What I Didn't Know About the Sabbath

 

What I Didn't Know About the Sabbath

Growing up in a Sabbathkeeping church, naturally I heard many sermons about why the Sabbath is to be observed by Christians.

To me, one of the arguments that boosted my confidence in the rightness of our practice was that the apostles observed the Sabbath.

Luke, who penned the book of Acts, records several occasions when the apostles frequented the synagogues on the Sabbath day — after Jesus ascended into heaven.

If the Old Covenant people of God, Israel, kept the Sabbath; and if Jesus, our perfect example, kept the Sabbath; and if the New Covenant people of God, the Church, kept the Sabbath, then who are we to say the Sabbath is not a Christian obligation?

Facts from Acts

It's true that the Acts of the Apostles records instances of Sabbath observance.

In fact, the Bibles in my childhood home were well marked, notably in the book of Acts, where every mention of the Sabbath was meticulously underlined and colored in red pencil. One could flip through the pages and say, “Of course the apostolic Church kept the Sabbath! Look at all the red!”

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All references to the Sabbath in this Bible are marked in red — like a stop sign, to signify the Sabbath rest. If people would just read the red, then wouldn't they have to believe that the early New Testament Church kept the Sabbath — and admit it should be observed today?

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I thought it was an air-tight argument. If anyone disagreed with the Christian obligation of Saturday Sabbath observance, then they just didn't believe the Bible. They weren't yet “called” to understand this truth, which we associated with “the Truth.”

My understanding of Sabbath observance, however, changed after a more careful, open-minded reading of the Bible.

Yes, the Acts of the Apostles gives authoritative witness to Saturday Sabbath observance at the very beginning of the Church, but let's notice what many overlook.

For your convenience, the passages under discussion are listed below.

The “Sabbath verses”

🛑 Acts 13:13-14:

Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John left them and returned to Jerusalem, but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.

🛑 Acts 13:42,44:

As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath. ...The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.

🛑 Acts 15:21:

For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.

🛑 Acts 16:13:

And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together.

🛑 Acts 17:1-3:

Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.”

🛑 Acts 18:4:

And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks.

Leading questions

A well-versed Sabbathkeeping Christian trying to persuade an average Sundaykeeping churchgoer can dominate him with these passages, accompanied by leading questions that are commonly asked:

• On which day did Paul and his companions come to the synagogue?
• On which day did the people want them to return? And who was it that came back the next Sabbath — only the Jews? Or was it “the whole city,” including Gentiles? Why didn't Paul say, “Hey, Gentiles, no need to wait a whole week. Just come back tomorrow — on Sunday, the Lord's Day”?
• In every city, on which day each week was the Law read?
• On which day did Paul go to the riverside looking for a place of prayer?
• On which day was it Paul's custom to reason from the Scriptures?

The obviously true answer to these question is: the Sabbath, or Saturday.

But that doesn't prove what our interlocutor thinks it proves.

Nevertheless, such an encounter can frustrate a person of simple faith, leaving him short of a good explanation. Most are not prepared to counter such non-traditional views.

This is not unlike the average Christian who might feel overwhelmed or tongue-tied by an articulate Jehovah's Witness citing Bible verses in a well-rehearsed presentation “proving” Jesus is not God.

The response

When faced with the claim that New Testament examples of Sabbathkeeping mean we, too, should be keeping Sabbath, remember these two hot-knife facts that cut through the soft butter of that argument:

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🔪 #1: There is not one example in all the Bible of any established Christian church meeting together in observance of the Sabbath.

🔪 #2: Without exception, every time Sabbath meetings are mentioned in the book of Acts, it is in the context of evangelization — preaching the gospel of Jesus to the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles who associated with them.

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I can't emphasize Fact 1 enough. It's a shocker to Christian Sabbathkeepers. They usually can't get beyond it, because they refuse to believe it. “What about all those red verses in Acts?” they might ask.

Fact 2 answers their question. While it's easy to understand intellectually, it's very hard to accept psychologically for the one who has defended Sabbathkeeping for years.

Go back and review the scriptures cited above. I trust you to dig deeper and see the truth for yourself in context:

Paul and his companions went on missionary journeys to preach the gospel, going first to the Jews. Where better to start spreading the gospel at that time than the synagogues — to explain how Jesus was Israel's Messiah, how he was the fulfillment of their entire religion?

