Our Culture NEVER Sets Dates and We Aren't Woke!
In a sermon on the first day of the CGI’s Feast of Tabernacles in Clearwater (CGI was also associated with two other festival sites in Florida), Pastor Bill Watson marveled over the fact that God’s people were still celebrating this festival in 2022. The clear implication being that most of the “old-timers” believed that the Kingdom of God would have been established many years ago by now. This observation was followed by a statement which anyone who is familiar with the history of the Armstrong Church of God culture will find astonishing. Watson declared: “We were falsely accused of actually setting dates, when in fact really we never did, as far as our culture was concerned.”
After that jaw-dropping statement, Watson went on to observe that Christians are currently viewed as an “annoyance” or as “troublemakers.” According to Bill, TRUE Christians don’t go along with the mainstream media. From his perspective, God has revealed HIS TRUTH to the folks in CGI, and they need to tattoo that stuff on their brains! He insists that CGI members can’t allow themselves to swallow the narrative of the world around them. In other words, Christians cannot be woke or politically correct!
What kinds of things did Mr. Watson have in mind? He went on to remind his audience that God created Adam and Eve - NOT Adam and Steve (I know I’ve heard that one somewhere before). Continuing, he went on to make the astute observation that homosexuals “can’t reproduce,” and that it’s consequently an obvious perversion of the biology which God intended. Watson then went on to decry the fact that he can’t say anything about voter fraud, because “we’ll lose our YouTube account.” He then proceeded to make clear that Bill Watson didn’t drink the Kool-Aid on Covid-19. He reiterated his often stated opinion that masks don’t make sense. This, apparently, is what Bill meant when he referred to the fact that Christians like him were now viewed as annoyances and troublemakers; but he also made it very clear that he was not intimidated by these gainsayers. He declared that Christians have got to put “blinders” on so that we don’t get distracted by the noise that these critics generate.
Nevertheless, Pastor Watson did admit that some folks in the Armstrong Church of God movement have been misled by clever individuals. He cited the unnamed leader of the Restored Church of God as an example of just such a deceiver and went on to declare that “any minister…that basically attempts to steer you to follow them - get outta there…because if they are not pointing you to Jesus Christ there’s something very suspicious that’s going on.” You know, despite the awkward wording, I think that Pastor Watson may be on to something with that statement – I kinda liked that one! What do you think?
Miller Jones/Lonnie C Hendrix
49 comments:
I think the author of this post is a LIAR and has NEVER stepped a single foot inside CGI.
The obvious fact that the author is astonished that Bill Watson claims to never set dates is a major clue.
Don't know the culture.
Irony. Pure irony can be found in everything that comes from Watson's mouth.
Ya know, it might be nice for someone looking for an ACOG if just one of the leaders were halfway normal, instead of way out of balance as they all are. No wonder you have people from the Armstrong movement turning to COG-7.
Anon1159,
I believe he was referring to Watson’s quote in the context of going back to wcg days in which there were many false Armstrong (and Armstrongite) false prophecies.
Eh, Bill is right about the covid hysteria, and masks in particular. They are worthless when it comes to respiratory viruses and the powers that be know that. They simply saw an opportunity to play on people's fears and gain control. I still occasionally see individuals wearing them, even when outside and alone.
What Do You Think?
=======================
I think I have learned to take everything a one man show pastor type has to say about anything
I agree with everything Bill Watson said.
And those stupid plexiglass barriers they put up in stores and other public places. Does anyone with half a brain believe these things will hinder a microscopic virus from getting around? Oh, come on man!
Once again, the evidence of my familiarity with the Worldwide Church of God and Church of God International is contained in numerous articles, posts, and comments which are still available on the internet (see the archives of "The International News," Dixon Cartwright's "The Journal," this blog, "Ambassador Watch," "Living Armstrongism," and my own blog). As always, this post was based entirely on the words that came out of Bill Watson's own mouth on the occasion cited. If anyone has the stomach for it (and the time to waste), his comments on the fourth day of the Clearwater Feast were even more partisan and conspiratorial!
