How Dave Pack Calculates His Sermons

 

LCG: As it Watches and Waits...

 

Once more Doug Winnail repeats himself and claims that LCG is some kind of watchman. How can that be when Bob Thiel and Dave Pack claim to be the watchman? So do Gerald Flurry and Ronnie Weinland.

Why is it that so many COG's consider themselves to be the "Watchman"? They've been "watching" and predicting for close to 80 years now and nothing they have proclaimed has come to pass. What we do get to watch is the rapid demise of the Church of God movement as it splinters and splinters into hundreds and hundreds of personality cults built around vain narcissistic men who lie through their teeth and cause immense spiritual and physical harm to their members.

Winnail quotes Hosea 8:7, 14 and immediately bitch claps the entire COG movement: 

For they sow the wind,

    and they shall reap the whirlwind.

The standing grain has no heads,

    it shall yield no meal;

Israel has forgotten his Maker,

    and built palaces;

They sow a disjointed message ignoring Christ. Their messages have yielded no harvest. While building their campuses and headquarters they continue to ignore Christ while bowing down to the altar of Moses. Winnail cannot even mention that Christians rest in the assurance of Jesus no matter what may happen in the world around them. They don't live in fear or need to look at Old Testament prophets and sages as saving them from anything. They cannot and never will. 

The church does not need another Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Elisha, pastor general, chief overseer, apostle, or prophet in their midst. All of the ones who have claimed these names and continue to call themselves these names have been and still are liars who cannot and will not preach Christ resurrected. 

The Church as a Watchman: Down through history God has used His servants to warn His people and the world of coming events—for their own good. Moses warned the Israelites that if they disobeyed God and despised His laws and statutes, they would be punished (Leviticus 26:15). Isaiah was told to “Cry aloud” and tell God’s people that their sins will bring serious consequences (Isaiah 58:1). Jeremiah warned the Israelites, “you have forsaken the LORD your God” and “your own wickedness will correct you” (Jeremiah 2:17–19). Hosea’s message was, “They sow the wind, and reap the whirlwind... Israel has forgotten his Maker” (Hosea 8:7, 14). Ezekiel was given a prophetic commission to be watchman to the house of Israel and that he would be held accountable for delivering that warning. In Ezekiel’s day, the house of Israel had already gone into captivity—which means that same message must be delivered to modern Israelite nations today. Let’s pray that God will open doors to make that possible and that we will stay focused on the mission to be a watchman to modern Israelites and the world.
Have a profitable Sabbath, Douglas S. Winnail

LCG Thinks Israel Needs To Hear Their Message

Greetings from Charlotte: 

 

When it seems as though things cannot get worse, they will. There will be ups and downs, but our world is heading into the time of Jacob’s trouble. We may not be there yet, but that is where the events taking place right now are heading. The invasion of Ukraine by Russia, whether justified or not, sets in motion paths for the future that can move us closer to the fulfillment of end-time prophecies. The disastrous manner in which the United States pulled out of Afghanistan is part of the big picture, but even more so is our headlong plunge into sinful behaviors and divisions within. 

 

In the meantime, we continue doing the Work of God. Each week between 2,500 and 3,500 brand-new subscribers are added to Tomorrow’s World magazine. While some subscribers do not renew their subscriptions, the mailing list continues to grow as we reach larger numbers of new people. We will be starting a new congregation in Savannah, Georgia, and last week we started airing the telecast in Israel. Please pray that God will use this opportunity to preach the Gospel in Israel to accomplish His purpose.—Gerald Weston

LCG Doubles Down On Jesus…Says His Name Twice!

 

I guess the boys in Charlotte are getting tired of being mocked because Jesus is not discussed much in their writings, so they did something about it this week. They said his name twice!!!!!!!!!! Though, it is only about him coming at some point in the future. God forbide if they actually discussed this dude in 2022.

An LCG source sent me this:

"They doubled the mentions of Jesus in this one, twice compared to once last time. But it's only future Jesus of course."

