LCG Members Suffering Trials

Things must be rough in LCGland, as it seems they are suffering many trials right now. If things are rough now, imagine what's going to be like when the Germans arrive to put everyone in concentration camps and send their children to Europe to be their slaves.

God’s Perspective on Trials: Sometimes, when we encounter trials and difficulties, we wonder if God has forsaken us. In such times, we need to remember several fundamental scriptures. Jesus told His disciples, “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). God has also promised to never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). The Apostle Paul reminds us that “all things work together for good to those who love God” (Roman 8:28), and that even in trials, God will make a “way of escape” if we look to Him (1 Corinthians 10:13). James wrote that trials are opportunities to build patience and exercise faith in God and His promises—while we do our part to work through the challenges we face (James 1:1–12). When we encounter trials, let’s strive to remember this godly perspective and pray earnestly for one another.

Have a profitable Sabbath,

Douglas S. Winnail

Herbert Armstrong's teaching on Racism. Gets investigated in a Deep Dive from Ai-COG

This podcast episode examines the troubling racial teachings of Herbert W. Armstrong, founder of Armstrongism, using a 1963 Plain Truth magazine article as its primary source. Armstrong's writings, while acknowledging racial discrimination, present God as the alleged author of racial segregation, justifying it through distorted interpretations of biblical passages like Genesis 6 and Acts 17:26. He enforced segregation within his own church, discouraging interracial dating and marriage. The episode critiques Armstrong's use of fear-mongering and confirmation bias to support his prejudiced views and discusses the lasting impact of his teachings. The hosts emphasize critical thinking when evaluating religious teachings and the importance of aligning faith with justice and compassion.

Ai COG

Living Church of God German Church: Putting All Other COG Groups To Shame!

 

One thing the various splinter groups have NEVER been able to capture is the "glory days" of the old mother church, the Worldwide Church of God. With no dynamic leader leading any of the COG's, they languish and stagnate, pretending they are doing a mighty work. 

Check out LCG's German church situation. They send out German-language publications to 95 nations, and in Germany, a nation of 84.5 million people, they have 6 church members. Yes, you read that right—6 church members who may show up each week.

Maybe they are sick of being the scapegoat for Armstrongite mythology, or in Bob Thiel's case, the creepily weird bromance with Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg

I want to update you this week on the Work of God in Germany. Mr. Adrian Käfer, our minister there, is a one-man machine. When I first met him in 2015, he had translated most of our booklets into German and was printing them on a copy machine where he had to individually assemble, staple, trim, and mail them—all while holding down a full-time job. Now our literature is printed in Canada and forwarded to him, and he has others helping with translations, but he is still the driving force in serving this great nation. The outreach focus this past year was on Bible Study Course lessons, with 3,160 new students, a 222-percent increase over 2023’s number. There were some decreases in some categories of literature distributed and in Internet responses, but the reasons were somewhat strategic, and the picture is positive with an overall increase of 36 percent in literature distribution. Mr. Käfer writes, “Despite the slight decrease in online reach, the quality of visitors seems to have significantly increased. It is also noteworthy that we are reaching into 95 nations in the German language. However, the Church is small, with an average attendance of just under 7 people per Sabbath. I ask all of you to pray for our efforts to preach the Gospel, to give a warning message, and for growth in the nation that God calls ‘the work of My hands’ (Isaiah 19:25).”—Gerald Weston

Brethren, I have to continually quote Herbert because I have nothing original to say to you.

When the so-called great apostasy and implosion of the mother church, the Worldwide Church of God, happened in the mid-1990s, everyone was hoping that the church would start fresh and do things differently. Alas, that thought quickly faded into oblivion as hundreds of splinter groups continued on with the same old, worn out, and poorly researched literature and with the same appalling abuse that the mother church practiced for decades. Almost all of the splinter groups were set up by self-important men who thought they were God's gift to the church, though not a single one has ever proven to be so.

Here we are in 2025 and not a single Church of God group has ever come up with anything original. Almost all plagiarized or rewrote Herbert Armstrong's literature to make it look like they said it. The biggest abuser of this mentality is the Great Bwana Bob Mzungu Thiel and his apostate '"continuing" Church of "god'. Even he knows he blabs too much about Herbert in his articles. Felling guilty and tired of being called on the carpet for his blatant overuse, the Great Bwana had this to say the other day.

The Great Bwana starts off by making excuses for the flaws of Herbert:

Received the following in an email:

Herbert Armstrong. I notice you quote him a lot at COGwriter.com Sometimes i wonder why COG people do this? I ask this because i have noticed as i try to share the truths of God with people online anytime someone connects a COG to WWCOG, they will bring up how the WWCOG and Armstrong had false prophesied multiple times. 

