After Creating A New COG Entity To Collect Money, Samuel Kitchen Gets Smacked Down By His Brother For Rebellion

Timothy Kitchen has come out swinging after his brother, Samuel, established a new upstart COG group to collect the money of followers, though that number can be counted on one hand, at most two.

Timothy writes:

"God’s Government Is Not Established by Self-Appointment"

A Loving Admonition to Repent and Return to God’s Way

Dear Samuel W Kitchen,

God is not the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33). He never leaves the order of His Church to human reasoning or personal zeal. When a man—however sincere—claims to “establish” or “restore” something God has already set in place through His apostle, without the laying on of hands or the authority of God’s government, he places himself outside of that government.

Christ Built His Church Through His Apostle

Jesus Christ Himself said, “I will build My Church” (Matthew 16:18). The Scriptures show that He builds and governs it through the men He chooses and ordains. “No man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron” (Hebrews 5:4).

Herbert W. Armstrong was chosen and ordained by the living Christ to raise up the Philadelphia era of God’s Church. Through him, God restored all foundational truths, the proper order of Church government, and the support structure of the Work. Mr. Armstrong never claimed to have “established” the Church himself. He repeatedly emphasized that Jesus Christ is the Head, and the Work was Christ’s—not man’s.

Therefore, when someone says, “I felt moved to establish the support services of the Worldwide Church of God,” he directly contradicts the pattern Christ Himself set. The spiritual candlestick was raised up once through Christ’s chosen servant—Herbert W. Armstrong—not through unordained human initiative.

Ouch! That butthurt can be felt all the way here in Pasadena! 

A Spiritual Organism Does Not Need Human Re-Establishment

It is true that God’s Church is a spiritual organism. But that does not mean every zealous individual can start functioning as part of its administrative structure. A spiritual organism functions according to spiritual government—Christ working through rank and order (Ephesians 4:11-13).

When a man says he is “manning the support structure” or “establishing support services,” he assumes an authority that belongs only to those Christ appoints. Without the laying on of hands by one already ordained within God’s government, there is no divine commissioning. Even Jesus Christ Himself waited to be anointed and sent by the Father before beginning His ministry (Luke 4:18).

The Role of the Unordained

There is a right way for an unordained man to serve. Every member is called to support the Work—not to lead it. Romans 12:4-8 and 1 Corinthians 12 describe the many functions in the Body. Each must remain within the office or measure God assigns. To act outside that measure is rebellion against divine order.

A faithful unordained man can:

Pray for the Work.

Support it financially and physically.

Study and grow in grace and knowledge.

Prepare himself humbly, should God one day choose to use him in a greater role.

But he cannot “re-establish” or “ignite” a candlestick. That is Christ’s work alone. Revelation 2:5 shows that only Christ can remove or restore a candlestick, for He walks among them.

Why Christ’s Government Matters

When anyone bypasses that government, he repeats the sin of Korah (Numbers 16), who said, “All the congregation are holy,” and presumed to take the priesthood upon himself. God’s swift judgment proved His government was not a democracy or personal feeling—it was a divine chain of authority.

Herbert W. Armstrong repeatedly warned that government is everything. It is the very test of whom we will obey—God or ourselves. To claim a divine commission without ordination is to reject the very government Christ restored through His apostle.

An Admonition to Repent

Brother, you say, “I may be a singular man, but with brethren supporting me, I can get the job done.” Yet Christ’s Work is not a human project. It is a divine commission, carried out by His chosen and ordained servants.

Your zeal could be commendable if it were properly directed under God’s order. But as it stands, your words show self-appointment, not divine appointment. You confess you are not ordained—and that confession reveals the need for repentance, humility, and submission to God’s government.

Self-appointment, not by divine appointment, is how every single COG has been started. None of them has had a divine appointment, but rather emerged as vanity projects for self-absorbed individuals seeking to protect their status. 

Repent—not of zeal—but of presumption. Seek out Christ’s true ministers, those continuing the Work under the government Christ set through Herbert W. Armstrong. Support them, not yourself. That is how one truly supports the Worldwide Church of God as a spiritual organism.

Remember Christ’s own warning: “Every plant, which My heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up” (Matthew 15:13).

---

Conclusion

The Philadelphia candlestick still burns—not because men proclaim it, but because Christ sustains it through His ordained ministry and faithful people. No man, unordained or otherwise, can “re-ignite” what Christ Himself maintains.

The call now is to humility, correction, and true service under God’s government. Only then can any man say he is truly supporting the Work Christ established—not building another.

“Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls…” — Hebrews 13:17