While many are discovering that some of their children’s teachers are doing more indoctrinating than educating, there are still many good teachers out there. They are often underappreciated and taken for granted. Many face challenges from every direction, from disrespect in classrooms to threats on their lives. Some schools in the USA pay a “combat pay” bonus to teachers in dangerous schools. The Bible warned of a time when disrespectful children would become oppressors (Isaiah 3:4; 2 Timothy 3:1–4). However, prophecies also tell of a time after Jesus Christ’s return, when teachers will once again show students the right way to live (Isaiah 30:20–21). At that time, parents will take a much more prominent role in teaching their own children (Deuteronomy 4:9–10; 6:6–7). To learn more about this important topic, read “Misguided Education and the Decline of Western Civilization.”

Europe Needs a Leader: With Angela Merkel gone, Europe has a power vacuum. French president Emmanuel Macron, whose nation is currently serving a six-month term as presidency of the Council of the EU, is ambitious and driven but is often seen as working solely for France. Many of his European peers also distrust him (Carnegie Europe, February 10, 2022). One analyst noted Macron is the de facto leader of Europe: “While some EU member states are skeptical of Paris, the alternatives to French leadership are few.”

Merkel’s successor, Olaf Scholz, has been a disappointment, even to many Germans. Chancellor Scholz has been slow to act on major issues, including Russia and the Ukraine. Politico reported that “after two months at the helm of a three- party coalition, the Social Democrat is under fire on multiple fronts, accused of failing to show leadership, sending muddled messages and taking too soft a line with Moscow in its showdown with Ukraine and the West” (February 7, 2022). Global headlines regarding his lack of leadership have been unflattering. Will Chancellor Scholz turn it around and lead Europe as his predecessor did for many years, or will he leave this opportunity to a successor?

The lack of strong and respected leadership generates national uncertainty and disrespect on the world stage. Historically, the rule of weak leaders is often followed by a backlash and a demand for a strong one. Bible prophecy indicates that a strong leader will emerge in Europe just before the end of the age. This individual, referred to as a “beast” in prophecy, will have strong ties to a worldwide false religion, direct a powerful political entity described as a mixture of “iron and clay,” and be supported by ten leaders just before the return of Jesus Christ (Daniel 2:40–45; Revelation 13 and 17). Students of Bible prophecy should watch for such a leader to appear in Europe. For more information, watch “The Beast of Revelation.”—Scott Winnail and Francine Prater

Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God

 

The Church of God has a horrible track record of not helping those in need outside the church when tragedy or sickness hits. The excuse the church has always used is that preaching about some "soon coming" kingdom that is going to correct all of the wrongs is far more important than feeding the poor, providing shelter to the homeless and the sick, and providing assistance during natural disasters. The biggest factor in why the COG has never helped these people are that it would take money away from the church mission or cause a money drain on financing personal jets' providing personal homes for the ministry, and funding extravagant headquarter campuses.

One of the Bible verses the church loved to use as a reason to NOT help others outside the chosen frozen was Luke 9:59–60:

59 To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 60 And Jesus7 said to him, “Leave tthe dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

So people of the world are dead to Christ. They do not see His beauty, nor do they hear His voice or desire to follow Him. Only His “sheep” will do those things (John 10:27). The people of the world are those whom the Savior describes here as the (spiritually) dead who should bury the (physically) dead. Let people, He says, who are not interested in My work, and who are “dead in sin” (Ephesians 2:1), take care of the dead. Your duty is now to follow Me.

The problem in using this scripture to bolster their argument is that most of them have hardly anything to do with Jesus Christ. They worship Moses and the law while ignoring Jesus unless they have to reluctantly drag him out once a year at the local Masonic Hall or high school gym to crucify him all over again, and then leave him there for another year. 

Granted, there are some in the church, like Kubik's LifeNets who do help people but very few others ever lift a hand to do anything.

Contrast the lack of concern in the church to those around us in the "world" who see a need and step up to the plate and accomplish great things.

A reader here noted this article the other day and sent it in as a sharp contrast against the lack of COG concern compared to those in the world.

Paul Farmer Public-Health Pioneer Dies of Cardiac Event at 62: Partners in Health co-founder who called healthcare a human right brought modern medicine and treatment to Haiti, Rwanda, West Africa

"Paul Farmer, a Harvard University physician, anthropologist and global public-health leader, spent decades bringing first-rate medical care to people in the poorest corners of the world.

