Church of God Network is an amalgamation of various COG groups uniting together for a common cause, usually devoid of the extremism extant in some COGs today. If I were still involved in the COG movement, this group would certainly be more joyful and encouraging than most of the larger COG groups are. Their feast sites certainly look and sound so much better. They also have been really successful in capitalizing on social media and its powerful impact.
A comment on their video had this:
Enjoyed the fireside chat going through decades of history and real life experience without any bitterness. Love the empathy he has towards people who are still stuck in PCG and can’t escape because the moment they do their family disowns them . Eric was right to say that the PCG look down on other groups and look down on those who leave PCG, attend other Church of God groups and people in the world in general. That is unless you are someone who furthers their own false prophesies about Jeroboam.
The Church of God movement has a problem, and it is not centered on so-called anti-COG websites and blogs. When everyday members also recognize the lies and abuse currently going on, it should be a wake call to the bigger groups. Their members are leaving in droves and going with more rational COG groups, including COG7, or nowhere at all. The glaring problem is that these problematic groups really don't care and carry on as usual.
Church of God Network's mission and vision statements should be a wake-up call to the Churches of God. You are failing your people, and people are waking up. The church had a chance to reenvision itself when the changes all happened, and yet the vast majority carried on the same old way, carrying on the abuse and outlandish prophecy lies. Today, younger COG members have a chance to create a new vision.
Our Mission
To help build community within the Church of God by facilitating connection, encouraging conversations, and giving back.
At Church of God Network, our mission is simple: to help build a vibrant and united global Church of God community. Through meaningful connections, engaging conversations, and giving back, we’re creating the framework for connection through the world of social and in-person networking. Join us as we embark on this incredible journey, where your voice matters and your passion strengthens our network.
Our Vision
Imagine a cohesive and dynamic Body of Christ, where fellowship abounds, open communication is the norm, and active cooperation fuels growth. We’re dedicated to nurturing a Church of God community where members from each COG organization come together in harmony to do good works with and for one another. Our vision is simple: A community that thrives on unity of the spirit, understanding, and a shared sense of purpose for the coming Kingdom of God.
32 comments:
One commenter said “Absolutely brilliant interview. Eric covered a lot of PCG history while leaving a lot of the really nastier stuff out that happened in that place.”
Well not bringing the “nastier” stuff out to public attention is a complete disservice to the listeners! If you are going to do an interview about the PCG then you have a responsibility to inform your listeners what it really is all about. And if you don’t know, educate yourself! I can promise you most people have no idea the abuses that go on in there, and not getting that out YOU the host then shoulder some responsibility because you are contributing to the PCG’s highly secretive operations. Also you probably have some people inside the PCG listening and even most of them have little to no awareness of what actually goes on, so it would benefit them to hear it also. The PCG go to great lengths to protect their people from hearing about other people’s experiences, this is basically the sole purpose of their cut off policy. And I’m guessing the host didn’t allow names to be named, well let me fill in a couple for you…. FRED DATTALO is HQ minister so obviously the man who kicked them out and unable to answer Eric’s questions & JOEL HILLIKER the arrogant bootlicker who grossly gushes the support GF at all costs narrative , because “God HAS to back his man”, Gerry. These men don’t deserve to be protected.
Interesting. Definitely some perspectives there which I had not considered regarding why people stay. Towards the end, they seemed to reduce our community here at Banned to a monolith (anyone who has ever spent any time here surely realizes we are NOT of one mind), but that's OK. Obviously, these two gentlemen appear to be sticking with the original teachings, so they would not or could not completely understand us. We are the troubleshooters for the ACOGs, so I have no problem with people troubleshooting us.
I still maintain that the basic Armstrongite doctrines cause the evils we see in these organizations. If one practices them on ones own, in the home, the problematic church governance issues never come into play. That only happens when you attempt to organize it into an authoritarian church. After all, many Jewish people observe the same customs we did, and are happy in them, and edified by them. It's why I still partially self identify as a Jew. HWA taught us that because we had the proper understanding and the correct doctrines, and kept them, God would reveal the true meanings of end times prophecy to us. The failures in understanding prophecy would seem to indicate that we did not have these things right. But, again, totally OK. Each of us is at a different state of advancement in our education and understanding.
BB
Trying to get my head around what this CGN really means or likely to achieve.