 

Let me add that I also quote from government officials, mainstream news sources, etc. and do not agree with all they say. 

 

That said, there are several reasons that Herbert W. Armstrong or materials from the old Radio/Worldwide Church of God, of which he was Pastor General, are cited here. 

 

But first, consider that all humans are flawed:

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (Romans 3:23)

Given the certain peccadillos of  Herbert and many in the ministry, including the grievous sinners leading the various groups of Thielism in Africa, the Great Bwana has to make excuses to cover up the sins of Herb and in his own ministry. The David Defense has long been practiced in the Churches of God to cover up the appalling abuses of the leadership and ministry.

The Bible makes that clear and even mentions serious sins that some of God’s servants have had (such as King David’s adultery & murdering, plus a wrong prediction by the Apostle Paul come to mind). 

 

As far as false prophecies go, Herbert W. Armstrong had misunderstandings related to WWII and sometimes pointed to dates that he should not have–and we do not attempt to defend his errors. To his credit, however, he asserted that he was not a prophet. And as far as the internet goes, I have addressed many of the accusations against him in article titled: 17 Accusations and Truthful Responses About Herbert W. Armstrong. Plus also in another article titled: What is Armstrongism? Are Some Dismissive of Original Christianity? 

 

People can choose to believe the truth or lies.

The Great Bwana also says this:

The Continuing [sic] Church of God believes that we best represent the continuation of the Philadelphian part of the Church of God. Herbert W. Armstrong is one in the list of successors we trace our history through. 

 

So, Herbert W. Armstrong and other Radio/Worldwide COG writers are quoted to show that we continued the basic teachings that were held in the Philadelphian era of the Church. Plus, we also do this to show that much of what we teach was taught by an earlier COG (which is also why we quote early 2nd century COG writers, like Polycarp of Smyrna). Many people, including those with a COG background, often do not realize what was taught on various matters–hence quoting those sources helps demonstrate that we in the CCOG are continuing with those teachings. 

 

We have also restored more details and truth as would be expected in these last days.

Well, we all know that this is NOT true! Justified lying is another thing the COG was good at.

The Great BWana then talks about his apsotolic succession:

We strive not to teach error and do not teach that what Herbert W. Armstrong wrote is not subject to correction. The Bible, not Herbert W. Armstrong, is the standard that we go by. 

 

Despite organization changes, successively and doctrinally we are NOT a new church. We teach Laying on of Hands succession from the apostles. We clearly trace our history from the Book of Acts to present.

The Great Bwana's "succession" is thought the Baptist church and not some mythical Church of God lineage.  

The Great Bwana Bob then weasels his way out of being held accountable for the unadulterated crap he says and his failed prophecies.

And I will take it one step further. Irrespective of how any may view the role that God has for me, unless I am directly quoting the Bible, or preface a statement to something of the effect of “thus saith the Lord,” I am NOT necessarily stating anything that is not subject to later correction. We who are truly part of the Church of God only accept as inspired the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament and no other document. Therefore, although other current and historical documents/articles/books/booklet/posts by various Church of God leaders throughout history often have value, as they generally also tend to contain personal opinion, we do not consider that any of them are on the same level as sacred scripture, and hence believe that they can contain error.

He ends with this:

Many do not understand true, original Christianity, so they bash/misrepresent Herbert W. Armstrong and/or teachings that he had. 

 

In the CCOG we have never taught that Herbert W. Armstrong nor any COG leader was the standard, the truth in the word of God is. 

 

Herbert W. Armstrong changed his position on various matters and never claimed infallibility. Nor do we. 

 

But, as a continuation of the true apostolic Church of God, we in the Continuing [sic] Church of God believe it is helpful to quote recent, as well as ancient, COG writers for their perspective and insight, as well as to show continuity.

All who profess Christ should, “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).

Satan and Amazon Conspiring Against God's Greatest COG Leader!

The sun has been shining brightly in California for the last several weeks, though fog works its way inland every few days from the ocean. That fog has allowed Satan to slip in unawares into the computers of the Greatest Church of God ever to exist in the entire history of Christendom.

Even Amazon has gotten in on disrupting the improperly named '"continuing" Church of "god".'

Greetings from Grover Beach, California.

We continue to deal with malware issues. And although we have made some progress, they are still not fully resolved. This is impacting our making our The Gospel of the Kingdom of God booklet available in as many languages/dialects that we have received. Please continue to pray about this.

Bible News Prophecy magazine

Although we pre-ordered copies of the next edition of our Bible News Prophecy magazine, Amazon Kindle has delayed shipping it. So, it was not mailed to our US and international subscribers yet. Oddly, even though we ordered copies early for New Zealand, that magazine (which is printed in Australia) was even a longer delay.