Bill continues to insist that he is NOT talking politics, that he is only talking about "POLICY." As a student of history and political science, I don't see how it is possible to make that distinction - especially when the ONLY "policies" which you are criticizing are those advocated by the Democrats, and your message sounds like you have taken a page out of Sean Hannity's or Tucker Carlson's playbook! And how does this kind of emphasis on U.S. politics fulfill the commission to preach the Gospel to the world? Please explain how such an egocentric message is going to be of interest to someone in Angola or Cambodia. How does he expect such a message to be received by anyone in the United States who isn't a conservative or a Republican?
God Almighty! Whether you agree with Watson on any of these points is NOT THE POINT! The point is that: If you are trying to reach people with the GOSPEL, you don't immediately alienate most of your potential audience! We're all entitled to our political opinions, but the pulpit is NOT the proper forum for expressing them! Your pastor's opinion of Republicans and Democrats is NO BETTER than your own. We used to expect Christian pastors to know a little bit about the Bible and Jesus Christ! And this guy, Bill Watson, is supposed to be a spokesman for the Church of God INTERNATIONAL!
Yah, 4:47. That's why doctors and other medical professionals have been wearing masks for over a hundred years, because they don't work.
The incidences of colds and the flu went way down during the peak times of mask wearing "hysteria".
We live in times when the fairy tale party, whose leader made up "fake news" and then went in to create a barrage of it himself, got a large percentage of the population looking to theories and wives tales on social media rather than science and thoroughly vetted sources as the guide posts to their lives.
Politicians repeat falsehoods because falsehoods serve their agendas better than the truth. And, quite sickeningly, that is what is moving us towards being a failed state.
Mr. Watson has lost all credibility as a teacher with his conspiracy theories about vaccines, globalists, and election fraud.
The first words spoken on a telephone by Alexander Graham Bell when he made the first call on March 10, 1876, to his assistant, Thomas Watson: "Mr. Watson--come here--I want to see you."
My first words to Bill Watson will be ..."Mr Watson, come here, I want to see you, as you ARE MISTAKEN about the WCG being date setters!" From 1975 in Prophecy, to ramblings of Gerald Waterhouse, to a constant din of "3 to 5 years", and many more, that I have personally have heard for many decades.
“After that jaw-dropping statement, Watson went on to observe that Christians are currently viewed as an “annoyance” or as 'troublemakers.'”
That spoiled brat Garner Ted Armstrong was certainly an annoyance and a troublemaker. His own father Herbert W. Armstrong had hired him, promoted him, payed him well, tried to set him up as his successor to lead the WCG, and covered up his ongoing sins. In the end, though, HWA was finally forced to openly disfellowship GTA.
GTA then founded his CGI rebel cult to support his playboy lifestyle of a sexual predator.
Yawn, thats so two years ago lol
Blasphemy now. Sums you up. Why emphasise International word when anyone who's REALLY from CGI knows exactly why GTA chose the name International. But blasphemous phony LIAR you clearly does not.
CGI knows they have a problem with Bill, notice that they removed part of his recent sermon on their YouTube channel (see about the 38:54/55 mark for https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7GAFcY0fx4&t=2329s compare this to the same place in his message on his private Rumble account https://rumble.com/v1qf0gh-preparing-for-the-future-bill-watson-10-29-22.html).
Looking at the c1967 US/BC in Prophecy in my library, the first paragraph: "A STAGGERING TURN in world events is due to erupt in the next four to seven years."
Yeah. The rise and schooling of false apostles, false prophets, commanded tithing BS, three seasons of seven feasts BS, one true church BS, etc etc.
The apple never falls far from the tree.
"... and your message sounds like you have taken a page out of Sean Hannity's or Tucker Carlson's playbook!"
I see the problem now, Bill said something that is true and it's obvious that Lonnie has a problem with truth, and has had for a long time.
"The incidences of colds and the flu went way down during the peak times of mask wearing "hysteria"."
The numbers show that where masks were mandated the infection rate with up, a lot, and where mask mandates were ended the infection rate dropped like a rock. That is fact, and easily proven if you're willing to look.
(Of course, the CDC has been known to drop info from their website when it conflicts with the narrative, but it can still be found at other sites if it's no longer at the CDC site)
Have any of you been following Dr. Peter McCullough and what’s been happening with him? This ain’t no small matter. Wake up people! BTW, I don’t fault Bill Watson for speaking out on certain matters.