And what better day than the Sabbath, when the synagogues were full of people (Jews and God-fearing Gentiles) who wanted to hear the Scriptures — those who deserved to understand them in light of the resurrected Christ?

They were following the precedent Jesus set in his instructions to the apostles when he first commissioned them to preach:

These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” (Matthew 10:5-7)

In his epistles, St. Paul emphasizes the importance of reaching the Jews with the gospel. Naturally they would be first, and then the gospel would advance to the rest of the world. It's how the early Church began.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16)

This is consistent with how even Jesus chose to reveal himself:

He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.... (John 1:11-12)

“Another day”

When I came to understand these simple facts that I had overlooked for years — namely, that the Jews were evangelized by the first Christians at the synagogues on the Sabbath day, and that there is no biblical example of established Christian churches meeting together for the Sabbath — I was surprised.

But soon I was surprised again. I was surprised by Sunday.

Here, I share What I Didn't Know About Sunday.

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The COG Catholic currently blogs at www.cogcatholic.org.

Is The Mystery Of The Ages To Obey The Law Of Moses?

The Mystery of the Ages Revealed!

Followers of the teachings of Herbert W Armstrong will recognize in this post the title of the book which elucidated the most comprehensive and succinct statement of those teachings. According to Armstrong, God had revealed to HIM seven mysteries from the Judeo-Christian canon which had eluded mankind's awareness for centuries: the true nature of God, the nature of angels and demons, the nature and destiny of humankind, the origins of our civilizations, the nature and purpose of Israel, the nature and identity of the Church, and the future scope and structure of God's Kingdom on this earth. Unfortunately, most of the perspectives provided in that book were deeply flawed and based on the faulty reasoning and understanding of its author.

More recently, Pastor Vance Stinson of the Church of God International delivered a sermon on "The Mystery of the Ages" in which he approached the subject from a slightly different perspective, but which resulted in many of the same conclusions which Herbert Armstrong reached about a Christian's obligation to obey parts of the Law of Moses. To his credit, at least Mr. Stinson appealed to Paul's usage of the term in his letter to the saints at Ephesus. Unfortunately, instead of following the scriptural evidence wherever it landed, he ended up twisting it to conform to the teachings about the Law which his church received from Herbert Armstrong!

At any rate, we will begin where he began and take another look at what is revealed in that passage and elsewhere in Scripture. Paul wrote: "For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel "good news". Of this gospel "good news", I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him." (Ephesians 3:1-12, ESV) What or who is this mystery of which he is speaking? Clearly, the mystery is that God is saving humankind through the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth!

Mr. Stinson interprets the passage as revealing that "The mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs," which is certainly a part of the message. Here, and elsewhere, Paul reveals that this salvation is available to both Jews and Gentiles. Nevertheless, the context clearly demonstrates that Jesus Christ is what has been revealed to them - that HE is the vehicle of humankind's salvation. Before leaving this particular passage, we should also note that the phrase "The mystery is...." was added by the translators of the English Standard Version - it does not appear in the King James Version. Moreover, the New Living Translation makes clearer that Paul was speaking about the entire plan of salvation (of which Christ was the focus). This is underscored by the eleventh verse of that translation: "This was his eternal plan, which he carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord." (Ephesians 3:11, NLT)

That this was the mystery that Paul was discussing is made even clearer in the opening to this epistle, and in its conclusion. In the first chapter, we read: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth." (Ephesians 1:3-10, ESV) Likewise, toward the end of the epistle, Paul asked the saints to pray "that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it." (Ephesians 6:19-10, ESV) Clearly, the mystery which Paul was speaking about is the plan to save humankind through Jesus!

Indeed, this is the mystery which Paul proclaimed in all of his epistles to the saints of the First Century. In the conclusion of his letter to the saints at Rome, he wrote: "Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen." (Romans 16:25-27, ESV) Likewise, in one of his epistles to the saints of Corinth, he wrote: "When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan. For I decided that while I was with you, I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified. I came to you in weakness—timid and trembling. And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God. Yet when I am among mature believers, I do speak with words of wisdom, but not the kind of wisdom that belongs to this world or to the rulers of this world, who are soon forgotten. No, the wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God—his plan that was previously hidden, even though he made it for our ultimate glory before the world began. But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord. (I Corinthians 2:1-8, NLT) Also, in his letter to the saints of Colossae, he wrote: "I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." (Colossians 1:25-27, ESV)

Nevertheless, in his sermon, Pastor Stinson continued to insist that Christians are obligated to observe some of the tenets of Torah. Indeed, the Armstrongist practice of lifting a few passages out of context and using them as prooftexts was apparent throughout his message. His treatment of the second chapter of Paul's letter to the saints at Ephesus is a case in point. In addressing the Gentile Christians of this congregation, Paul wrote: "Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called 'uncircumcised heathens' by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ. For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us." (Ephesians 2:11-18, NLT) What had created this wall of hostility? Could it have anything to do with the fact that the Torah was given to Israel, and that made them very different from the Gentiles who surrounded them? Clearly, Paul thought that Christ had accomplished this by "ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations."