It says they are not a church and don't want to compete with the churches people are in. They say to keep sending the tithe to the church they are in , and not to CGN.
They want a communion devoid of the extremism content. In further reading this anti-extremism principle seems to mean only the acknowledgment that the prophecies are indefensible.
They go on, however, to state all festivals of the old covenant are 'required observances', as is the keeping of the ten commandments in which the seventh day gets special mention.
They say other holidays that Christians have such as Christmas are pagan . This erroneous statement alone shows they have learned little and merely repeat slogans that came from Armstrong, Russell, Rupert, and others in the Miller movement.
They say to keep sending tithe to the COG they are in thereby binding people to the false tithing principle.
Thus, proceeding on the false assumption they are not extreme - when in fact they still are - it seems a club where people holding the above views can come together on line and achieve something.
Holding on to the false assumption they have the truths and are special as they keep sabbath and allegedly all other commandments.
Seems to me little will change. CGN will do nothing to help people get out of the false teachings of Armstrong's and encourage the believer to remain in the systems they find themselves.
I suspect that it will fizzle out in due course as it merely perpetuates falsehoods and refuses to face up to the fundamental errors of Armstrongism.
After watching it I had the opposite thought. I know how people in the PCG think, as I am also a former member. The moment you come across as bitter and with an axe to grind, they tune you out and use it against you. Approaching them from a calm and rational tone explaining how they teach false doctrines may actually be a way to reach some of them. Maybe the person that was being interviewed doesn’t have any nasty stories that happened to him. Is it his job to tell someone else’s story or his own? I don’t know the legal ramifications of telling stories that could be considered hearsay, but maybe that was also a consideration. If you know things, as it seems you do, and you think those things would help the people inside, why don’t you tell them to everyone?
Absolutely if you come across bitter, they’ll use that. But they will use anything. They’ll lie and accuse people sharing their stories of lying. Call it an attack from Satan etc, anyone who’s been inside knows this. But the host seems to want to unite the COG’s and be a place for the exiting PCG member to land etc. it’s delusional to think the PCG can be grouped in with the other more “liberal” COG groups. It will never happen. But if he’s educated himself on mind control, and other cult tactics the cult uses, he would not only inform the listeners including PCG memebers, but maybe open up his own eyes to the tactics that HWA also used. But then again maybe all these youg COGers, probably don’t even have a surface understanding of HWA/WCG history. He has a platform, use it to help not sugar coat or avoid uncomfortable subjects. FYI- over the years I’ve shared many stories.
Agree there’s a big difference between the PCG and other offshoots, and it’s not just in their prophecies.
Was just discussing this with some people, had we come across CGN rather quickly after leaving, we may have just settled in there because it was less controlling, yet familiar and comfortable. We would have never done the research, learned the history and origins of HWA’s religion. How we thought we had special understanding of the Bible when really it’s very much the opposite. So glad I am not stuck there.
Good points you make. Yes the deception of the cog group believing all truth resides with them. Each of these groups believe this yet still remain separate. Best to you
The Church of God Network writes. "...come together in harmony to do good works with and for one another". While I attended WWCG services, I performed umpteen good works for other members, only to discover that it was all a one way street. So I refuse to be a member of any group unless it accepts that relationships are a two way street. The bible uses the expression "one another" as in love one another, serve one another etc over 50 times. One another means two way rather than one way. . There are respected philosophers who completely reject community because of the level of theft within so called "community," but others point out true community does enrich people's lives.
Community needs to be properly defined and applied rather than it being the game of the unjust steward in disguise. The wolf in sheep's clothing thingy.
One of the very basic problems in Armstrongism is that it was always taught that certain people are to be treated differently from others. It was a "my way or the highway" organization in which even the brethren were expendable. If people ever left the church, they were to be shunned. Your unconverted relatives were "less than". To varying degrees in its existence the Armstrong organization taught that it was not possible to have the same kind of love for people whom God was not calling at this time, which included your relatives, your coworkers, your friends at school. This was "Satan's world", and you were not to do anything to help it along, such as contributing to its charities. You didn't even pray for outsiders. It was presumptuous to pray that God would call your loved ones, or others.
This has a name. It is called conditional love, and there were myriad excuses for excluding others, for not treating them in a loving way. Conditional love cannot exist without judgmentalism. The basic problem is that the human mind does not work that way. You either love others, or you don't. Love is not something you can produce on demand, to turn off and on. Even if you could, how would you administer your love in a loving way? Are you going to "fake it 'til you make it"?
