among the unwashed.

Robinson’s book painted Armstrong as a charlatan and narcissist, lining his own pockets with donations and caring almost nothing for his acolytes. It didn’t help that Armstrong’s son and heir-apparent, Garner Ted Armstrong, was accused of not only bucking from his father’s orthodoxies but of sexual adventures outside his marriage. One of Robinson’s most shocking accusations in his book is that Armstrong had a longstanding sexual relationship with his daughter.


LCG: Are you thankful for the "precious Truths" we give you?


Once more, its close to the COG version of the Sabbath, and the Living Church of God has sent out its weekly announcements and Sabbath "love bomb" to its members telling them that they are failing once again to remain true to the path and accept everything the leadership says as 100% "precious truth." Apparently, some are falling short and allowing Satan to blind their eyes to the "incredible privilege" they have to be "called out of darkness" and into the glorious light of the Living Church of God. Can LCG members ever be praised and thanked for a job well done, with no "but's or however's" attached? Is this too much to ask? Once a year, at least? That is just one time out of 52 weeks. Just once?

Be Thankful for the Truth: The Sabbath is a good time to reflect on an important question: Are you thankful for the Truth? It is easy to take the Truth of God for granted if you are a longtime member or if you have grown up in the Church. Yet, Jesus emphasized that people cannot come to a real understanding of the Truth unless they are called and their minds have been opened to see the big picture (John 6:44, 65). The capacity to understand the plan of God, the purpose of life, and the true way of life is a gift that God is making available to only a few people at this time (1 Corinthians 1:26–27). These precious Truths are a mystery to most people (1 Corinthians 2:7–8) because Satan—the god of this age—has blinded their eyes (2 Corinthians 4:3–4). Jesus said that it is an incredible privilege to be given an understanding of the Truth (Matthew 13:10–17). The Apostle Paul said that being called out of darkness into the light of the Truth is something to be extremely thankful for. He also said that those who were unthankful and let go of or rejected the Truth of God will reap the penalty of their error which is due (Romans 1:18–32). Let’s never forget to be thankful for the opportunity to understand the Truth of God that “endures to all generations.” 
 
Have a profitable Sabbath, 
 
Douglas S. Winnail

It is always interesting that COG leaders place so much emphasis upon God calling people into the church (a COG, of course) and yet those who feel called into Christianity in other Christian churches have fake calls. God calling people into the COG is always right, God actively calling people to be real Christians who might attend other churches are always fake. The logic doesn't compute.

You never hear COG ministers quote these scriptures much as the focus is just on believing, not following all the commands of COG leaders and the endless stack of laws they dish out. Followers aren't "called to "believe", they are "called to "obey".


Just believe...that can't be right!










When the City of Pasadena Investigated Ambassador College For Its Racism: Was the Church Inherently Racist?



A reader asked for this to be republished:

Various Church of God apologists love to claim that the church was never racist at its core beliefs.  Almost-arrested Elisha, Elijah Habakuk, Amos Bob Thiel makes many such claims.  But all of them fail to take into account that the church and Ambassador College had written into its constitution racist ideas.  That constitution was greatly affected on the church believing in the erroneous myth of British Israelism and superiority of the white nations who were supposedly descendants of the 12 tribes, who as we all know, were pure lily-white.

It was so obvious and bad that the City of Pasadena investigated the church/college in 1963.

"Incidentally, regarding the Anglo-Israel theory, none other than Garner Ted Armstrong, being interviewed by the Rev. Lester Kinsolving, a syndicated religious writer for the public press, when queried about it, smiled and replied: "It's a likelihood (British Israelism), but it can't be proved. It's an interesting aside. We certainly don't regard this as a required belief, if that's what you're getting at." When Kinsolving pointed out that in 1963 during an investigation of Ambassador College by the Pasadena City Attorney, it was learned that the school's constitution and by-laws, adopted in 1951, restricted the student body "to the race of Israel, whom we believe now to be the white, English speaking Anglo-Saxon and Celtic people, and the democratic peoples of Northwestern Europe, in addition to the Jews descended from the Kingdom of Judah", he said Armstrong appeared surprised and hurriedly said: "That must have been while I was in the Navy. It's been altered dramatically. We have no such restrictions." Armstrongism: The "Worldwide Church God" Examined in the Searching Light of Scripture, Sumner, 1974 
 
There is an advantage of having a huge personal collection of books written about the Worldwide Church of God, Herbert Armstrong, and Armstrongism over the last 70 some years.  Embarrassing facts are in print that can never be erased from the world no matter how much the lying false prophets of Armstrongism attempt to.