Even so, after reading the italicized portion of the above passage as part of his text, Mr. Stinson pointed to the different courts of the Temple: One for the Jews, one for the Israelites, and one for women. He then proceeded to associate this with the "wall of hostility" which existed between the two peoples (Jews and Gentiles). Wondering where he was going with this? Pastor Stinson asserts that the Law of Moses was intended for EVERYONE, both Jews and Gentiles. What? He proceeded to point out that some Gentiles worshipped the God of the Hebrews and were included in many of the provisions of Torah. To underscore his point, he quoted many of the passages from the Torah which include "the stranger who sojourneth among you." (like Exodus 12:49, Leviticus 16:29, 17:12, 18:26, 25:6, Numbers 15:15-16, etc.)

The problem with Mr. Stinson's thesis, of course, is that ALL of these instances involve aliens/Gentiles who were then residing within the boundaries of the Promised Land. In other words, the Law of Moses did NOT generally apply to the Gentile peoples of the earth! Indeed, over and over again (as I have pointed out many times), we read in Torah "Speak unto the children of Israel." In other words, there is absolutely no disputing the fact that the Law of Moses was addressed to the "children of Israel!" Now, sure, illegal immigrants to the United States are still subject to the laws of this nation, but there is no escaping the fact that those laws were designed and intended for the citizens of the United States - NOT them.

No, Armstrongites can try to twist and reason their way around the PLAIN TRUTH that God's plan to rescue humankind from sin and death through Jesus Christ is the "mystery of the Ages" which God has revealed to the ones "he" has called out of this present system! The truth remains undiminished that the Law of Moses was an iteration of God's Law intended for the people of Israel and embodied the tenets of God's Covenant with THEM! As Paul wrote long ago to the saints of Galatia about his confrontation with the Apostle Peter over this very question of Christian observance of the Law: "When I saw that they were not following the truth of the gospel message, I said to Peter in front of all the others, 'Since you, a Jew by birth, have discarded the Jewish laws and are living like a Gentile, why are you now trying to make these Gentiles follow the Jewish traditions? You and I are Jews by birth, not ‘sinners’ like the Gentiles. Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.' But suppose we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then we are found guilty because we have abandoned the law. Would that mean Christ has led us into sin? Absolutely not! Rather, I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of law I already tore down. For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So, I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God. My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So, I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die." (Galatians 2:14-21, NLT)

 Miller Jones/Lonnie C Hendrix 

What Americans Think God Looks Like—And the Science Behind It

 

What Americans Think God Looks Like-And the Science Behind It

Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have used an innovative technique to reconstruct what the average American Christian thinks God looks like.

The results, published in the journal PLOS One ¹, offer a fascinating glimpse into the psychology of religious belief and how our own biases shape our perceptions of the divine.

A Younger, More Feminine God  

The study ¹ involved 511 Christian participants who were shown hundreds of randomly varying face pairs and asked to select which face from each pair most closely resembled their image of God.

By combining all the selected faces, the researchers assembled a composite “face of God” for each person.

 

Surprisingly, the resulting faces depicted a God who appeared younger and more feminine than the stern, elderly, white-bearded man often portrayed in popular culture. This challenges the conventional imagery of God that has been perpetuated by centuries of art and literature.

Political Beliefs Influence Perceptions of God

The study also found that people’s political affiliations played a role in how they visualized God. Conservatives tended to imagine a more Caucasian and powerful-looking God, while liberals saw God as more loving and feminine in appearance.

According to the researchers, these differences might stem from the kind of societies that liberals and conservatives envision. Conservatives may prefer a powerful God who can maintain an orderly society, while liberals may favor a more tolerant, loving God to preside over a more inclusive community.

Seeing God in Our Own Image

Perhaps the most intriguing finding was that people tended to perceive God as resembling themselves. Older participants envisioned an older God, more attractive participants saw a more attractive God, and African Americans imagined a God that looked more African American.