This had many carry-overs. Perfect love casts out fear. However, did we not all fear the ministers? Did anyone ever have a functional, loving relationship with their Armstrongite minister???
It also messes up your sex life! How are you going to have a spontaneous and passionate sex relationship if your wife fears you? Or do you even care?Fear really kills any sort of deep emotional attachment. Love is the key ingredient, the electricity which drives a healthy marriage relationship, not the knowledge that you are both enslaved by and programmed by an authoritarian church!
In order to understand a system and to know why it does not work, sometimes you must use another example. Communism, for example, has been tried many times over many years, and has always been shown not to work. The basic philosophy devalues human life. You cannot change this simply by exchanging leaders. The philosophy behind it has produced those leaders, and has caused them to behave as they do. The same is true of Armstrongism. The doctrines are what produce the leaders, and cause their behavior. This is something which CGN does not understand. If they ever do morph into a real church organization, with a structure involving ministry and leaders, they will become exactly like the groups they have left.
BB
Regardless of the platform a story from an ex PCG member was able to be shared which is rare. It will definitely resonate with more PCG people if he doesn’t attack specific people. I am sure some people in PCG who watch the video will stop and think they had similar thoughts over the years. If he had just attacked a bunch of deceived and/or abusive ministers it would serve no purpose to those whose minds are mostly closed. They will use their favourite line “he has a government issue”.
The interviewer had to walk away from family by leaving the PCG, people he will never see again. At least he saved his own wife and children. That’s a big decision to make.
I know of quite a few situations where people are staying to be with their families and know it’s all a load of rubbish. Their numbers are probably inflated because of that. These people attend feasts, go to church activities, secretly continue to talk to family in and out.
The cut off policy is very close to me and it causes deep trauma. In some cases for people it’s probably less traumatic faking it attending than leaving all your family and them coldly (they call it love) cutting you off like you never existed.
Hopefully people will learn to see the fake humility of Gerald Flurry and his desire for power and control. What about a recent comment on his Key of David program? He says “we are going to be KING of KINGS”. Flurry has such delusions of grandeur that on top of delivering a message to Jesus Christ and handing the throne to him, Gerald Flurry also thinks he shares the title with Christ - King of Kings!
That Satanic Fraud Gerald R. Flurry
Gerald R. Flurry was a plagiarizing (with his Malachi's Mess. “little book” derived from Jules Dervaes' Letter to Laodicea), gospel suppressing (with his “new commission” to “warn the Laodiceans”), family wrecking (with his “No Contact” policy), Jesus' identity stealing (with his “That Prophet” fraud), self promoting (with dozens of names titles, offices, and positions he made up for himself), editor and changer of Herbert W. Armstrong's old literature (such as Mystery of the Ages, etc.) who falsely claimed to be faithfully holding fast to everything that HWA had taught while actually editing, changing, warping, mangling, and totally perverting HWA's teachings.
And don't even get me started about all the old male and female sex maniacs, sex perverts, and predators who went to Gerald Flurry's satanic filth cult for their own selfish and immoral reasons.
That video interview gives the impression that many PCG members know very well that there are all sorts of problems with Gerald Flurry's teachings but that they simply do not care. They go to the PCG for their own reasons and to do their own things. They think that biblical truth does not matter to them or to their practical daily lives. And yet they think that they are somehow automatically better than everyone else and in the one true splinter group. It might surprise them to learn someday that their lifelong support of nonsensical evil indicated that they were not a part of the true church. They were part of a bad group that was doing bad things.
That guy Eric in the video who spent his life from about age 12 back in1992 until about a year and a half ago is still trying to defend his having gone along with something as perverse and evil as the PCG.
Furthermore, Eric is still criticizing the Banned blog which had been warning people for so many years about the evils in the PCG.
Maybe people like Eric who spent too much time in the PCG will always have subtly and incurably warped minds.
Do you actually have a story to share about sex maniacs and sex perverts? You throw that around a lot, so maybe it’s time to share?
That’s why CGN is so dangerous, it doesn’t allow people to move on from Armstrongism.
The Jehovah's Witnesses dissident sites also claim that their church would fall apart if it wasn't for their harsh shunning policy towards former members. It's very much a self preservation policy rather than the stated "for their own good" excuse.
