The following was on the Non Seventh-day Adventist - never to return Facebook page. Adventistism has the same issues that Armstrongism has, which isn't surprising since we all have the same bad roots in Millerism.
Pastor chasing has been the face of the Church of God since its very creation. People chased HWA in the 1930's when they broke off from the Stansbury COG. Then, GTA took his groupies with him when he was finally kicked out of the WCG.
Look at how people followed Rod Meredith from one failed church to the next, in spite of all the corruption that was on display.
Then, we got to watch as the apostates Dave Pack and Bob Thiel broke off with their own groupies. However, with Bob, it is less about groupies following him than opportunists who saw a gullible American with money who needed his narcissistic ego stroked. One thing is for certain with his African followers, "pastor chasing" is big over there, all thanks to Adventistism and Armstrongism.
This is sure to set Bob Thiel and others off as this is in direct rebellion against their idea of church members kowtowing to their imagined church government power structure.
Millions of Christians have placed pastors in front of their lives, when the real Shepherd should be Jesus Christ. If they were real shepherds, they would point you to Jesus Christ and not to themselves. If they were real shepherds they would follow Jesus Christ, instead of following man-made traditions themselves. The "clergy/laity" system is a man-made tradition of long standing. Do you know any "pastors" who refuse to have personal followers 
Did Jesus Christ ever teach "follow your pastors" and be pastor chasers The purpose driven church would lead you to believe that pastors are your infallible, inerrant spiritual leaders. They would also have you believe that you cannot live without your pastors. The one great fear all church pastors of every persuasion have is that you will STOP following them and their teachings. The reason is because when Christians STOP following pastors, then pastors will lose their power, their prestige, their comfort zone, their free money, their pride, their position, their authority. When this happens, people will only have one chose left either they follow Jesus Christ, or they reject Jesus Christ. Does anyone ever consider that chasing pastors is a rejection of Jesus Christ? Is it complete heresy to say that churches are idols of worship? Do we worship pastors and churches, or do we worship our heavenly Father in Spirit and in truth? 
13 comments:
One thing is for certain with [Bob's] African followers, "pastor chasing" is big over there, all thanks to Adventistism and Armstrongism.
One big difference is that the Africans sometimes chase multiple pastors at once to maximize the subsidies. Imagine an American widow applying to UCG, LCG, and COGWA for third-tithe assistance. The organizations would never let someone get away with that, but in Africa it's easy enough to fool distant Americans and collect from multiple pastors.
since we all have the same bad roots in Millerism>>>>>
Just a bit about Millerism and other that may interest. Armstrong copied the 2520 years theory from Miller of the early Adventists, and from Russell who had founded the Jehovah Witnesses`.
You can find William Miller calculations on line. He applied 2520 years to the date ‘’Israel’’ was said to be made captive by Assyria which he said was in 677 BC thus deriving 1843 AD to be the year Jesus was to return (later edited to be 1844, then some others) - needless to say these and all subsequent revisions were incorrect.
(Miller had used four different calculation methods to derive 1843 which is why he was so convinced to be right. The 2520 yr method was but one of the four).
Armstrong copied the 2520 year theory from these earlier preachers, applying it to a different date when Israel's punishment was said to begin - in 721 B.C., when destroyed by Assyrians - and Armstrong ended up with 1800 which he alleged was the year when USA and UK achieved the promises to be great nations under his British Israel theory.
All such dates being utterly meaningless as it can be shown for anyone interested that the 2520 yr theory is just hocus pocus with no biblical warrant whatsoever.
(It was also used by other dubious leaders such as Barbour who has met these early Adventists, and Russell of the Jehovah Witnesses who borrowed the idea from Barbour. In Russell's case he said 607BC was the date of the fall of Jerusalem and by adding 2520 years gave his teaching that in 1914 AD as Jesus's return.
All users if the theory failed simply because it is a stupid unbiblical theory).
Armstrong - like most of his theology - simply copied this 2520 yrs from earlier times. All utter nonsense sold under the guise of truth to sincere believers.
Is this post a joke? A break from the usual? A parody gone wrong?
Pastor chasers?? Haha! What a joke. Never in all my years have I ever heard such an expression from amongst the members.
This must be 'minister private talk' for it is not church members talk. Thanks for exposing how some of the ministry perceive the members.
The problem becomes that when humans pursue a spiritual relationship, it's axiomatic that they would seek out other humans whom they deem to be more advanced in that odyssey. All manner of things can happen to the people on both sides of that equation without realization of what is actually happening. The human element is still present, through personal opinion, dependencies, emotion, ego, delusion, and the surrounding system or culture in which it is all taking place. Extreme caution is advisable. Checks and balances. You want a multitude of counsel, as opposed to single sourcing.
There are those who spend more time and effort selecting the proper dog or cat at the Humane Society than they do their teachers, gurus, or life counsellors.
BB
But..but..were't certain Jews, John the Baptist chasers and then Jesus, James, Peter and John Chasers? And weren't certain Gentiles, Apostle Paul chasers?
