UCG Preparing To Rehabilitate The Solar System and 5,830 Exoplanets

 

They never seem to ask the question as to who will populate all of these planets? Even if every person who has ever lived were suddenly alive, there would still be room on this planet for them all.

Therefore, Paul says the trials and sufferings in this life are truly not worthy to be compared with the glorious future in God’s Kingdom and enjoying eternity with this great inheritance as His beloved children! Paul describes it best, “But as Scripture says: ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined, the things that God has prepared for those who love him’” (1 Corinthians 2:9, God’s Word Translation).

He now goes to the outer reaches of spiritual knowledge, saying: “For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing [the resurrection] of the sons of God. For the creation [or Universe] was subjected to futility [decay], not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption [or uselessness] into the glorious liberty of the children of God [who will help renew it]” (Romans 8:19-21).

As far as we know about cosmology, our solar system and the 5,830 exoplanets so far found are in need of renovation, for none is ready to be inhabited. It appears that Lucifer’s rebellion caused great havoc when he attempted to dethrone God in heaven and was cast back to the earth. As Jesus said, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” (Luke 10:18, see also Isaiah 14:12-15).

This destruction will be repaired once God’s Kingdom arrives, which begins first by renewing the earth (Acts 3:21), and then the rest of the Universe. Romans 8:22-23 adds: “We know that everything in the universe is still in great pain now. Everything cries together in pain, like a woman who is ready to have a baby. It is the same for us who are believers. We have received God’s Spirit as the first of his gifts to us, but we also cry inside ourselves. We are waiting for the time when God will finish his great work. Then we will belong to Him completely as his children. Our bodies will be free from the power of sin” (EASY version).

Notes From The Real War: The Psychology of Being Christian

 

Waiting for Dust-off

Notes From The Real War

The Psychology of Being Christian

By Scout

There are some practical concerns about being a Christian that bother me. The psychological effect of living the Christian life is one of them.  We are common clay, but we have stepped into the big-time arena of eternal life and theosis.  It transcends all that we do know and can know. It means a re-interpretation of reality.  This will have an impact on our psychology.  I am going to lift an example of this kind of psychological effect from the war in Vietnam. m. 

The Surrealism of Dust-off

Dust-off refers to the medevac by helicopter of wounded soldiers in Vietnam. The U.S. armed forces had the ability to pluck wounded men out of the combat zone very quickly.  These men were brought to rear area hospitals for recovery.  Sometimes, from there, they would be returned to the United States.  The effect was that one moment you are in an intense firefight, and the next moment you are back home.  Your reality changed instantaneously.  

Though it is not technically dust-off, the same phenomenon happened with men who finished their tour of duty. They would be transported out of the combat zone and were processed out of the armed forces.  While this usually took a few weeks, sometimes a guy would be in a fierce firefight one day and a few days later would be sipping beer with friends in a bar back home.  Anne Linscott, a veterans disability attorney, wrote this:

Many mental health professionals in Psychiatry attribute the high incidence of PTSD in Vietnam-era veterans to a lack of “decompression” time. During the Vietnam War, it was not uncommon for veterans to be in combat one day and back home with their family a couple of days later due to the availability of jet travel that was not present in previous wars such as World War II.

While lack of decompression may seem like just an odd fact about the war in Vietnam, it has a profound relevance to Christians.  It is one of the many practical matters of being a Christian that nobody seems to discuss. 

Christians and Dust-off

This World wages war on Christians.  It is the real war.  The war for the human soul. The siege against all of God’s plans and purposes – prominently, human salvation. Paul refers to the battlefield as the “present evil world.”  When Christians die, one day they are combatants and a few seconds later they are at home in paradise sipping a beer with friends.  Just like soldiers returning from Vietnam. The change is instant and without decompression, apparently.  

What will this sudden change without decompression do to us psychologically?  The Vietnam vets did not fare well.  This is a problem with many facile answers, but nobody really knows what’s going to happen.  It is about human weakness colliding with divine eternity. We are, after all, psychological persons and subject to the ravages of human experience.  And there is a further point here that must be made about God and psychology. 

God Transcends Psychology

One can readily develop the mistaken belief that we are ready for paradise.  That we can embark upon eternal realms without trepidation.  Paul does refer to it as “being home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8, ESV), like we are returning to where we should be.  But it may not be that easy.  If there is anything I have learned as a Christian about living life, it is that many things are not as easy as we might think.  My concern about our sudden transition to the afterlife is rooted in the fact that God is not a psychological person, and we are psychological persons.  God is at home in transcendental realms, and we are not. 

What does it mean when I assert that God is not a psychological person? From my perspective, God is beyond human psychology.  You cannot psychoanalyze God.  He is not subject to Pavlovian behavioral modification.  He does not develop psychoses.  He does not develop fixations and tics.   He does not engage in manipulation to get his way.  Psychology is a vulnerability, and God does not have vulnerabilities. He is not traumatized, nor does he need decompression to process difficult life changes. God creates reality; he is not subject to it as we are.  God in perfection transcends psychology. I am not saying that he does not have a personality. He has personality, but he is ever so much more than that. As created beings, our minds are finite. His mind is infinite. 