Wednesday, February 17, 2021

Gerald Flurry: "...Satan has already been cast down to earth–but members have 'angelic protection.'"




Exit and Support Network had this up about Gerald Flurry's latest sermon.


February 17, 2021 
 
After the new U. S. president was sworn in GF gave another of his sermons with lunatic ideas and erroneous theology. Here are just a few: 
 
He believes Satan has already been cast down to earth–but members have “angelic protection.” However, Laodiceans (since they didn’t go with GF) are not so fortunate and Satan is “stamping all over them.” 
 
Only PCG can see the “vision” and “can prove it” since, as GF says, “We are a special people before God.” The world “has to listen to this one last message” from GF. You hear this in all his sermons. Everything is always one last–“one last chance,” “one last warning,” etc. How many one lasts are there? 
 
I had to shake my head when he said, “If you remain loyal to God, you are never going to be spiritually alone.” He won’t come out and say that what he really means is: “If you remain loyal to PCG government.” But even so, what does that have to do with being “spiritually alone”? Perhaps it means “alone” when you are thrown out of PCG. 
 
The word “loyal” isn’t even in the KJV which is what GF uses (except when he twists words from some other version such as the Moffat). What escapes GF is that loyal is primarily what God is to us. We are told in the Word of God that even if we are faithless, He remains faithful. (See II Timothy 2:13 NKJV:” If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.”) Why is that not understood by those in PCG? 
 
I would say it is because members are not being taught that if they belong to Christ, nothing can take away their salvation. [Note: See Q&A: Can We Ever Lose Our Salvation?] The Word of God continually says God will never leave us or forsake us and that He continues to work in us until the end of our life. (See Philippians 1:26 KJV: “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:” and Hebrews 13:5 KJV: “…he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” 
 
GF said to “study the new Trumpet magazine…especially the feature articles as they are truly outstanding.” Folks, how about studying the book of Colossians without PCG literature and find the treasures in Christ? (Colossians 2:3 KJV: “In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”) We have everything we need in Christ. But that isn’t enough for GF.

He quoted from HWA so many times that I lost track of which were HWA’s words and which were GF’s, He said we are “going to rule the Universe” and “restore the Universe” (this doctrine comes from the Mormons) and we need to “get our minds on the New Jerusalem.” How about saying “get our minds on Christ” who is our only hope. (See Colossians 1:27: “Christ in you, the hope of glory:“)
 
 
Towards the end of his sermon he said, “This is our future”and talked about the “power” we are going to be given. It’s all about power with GF. –PCG source

In the Church of God Semanitics Is Everything



Herbert W Armstrong: Semanitics Is Everything

 

If we Google the term semantics, we learn that this word conveys “the meaning of a word, phrase, sentence, or text.” And, while we all recognize the importance of being clear about the meaning and scope of what is being communicated, most of us have also experienced those obnoxious individuals who love to split hairs so that they can be right (and, more importantly, everyone else can be shown to be wrong). Unfortunately, in the religious realm, Herbert W Armstrong was one of those individuals who obsessed over semantics.

For Armstrong, most of Christianity had completely missed the proper meaning of what constituted the “gospel” or good news message which Christ taught to his disciples. Armstrong believed that the Christ-centric message of Traditional Christianity completely ignored or suppressed the message about a future and literal world government headed by Christ. And, as has been pointed out in this forum and other places, Armstrong both ignored the Great Commission of Matthew 28 and the clear indications in Paul’s epistles that his message was focused on Jesus Christ and his salvific work. It is unfortunate that Mr. Armstrong seemed incapable of allowing that a message about Christ could accommodate a message about his kingdom. For Armstrong, it was an either/or proposition – clarity demanded one explanation or the other (making one wrong and the other right).

It seemed to be incomprehensible to Mr. Armstrong that words can have multiple meanings. Indeed, his writings suggest that he rejected the notion that words, phrases, sentences or texts might be subject to different interpretations. Armstrong had discovered “THE TRUTH.” If there were other possible meanings/interpretations, they must be disregarded because God or the Holy Spirit had revealed to him the “TRUE” meaning/interpretation.


Armstrong believed that the fact that his organization incorporated the terminology “Church of God” as part of its name was a hallmark that his group was the “TRUE” Church which Jesus Christ had founded on that day of Pentecost so long ago. Never mind that the Greek word “ekklesia” suggests an assembly of people called together for the purpose of worship. Never mind that Scripture also attaches the term to Christ, the First Born and various places. Why not the “Assembly of God”? Why not the “Assembly of the First Born”? And, if the “ekklesia” was composed of everyone who had God’s Holy Spirit, would it really be accurate to suggest that any one human organization claiming to be the “Church of God” fully encompassed what that term really means?

