It is hard to believe that Herbert Armstrong died 39 years ago on January 16, 1986. From that very moment on, the church has been rocked with untold idiotic rumors and scandals. Hundreds of splinter groups have formed, all claiming they are the best COG to ever exist in human history, so this is not unique to the wonder boy, The Great Bwana Bob, who regularly spouts the claim.
The rumors started the day HWA died. Tkach Sr. supposedly smothered him to death on Loma's favorite chair or in the bed, depending on which fool was telling the story so that he could claim the leadership of the church. Rod Meredith and Ellis LaRavia wet their pants because they thought they should have been made the new COG pope.
For several years, we were assured doctrines would not change, and then they did. Then, there was the infamous Christmas 1994 sermon that pushed many over the edge to start forming their own groups.
The boys that went on to start the United Church of God gathered for over a year plotting and scheming how they could separate from the mother church, retaining their salaries, drawing as many people as they could with them, along with their tithe money.
Global church of God started in 1992 after the Worldwide Church of God spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in defending loudmouth Rod Meredith from a slander suit by Leona McNair (the first wife of Raymond (Buffy) McNair). Never having to spend a dime defending himself nor having to foot the large court judgment against him and the WCG, Rod quickly jumped ship into Global, where a group of sycophants had plotted and schemed to draw WCG members and their tithe money to support them, Rod and Raymond in their new splinter group.
All of these guys were late to the scene, though, as Gerald Flurry had left in a self-righteous fit in 1989 to start the Philadelphia Church of God. The PCG ended up being the most legalistic and abusive of the splinter groups. Gerald Flurry ended up getting arrested in 1993 for being drunk behind the wheel and trying to bribe a police officer and was quickly sent to jail. Flurry also got in trouble for plagiarizing Malachi's Message from a paper Jules Dervaes had written to the Worldwide Church of God as a warning.
Flurry, who has always operated out of sheer idolatry of HWA, soon started placing religious significance on the January 16 date. He started searching world events that fell on the 16th and decided that God had set this day apart from all others.
PCGNews on X (formerly Twitter) has this to say about the date:
“Single handedly the most ridiculous booklet I have ever read & this was even when I was deeply brainwashed & unable to think critically! This book actually contributed to my leaving the cult” Absolute insanity!
God’s Miracle Day!
Again and again, God is calling our attention back to the pivotal date of January 16. He has performed so many miracles on this date! And so many of the most tragic curses on Israel have happened on this date! Those curses are only a type of what is coming on the nations of Israel if they don’t take heed and look to the great God who is sending them. Everyone on Earth needs to pay attention to this and understand this important truth!
Study this date, and watch for it! It points you to a man around whom so much revolves in this end time! A man who built God’s spiritual temple. A man who restored all things. A man who preached the true gospel of the Kingdom of God to all nations as a witness. A man who warned Israel for decades of the curses and calamities they are about to experience. A man who prepared the way as a messenger before the Second Coming—and whose very work was a sign of the imminence of that earthshaking event!
But far more important than pointing you to a man who died on this date, studying January 16 points you to the great, living, Almighty God of Elijah!
God’s miracle day leads you to the omnipotent God, who rules in the kingdom of men and shapes world events to fulfill His prophecies. It directs you to the Father who is correcting the nations out of His love for them, to turn them from their sins and lead them back to Himself. It draws you to the God who is actively involved in His Church, speaking through revelation and opening mighty doors of opportunity.
And it helps you come to know the great God of miracles—who is about to send His Son to put down the rule of Satan, to take His place on the throne of David, and to establish His perfect Kingdom, administering the government of God and the royal law of God in perfect combination, forever!
Why is it in the Church of God, its god is always calling people to Herbert or some esoteric doctrine instead of calling people to the One they are supposed to be following, as they claim are?
