The Philadelphia Church of God is seeking ways to legitimize themselves to the people of Israel and their government. Israel still considers them to be an aberrant American cult, Israel holds them at arm's length.
The PCG recently started a new organization to educate the Israelis about their history. Apparently, they are too stupid to understand what their history is.
Their new "institute" seeks to capture the attention of the Jewish nation so they came up with a new logo as seen above.
Here is their explanation of it:
At the top is depicted a seven-branched menorah. This, of course, hearkens back to the menorah that stood in the tabernacle and, later, the temple (i.e. Exodus 25:31-32), a golden symbol of continually burning light. It is today one of Israel’s primary symbols and also reflects one of our most exciting discoveries: the sixth-century b.c.e. gold menorah medallion.
On either side of the menorah are olive branches. This is a link to Zechariah 4:11-14: “Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick [menorah] and upon the left side thereof? And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? … Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth” (King James Version). This symbol of a menorah flanked by olive branches is most commonly seen on the official Emblem of Israel, as displayed on flags, printed on official documents, etc (shown on the right).
Flanking this central image on our emblem are two lions. Lion imagery is found throughout the Bible, especially in relation to the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:9), and the lion is the symbol on the official Emblem of Jerusalem (found, again, on flags and displayed in other forms around the city—see left). The lion symbol was used by Herbert W. Armstrong for his organization since the mid-20th century. It is also linked to the Mazar family: The symbol of the name Maisler (the original European surname of the Mazar family) is a lion. Prof. Benjamin Mazar’s son (and Dr. Eilat Mazar’s father), Ory, stylized his own personal symbol as a winged lion (below).
Thus, two lions befitting the two sides that have helped bring our institute together—Armstrong and Mazar.
Text
The text in the lower half of the emblem, האבנים תזעקנה, can be translated as the stones will cry out. This is a biblical refrain, found especially in Habakkuk 2:11 (which reads in the singular): “For the stone shall cry out of the wall”—in Hebrew, “כִּי־אֶבֶן מִקִּיר תִּזְעָק”. The famous 11th century c.e.Jewish commentator Rashi wrote about this passage of Scripture in plural form (“כי האבנים … תזעקנה מן הקיר”, On Habakkuk, 2:11:1). An almost identical statement to Habakkuk’s is found in the New Testament: “I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out”(Luke 19:40; kjv). Numerous scriptures attest to the “stones” as history’s witnesses that deliver testimony (i.e. Joshua 24:27: “Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us”).
Unfortunately for Flurry and co Israel is wired up absolutely,educated and on song when it comes to these charlatans.
ReplyDeleteA quiet hear in a few Rabbi’s ears will shut down this group markedly.
And a little note to the Jerusalem Post and Israel HaYom will tip them into the sh*t.
They will be ‘marked’ and treated like the pariahs and leppers they are.
They are not welcome and will be told so in no uncertain terms.
Clearly, the Flurries, the ministry, and the rest of the PCG are still stoned; they still cry out, "More tithe money!"
ReplyDeleteWhile the wolves cry, the sheeple comply.
We are done with PCG! My family & I have officially quit Flurry's church as of this past Sabbath!!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations! All the best as you start living again!
DeleteCheers!
Congrats! What was the final straw for you?
DeleteQuestions: HOW can someone who ATTENDED the CORPORATION (the PHYSICAL PLACE where GOD's PEOPLE MET UP) create a BLOG that PUTS DOWN the CHURCH? Wasn't the BLOGGER a MEMBER OF THE TRUE CHURCH?
ReplyDeleteAnswer: Either the BLOGGER committed the UNPARDONABLE SIN or HE WAS NEVER TRULY ABLE to APPRECIATE the WONDERFUL TRUTH GOD TAUGHT through his GREAT END-TIME SERVANT (MR. Armstrong), because, even though the BLOGGER attended the CORPORATION, he wasn't CALLED INTO THE GREAT BODY OF CHRIST (the spiritual community of SPIRITUAL BELIEVERS MENTIONED in MATTHEW 16:18).
You are going to get in trouble for being on here, you rebel!
DeleteSon, I know HWAs mimickers write like that, but the fact is that rendering more than one or two words per paragraph in all caps signals complete ignorance of proper English.
DeleteOh please fake troll @ 9:28. Who's fooling who ?
DeleteI suspect that the PCG is pushing the return of Trump as a means of pushing back Christ's second coming. Their motive is to give the Flurry kids and grandkids time to grow up.
ReplyDeleteBut what about the interests of the other 8 billion people on this planet??
"Questions: HOW can someone who ATTENDED the CORPORATION (the PHYSICAL PLACE where GOD's PEOPLE MET UP) create a BLOG that PUTS DOWN the CHURCH? Wasn't the BLOGGER a MEMBER OF THE TRUE CHURCH?"