For Herbert Armstrong, traditional understandings of terms like religion, Christian, paganism, grace and truth were said to be wrong. Indeed, in almost any area of Christian doctrine/dogma which we could name, Armstrong claimed that the traditional understanding was the diametric opposite of the truth.

However, Armstrong’s preoccupation with semantics was probably no where more apparent than in the realm of prophecy. It was how Armstrong defined terms like Israel, Babylon, Assyria, Zerubbabel, one crying out in the wilderness, place of safety and Great Whore which colored his unique interpretations of Biblical prophecy. For Herbert Armstrong, it wasn’t just the meaning of these terms either – it was the timing and chronology which he insisted were implied by those understandings. In short, Armstrong’s semantics demanded that the “end times” were upon us and insisted that his followers even more fully embrace his understandings of Biblical semantics.

There are a few scriptures that come to mind when dealing with the power of words, and how they can positively or negatively impact us. Here are a few of them: “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits” (Proverbs 18:21), “There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing” (Proverbs 12:18), “Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble “ (Proverbs 21:23), “Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin” (Proverbs 13:3), “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak” (Matthew 12:36), “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12) and “If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless.” (James 1:26) One has to wonder what Mr. Armstrong thought these verses meant.

Miller Jones/Lonnie Hendrix






Tuesday, February 16, 2021

Bob Thiel: Does he know more than Dr. Fauci and did he discover a cure for AIDS?


 

The other day. the official Church of God Wonder Boy and God's ONLY double blessed self-appointed prophet came out with a bunch of zingers that show just how deceitfully crafty he is in his claims.

Now before going further, let me state that 1) I have been trained in virology 2) the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Disease twice concluded that my work with herbal, glandular, and vitamin therapy had ‘significant scientific merit’ against the HIV coronavirus in the 1990s, 3) I do have a Ph.D. in a biological field, and 4) I have successfully treated people with a variety of viruses with natural interventions for about thirty years (this is not something that people like Dr. Fauci, who the AP has repeatedly promoted as an expert has done).

A retired Public Health Educator from Indiana sent me this today: 

I am addressing this as a Retired Health Educator who for years had to evaluate material to make judgments on the reliability of information before using it to teach others. I am making no judgments on the science here, just the way the information is presented that sends up warning signals. 
 
But first: Is our good Dr. Bob telling us that HIV is a coronavirus? Or does the Doctor/Prophet make a typo?

Secondly: 
 
1) “I have been trained in virology” is not the sort of statement a virologist would make. “I have been trained (or studied, etc) at NAME OF INSTITUTION or “with NAME of SCIENTIST is more likely. 
 
2) A trained virologist would not make a statement that NIAID had “twice concluded” anything without giving us a reference citation to where those conclusions appeared. 
 
3) “I do have a PhD in a biological field” are red flag, weasel words. What “biological field? Again, someone with a valid PhD who is writing about viruses would specify the field. 
 
4) “I have successfully treated...for about thirty years” — where are his citations to any of this from established medical journals, conference proceedings, ANYTHING peer-reviewed? The failure to provide any peer-reviewed information is disquieting.

This is the same kind of deceitful nonsense that Gavin Rumney called Bob out on years ago when Bob claimed to have a theology Ph.D. from a real university, which ended up being a diploma mill out of India. Thiel also claims that he went to Fuller seminary as proof of his super fantastical theological understanding. One class in one semester does not make one a theologian AND he has no degree from Fuller or even Ambassador College, which, most assuredly does not make him a genuine theologian. His so-called education in theology comes from the junk theology of Herbert Armstrong and Rod Meredith which consists of booklets and sermons that proof-text scripture to fit the desired topic being spoken of. 

Is there anything truthful about Bob?

 


Monday, February 15, 2021

Gerald Flurry Still Promoting His Failed Prophecy


Above is the screenshot of Gerald Flurry's January 1 prediction that Donald Trump would be reelected and that God was going to perform a miracle. It is now February 15 and the article is still up, apparently because Gerald did NOT make a false prophecy. His god is all-powerful and will still make this happen.

In his article he states:

The God of the Bible is absolutely trustworthy. When He makes a promise, He keeps it. When He issues a prophecy, you can stake your life on it coming to pass! 
 
I have lived my life by this truth for over four decades. And I have seen God deliver miracle after miracle. Never has God failed to do what He said He will. 
 