Dr. Farmer, who was 62, died on Monday of a sudden cardiac event while sleeping in his apartment on the campus of a university he had helped to establish in rural Butaro, Rwanda, said Sheila Davis, chief executive officer of the Partners in Health nonprofit he co-founded.

He had been in Rwanda for about a month, teaching Rwandan medical students at the University of Global Health Equity and caring for patients on rounds at a nearby Rwandan government hospital that Boston-based Partners in Health built, Dr. Davis said.

Training a new generation of medical professionals in countries with poor healthcare resources was the epitome of Dr. Farmer’s dream of bringing high-quality medicine to the world’s neediest, Dr. Davis said, a pursuit he started four decades ago in Haiti. The University of Global Health Equity was recently cited by Unesco as a model for global health education." 

 

"He worked directly with the governments and people he aimed to help, living for years with his family in Haiti and then Rwanda. He gave lifesaving AIDS drugs to HIV patients in Haiti in the 1990s, helping make the case for global programs like the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief that later spent billions of dollars on drugs for patients in African and other developing countries. He cured drug-resistant tuberculosis patients who others in the field said would be too difficult to treat." 

 

"In earthquake-battered Haiti, Partners in Health built a 300-bed solar-powered public teaching hospital at the request of the government in 2013, and it now trains medical residents. In Rwanda, scarred by genocide in the 1990s, Partners in Health constructed a hospital with a cancer-care center in Butaro in 2012 and founded the global health university in 2015."

Imagine what this world would be like if the Church of God actually believed so much in that kingdom that is constantly horizon, so close yet constantly moving in the other direction. Imagine if they believed it with such fervor and moved them so much that they wanted to give a foretaste of that kingdom to the world around them. Talk about a boom in membership for the church! People would see real Christianity in action and not some pipe dream of a maniacal COG leader who preaches endlessly about damnation, death, and destruction, which sadly is the focus of the COG instead of sharing a grace-filled world.

 

Trouble At A Texas College

 

Screengrab from Collin College Youtube video

From a reader:

I don’t know if you have seen this, but a former COG member and Ambassador University faculty member, Neil Matkin, is in the news. My niece is at this college and this isn’t the first time Matkin has been in the news at this college.

 

At a Texas Community College, the Attack on Free Speech Is Coming From the Right
BY BRANKO MARCETIC 

Community college professor Michael Phillips spent the past year speaking out against a right-wing “purge” of progressive faculty at his college. Then he was fired.

For the past year, history professor Michael Phillips has been warning about a right-wing “purge” taking place at Collin College, led by administrators angling to remove progressive voices from the Texas school. Then he himself was purged.

 

Further down the article, there is this about Matkin:

Phillips had been clashing with administrators for some time before he was fired. Phillips immediately butted heads with now president H. Neil Matkin when he was a finalist for the position in 2015. Concerned that Matkin had received degrees from an unaccredited college run by the Worldwide Church of God (now known as Grace Communion International) — described by one former adherent as a “white supremacist doomsday cult” that taught that God approved of slavery and wanted white people to rule the world — he recalls confronting Matkin privately, asking him about his attitudes to matters like interracial dating and evolution. 

 

According to Phillips, Matkin got upset. For Matkin’s part, he’d later complain that Phillips had “come to the conclusion the church was racist and that therefore I was racist.” 

 

In 2021, Kera News of North Texas said this concerning issues at Collins College over students begin sent back to class for face to face class in the midst of the pandemic: 

Amid controversies over COVID-19 and fired professors, some blame Collin College's president
Over the past year, several controversies have been swirling around the college system in Collin County, north of Dallas.

Some faculty say morale is low because of continued concerns regarding COVID-19 safety protocols. For a long time, the college didn’t post COVID case counts online. Matkin once wrote that the pandemic’s effects “have been blown utterly out of proportion.” Meanwhile, over the summer, the college’s dean of nursing died from COVID-19 complications.

National organizations have berated the school, blaming Matkin for speech and academic freedom violations. Professors who’ve been fired have sued the college.

Further down this article: 

Tensions began to bubble more than a year ago, after some faculty, like longtime professor Audra Heaslip, wanted the college to consider online-only classes during COVID-19.