Notice the things they claim are significant that happend on Janaury 16. (of course, you could pick any date on the calendar and fins something intersitng to claim for that day)
Notable Events in the Church
- Jan. 16, 1990: Malachi’s Message arrives in mailboxes
Stephen Flurry is first member baptized in the pcg - Jan. 17, 1993: Key of David television program airs for the first time, on seven television stations
- Jan. 16, 1996: New revelation on the book of Micah
- Jan. 16, 1997: First pcg printing of Mystery of the Ages reaches subscribers
- Jan. 16, 2001: John Amos Field House construction is dedicated
- Jan. 16, 2002: Former wcg minister Ernest Martin dies
- Jan. 16, 2003: Initial terms are reached with the wcg for the purchase of copyrights to 19 of Mr. Armstrong’s works
- Jan. 16, 2006: Headquarters staff moves into the new Hall of Administration
- Jan. 16, 2016: Concrete foundation poured for performing arts building
- Jan. 16, 2017: God plants the new throne of David in His Church
Notable Events in the World
- Jan. 16, 1991: U.S. launches Operation Desert Storm against Iraq, starting the Persian Gulf War
- Jan. 17, 1994: 6.7-magnitude earthquake in Northridge, California, one of the costliest disasters in American history
- Jan. 16, 1995: 6.9-magnitude earthquake in Kobe, Japan, kills 6,434 people
- Jan. 16, 1998: German parliament repeals the constitutional right to privacy
- Jan. 16, 1999: Prosecution for the impeachment of President Bill Clinton ends
Edmund Stoiber becomes chairman of Germany’s Christian Social Union - Jan. 16, 2003: Space Shuttle Columbia is fatally damaged upon launch; 16 days later it disintegrates upon reentry, killing the crew of six Americans and one Israeli
- Jan. 16, 2004: Exposures end for Hubble Deep Field View, which shows 10,000 galaxies in one photo
- Jan. 16, 2008: Germany announces deployment of combat troops to Afghanistan
- Jan. 16, 2009: Israel agrees to unilaterally withdraw from the Gaza Strip
Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Germany’s Angela Merkel meet to discuss Ukraine and gas supplies - Jan. 16, 2010: President Barack Obama announces one of America’s largest-ever rebuilding projects after Haiti earthquake, one year into the Great Recession
- Jan. 16, 2013: After the Sandy Hook massacre, President Obama issues a series of executive orders on gun control
Germany begins withdrawing its gold holdings from Paris and New York - Jan. 16, 2015: U.S. Supreme Court announces it will hear arguments on same-sex “marriage”
- Jan. 16, 2016: Implementation of Iran nuclear deal begins; sanctions on Iran lifted
China inaugurates Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank - Jan. 17, 2016: President Obama initiates a scandalous hostage deal with Iran
- Jan. 16, 2017: Obama administration conspires against President-elect Donald Trump days before leaving office
- Jan. 16, 2018: The fbi provides congressional committees with 384 pages of text messages between fbi lawyer Lisa Page and agent Peter Strzok
House of Representatives Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes puts finishing touches on a memo exposing the RussiaGate hoax. January 16: God’s Miracle Day
New Throne of David
The final January 16 miracle I want to discuss in this booklet happened in God’s Church on that date in 2017.
I have written a book titled The New Throne of David explaining this momentous event. This was the day that God blessed His Church with possession of the very throne that Jesus Christ is about to assume when He returns to Earth!
“He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end” (Luke 1:32-33).
Christ is going to rule from “the throne of his father David.” God has preserved the rulership on that throne by a descendant of David—from the time of David up to the present day! This is an inspiring truth that you can prove from your Bible and from history. You can trace that line down to the present-day ruling family in Britain.
Throughout the generations, a “stone of destiny” has always been associated with that throne. Queen Elizabeth ii was the latest of many monarchs who were crowned beside it—a tradition that goes back to the time of kings in the Bible! (e.g. 2 Chronicles 23:11-13).
However, on January 16, 2017, God replaced that “stone of destiny” with a new stone—and moved the throne of David from Britain into His own Church!
Now God’s own people will have the honor of personally presenting Christ with that throne when He returns. It shows how close we are to that epochal event!