Actually, 5:30, I can believe that. But, greater detail is needed to draw proper conclusions. When masks are mandated, it's not as if everyone suddenly has the KN-95 masks, or even wears the masks properly. There were videos on You Tube about how to convert your underwear into masks, and people in stores with mask requirements who didn't like the masks were wearing them with their nostrils uncovered. These thwart the effectiveness of masks. Also, people who are against them only wear them under protest when caught and ordered to comply.
I personally hate masks, but deal with a wide cross section of the public, so therefore wore my KN-95 right up until I got vaccinated, and then picked and chose the places where I felt I needed it. It was effective for me. Doctors and other medical professionals have found them to be very effective in the prevention of transmission of communicable disease for many decades, but then they do take them seriously, and wear them properly. I also used hand sanitizer religiously, and still do.
Masks are like multiculturalism. They work just great for people who believe in them. Now, go back to studying your CRT. You need it!
Loony Lonnie wrote, “old timers” believed that the Kingdom of God would have been established many years ago by now. This observation was followed by a statement which anyone who is familiar with the history of the Armstrong Church of God culture will find astonishing. Watson declared: “We were falsely accused of actually setting dates, when in fact really we never did, as far as our culture was concerned.”
MY COMMENT – Actually, this Mr. Watson did not specify which church culture he was referring to. We don’t know from this statement if he was referring to the parent Worldwide Church of God (WCG) culture OR to the offshoot splinter The Church of God International (CGI) culture.
If this Mr. Watson was referring to WCG, then we all know that statement of falsely being accused of setting dates is completely inaccurate. Herbert Armstrong and the WCG did set dates as we all know. As others have pointed out, 1975 in Prophecy booklet. I would add the 19-year time cycles coinciding with the Radio Church of God on KORE in the first week of January that was widely preached with the end of the second time cycle on the first week of January 1972 as the date for the start of the Great Tribulation. I also took note of a statement Herbert Armstrong made at the Feast of Tabernacles in Mount Pocono in 1970 in which Mr. Armstrong said, “Our Work could end in the first week of January 1972”. So yes, we would be “astonished” if Watson was referring to WCG.
But if this Mr. Watson was only referring to CGI, then probably most of us don’t know if that is a true statement or not, nor would we be “astonished”. I have no experience with CGI offshoot. My understanding after Father Herbert ousted his son Garner Ted in 1978, the son Ted started this own competing Splinter Church under the guise of reforming WCG doctrines. I thought they included reforming such teachings as Church eras and setting dates among other doctrines. I am not aware that CGI was also setting dates. What dates were they setting, Lonnie?
Of course, Loony Lonnie has some “daddy issues” with Watson. Like “Trump Derangement Syndrome”, I think loony Lonnie has “Watson Derangement Syndrome” transferring his now "dead daddy" issues unto Watson. The irony is that most of us probably have never heard of this Mr. Watson (I had never heard of him before) until Loony Lonnie started giving Watson so much attention and publicity here on Banned. Last summer, Loony Lonnie smeared me as practicing “extremism”. Of course, he was too cowardly to answer my repeated questions about which of my stated beliefs constituted “extremism” until he finally after multiple times dodging my questions put out a generic description of "extremism" not addressing any my stated beliefs. After reading his generic description, I concluded Lonnie practices his own extremism, and Lonnie's extremism is sourced in his transference of his dead daddy issues onto Watson.
Richard
Well, I still like Richard quite a lot. But, Richard doesn't like ol' Lonnie who I also like. So what! They both say some helpful things and I can't expect others to have the rationality I do; I'm just a man vying for the most rational person on the planet. Se la vie! lol
One thing is obvious. Bill Watson most definitely objects to the exciting new genders recently discovered by the milennials, as well as the notion that the heretofore suppressed or excluded histories of certain ethnic groups who were present and helped build our country should be opened, considered, and used to correct or amend the "official" US History which is taught in schools. These objections are understandable positions for a cult leader who does not believe in inclusivity to hold.
The penalty for the derangement known as extreme conservatism, a state of mind which often includes resistance to change, is that one often finds one's self on the wrong side of history and as cannon fodder for ridicule.
Thanks, Earl,
I have found you to be a rational and reasonable individual who has always been willing to communicate with those who disagree with you on some point. Also, you have never resorted to demonization or name calling - indicating to me that you understand that people can reach different conclusion and still not be ignorant, unpatriotic, or evil.