“The board of trustees made the decision for the college to go back face-to-face during the pandemic. I did not merely accept that but I questioned it,” Heaslip said. “They told me that I put outside pressure on the college to go completely online, which is not accurate.”

Heaslip was fired. She wasn’t the only one. 

 

There’s history professor Lora Burnett, whose contract wasn’t renewed after she sent a negative tweet about then-Vice President Mike Pence. 

 

Burnett's Twitter post led to complaints from State Rep. Jeff Leach, a Plano Republican, who tweeted that Burnett should go. He also sent a text message to Matkin asking if Burnett was paid with taxpayer dollars. Matkin responded, saying he would "deal with it."

Burnett said her free speech rights were violated. The school denied the accusation and said it doesn’t talk about personnel issues. 

 

In October, Burnett sued the college. 

 

The school fired another professor, Suzanne Jones, who taught at Collin College for 20 years. She told KERA it was because she questioned the college’s COVID health protocols. Jones, too, has sued the college. 

Matkin then got into trouble for mocking a Jewish member of the faculty by putting a bowl on his own head when talking about the faculty member mocking the yamalka he wore: 

The high-profile firings grabbed the attention of investigative reporter Michael Vasquez. In preparing a story for the Chronicle of Higher Education, he sought out former Collin College employees, and ran into problems. He learned many had signed nondisclosure agreements or NDAs. They’re rare for universities, but not Collin College, Vasquez said. 

 

“There were a number of former employees who I talked to who mentioned, 'You know, sorry, I wish I could talk to you, wish I could dish dirt or whatever, but I signed an NDA and I can’t,'” Vasquez said. “So I don’t have a firm grasp of how many, but I can tell you it’s not three, it’s not five, not seven. It seems like it’s considerably more.” 

 

Vasquez confirmed a story about the time Matkin put a bowl on his head, as if he were wearing a yarmulke. He was impersonating the college’s previous president, who’s Jewish. 

 

Matkin told Vasquez he was "going for a couple of laughs." 

Collin College history professor and writer Michael Phillips was shocked.
“I wonder how comfortable Jewish people feel at this institution where they think a symbol of their faith is a punchline?” Phillips said. 

 

Matkin, who’s not Jewish, told Vasquez he made a mistake, and would never do that again.

 

D - Lets Make Even Better had this to say about Matkin in March of 2021:

At Collin College, a Collision Over Free Speech

Matkin says he was caught off guard by the opposition to aspects of the reopening. “What I underestimated was that there are people who are scared beyond anything that I could imagine,” he says. “And they weren’t wanting to hear somebody talk to them about operating in the new normal. What they wanted to hear was the college is closing. And I didn’t say that. If I had to go back and do it over again, I wouldn’t try to bring logic to an emotional argument as I did.”

At the time, Matkin told faculty members in an email that the effects of the pandemic were “overblown,” and that Texans were “one hundred times more likely” to die in a car crash than from COVID-19. His math was wrong, Matkin now admits, but he stands behind his point that it was possible to mitigate the risks of the virus.

“I think early on it was hard to get good information. I do not believe [the effects of the pandemic] were overblown. In fact, it’s proven to be a worldwide tragedy,” he says now. “There were things that I did say early on that—would I say them today knowing where this thing was headed and what was going on? No. What I was trying to do was calm fears and trying to help, but I wasn’t terribly helpful at that point.”

News reports citing members of her family say that Iris Meda, the Collin College nursing instructor who died in November after contracting COVID-19, first thought she would be teaching online. Matkin disputes this.

“Iris Meda was planning to teach face-to-face nursing classes from the day that she was hired, and she knew that and had been excited about it, according to folks that knew her,” he says.

Matkin says that Meda and others in her classroom were wearing masks, and administrators do not know for certain whether she contracted the virus at Collin College. One of her students did test positive for the virus shortly before she began experiencing symptoms.

“Her death is tragic,” Matkin says. “It’s unfortunately become a symbol for some [faculty members]. My response to them just recently was, ‘Friends, we have a lot of faculty members that pass away for a lot of reasons.’” (In response to calls that the college memorialize Meda, Matkin has suggestedhonoring “all of our fallen colleagues.”)