Firstly, most PCG membership don’t actually know about this site. The ministers are most definitely aware. The members don’t look at any anti PCG sites UNTIL they start waking up. It’s not like being in the other COG groups. There you can leave and still hang onto your friendships and family. Have you ever had to say goodbye to everyone you ever knew knowing that you will never see them again? You seem to lack a bit of empathy and understanding and come across spiteful towards people who feel trapped. Sometimes people look at these sites for years before leaving . If you bash people here for being so stupid that is not helpful.
The only wares mind is yours . Banned doesn’t warm people it does what PCG dues. Ir hates on people and puts them down while feeling they are so superior .while you hate the organisation , its policies , beliefs etc with it attacking the person . It’s comments from people like you why banged is despised by so many and why ESN is a better option .
In my opinion, are two different sides of the same coin . Just a bunch of Pharisees and cold , heartless judgmental people .
The Dwindling PCG
About 25 years ago in the late 1990s, Gerald Flurry's son-in-law Wayne Turgeon mentioned that there were about 7,000 people in the PCG and that more people had already gone through the PCG (that is, left it or got kicked out of it) than were currently attending.
Now the PCG is down to about 3,000 people.
At least the PCG attendance numbers are heading in the right direction.
PCG Demoniacs Upset By The PLAIN TRUTH
Gerald R. Flurry is the worst false prophet that Satan ever sent against the former Worldwide Church of God people. The PCG members are now his guilty accomplices who support his satanic behavior. PCG members are kept in ignorance and taught to reject their own families and to rage away like a bunch of demoniacs about all the “evil Laodiceans” (that is, the people who do not support Gerald Flurry's monstrous lies).
Then, spelling-challenged types like Anonymous at 12:42 AM whine that if anyone simply points out the PLAIN TRUTH about the PCG it might upset the sensitive PCG members and prevent them from swallowing their foolish pride and leaving the PCG scam (that is, repent and change from all the evil that they have supported and personally done).
Well, maybe telling the PLAIN TRUTH will actually help people to leave the PCG. Another concern is to help prevent any more people from being deceived and defrauded by the PCG in the first place. It is easier to learn outside of the PCG, because once inside the PCG Gerald Flurry forbids people to learn anything other than his latest new and outrageous heresy.
All current, as well as supposedly former, PCG members need to STOP supporting Satan's work.
Man, you really hit the nail on the head. Anyone who has ever been in the PCG is incurably warped and beyond salvation. He should have never left, because there’s no way forward now, since he was in the PCG since he was a kid. While he did leave, he should have left sooner. While he did lose his family and friends, he should have lost them sooner too. Hopefully one day everyone can be as wise and knowing as you are. I’m sure, based on your comments, you’ve lost your family and friends too, so you obviously know how easy that was to do. Maybe someday you can share with everyone how you did it, and how you did it exactly when it was the right time to do it, so we can all understand how weak and pathetic we are. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with us. Solomon has nothing on you, he is the third stooge to your Einstein.
Big-Time Identity Theft And Extreme Deception
In January 1995, the Worldwide Church of God officially did the Great Apostasy by openly writing up in its Worldwide News newspaper that it was throwing out of the WCG virtually everything that Herbert W. Armstrong had taught. The Devil's APOSTATE Joseph W. Tkach, Sr. had been influenced by his son Joseph Tkach, Jr. and his buddies to do this. Previously, they had deliberately lied about what they were doing and had tried to deny that they were making any doctrinal changes.
Some of the WCG people went with Gerald Flurry's PCG splinter group because he used HWA's name and photograph all the time to attract them. Gerald Flurry also started to illegally republish HWA's last book called Mystery of the Ages. This deception was extremely clever, because Gerald later edited and changed the book so it would not expose his own massive doctrinal changes.
In the late 1990s, Gerald R. Flurry tried to pull off the IDENTITY THEFT OF THE AGES by claiming that he himself, rather than Jesus, was the one prophesied about in Deuteronomy 18:18-19 that everyone had to listen to or else God would call them to account. From then on, Gerald Flurry wanted everyone in his PCG splinter group to call him “That Prophet.”
Many people were very disturbed by this sudden and unexpected twist and left the PCG over this matter. Not only had the Devil sent his APOSTATE Joseph W. Tkach, Sr. against them in the Worldwide Church of God, but now Satan had also sent his FALSE PROPHET Gerald R. Flurry against them in his PCG splinter group.