"Be careful of your gurus. Sugar and Salt look the same."
Reality plainly shows that manmade religion is NOT of Yahweh. Ask any member of any COG organization, what is the Father's Name and the Name of His Son? In my concordance there are three pages referring scriptures of what is important to Him and what we should be doing about it.
A clear understanding of what these scriptures mean is an absolute must if one considers themselves to be part of Yahshua's assembly. Until this happens, all of the COG members are breaking the third commandment.
Taking the Most High's Name in VAIN means much more that many have come to assume. What is really surprising is that scripture reveals that at the very end, people will be not only using their Names, but will come to lough themselves for NOT using it.
4:04, I call false dichotomy, one that is irrelevant to Christians. Only an atheist would compare the scripturally real to the bogus of today and find that relevant or worthwhile.
"Follow me as I follow Christ" is a favourite (Canadian spelling) ploy that I have heard countless times from the COG movement as well as many other shlock ministries. I got exposed to the Purpose Driven movement years back, and that led to my departure from what is referred to as mainstream Christianity. I couldn't take all of that nonsense any longer after leaving WCG, and neither could I stomach listening to the likes of John McArthur, Gene and Melissa Scott, Brother Scare (Stair), Paul Washer, and countless others. I still have my faith, but I realized long ago that I would have to dispense with all of those mouthpieces who claim to be God's representatives on earth. Sometimes it seems that the world of religion is utterly insane! Just listen to all of those religious crackpots on shortwave sometime.
Hey, Mits,
I used to listen to Dr. Gene Scott back during the '80s, more of less for entertainment purposes. Never did attend his services or become one of his Gideons, though. The main attraction for me was that he used some deep resources which no other teacher was using at the time. I also liked his method of gestalting from these considerable resources to form a more complete picture. He appeared to be a human polyglot, drawing upon many additional ancient scriptural texts, such as Aramaic, Coptic, and Ethiopic, to get a more precise picture of the meanings of specific scriptures. And, then there was the showmanship on his TV program. One Halloween program began with a skull shaped pipe, filled with tobacco, which he lit prior to launching into some ghost stories. He'd snip the end from a cigar so it would draw better, and announce that he had just circumcised it. And on his fund-raising programs, he'd play "I Wanna Know" over and over between updates on the offering totals. It's not as if that song was a smash hit on Boss Radio or underground KMET, but I love gospel music. In fact, there was an African American church across the street from the front entrance of AC Press, and whenever we pulled overtime on Sunday, I'd spend 10:00 break out there, drinking in the sounds of their awesome music! Ya know, we really underused the talents of our Black brethren in the old WCG! We could have had some of that as our special music on holy days or even the sabbath, but, nooooo! We had to be such "Israelites", and encourage people of other ethnicities to repent of and abandon their own awesome cultures! We seemed to love our tacos and other foods and music on Mexican night "socials". Why not a little soul food and music on social occasions to helpbalance it all out? Guess HWA wouldn't have appreciated Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, or Solomon Burke!
Anyhoo, thanks for triggering some pleasant memories. Too bad Bob Thiel wasn't a fan and didn't drink in of Dr. Gene's presentational abilities! Thing is, he'd most likely butcher it too, so I guess it's just as well. Somebody surely should have, though. It rivaled that of the Armstromgs!
BB
4.04 am, John the Baptist, James, Peter, Paul etc, were Christian teachers and leaders. They did not try to convince their audiences that they were in place of God but instead pointed to God the Father and Christ.
A big contrast to today's church leaders with their ever expanding fancy titles, such as Gerald Flurry claiming that he is now the new king of England.
Re: The late Gene Scott. One of his favourite (Canadian spelling) barks were "The tithe is the Lord's" and "Get on the Telephone!". However, one of his most bizarre utterances is about the "mean angel" who would do bad things to believers if they failed to give what Scott called "first fruits giving". That nonsense can still be heard on his transcribed sermons that are aired on shortwave (usually on 5.935 MHz) during December and January. July is "double portion month". and in the fall, he appeals for a $203.00 donation to his ministry as there were supposedly 203 sacrifices during the Old Testament Feast of Tabernacles. His widowed wife, Melissa, is still doing her thing, speaking negatively about all other ministries and people in general. She seems to idolize her late husband and every night she drones on and on about word derivations and how people are failing in their stewardship, their commitments, and their participation in "God's work". I'm amazed at her audacity as she often sounds like a nagging primary school teacher dressing down her young pupils. She does indeed talk to people as if they were children. Her long-winded and disjointed monologues are very frustrating to listen to. I can only stand listening for a few minutes, and I don't know how her followers can put up with her frequent verbal tirades.
Considering that it came from an exSDA group, of course you didnt hear it in COGland. Can you even read?
11:20 While the post may be from exSDA site, this applies directly to Armstrongism. Every single COG splinter group was supported by members who jumped ship for the person in charge and their pastors who also defected. Pastor chasing is part of Armstrongism, no matter how hard you want to deny it. No one joined a splinter because they thought Jesus was going to be preached there. They joined because Armstrong was going to be preached.
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