Exposing the underbelly of Armstrongism in all of its wacky glory! Nothing you read here is made up. What you read here is the up to date face of Herbert W Armstrong's legacy. It's the gritty and dirty behind the scenes look at Armstrongism as you have never seen it before!
With all the new crazy self-appointed Chief Overseers, Apostles, Prophets, Pharisees, legalists, and outright liars leading various Churches of God today, it is important to hold these agents of deception accountable.
Herbert Armstrong's Tangled Web of Corrupt Leaders
3T assistance is at the discretion of the local minister. My last psychopathic minister believed that evil people are the master race, so no assistance to reasonable members. Paying into the 3T social system in which one can never take out, is immoral. It's like a insurance policy in which one can never make a legitimate claim.
It's like a neon light going on and off all night in a motel window: third tithe, third tithe, third tithe, third tithe, third tithe, third tithe, third tithe, third tithe, third tithe, third tithe, third..................
It's not. It's a third YEAR tithe. There is a difference! But Satan wants you to think "third tithe" which means there's GOTTA BE A FIRST AND SECOND TITHE!!!!!!!!!!! No.
Though it is rare in the early stages of recognizing you are in a cult or with a cultish organization to do what I’m suggesting here: that, if possible, it’s important (particularly for your children) to spend time with Christians outside your organization.
Seeing sincere Christians and having meaningful interaction and discussions can insulate you from developing agnosticism when you are questioning the cult/cultish organization you are currently in.
I’m not sure if Marc Cebrian did this, but I also believe he did not spend more than 10 years in the COGs, so he saw more of sincere Christians as an adult to look back on. Dennis was conscientious at a young age and became involved in the wcg as a teen and did not have experiences with Christians while he was an adult and before receiving the wcg taint on what other Christians “really were”. Dennis had little interaction with balanced sincere Christians before questioning the COGs 25 years later. Such experiences and interact can provide ballast for your faith when it is being shaken due to recognizing the COG which largely defined your spiritual life is not correct.
Of course some might have negative thoughts toward the Christians they have met outside the COGs, but you can also see them as people not unlike yourself doing the best they can. Maybe objectively they don’t seem so great, but that Christian that seems so critical/judgy may well have grown up being constantly criticized and has to grow through that. That two faced Christian may well be new/immature or working through abuse. The Lord can be working with them as he is us in our faults and peculiarities.
I’m thankful I was able to get to know many genuine helpful and caring Christians before I fully began recognizing how wrong Armstrongism is. This allowed me to see I had just veered off from true Christianity. I learned what they truly believed, not what the COGs said they did. I learned this is not just emotionally worked up in them as the COGs had said. I recognized they were a rich community with intelligence and understanding.
This isn’t everyone’s experience, but know they are out there. Maybe you can only read their books of great faith…Brother Lawrence from the 1600s will reveal great faith and is surprisingly readable. Maybe it’s better to read other 20th century books like Mere Christianity By CS Lewis or Orthodoxy by GK Chesterton. These are short and practical with understanding and a bit of fun. Christianity provided joy; the COGs didn’t do that for me outside of being glad I was with the “true” group or fold. Christianity is very simple despite the thousands of pages of COG material I’ve consumed. If you are in a COG, the life and sacrifice of Jesus is far larger and simpler than you(we) know and so is His Gospel.
People are afraid to call these "churches" cults, but my parents attended cultos where we listened to preachers and sang hymns. Let's go to culto. Today is holy culto. A system of belief and worship. The word church comes from circus. We called it assembleia/assembly of God. We never ate in the same building where worship was done either.
Dennis, I hope this didn’t come off as condescending or dismissive of your experience/perspective. That would be the furthest thing from my thoughts or intent. I am grateful for your contribution in illuminating the wcg and helping me see it. I chuckled when you told Marc that he was 20 years behind you because I also know later middle aged agnostics/atheists who turned away and then back to a Christian faith. Be warned! lol
Philadelphia Church of Fraud: 30+ years of gospel suppressing, family wrecking, satanic abuse, and Gerald Flurry praising, promoting, and worshipping himself.