I realize this is a bold claim to make. I urge you to request a copy of The New Throne of David and prove this truth for yourself. There I explain it straight from many passages in the Bible.
One of these is the prophecy of Genesis 49, which is for “the last days” (verse 1). Verse 10 reads, “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor [should read, or] a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh [Jesus Christ] come ….” This prophecy is directly in the context of Christ’s Second Coming. The “scepter” is the symbol of kingly rule—the line of monarchs that will culminate in the reign of Christ as King of kings. And this verse speaks of that rule combining with the role of “a lawgiver”—someone who administers the royal law of God, a priestly function.
If you know the history of the throne of David, you know this has not been a function of the physical line of kings. In fact, especially in recent times, they have often fought against the law of God rather than living and ruling by it!
This prophecy specifically refers to a time when the throne and the royal law would be combined. This happened on January 16, 2017. The scepter must be ruled by the royal law now, and the royal law must be applied to the scepter promise—“until Shiloh come.”
When God gave the revelation about the new stone on January 16, 2017, the royal family of Britain was displaced as the royal family of David’s throne. That was a signal of terrible events to come upon Britain, as well as a sharp decline of America and Judah, the Jewish nation in the Middle East.
One astounding aspect of this truth regards the new “stone of destiny.” I will let Mr. Armstrong explain, from his autobiography, regarding the first public Bible lectures he conducted in his ministry back in 1933:
“Mr. Oberg was starting his new meetings in Harrisburg on Sunday night, July 9. The Fishers and I decided to start the meetings at the Firbutte school the same night. I arrived at the Fisher farm, leaving my wife and children at our home in Salem, about July 5 or 6.
“This was the small—actually infinitesimal—start of what was destined to grow to a major worldwide gospel Work reaching multiple millions of people every week.
“But if small, it started with a burst of energy and inspiration. First, it started with intensive and earnest private prayer. To the rear of the Fisher farm home was a fair-sized hill. Running over this hilltop for exercise I discovered a rock about 14 inches high. It was in a secluded spot. It came to mind how Jesus had dismissed the multitudes, and gone up into a mountain ‘apart’ to pray—alone with God. I dropped to my knees before this rock, which seemed just the right height to kneel before, and began praying earnestly for the success of the meetings. It became sort of a daily pilgrimage, during my stay at the Fishers’, to this, which became my ‘prayer rock.’ I’m sure that I drank in much energy, spiritual strength and inspiration at that prayer rock.”
In 2002, I took a tour of some of the sites of Mr. Armstrong’s early days in the Work, and I saw that “prayer rock.” We asked the owners of the property if we could have it, and that summer we transported it to our headquarters facility in Edmond, Oklahoma.
It wasn’t until over 14 years later that God revealed to me that Mr. Armstrong’s prayer rock had replaced the “stone of destiny.” Once again God is putting a dramatic spotlight on the man who prepared the way for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ!
And it happened right around January 16, the anniversary of his death.
God is continually reminding us that we are continuing the work of Elijah. We must follow Mr. Armstrong’s example. The understanding that God has given me about this stone underlines this point emphatically!
God caused all these things to happen miraculously. It was all prophesied, and God brought it about in a way that is truly mind-staggering!
So there you have it, the most sacred day of the year for Church of God members. Screw Passover, January 16 is it, man! Woo hoo!
Now admit it, aren't you proud of the rich history of Armstrongism and its ever-so-godly trajectory?
32 comments:
Many strongly think Herbert was 'helped on his way' by an injection. That he was gravely ill but it suited his death to happen in a certain timeframe, so as not to interrupt the money making machine of 80s WCG. That 'thought' has persisted ever since he died, from various sources including members of his own family, along with 'messages' Herbert, when alive but ill had passed along to various people.
There is no sympathy towards Herbert but a consistent rumour, his own love of money and 'the high life' attracted others who 'loved power and money' so Herbert's idolatry of money most probably sealed his own fate.
You're right it gets dumber and dumber - so amazingly dumb one has to speed up reading through to avoid lingering on the sheer stupidity for too long.