This reflects an egocentric bias, where we project our own traits and beliefs onto others, including our conceptions of God. “People believe in a God who not only thinks like them, but also looks like them,” explained Professor Kurt Gray, the study’s senior author.

The study sheds light on the deeply personal nature of religious belief and how our individual experiences, identities, and biases shape the way we imagine and relate to the divine. It also highlights the incredible diversity of religious views, even within a single faith tradition like Christianity.

Personally, I'm leaning towards...

As we grapple with questions of faith and spirituality, this research invites us to reflect on our own assumptions and to recognize the complex psychological and cultural factors that influence our understanding of God.

 

UCG: Reading the law every seven years

 

United Church of God has a member Bible reading program and it is currently on Deuteronomy. As they approach the Feast of Tabernacles they believe that they need to reread the law every seven years. Instead of focusing on grace, justification, and other salvation issues that have been accomplished, they continue to look back at the law of condemnation instead of forward to mercy.

Imagine if they spent as much time reading Romans, Hebrews, and Galatians!

As we approach the Feast of Tabernacles and Eighth Day and the return of Jesus Christ to this earth, we are reminded of something God commanded His people to do every seven years. We find it in Deuteronomy 31:10-13:

“And Moses commanded them, saying: ‘At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the year of release, at the Feast of Tabernacles, when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Gather the people together, men and women and little ones, and the stranger who is within your gates, that they may hear and that they may learn to fear the LORD your God and carefully observe all the words of this law, and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God as long as you live in the land which you cross the Jordan to possess.’”

Brethren, as God’s people united in His Spirit and truth and led by our Savior and soon coming King, Jesus Christ, let’s together, everyone around the world, join in reading the words of Deuteronomy this year as we look forward to the Feast. Daily Bible Reading: The Book of Deuteronomy

 

It's Tithe of the Tithe Time! Get Out Those Checkbooks!

The one thing that Armstrongism was good at was bilking its members out of their money. Whether it was the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd tithe demands, which are not commands of the New Covenant, its pathetic member appeal letters begging for money, to its building funds for elaborate auditoriums and dance studios for the elite's children, to jet aircraft purchases, the money-making activities of the church receive more effort and mention than any gospel message they attempt to preach.

As we are in Feast of Tabernacles season in COGland, the appeals are already going out for people to tithe on their tithes.

LCG has this up:

For many decades, the Church of God has practiced what is called the “tithe of the Festival tithe.” What this means is that brethren who can afford it are asked to send a tenth of their Festival tithe to the Church before the Feast, to help pay for meeting halls and other Feast expenses as well as to help brethren around the world who have limited resources to attend the Feast (Deuteronomy 14:27; 16:14). If you are able and you have not already done so, please send in your tithe of the Festival tithe for this year. This contribution is greatly appreciated.

Then, to really take advantage of members, they will ask for members to send in their excess 2nd tithe.

Gotta keep those coffers full!

The True Calendar, the Olympics Calendar: Armstrongite Wade Cox descends to his lowest level yet

Welcome Boys and Girls to another fun day in the lunatic land of the Churches of God! For a church that claims to be the "one true church that God sent the world" it is amazing to constantly witness the endless batshittery of Armstrongism. I guess part of the reason for all of this nonsense is that their focus is NOT upon The Way or the One they "claim" to follow, but instead upon many man-made irrelevant opinions of self-appointed apostate spiritual gurus.

This time it is not our favorite crackpot prophet the Great Bwana Bob Mzungu Thiel, but on that other dingbat, Wade Cox.

According to him, our salvation rests upon accepting the "true calendar" and things he calls "the law". Reading the drivel below entirely avoids the salvational work of Christ in people's lives and instead focuses upon a pissed-off "messiah" coming down to wreak havoc and destroy humanity till all who are left will be the "holy seed" of his cult members who keep the law and the Temple calendar. Everyone else will be exterminated by some giddy god who wants to come and annihilate humanity.