Matkin attributes his seemingly callous announcement of Meda’s death—deep in an email about other college updates and news around Thanksgiving—to something of a clerical snafu. He intended that another email with more information on Meda, including details on funeral services, would be sent out first. But it was held up while he waited for word from her family, he says. (The Thanksgiving email did not include Meda’s name.)

One of the most damaging articles about Matkin came from The Chronicle of Higher Education. 

‘That Man Makes Me Crazy’ How one president shattered norms, played down Covid-19, and sent his critics packing.

There is a lot more out there about Matkin, almost none of it flattering.

Academic Association Opens Investigation into Collin College over Fired Professors

After four months of stonewalling, Collin College reveals the ‘contacts from legislators’ over Pence critic

Collin College doesn’t renew contract of noted historian, author who was critical of school

Collin College Settles With History Professor Fired Over Tweets

Dennis, please come back!

 

Dennis, please come back!

A few days ago, I read the following statement by Mr. Dennis Diehl with some dismay: “I realize I am pretty much done with posting.” Now, while I realize that that statement is not definitive (and that he has indicated this sentiment on previous occasions), I wanted to publicly state that the quality of this forum would decline without the voice of Dennis. Yes, I have arrived at very different conclusions from him about God, the Bible, and the value of Christianity; but I believe that he brings a unique perspective to these discussions that would be sorely missed here.

We all need to occasionally hear from people who do not share our views. In fact, I would say that it is essential to anyone who would even pretend to have an open mind or to be intellectually curious. Unfortunately, most of us tend to live in self-reinforcing bubbles these days. We surround ourselves with people who share our opinions and sustain our prejudices. This is the path to stagnation and ignorance. Moreover, even when a different perspective does not persuade us to change our opinion on some subject, it almost always makes us better informed and clearer about why we believe what we believe.

Dennis’ perspective is unique in several ways. He is one of the few former ministers of the old Worldwide Church to publicly comment here. As anyone who regularly participates here also knows, Dennis is a representative of the agnostic/atheist perspective. As such, Dennis tends to present an analytical and scientific approach to most topics (and we should all be able to see value in that). It is certainly helpful for people who are emerging from the fog of Armstrongism, and who are often in the process of reevaluating their belief system, to be exposed to the kinds of questions and observations which Dennis contributes here. It is naïve to think that many of these folks are not questioning just about everything – and there is value in validating their right to have questions!

Although I am a theist and a Christian, I appreciate Dennis’ sincere desire to help people to emerge from the trainwreck of Armstrongism. His journey led him to a different set of conclusions from my own, but it has endowed him with the same compassion and need to help others that motivates most of the rest of us here. Hence, even when we challenge his conclusions (or take him to task on occasion for appearing to be condescending), we should all strive to appreciate his journey, perspective, and desire to help others. Social media sometimes has the unintended consequence of dehumanizing our responses to each other, and occasionally makes us say things that we would never dream of saying to each other when face to face. So, while I am confident that I will feel compelled to challenge Mr. Diehl on some occasion in the future (if he chooses to return to this forum), I would like to express my sincere desire that he decides to do just that!

 

Lonnie Hendrix/Miller Jones

COGWA Wants You To Know They Don't Water Things Down

Remember, THIS is a Church of God stating this! A splinter group of a splinter group. A splinter group who thought they were more evolved than their mother church, the United Church of God. So, in normal COG fashion, they had a sanctimonious hissy fit and left to form their own church, taking with them hundreds of ministers and members, only after they had enough money to keep the ministry in their privileged lifestyle. The best example of 1st-century Christianity ever!

Our job—the mission Christ gave to us—is to share God’s message of life, hope and truth with the world. We don’t believe that message needs to be updated or polished or reinvented for the modern age. The words of God are as timeless and powerful today as the day they were first recorded.

Throughout the centuries the church has ALWAYS  updated itself, polished and refined itself, and reinvented itself to adapt to the rapidly changing world they were in. While the basic principles might remain the same the overall mission and action of the church has always made itself relevant to the age it was in. Unless of course, you are a Church of God and think you are better than everyone else and you remain stuck in the unreachable "glory years" of the Worldwide Church of God under Herbert Armstrong. The current COG movement is stuck in the past, always trying to recapture some lost value or pipe dream that remains stuck in their heads.