The Church of God and its "alpha males". Why You Cannot Trust Them To This Day

 

The Painful Truth website has up a fascinating and relevant article that focuses upon a serious issue that many in the Church of God movement deal with and have dealt with over the decades.

The Painful Truth writes:

alpha male

Nothing is as it seems.

This is a complex topic which has taken years to compile the research in order to resolve serious issues for certain people so they can live the kind of life they should be able to enjoy. For this reason, this is a very long posting which has as much as 5 hours of material. It is structured in a particular way for maximum benefit. This is more of a seminar or course of study. It is also a mature topic which may be disturbing to some. Unfortunately, some of the material contains graphic language which may be offensive to some.

alpha male is a response to a request from a former member of the Worldwide Church of God who grew up in the church.

Here is the email:

Well hello friends,

Three generations of my family have been stuck in the Armstrong cult and as a young person in 2020 I want to assure all of you that the church is alive and well and still destroying lives. I don’t fully understand the effect of the church’s doctrine on my life and my mindset but I continue to unearth new evidence of the damage done every day.

My grandparents began listening to radio church of god back in the old days and the rest is history. My parents were both raised in the church and while my dad is no longer in it and hasn’t been for many years my mom and grandma are still deeply involved with different splinter groups. I have attended many different splinters throughout my time in the church such as United, Living, the fathers call, which is led by Brian Orchard, and faithful flock, which is led by Don Billingsly. I can safely say that these last two people are some of the few people in the world that I truly hate.

I put my foot down and refused to attend church anymore in 2016 and it caused a big rift between me and my mom. My Parents divorced in 2009 and I lived as a “spiritual orphan” for most of my life. I’m sure most of you know that divorced women are the lowest lifeform possible in the church and it wasn’t much better for me. Having been out of the church for four years now I’m only starting to begin to understand just how badly it has infected my way of thinking.

To give an example I was unable to acknowledge the fact that I am gay until 2019 and it still amazes me to this very day. It always felt like my worst nightmare growing up and I secretly hoped I would not turn out gay but here I am. I also find it extremely hard to go see a doctor. I have been vaccinated once in my life and while I would like to get more I can’t bring myself to do it. I received a tetanus last year when I was in the hospital for a work related injury.

If you don’t decide to post this I understand I know I don’t have much of story here but I do need to get all this out of my system. As I said before I don’t understand the extent of the damage done but it helps to say something to someone. Your website has helped me understand things that I didn’t even know I needed to understand. Reading stories from old worldwide survivors makes me grateful that I was only subject to the underfunded and petty splinter groups.

Thanks for listening,

B

The article on alpha males in the Church of God continues with lots of great information. Just a few highlights will be noted here, The rest can be read at the link at the end of this posting.

Reality #1: The Ministers of Armstrongism are liars

Herbert Armstrong was a liar. He lived a lie. He said he was The End Time Apostle. He was not only not an apostle, he wasn’t even ‘converted’. For a decade after he started his ‘ministry’, he committed incest with his daughter. It only ended when his son-in-law found out and came into the office with a loaded gun. His ‘ministry’ was a lie. He told us to follow him into The Kingdom. He did not know where The Kingdom was or how to get there. Part of his lie was his greed for acceptance and adoration. In his abject narcissism, he stole money from his followers, calling it a tithe — which he was never qualified to collect under any circumstances. He claimed to be bringing the gospel to the world. He didn’t. We’ve documented that here. He claimed that British Israelism was the key to prophecy. It wasn’t. It was thoroughly debunked.

Garner Ted Armstrong lived a lie. He was second in command at one time. He was a boozing alcoholic gambling adulterer. He married his pregnant wife and continued on to have affairs with his estimation of 200 Ambassador College Coeds.

Richard David Armstrong went to his father, Herbert Armstrong, to sternly warn him that he needed to repent! What happened shortly afterward should be of prime interest here, as Alton Don Billingsley described:

On June 7, 1958, I was ordained a local elder by Mr. Armstrong. Mr. Richard D. Armstrong, the eldest son of Mr. Armstrong, then chose me to serve on the visiting program under him. Shortly after this, he chose me to team up with him to go on a baptizing tour in central California. Though I do not want to go into detail, we had a terrible automobile accident, which was my fault; seven days later, he died from the injuries he received in that accident.

Yes, this is the very same Don Billingsley of the so-called Faithful Flock as quoted above from B. Billingsley committed vehicular homicide! He had been up late and had little sleep. The road he and Richard David Armstrong were traveling on was under construction. They were supposed to stay on the pavement on one side of the road, but Alton drove in the other lane and at the top of the hill, he hit a car traveling toward them head on. With the lies Billingsley lived with, it’s no wonder he didn’t want to go into detail. B has absolutely every right to hold contempt for Billingsley. So much for selecting a minister of good report from those who are without… not that it was a practice in the Radio Church of God or the Worldwide Church of God.