Humans always seem to know better than God when to regulate His Calendar system rather than paying God due deference and obedience. Judah has been punished and had millions killed simply because they will not do what they are told. So also has Israel been punished, and over the Twentieth century millions have been killed and now in the Twenty-first century untold millions more will die until Messiah arrives to put an end to the blatant and wilful insubordination of mankind and enforce God's Law and Calendar system on the world. At the end of this age the only people left alive will be the Holy Seed (Isa. 6:9-13; Am. 9:1-15) keeping God's Laws and Testimony according to the Temple Calendar. No one else will be left alive save those who obey God's Laws under the Messiah. Rabbinical Judaism and the Churches of God keeping Hillel and other than the Temple Calendar (No. 156) and who do not repent will be exterminated under the Witnesses and by the coming of the Messiah (Nos. 210A and 210B). One must realise that these people who keep this system of Hillel and the Talmud are not Jews. They are Khazars and North African and Canaanite pseudo-Jews converted to a false system, keeping a false calendar and pseudo-Jewish religious system that is based on the Babylonian Calendar system of postponements. All that system will be destroyed at the return of the Messiah.

 

That will also include the Greek Olympic system under the Olympiads. That system will be wiped out for the Olympiad of 2028 which will be under the Messiah and will simply end with the millennial system and the removal of Satan and the Fallen Host being placed in Tartaros. See The Last Olympiad (No. 299G). The paper will show what it is they understand and believe using their own hymns.

Who knew our calendar system was based upon the event calendar of scheduling the Olympics? Armstrongism's stupidity is at its lowest. 

This is just a glimpse of the asshattery of Cox and his sycophants in the so-called "christian" Churches of "god" in regard to the last Olympics in 2024. I guess I need to return my 2028 Los Angeles Olympic tickets. Bummer, dude!!

The bidding for the (34th) XXXIV Olympiad commenced in the Sabbath Year of 2019 and announced ca 2020. 2028 will be the First year of the 121st Jubilee. It is expected to be the beginning of the Millennium under rule from Jerusalem and the entire ancient Pagan system is expected to be eradicated by Christ. It is our task to warn the nations of the coming of the Messiah and we have been doing that in accordance with the instructions of Jeremiah 4:15-16.

The games coincide with the election years of the presidential terms of the USA. At first glance one might think that is merely a coincidence. However, the empirical system of the Last Days was destined to be transferred from Europe to the US as the Babylonian system was moved from the empire of the two feet of iron and miry clay of Daniel which was the Fifth Empire of the Beast. This was the Babylonian Holy Roman Empire which lasted from 590 CE to 1850 CE or a prophetic 1260 years to the Sixth and Last Empire of the Beast that was formed from the British Empire which was not formally recognised as Mystery Babylon but it served as the King of the South while it was in charge of Egypt; although it was to be the dominant imperial force of the European Sunday Worshipping Trinitarian system. 

 

The US was originally settled by the Sabbatarians under the Pilgrim Fathers from Britain via the Netherlands. However, they were followed by the Trinitarians and more importantly the Wiccans from Europe who established their ancient pagan systems there and using also the secret societies of Freemasonry. In 1776 their pagan systems were set up independently. Using the ancient timings of the early Olympiads they developed their four and eight-year cycles from the ancient pagan systems. They developed their calendar based on the ancient Wiccan calendar and based it all on the days of human sacrifice using the 13-day cycles and the feasts of Imbolg and other sacrificial feasts renamed as St. Valentine’s Day, and All Hallows Eve (Halloween) etc. and also those of Christmas and Easter.

After getting his little boy panties in a knot over the United Nations, Jesuits, Masons, NWO, and globalists he continues on with this:

They think they are in control, but they are merely pawns of Satan and they will be destroyed over the period we will term the Last Olympiad. The Games of the 33rd Olympiad were held in France in 2024 and were made into an openly Satanic Ceremony and the authorities were forced to acknowledge the problem. We explained how the end of the Four Hundred Years of Abraham’s Legacy ended in December 2023 in the Text at (No. 212J). 2024 began the Great Tribulation (No. 141D_2) This period will continue now on through to 2028. We expect to see the Vials of the Wrath of God continue on under Messiah from end 2027 to March 2028 and on to Pentecost 2028, The Vials of the Wrath of God will be in full force by 2028 having commenced sometime from the end of the 33rdOlympiad in 2024 and hopefully by Trumpets of that year.

The Tokyo Olympics were affected due to the Corona Virus outbreak of December 2019 and continuing development into 2020 and the subsequent crises to 2023.

We know that the Two Witnesses will be here 1264 days before the Messiah. 

 

We know that the Messiah will arrive to end the rule of Satan. His rule ends in end 2027 at the Jubilee in any case being 6000 years from the close of Eden in 3974 BCE. From the example of the entry to the Promised Land we deduce it can be that year that Satan is imprisoned.