Really, any political or religious views that substantially deviate from what the majority of folks consider to be reasonable could be labeled as "extreme." Even so, once again, that does NOT necessarily mean that the person who holds those views is an "extremist." For me, the "extremist" label is warranted when someone adopts the "my way or the highway" mentality and engages in bullying, intimidation, name-calling, and impugning the integrity and motivations of those who do not share their views.
My dad and Bill Watson were/are NOT bad men - they were/are very misguided men in my opinion, and they have unintentionally hurt a great many people as a consequence. People are welcome to listen to Mr. Watson's remarks for themselves, but the context of his remarks clearly encompassed the culture from the Worldwide days going forward. Also, Bill continues to believe and TEACH Anglo-Israelism, and ALL of his prophetic messages are informed by that understanding.
Once again, as for Bill's political beliefs, he and I obviously do NOT see eye to eye. Nevertheless, I believe that he is entitled to believe anything he wants to believe and to freely discuss his views. It is my thesis, however, that it is completely inappropriate for a man in his position to be using church platforms to espouse or teach his views to others. I want ministers to be talking about things spiritual when they are acting in the capacity of a minister of Jesus Christ. I can talk to friends and family members and tune in Fox, CNN, MSNBC, etc. when I want to hear a discussion about things political. While discussions about the moral implications of various policies might be entirely appropriate in a religious setting, I believe overt endorsements or disparagements only serve to alienate and divide church members and/or potential members.
https://pandemic.news/
https://americasfrontlinenews.com/post/pfizers-covid-19-vaccine-heres-what-ben-shapiro-could-have-known
(with footnotes)
IF anyone is interested.
Your link doesn't open as posted, 6:58. Or, did you think we're all going to just type all those characters in?
6:58 … it opens with no problem. Copying and pasting the link is quite easy, for those familiar with that method.
Thanks. I'd never done that on my ipad, which is what I use for my adventures in blogging. For anyone else who may not know, on an ipad, you blue out the link and then drag it to your browser and open it. All that to find out it was only an op ed piece, not a white paper, or something authoritative from a scientific journal. Ah well. Different strokes for different folks.
Unfortunately, many folks are largely unfamiliar with research techniques and methods. They simply do not understand that all sources are NOT created equal.
True. All sources aren’t created equal. But, many a scientific journal (e.g. New England Journal of Medicine) has had to backtrack on up to half of their research papers. One can say that is the glory of science, and that does lead to progress, but where does that leave the individual in the NOW. Science advances in starts and spurts, but for the individual the potential help or harm doesn’t have the luxury of advancing sheerly through knowledge; their health can be irreparably harmed by the incorrect studies while having a head full of restudied and hopefully more accurate studies after the fact.
Earl
Sorry, I should have taken the time to put the HTML in there to make it a clickable link.
You should be able to highlight the link and right click it, then choose "open in new window".
One would be hard pressed to find better research material than America's Frontline Doctors.
Totally agree that the frontline doctors have the best vantage point and many have seen discounted treatments have good results.
Earl
Anonymous @ 5:59 agreed
found on Frontline Doctors
https://rumble.com/v19wizz-jim-jordan-grills-lying-birx.html
https://warroom.org/2022/10/12/dr-peter-mccullough-discusses-ban-from-twitter-and-further-reveals-dangers-of-covid-vaccines/
From Wikipedia's article on "America's Frontline Doctors"
America's Frontline Doctors (AFLDS) is an American right-wing political organization. Affiliated with Tea Party Patriots co-founder Jenny Beth Martin and publicly led by Simone Gold, the group is opposed to measures intended to control the COVID-19 pandemic, such as business closures, stay-at-home orders, and vaccination. The group promotes falsehoods about the COVID-19 pandemic and COVID-19 vaccines.
AFLDS made its first public appearance during a media event on July 27, 2020, where they advocated for the use of repurposed drugs such as hydroxychloroquine as treatments for COVID-19. Their statements were made without the support of peer-reviewed evidence or regulatory approval, and the group also alleged that the pharmaceutical industry was intentionally sponsoring studies showing the drugs to be ineffective. Video of the event was distributed via right-wing websites and social media outlets, and also promoted by then-U.S. president Donald Trump and his son.