Restored Church of Fraud: 20+ years of a Bait & Switch scam, massive “common” theft, endless wrong prophetic date guesses, and Dave Pack praising, promoting, and worshipping himself.
7 comments:
Towards the end of the program they talk about the 3rd Tithe abuse system.
HWA used 3T to buy his jets. The argument was that 3T was also for the "Levite".
NT ministers ARE NOT LEVITES and never have been.
3T assistance is at the discretion of the local minister. My last psychopathic minister believed that evil people are the master race, so no assistance to reasonable members. Paying into the 3T social system in which one can never take out, is immoral. It's like a insurance policy in which one can never make a legitimate claim.
It's like a neon light going on and off all night in a motel window: third tithe, third tithe, third tithe, third tithe, third tithe, third tithe, third tithe, third tithe, third tithe, third tithe, third..................
It's not. It's a third YEAR tithe. There is a difference! But Satan wants you to think "third tithe" which means there's GOTTA BE A FIRST AND SECOND TITHE!!!!!!!!!!! No.
Though it is rare in the early stages of recognizing you are in a cult or with a cultish organization to do what I’m suggesting here: that, if possible, it’s important (particularly for your children) to spend time with Christians outside your organization.
Seeing sincere Christians and having meaningful interaction and discussions can insulate you from developing agnosticism when you are questioning the cult/cultish organization you are currently in.
I’m not sure if Marc Cebrian did this, but I also believe he did not spend more than 10 years in the COGs, so he saw more of sincere Christians as an adult to look back on. Dennis was conscientious at a young age and became involved in the wcg as a teen and did not have experiences with Christians while he was an adult and before receiving the wcg taint on what other Christians “really were”. Dennis had little interaction with balanced sincere Christians before questioning the COGs 25 years later. Such experiences and interact can provide ballast for your faith when it is being shaken due to recognizing the COG which largely defined your spiritual life is not correct.
Of course some might have negative thoughts toward the Christians they have met outside the COGs, but you can also see them as people not unlike yourself doing the best they can. Maybe objectively they don’t seem so great, but that Christian that seems so critical/judgy may well have grown up being constantly criticized and has to grow through that. That two faced Christian may well be new/immature or working through abuse. The Lord can be working with them as he is us in our faults and peculiarities.
I’m thankful I was able to get to know many genuine helpful and caring Christians before I fully began recognizing how wrong Armstrongism is.
This allowed me to see I had just veered off from true Christianity. I learned what they truly believed, not what the COGs said they did. I learned this is not just emotionally worked up in them as the COGs had said. I recognized they were a rich community with intelligence and understanding.
This isn’t everyone’s experience, but know they are out there. Maybe you can only read their books of great faith…Brother Lawrence from the 1600s will reveal great faith and is surprisingly readable. Maybe it’s better to read other 20th century books like Mere Christianity
By CS Lewis or Orthodoxy by GK Chesterton. These are short and practical with understanding and a bit of fun. Christianity provided joy; the COGs didn’t do that for me outside of being glad I was with the “true” group or fold. Christianity is very simple despite the thousands of pages of COG material I’ve consumed. If you are in a COG, the life and sacrifice of Jesus is far larger and simpler than you(we) know and so is His Gospel.
People are afraid to call these "churches" cults, but my parents attended cultos where we listened to preachers and sang hymns. Let's go to culto. Today is holy culto. A system of belief and worship. The word church comes from circus. We called it assembleia/assembly of God. We never ate in the same building where worship was done either.
Dennis, I hope this didn’t come off as condescending or dismissive of your experience/perspective. That would be the furthest thing from my thoughts or intent. I am grateful for your contribution in illuminating the wcg and helping me see it.
I chuckled when you told Marc that he was 20 years behind you because I also know later middle aged agnostics/atheists who turned away and then back to a Christian faith. Be warned! lol
THE REALLY SATANIC IMPOSTER CULTS
Philadelphia Church of Fraud: 30+ years of gospel suppressing, family wrecking, satanic abuse, and Gerald Flurry praising, promoting, and worshipping himself.
Restored Church of Fraud: 20+ years of a Bait & Switch scam, massive “common” theft, endless wrong prophetic date guesses, and Dave Pack praising, promoting, and worshipping himself.
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