Back in November, I wrote an article titled “Why Donald Trump Will Remain America’s President.” This article is based on some prophecies in the Bible, and to this day I remain convicted that it is 100 percent reliable. All the evidence may look contrary, but that doesn’t shake my conviction. God will ultimately stop Joe Biden from being America’s next president. Read that article to see what God prophesied. Those prophecies are sure. Keep your eyes on events, and watch what God does!

All of the evidence has proven it to the contrary and yet Flurry is still convicted his words were and still are 100% reliable. Flurry is starting to sound as crazy as Bob Thiel! False prophets in the COG have a fertile ground to plant their batshit imaginations into. There is always some gullible fool that will believe them, though those numbers are rapidly diminishing as every day that passes their lies become more exposed.

Flurry continues:

In Amos 2:11-12, God condemns those who have a “prophesy not” spirit. Then in Amos 3:7-8 we read, “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord God hath spoken, who can but prophesy?” (Amos 3:7-8).

There are two opposing spirits here! One says “prophesy not.” The other says, “Who can but prophesy?” The Lion of the tribe of Judah—Jesus Christ—has roared! If you don’t fear God, then you will probably say, “Don’t prophesy.” But if you know God, and you listen to what He says, then you have an entirely different view. Who can but prophesy?

In the Bible prophets were usually men gifted by God to deliver a revelation to the church, but that ability to be a prophet carried tremendous responsibility: 

Deut. 13:1 “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, 
 
Deut. 13:2 and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, ‘ Let us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,’ 
 
Deut. 13:3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God is testing you to find out if you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 
 
Deut. 13:4 “You shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him. 
 
Deut. 13:5 “But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has counseled rebellion against the LORD your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to seduce you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from among you.

The Bible says that true prophets of God have to be 100% correct in ALL their prophecies. Notice above that even if they are wrong just ONE time, they are to be put to death! that's a pretty heavy burden to carry for self-appointed COG prophets. They don't care however, their narcissism and mental imbalances cause them to believe they are set apart for an end-time witness. the sad track record of COG prophets is every time they are wrong, their god resorts to sending them a new revelation or understanding that they had been blind to before. That new revelation just keeps getting more outlandish by the day.

COG members have been conditioned over the decades to believe anything that COG leaders say, all because of the erroneous and absurd doctrine of church government. Look at all the times we were told that if a minister speaks it is as if God himself spoke it. To even dare question a minister was a sure ticket to the lake of fire. Because of that members failed to heed the very standards the scriptures told them about prophets it was easy for the current crop of buffoons to step forward and make their claims.

Plus, the biblical office of a prophet no longer exists anyway in the church since the canon of scripture has been completed. That reality is a common understanding in Christianity, particularly since Christ came and sealed the deal. the church does not need fools like Flurry, Pack, Thiel, Wieland, or any of the others if they are followers of Christ, as they claim.

Since COG leaders cannot look to anything Christ said and have to look backwards all the time, let's not forget what Jeremiah had to say about prophets. We quickly can see what frauds we have in the church today. 

Jer. 14:13 But, “Ah, Lord GOD!” I said, “Look, the prophets are telling them, ‘You will not see the sword nor will you have famine, but I will give you lasting peace in this place.’”

Jer. 14:14 Then the LORD said to me, “The prophets are prophesying falsehood in My name. I have neither sent them nor commanded them nor spoken to them; they are prophesying to you a false vision, divination, futility and the deception of their own minds.

Jer. 14:15 “Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the prophets who are prophesying in My name, although it was not I who sent them — yet they keep saying, ‘There will be no sword or famine in this land’ — by sword and famine those prophets shall meet their end!


Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith 
by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, 
through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared...
1 Timothy 4:1-2

 



Sunday, February 14, 2021

Restored Church of God: Edward Winkfield III


Edward Winkfield III

From an RCG source

Bradford Schleifer is not the only man holding apostle Dave's signet. Edward Winkfield has been successfully climbing the ranks of RCG Headquarters' leadership for over a decade. With so many having left, Ed's political savvy has allowed him to slip into influential roles. 

Word on the RCG street is that he is contributing to the darkness of RCG. He is also strengthening Dave's death-like grip on brethren's minds with messages enforcing Dave's way, not God's. 

History is revealing that the most political are the the ones staying and thriving in David C. Pack's cesspool cult.

It's time to share our collective experience of the key people surrounding and giving power to David C. Pack.

What would you say to somebody who has served Dave for over 10 years? Who has witnessed the resignation of scores of HQ employees and ministers? Who, when Dave Pack has become truly delusional and dangerous, has doubled down and held up the charade?

Share your feelings below. Perhaps we can help him...