If PCG somehow survives for another 2,000 years, I'm quite certain that by 4025 they will be celebrating January 16 as their functional equivalent of Christmas and Easter.
Muslims have the Black Stone at their Kaaba. PCG has the Prayer Rock at their HQ. People and their religions are more alike than Flurry realizes.
I recall HWA dying just before that month's Plain Truth Magazine came out. In that issue, he publicly sided with Israel and against the Palestinians. I think it was on the land issue. His death protected him from recriminations from the Palestinians. So HWA must have known that his death was days away. This points away from a third party "helping him on his way" against his will.
In their "Notable Events"
They list Germany deployment of combat troops into Afghanistan in 2008? What about America?
You know, 2008 had the financial crisis that impacted America and Britain’s economic future and the housing crisis. Talk about an alternate look at history.
And their take on Obama in 2016-2017 is laughable.
I am so glad that I am no longer a part of Armstrongism.
Gerald R. Flurry was the worst false prophet that Satan ever sent against the Worldwide Church of God people. The deception was amazing.
As for Gerald's new throne heresy, the only throne that Gerald will ever really have is the one in his bathroom.
We need to maintain our perspectives. Anything related to Herbert W. Armstrong is restricted in field of interest to a small circle of "friends" (lack of a better term). Even if we had not been a cult (we were!), the man's death placed him into mythical, or cultic status, and unfortunately there will always be people who idolize him and regard him as being a source for secret information. The only question is how long his impact might last. Small groups still look to Adolf Hitler, Che Guevara, Timothy Leary, and Haile Selassie. Actually, some of those four have larger numbers of disciples than HWA ever had. Ditto Buddy Holly, Jerry Garcia, and Kurt Cobain, if rock is one of your interests.
Science, and credible historical and theologic research have not been kind to HWA. It's not as if those still following him are Einsteins. Some of the ideas he had "borrowed" have become less cultic, or have moved towards the mainstream, but with the possible exception of a racist theory called British Israelism, his name is never associated with these ideas. There are small footnotes to the effect that he was one of those who espoused such ideas, most of which have fallen into the obscurity they enjoyed prior to HWA's ministry.
Obviously, there will continue to be people who wear their blinders, and await a revival through which the man is finally validated. These groups continue to shrink and just become weirder and more desperate, making more and more outrageous claims about him. They want him to be what he never truly rose to the occasion of being, and to ride his coat tails, to enjoy their own status as enlightened ones who recognized the last "Apostle". While that was never the likely outcome, it's looking less and less likely with the passing of time. There has now been a very long gap in the performance of the "great commission" the man appropriated for himself. If there ever was a Laodicean era, they have totally dropped the ball. That ball was not unlike a ball of mercury, splattering again and again and dissipating with successive drops, losing its power as wannabe "leaders" fought each other for the helm instead of focussing on the message. And what a fantastic blessing that is!!!
BB
Exactly BB, The old heads of armstrongism had no idea that something like the internet would come of age, and science with DNA would improve, as well as the average joe performing his own historical research very quickly. Like finding out about the history of the state of Oregon back in the latter part of the 19th century. I would have never known about that if there wasn’t the internet. And like you mentioned, TIME is one of the worst things that could happen to armstrongism. They continue to want the end of the world to come during their watch, they left their former association for no colleges to jerk the rug from the young perspective members, the economies of the west continue to stay stagnant and not improve, migrations from “gentile south people” continue to come into western countries. Former members have improved in their knowledge of scriptures since the man’s passing, regardless of their inability to change.
Making publications such as magazines and gaining access to WCG literature is somehow an achievement to them. They need daily sacrifices to start again, they need that pope to arise, they need that leader from Germany, they europe to unite, they need one or two witnesses to appear, they need to be persecuted by the roman beast system (not this blog), they need the king of the south……. time.