Armstrongism was and still is filled with fraudulent men who say one thing while standing on the stage or writing in a magazine while in their private lives do something else.

This quote describes the COG ministry very accurately:

So when it comes to Armstrongism and the ministry of the Armstrongist Churches of God, don’t expect anything but lies and hypocrisy. They are hardly in any position to judge anyone. As Jordan Peterson says, “If you want to change the world, clean your room”. The ACoGs have never even begun the house cleaning, except, of course, for the morsels of dried bread crusts during the Days of Unleavened Bread. It is for this and for many other reasons that no one who has grown up in or attended the Worldwide Church of God or its many spit offs should give one shred of credence nor participate in any way with them. They are toxic liars who know nothing and are more likely than not to give you devastatingly bad advice. None of them have one shred of authority over you. 

The long article, well worth the read, ends with this:

No one should be ashamed simply because the words of Armstrong were intended to convict behavior of the which he disapproved. If he were caught in his incest by the State of Texas up until the mid 1950s, he would have been executed. In any event, if he had been convicted and punished with a prison term, the inmates would have tortured and executed him because no matter how vile they may have been, he far exceeded even their tolerance of evil. That really says something when hardened felons take umbrage at the sort of behavior that apostle had toward his daughter. It’s too bad The Plain Truth never had an article, The Shocking TRUTH about Evil Armstronists.

So when it comes to any sort of guilt projected on you personally by some erstwhile religious figure, there can be no acceptance or even accommodation. The chief Armstrongists were completely evil; totally compromised without any redeeming qualities. They hid a lot of their guilt over their evil deeds. They were so corrupt their conscience didn’t bother them because it was completely dead. They never ‘repented’ from the dead (and deadly — a lot of people died unnecessarily because of them) works. If you have committed no crimes and only engaged in mutually agreed activities, the cult leaders can have no power over you. You are likely to be far more moral in the scheme of things. 

See the complete article here:   alpha male 

 

 

Here We Go Again: 2025 Crackpot Prophecy Watch

 

Well, here we are in 2025, thirty-nine years after Herbert Armstrong's death, so it is fitting to start the year off with more failed prophecies to watch for this year. For thirty-nine years, COGland has been filed with hundreds of false prophets, yet they continue on undeterred.

The Church of God's current most special prophet to ever grace the Church of God has published his latest New Year's list for things to watch this coming year. Ever since 2012, he has published a list of idiotic things he predicted would happen. Failures all, but that never stops the Great Bwana from adding more to his yearly lists.

These are the things to watch for in 2025:

25 Items to Watch in 2025

In Mark 13:37, Jesus tells His followers to watch world events that will precede His coming. In this sermon, Dr. Thiel goes over 25 items to watch in 2025 and points out events that were related to several of them in 2024:

1. Scoffing in the Last Days  

2. Immorality Prophecies Being Fulfilled 

3. Media, Internet, and Other Censorship 

4. Weather Sorrows and Troubles Weather happens. 

5. Earthquakes and Volcanoes 

6. The White Horse of the Apocalypse

7. Strife and the Red Horse of War

8. Trade Issues

9. The Deal of Daniel 9:27

10. Knowledge Increasing

11. Debt

12. US Dollar Dominance will Decrease

13. CBDC and 666

14. Gold

15. Unrest, Terror, and the Dividing of the USA

16. Europe Will Work to Reorganize

17. Europe Will Have a Great Army and Many Ships

18. Steps Towards the Formation of the King of the South

19. The Time of the Gentiles will Lead to Armageddon

20. Jews Readying to Sacrifice

21. Inventions of evil things

22. Reelection of Donald Trump and His Adminstration

23. Totalitarian Steps

24. Preparation for the Short Work

25. Fulfillment of Matthew 24:14 and 28:19-20

Dr. Thiel goes over prophetic scriptures (in 2 Timothy, Habakkuk, Amos, Daniel, Matthew, Mark, Romans, Revelation, Isaiah, 2 Corinthians, Psalms), including those that must be fulfilled before the start of the Great Tribulation, as well as others that also need to be fulfilled before Jesus returns. When are some prophetic events expected and not expected to be fulfilled? Could we see events in 2025 in the Middle East involving Israel & Iran that would lead to the Great Tribulation starting in 3 1/2 years? Dr. Thiel goes over many biblical items and ties them in with world events that happened and are in the process of happening.

The one prophecy that will always remain constant in COGland is that the church is filled with self-appointed liars masquerading as men of God.