The Empire of the Beast will last for one prophetic hour and rule from Jerusalem for 42 months over the time of the Witnesses (see No. 141D). The world will be dealt with and driven mad by the curses of Deuteronomy 28 (and esp. 28:34). The priests of the pagan system will be incapacitated as will the leaders of this evil system and much of it will be in captivity to the Beast and the nations it chooses to rule the administration of the Ten Toes.

No nation will be independently surviving for the Olympics under the Beast system. Thus they know that their time is short and Satan and the Demons must realise that this is the Last Olympiad of their rule. More importantly the Games of the 33rd Olympiad in Paris must also be the last of the national teams to compete in the games. Similarly, the wars of the Sixth Trumpet from the conflicts from 2024-2025 will have killed a third of mankind and the wars will desecrate the nations on an ongoing basis.

This kind of asshattery of Armstrongism is exactly why it is dying off. Its focus is on hundreds of useless topics and mindless conspiracy theories instead of on The One they are supposed to be following. The One who says His burden is easy and his yoke is light.

Armstrongism has burdened its followers with these kinds of useless tidbits and outright lies for decades. The yoke has been heavy and merciless because all of these men despise the One they are supposed to be following. 

Whether it is Cox, Thiel, Pack, Weinland, Flurry, or Billingsley, the end result is the same, liars all. No one who is a real follower of Jesus would EVER follow these apostate blowhards.

 

The Bobbsey Twins Want To Know If It Is OK To Eat Bugs

Why is it that certain self-appointed prophets who have set themselves up as church leaders live ein a different reality than normal people.

The Middle East is about to explode, Russia feels justified in slaughtering Ukranians, and Islamic terrorists are on the rise in Africa and elsewhere.

Then there is the Great Bwana Bob Thiel and Steve Dupuie wondering if it is ok if people eat insects.

Should Christians Eat Insects? 

 

It is reported that 2,205 insects are being eaten around the world in 128 countries as part of the food supply. Is this being pushed by the World Economic Forum, United Nations, and the government of the United States of America? Does the Bible endorse eating any insects? If so, which ones? Some people promote “cockroach milk” as well as larvae-derived “Entomilk.” Does France have the biggest insect farm? Are there thousands of insect farms in Thailand? Does the New Testament support that Christians are to be holy and not eat unclean meats and insects? Could God have had health reasons to tell His people not to eat certain creatures? What are some health issues that eating insects, mealworms, etc. have reportedly caused? Dr. Thiel and Steve Dupuie address these matters.

It is amazing the endless brain fart streams of semi-consciousness that continue to dribble out of the mind of the Great Bwana Mzungu Bob. Never will you hear him discussing Jesus and his salvational work, instead you will be subjected to endless shit-streams of useless information that no one really cares about.

Will The Doors To The Kingdom Be Shut In Your Face In Regards To How You Dress For Church?

 

Armstrongism had a lot of idiotic teachings that were not founded upon any scriptural basis but upon late 19th-century/early 20th-century cultural norms and personal opinions, most of which stemmed from Victorian standards ingrained in the culture here.

The internet is filled with countless websites, blogs, Facebook groups, Reddit pages, Instagram, TicTok, and Rumble accounts that sing praises to Herbert Armstrong and the pre-1986 version of the Worldwide Church of God. The church was pure and untainted before January 16, 1986. Then, the very instant Herbert breathed his last breath Satan entered into the church. Satan was never interested in the church before that or actively seeking to destroy it. The second Herbert died, the demonic realm went into overdrive. After all, Satan is the much-discussed all-powerful god of Armstrongism. God the Father and Jesus were too weak to stop him from destroying the church.

Despite all the numerous sites preserving Herb's writings, there is a new one on the block, as if we need another one! 

Only Armstrong

One thing for sure about their site, it is well done. It puts the Mickey Mouse run-on sentence junk of Bob Thiel's blogs to shame. It is a slick well well-crafted site that is visually appealing and keeps the reader intrigued for more.

Like all of the hudnreds of other splinter groups out there entrenched in legalism and law-keeping, this one seeks to recapture the old values of HWA and the church. Particularly when it comes to dress.

The article by Corey Smith is reminiscent of the fire and brimstone articles and shouting sermons by HWA over the proper dress for church. Armstrong says your very salvation is dependent upon the clothing you wear. This is just pure utter bullshit, but yet here we are...

Double-click to enlarge, or read it here: Proper Attire