Tank
I've of course read that too in various gossip mills, but I don't particularly buy it. He was 93 with serious cardiac problems, liver issues and very low blood volume (and he refused transfusions, which probably would have at least gotten him a few more active months). At the last meeting of the Council he attended, he could barely even speak due to extreme fatigue from the low blood volume. Speeding his demise wouldn't have accomplished much in his condition, he was already dead to rights.
Though I will say there were some stalwarts I knew who were absolutely convinced that a miracle restoration was about to occur any moment, or in denial/ignorance and expecting him to somehow bounce back.
Most things on that list are not very notable, some are deceptively worded to make them fit the paradigm they want, and a few are so arbitrary that I don't know why they bothered.
But we're not the target audience. That's the Flurry followers who won't really READ the list and will just skim it and say "Yeah!!!"
Until I'm proven dumb I prefer to look at Jan 16 as the last morning of the 2300 in Daniel 8:14.
Yay, Tank! All good observations. Also, the Weinlands never learned to imitate Gene Simmons of Kiss's fire breathing act, let alone Bummer Bob Thiel! I'm sure someone will even try that in the future!
BB
Oh please The Plain Truth magazine was produced months in advance. It was a huge business then and took weeks of planning.
Interesting that PCG is using the Julian calendar rather than the biblical calendar.
And all the ACOG leaders have rocks in their heads!
Pick any date and ask ChatGPT for notable world events on that date and a list comes up. And, why do they get to stretch it into the 17th? Their list is laughable and embarrassing.
Far too many years have passed for him to be an end-time prophet (as if). What an absurd person he was. What absurd teachings.
His daughter Dorothy Armstrong was 65 when he died; the age of retirement. Maybe with his death, she was able to retire some of the demons of his sexual abuse of her.
Wow, every average of 5 years or so an event happened on Jan. 16 and PCG members scheduled events on that date. So momentous!
Herbert Armstrong has a lot to answer for. Knowing what he knows now, I wonder if his theology has changed?
Too dangerous, they'll be the Ungreatful Dead.
Oh Boy! PCG is probably going to have so many flattering articles about Trump in it over the next four years! Prolly little Stevie will be asked about that at Irish dancing competitions. He'll likely quip, "Yeah Dude! Why do you think we call it "The TRUMPet?""
BB
If you’re still in the PCG, Wake up.
The Armstongist perspective that the bible should be taken seriously does not want to die. Some of his "former" followers are still up to their neck in the bible.
Ha ha, but when it's Holy Day season, let's go back to the biblical calendar.
I wish to proclaim Jan 6th, sorry Jan 16 th as a National holiday. 3 Services to be held on said day, with offerings for each service; might as well go the whole hog (kosher hog of course). And of course the sermons/services to be broadcast on all the nation’s networks as is fitting for such an important date. And of course the ‘prayer stone’ to be enshrined in its very own museum in the heart of Washington DC as befitting to its importance. And for Mr Flurry to have a most prominent seat at next week’s inauguration as is fitting. And of course to be given an advisory role with the new American administration. Perhaps as a roving ambassador. We would send him to Afghanistan or Iran or Gaza, and he can teach them how to behave. The possibilities are endless.
Jerry makes a bundle selling his religion. So do other religious leaders. So did Herbert. Give up on these liars.
The Trumpet is being strangely silent about Mr. Trump nominating an open homosexual for Secretary of the Treasury.
But then, a lot of right-wing ministries are.
Jan. 16, 2015: U.S. Supreme Court announces it will hear arguments on same-sex “marriage”
Why is this a "miracle" if the court decided months later to legalize same-sex unions? PCG seems to be straining for anything to justify the date.
Yes, he now knows there's a real hell fire!
Jewish teaching is that after death, the soul lives on. It is conscious and the previous experiences, if they have been bad, will cause great pain. If good they are relived and this causes happiness.
There are scriptures showing how the soul/spirit leaves the physical body at death.
All one can wonder is what is happening to Armstrongs soul now given a lifetime of lies and hypocrisy?
The Great Recession started in early 2008, can’t blame that on Obama. The stimulus package turned things around early in Obama’s tenure. Beating false witness is one of the top 10 commandments.
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