The Bible contains the reason you were created. It contains God’s plan for you and what He expects from you. It explains where the world is heading and why—and how God is going to rescue it. It contains the blueprint for living a successful, meaningful life in the present, and inheriting eternity in the future. 

 

As the Church of God, a Worldwide Association, our job is to share that message with the world and then care for those who respond to it—to give them a place to grow and flourish. We are a community, a brotherhood of believers, marching together toward a common goal—the future promised to us by God.

COGWA, while larger than the improperly named "continuing" Church of God is almost in the same league. No one knows who they are. Other than continuing to poach COG members from other groups, little is known about them. 

Our Values 

 

Our values are developed from those of the New Testament Church. We teach the living Word of God from both the Old and New Testaments, which transforms peoples’ lives. 

 

The Church of God, a Worldwide Association, teaches and practices the same way of life Jesus Christ and the first-century Church of God followed. We observe the seventh-day Sabbath and the annual Sabbaths or Holy Days, as did Jesus and the early Church.

There is no Church of God today with any ties to Herbert Armstrong that teaches and practices what Jesus taught and what the 1st-century church did. No matter how much they claim this, they do not. 

PCG: Absurd Statement's By Gerald Flurry

 

When one looks at the appalling history of the Philadelphia Church of God breaking up families and telling parents to abandon their children at the mall for the state to take care of, it is rather hypocritical to see Gerald Flurry say the following things about the family. Of course, family to him is ONLY those who are currently PCG members. Former members are considered apostate, regardless of whether they are a spouse, parent, child, grandparents, etc. Those people are discarded by the wayside unless they fully repent and return to the fold and submit to Flurry and his apostate hierarchy, AND after reading Mystery of the Ages and Malachi's Message, AGAIN. Salvation cannot be archived without reading these two books. The simple scriptures on salvation are moot points with all the rigamarole that PCG puts their members through which can be stripped away at a moment's notice.

God’s people must be an example to the world of showing no partiality, and treating each member of Christ’s Body with honor. That way of life must begin within the Church because God wants it to reach every corner of the world! “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10). Hold to the Head, Jesus Christ, and then reach out to all those within God’s Church, and then everyone in the world, as we have the opportunity. 

PCG is not unified and never has been. Members are leaving by the day. Division fills the church, including in the elite realm of the chosen ones. They are always on edge fearing that they are going to piss off the Dear Leader and be banished from the cult compound.

God wants His Church to “dwell together in unity” (Psalm 133)—to be of “one spirit” and “one mind,” “likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind” (Philippians 1:27; 2:2)—to “speak the same thing,” with “no divisions,” “perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Corinthians 1:10). He wants His people to be “as one man” (Ezra 3:1). That is truly deep Family unity! 

No one and I repeat NO ONE, who has ever left the PCG has lost ANYTHING! There is NOTHING that they need to recapture. What they do need to do is dump 99.99% of the crap they were taught into the rubbish bin and burn it. 

James really emphasizes this truth. He is showing the Laodiceans how much they have lost, and how much they are going to have to recapture in order to make it into the eternal Family of God! They must get back to the Family understanding. 

Gerald thinks that within the next 10 years the end times will have hit and the PCG members will be transformed into mini gods and goddesses and will be educating the world with the message of Gerald and Lil'Stevie Flurry. 

Probably within a decade, God’s people are going to be teaching the world about the Family of God! This world desperately needs that Family education. That is what God wants to give it most of all.

The world does NOT need the family education that Flurry rants about. The world needs NOTHING that Flurry has to offer.

That Bizarre Round-robin African Ordination

 

From a reader who reminds us how Bwana Bob Thiel was ordained after no COG leader or minister would ever do it.

Let's not forget about Bicontinental Bob's bizarre round-robin ordination ceremony a few years ago. 

 

He traveled to Africa to meet with one of his new leaders who was already styling himself as an "Evangelist" from some previous ordination. This African "Evangelist" told his people that he would be ordaining Bob in the ceremony. Bob, however, thought he was ordaining the African guy into leadership in his ACOG. 