ReplyDeleteGerald Flurry is not a true minister of God. The Philadelphia Church of God is not the "true" church, never has been, never will be. There are very few Christian inside the organization.
If you had ever paid attention here instead of popping on to shoot your mouth off and then leaving, you would know that I do not criticize Christians, only the fake so-called Christians that make up so many of the splinter personality cults of Armstrongism. This also includes Dave Pack's cult and Bob Thiel's cult.
As for the "corporation", it was the biggest cesspool of degenerate men committing appalling abuses upon the membership while stealing their money to fund their lifestyles and to keep their children and grandchildren set up for life, as long as they don't leave the fold. What do corporate jets, private colleges, lavish headquarters grounds, concert series, Irish dance, and dirty old so-called prayer rocks, have to do with a gospel message? A message that ignores and blasphemes everything that Jesus personifies.
Nice try buckwheat, but you struck out.
Flurry, Pack, Meredith & HWA are and were complete failures as ministers who spread the gospel. Jordan Peterson is doing more to educate people about Christ and the Bible than they ever have. They are and were more concerned with rank, power and tithes.
ReplyDeleteI’ve never actually listened to Peterson but I wonder if this is why a couple sermons ago, they were basically told by Brad MacDonald not to listen to Jordan Peterson.
DeleteHuh, now I think I will listen to him! Hahah
During the receivership era of the old classic WCG, we learned many things from the local newspapers. I recall an editorial from those times, in which it was said that HWA and the ministry of the WCG had finally been exposed as being "business men". And, that's pretty much the state of all of these little inconsequential splinters today. It's all about authoritarianism and money. If you want to understand a splinter group before you become a member, that's what it is.
ReplyDeleteAccorrding to the release, the Hebrew text reads "The Stones will Cry Out", apparently meaning Flurry and the PCG.
ReplyDeleteTruth is that it should be rendered "The STONED will cry out"!
Wouldn't go down that road again Tonto.
DeleteQuestions: HOW can someone who ATTENDED the CORPORATION (the PHYSICAL PLACE where GOD's PEOPLE MET UP) create a BLOG that PUTS DOWN the CHURCH? Wasn't the BLOGGER a MEMBER OF THE TRUE CHURCH?
ReplyDeleteThe same way Luther, Calvin, Knox, Zwingli, ... put down the Catholic Church! Not that the churches they created were the Mythical True Church...
The PCG is going to teach the Jews about their history, what a joke.
ReplyDeleteSome background to Habakkuk 2:11
ReplyDelete9 Ha!
The one who coverts wickedly
for his house,
to set on high
his nest,
10 You have counseled shame against your house
by cutting off many peoples,
and sinning against your own soul.
11 For the stone
from the wall
will cry out,
and the beam
from timber
will answer it. (O. Palmer Robertson translation, The Books of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah, NICOT, pp.191-92).
“9.The second woe is similar to the last [2:6b-8]. The exploiter knows that (albeit through his own doing) the world is full of his enemies, and he seeks protection from them by setting his “next” (qen) on high, that is, making his capital city and his palace impregnable...
“If the first woe is directed against the empire builder, so is the second; but it denounces the exploitation of others and warns of the folly of seeking security for self while denying it to subject peoples...
“10. Little did the leaders of this evil empire know that they what they were doing would bring them shame. The glory of great Babylon would be humiliated...
“11. An empire founded on violence, plunder, and exploitation is like a jerrybuilt house. It is bound to collapse because it had no inner coherence. The various parts of the structure, the walls and the beams, stand in perpetual tension with one another instead of providing mutual support; at last the tension becomes too great and the building crashes in ruin. The creaking set up by the strains and stresses is perhaps implied by the outcry of the stones in the walls and the response of the beams in the woodwork...” (F.F. Bruce, Habakkuk, “the Minor Prophets,” Vol.2, p.867).
“11. The last phrases of the proverb return to the imagery of the “house” and its destruction. The agonizing process of self-destruction continues as one element of the structure moans in agony only to be answered by another... The kings’s dynasty crumbles despite all the efforts to secure the throne by amassing unlimited wealth” (O. Palmer Robertson, The Books ofg Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah, NICOT, pp.19e).
“The accompanying taunt is that the house itself will cry out and echo the shame of the ruined builder (2:11). The stones of the wall and the woodwork are all that remain after the builder is dead. They will be standing reminders to the survivors of the same and the sin by which they were built. The builder will find ruin and shame instead of safety for his household” (James Bruckner, Jonah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, NIVAC, p.230).
Looks like they believe in expand or perish. But their numbers are decreasing rather than going up.
ReplyDelete