Note the source citations at the end of the article.
Steve Bannon's (Trump's political guru) War Room is another extreme right-wing, conspiracy theory promoting website. Their proud motto: "We welcome all deplorables." Once again, consider the source!
So what are you trying to say Lonnie, Wikipedia is now the standard and source of all truth? Pure political bias!!!
Anonymous @ Saturday, November 5, 2022 at 5:06:00 AM PDT admitted that all sources are NOT created equal, but went on to observe that "many a scientific journal (e.g. New England Journal of Medicine) has had to backtrack on up to half of their research papers." He/she admitted that this is indeed how science works but went on to ask: "where does that leave the individual in the NOW?"
This is a philosophical question with very practical application, and it reminded me of a scene in the Star Trek movie "The Voyage Home." In the scene, Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) was appalled at the barbarity of 20th Century medicine. Of course, his reaction provoked some laughter from the audience, but it also underscores a poignant reality for all of us. We hope and expect that there will be advances in the years to come, but we must make do with the best information at our disposal in the present. The truth is we can literally die waiting for a better alternative or the final verdict on some new treatment. Bacterial and viral infections don't wait for us to get it right!
BP8, Wikipedia entries are only as good as the sources which back them up. And, unfortunately, religious and political beliefs often have a very tenuous relationship with the truth or reality!
Dr. McCullough is the voice we should pay attention to in the WarRoom link istead of focusing on Bannon, and detracting from what we needed to know on there. Dr. McCullough gave important information.
I had briefly entertained the unkind possibility that the Covid pandemic might actually become the savior of planet Earth, realizing that it was also possible that it could take me out of here with it. It initially seemed to have quite a herd-thinning potential, and if there were enough thinning, to reduce greenhouse gases more effectively than all of the current half-hearted efforts to transition away from fossil fuels.
All the partisans have their own little bugs up their a$$es about the imperfections of some of the processes, but all in all humanity has done a pretty awesome job of controlling and diminishing the virus.
Alas, we most likely won't be saved from our poor stewardship of the Earth by a virus. The onus is back on us to reduce the conditions which are causing climate change.
Kiss the Ground on Netflix is a good doco that imo shows what can be done to reverse cc in a small amount of time. I think if we were to implement the practices it promotes we wouldn’t really need to eliminate the use of ff since it would all balance itself out. Idk just my op.
So what's the big deal about "setting dates"? Everybody does it! The real issue is the conflict between " philosophies "
One the one hand you have those, called "extremists", who look forward to the coming of Christ, the only true answer to sin and it's consequences. Then you have " the majority of folks ", the lovers of MAN, who trust his ability to solve his conflicting problems, such as climate change, which they date set as being catastrophic in just a few years, which after solving will be followed by a glorious Star Trekian, George Jetson utopia, again just a few numbered years off, both supported and preached by renowned men of our time, politicians, scientists, and promoted by recognized sources like the atheist Jimmy Wale's bought and paid for web site.
No, I'm not promoting or endorsing Pack or Thiel, but if I get to choose I'm going with the coming of Christ, and I hope it happens in the next few years!
Setting dates? Well, a lot of people do set dates for various future events. The problem comes into play when a group says that their dates are the only correct ones, and then uses their dates to manipulate people spiritually, physically, socially, emotionally and financially. This has been proven to cause Bernie Madoff endings.
BP8,
There are a great many of us who are looking forward to Christ's return (I'm one of them) who do NOT engage in setting dates. According to the Gospels, Christ told his followers that even he didn't know the timetable which God had established for his plans. Hence, as Christians, our job is simply to be ready - and that means whether its three years from now or three HUNDRED years from now!
Like the prophets of old, secular prophets make predictions about the potential environmental impacts of human activity, political developments, etc. - Most of these predictions are meant to CHANGE behavior, so as to avoid the consequences of continuing the behavior that is causing the problems. I pray for God's Kingdom because I DON'T have very much confidence in our ability to solve the problems that we've created.
When we set dates, we destroy our credibility and make ourselves look silly. It's like the boy who cried wolf - pretty soon nobody pays attention to anything you have to say! And, if the ACOG's see it as their mission to warn everybody else about what's ahead, doesn't that undermine that missio
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