 

This tells us that Bob was insecure, deep down, about his own status as an Overseer who had been double-anointed but never before ordained. And it shows us how the African and American leaders use each other for their own gain.

PCG's New Logo To Deceive Israelis

 

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”).

Should Philadelphian Christians Be Meta's? After All, It Could Be 666!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Maybe

 

Imagine for a moment the African followers of the Great Bwana Bob Thiel and his improperly named "continuing" Church of God. Imagine walking 5 miles or more to attend sabbath services in a building with a tin roof with the hot sun beating down on it. Imagine sitting there and having to listen to this taped crap as the sermonette. Heck, imagine being one of his 304 caucasian members having to listen to this! Jesus doesn't give a shekel about this kind crap!

Metaverse: Metasurveillence 666?
In the Fall of 2021, Facebook changed its name to Meta. Microsoft’s Bill Gates and Meta’ s Mark Zuckerberg are pushing for something called the metaverse? What is ‘meta’? What is a metaverse? Will it be the next logical step in the computer world? Will it bring utopia? Will it instead more facilitate a dystopian world? Does any of this have possible ramifications of 666 control and surveillance? What about the prophesied coming famine of the word? Could Europe’s ‘European Public Prosecutor’s Office’ possibly have potential to enforce 666 controls on buying and selling? What should Philadelphian Christians do?

Philadelphia Church of God Hypocrisy On Smartphones and Social Media

  

There have been several reports over the years about the Philadelphia Church of God telling members to not own smartphones. Even the younger people at Herbert Armstrong College are not supposed to have them unless of course, you are a child of one of the elite leaders (Turgeon) and all of them have smartphones.

In spite of all of this idiocy, the PCG sure loves to use all of the current social media platforms to spread their fake gospel message around on.

March 30, 2021 

 

Smartphones were forbidden to be used by those on campus last year (read November 19, 2020 letter: “PCG Ruling Says No Smartphones Allowed“). It was January 24, 2020 when Andrew Locher gave a sermon about “Technology Use” where he said using smart devices will “destroy our teenagers.” That was the time G. Flurry put in place policies that would eliminate Smartphones on campus to “set the example for the brethren,” even though some did not obey that policy at the time. 

 

The February 21, 2020 phone policy update said full time ministers were “expected to switch from their Smartphones to a future phone.” However, if some needed a Smartphone for their business, that was okay. G. Flurry “approved” the use of i-pads if you needed one. Then the April 2020 Pastor General’s Report reiterated again that the cell phone policy for ministers was that ministers should not be using Smartphones unless they were required to use one for their business. There were no exceptions for this policy. Minister’s wives were likewise expected to make the transition away from Smartphones. 

 

Not all members have been following this policy because this subject about Smartphones was brought up again at the recent PCG Ministerial Conference when Stephen Flurry gave a lecture. He talked about what he called “the signs of warning and danger” for the congregation if they used Smartphones. One of the warning signs he said was “too much technology.” 

 

Wayne Turgeon on day two of the conference gave a lecture on “Materialism” [Note by ESN: Why then did Turgeon in a 2021 sermon refer to all the materialism, riches and luxuries at HQs as “perks and fringe benefits” for being the few first fruits on this earth?] and said, “Materialism [not Charles Darwin] is the father of evolution and what we call human nature is really Satan’s nature. [Note by ESN: Human nature is that which makes us distinctly human] … People change a little at a time in the direction of the masses as they are influenced a little at a time.” This sounded to me exactly how PCG members change a little at a time as they are influenced by the leader’s mind control. 

 

I know several members in PCG who all have Smartphones. But if G. Flurry continues his crack down, the day could come when we’ll see them with a flip phone again. It’s ridiculous to what lengths PCG will go to in order to keep members from finding out the truth about PCG. I know GF is also worried about someone recording their sermons with these Smartphones. 

 

Members have been told that if they want to overcome they must hear what God (i. e., PCG government) is saying about this. 

 

Members, however, are still using Smartphones. –[name withheld] Gerald Flurry Cracks Down On Smartphone Usage By Ministers and Church Members