Several hundred of them went on to join David C. Pack's RCG splinter group because he had written a booklet proving that Jesus, and not Gerald Flurry, was “That Prophet.” Unfortunately, David Pack later went on to delete his great little booklet and to claim that he himself was “That Prophet.” Who would have ever expected that Satan would send not just an APOSTATE like JWT, Sr. and one FALSE PROPHET like GRF, but also a second, back-up, FALSE PROPHET like DCP? Many WCG people had vastly underestimated the sneakiness of Satan the Devil.
It is very interesting that Eric in the video makes it sound like he knew very well from the start that Deuteronomy 18:18-19 was obviously referring to Jesus and not to Gerald Flurry. It is also extremely interesting that he did not think that such an outrageous thing had any practical effect on the comfortable life that he was living. Now, beware of Eric's own extremely subtle deceitfulness and of thinking that it is harmless.
Comments like this is why Banned is a hate filled site . Completely arrogant, judgemental and self righteous . No different to the PCG. Who do you people think you are determining wether someone will he saved or not ? Are you God? Do you know Eric? Has his walk on this earth ended ? You openly condemn people to eternal death then act all caring and “ Christian” . PCG do the exact same thing. Having the knowledge that a church is doctrinally wrong doesn’t make you better than them when you act and talk like them . I feel sorry for all of you . Can’t imagine what hate has done to your minds and Love challenged lives . You sound like very empty people void of the fruits of the spirit because the bitterness over all these years seems to run deep and has completed blinded you of what you really have become on the inside.
Anonymous at 1:01 PM said...“You openly condemn people to eternal death then act all caring and “ Christian” . PCG do the exact same thing.”
SHAME on you for telling such lies.
I never “openly condemn people to eternal death.”
It is the PCG that is full of fake ministers who get their thrills kicking people out of the PCG and pretending that they have the power to condemn them to eternal death.
It is the PCG members who thought that they were right and that everyone else was wrong, and now do not want to admit that they themselves were the ones who were wrong.
If this wasn’t you than one direct to the person that said it
AnonymousMonday, December 2, 2024 at 9:52:00 AM PST
“Man, you really hit the nail on the head. Anyone who has ever been in the PCG is incurably warped and beyond salvation.”
So you know every single member which was in the PCG over the years ?Whether they feel they were wrong.?
So you know what’s in their mind in their heart what they’re thinking ?what they’re doing now?,how they are living their lives ?what their belief system they have?
So you must be the all-powerful all knowing one
That’s estreme, I’ve spent basically the same the amount of time in The PCG as Eric and I can assure you my mind isn’t permanently warped, it can definitely be undone! Because of the way the PCG operates, people just can’t up and leave, it’s a process and can be traumatic. You’ve obviously never had to walk away from family knowing the relationship would completely end and in most cases the members inside become pretty hateful, though they’ve been brainwashed into thinking it’s love. There is a PCG Facebook group and I’d say most of the people on there who have been cut off from their Mom’s and Dad’s have some serious trauma etc. it’s an evil and unnatural thing to have happen. This sort of stuff is what I think needs to be a disclaimer if you are going to do a podcast on the PCG, rather than making them sound like they are just another off shoot. I think it was good that Eric told his story there, because possibly some members would have listened where had they would not have tuned into a cult podcasts.
In the animal kingdom, baby animals eventually become adults. Christians should likewise mature and not need a supreme daddy church leader and his daddy ministers. All these exalted titles that ACOGs leaders give themselves are an attempt to keep members in the baby state. It called infantilization.
🤣🤣🤣
CGN is all smiles aren't they? I mean CGN believe they are so large minded because they (CGN) can talk to and accept anyone as long as they are good with most facets of Armstrongism! How wonderful (sarc)!
The small-minded, judgmental, and hateful comments here are not particularly surprising, but are very telling about so many who have had any association with the COGs. Many of you have never recovered, healed, or even tried to address your wounds. You're just spewing garbage on the internet.
This should be a story to celebrate: a man and his family finally had the clarity and courage to leave a cult group. He told his story in a way he hoped would inspired others in the group to consider the same path.
And the only thing most of you are focusing on is that he didn't do it the way you would have perfectly done it.
Good grief. Get a life.
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