So, we are not ready for God’s realm out of the chute.  This caused C.S. Lewis, though an Anglican, to conjecture that there might be some form of Purgatory for us all as a preparation for paradise.  I might not align with the details of his view, but I think he must be right in principle.  Surely, there must be some onboarding process for paradise that we must all experience and benefit from. 

The Armstrongist Counterpoint

Let me not neglect to consider Armstrongism.  Just as Armstrongists believe that God has a human-like body, I think they also believe he has a human-like psychology.  The God-as-God-is-God idea of human destiny in Armstrongism implies that we as humans have the full Godly nature in just a temporarily attenuated form for now as humans. God, to Armstrongists, is a super-human power.  God is simply like us, only more so.  Rather than humans having a tiny subset of God’s unknowable, transcendent powers.  However, it must be stated that this is implicit in Armstrongist belief and not explicit. This view of a limited God makes the idea that Armstrongists will ultimately become God-as-God-is-God seem plausible.

This fundamentalist view, held by Armstrongists and many others, that God is a psychological being, is inadequate.  I believe God is a person and his personhood is perfect.  His perfect personhood is reflected in us in a limited form.   And this collection of limited traits of mind constitutes what we know as our psychology.  The behaviors produced by this limited persona are the object of the study of the discipline of psychology.  It is not a surprise that God’s uncreated personhood transcends what we know as the human psychological personality.  

For instance, psychology deals extensively with emotion.  I believe, like most theologians, that God is impassible.  He is the source of love, knowledge, reason, and relationship, but he does not have a fluctuating temperament conditioned by external circumstances like a human being.  God creates reality.  He has no need to make an emotional response to something he knows fully and generates himself. The language of emotion in the Bible is anthropomorphic, just like the language that portrays God as having a human-like body.   

Some will respond to this by asserting that God is then lying if he says he has a hand and he doesn’t have one. Or that he is angry, as we know anger, and he is not.  This argument does not have traction.  That is because the Biblical use of body parts and emotions pertaining to God is symbolic.  They are a vocabulary for conveying principles that we can understand.  It is the underlying principle that is the truth.  And, further, in theophany, God can appear to be whatever he wants to appear as.  If God wants to have a hand, he can have one.  If he wants to portray himself as angry in order to communicate sharply that something is wrong, he can do that. But theophany is not his essence.   In the last analysis, human emotionalism attributed to God is anthropomorphic. 

Summation

We are created beings, and we are not God, who is uncreated and never will be.  We will have the privilege of partaking of the divine nature to some degree. The division between God and humans can be seen in the fact that we are psychological subjects and God is not.  The limitations of our being psychological subjects present some concern.  For instance, how will we cope with the sudden change from life to afterlife?  This side of the afterlife, all we can do is render up our opinion.  In the meantime, I will be waiting for dust-off. 

 

Fishy Tales Out Of Grover Beach, CA

It has been a relatively cool summer here in California, but now late summer/early fall heat has finally hit California, and even the coastal regions are affected by it. It apparently is so hot in the Grover Beach/Five Cities area that the brain of our most highly favored self-appointed prophet of God has started to get overheated, causing him to say the following lie:

The Continuing Church of God, which is NOT Protestant, traces its history from the apostolic church established in Acts 2 and holds to the original, biblical doctrines that the early Christians had. 

 

Many biblical doctrines that early Christians held to are NOT held to by Protestants today. Nor the Church of Rome or the Eastern Orthodox for that matter. 

 

For that matter, many of the unbiblical teachings and doctrines of Thielism and Armstrongism were NOT held by early Christians. In fact, if those early Christians were to appear in this day and age, they would have no idea who or what they were witnessing when they saw Thiel's little cult. They would immediately brand it as a deviant apostate church.

False Prophet Calls Dave Pack A False Prophet And Gives Him A Dire Warning!

I just love it when hypocritical, self-serving, self-appointed false prophets in the Church of God get all prissy and call other COG leaders false prophets. They seem to forget that the very verses they lob as grenades against their competition apply directly to them.

Bob Thiel condemned himself whith this:

David Pack has been in my prayers for spiritual reasons.

I have long felt that the following also applied to David Pack:

1 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber. (2 Peter 2:1-3) 

 

12 But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, 13 and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you, 14 having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children. (2 Peter 2:12-14) 

 

18 For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. 19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. (2 Peter 2:18-20) 

 

While I wish David Pack no ill, and am praying for his health, I pray he and those with him will open their eyes and see the truth.

Oh, wait, is Dave supposed to repent and move over to the improperly named  "continuing Church of God, where the only truth is being preached? Hilarious, especially in light of the above-posted scriptures that damn Bob Thiel! 

News Flash: Dave Pack: Health Issue Scare - Requests Prayers

 

News Flash August 30, 2025
David C. Pack’s Health Prayer Request

David C. Pack of The Restored Church of God admitted his health struggles to the brethren during “The Greatest Untold Story! (Part 592)” on August 23, 2025. The 76-year-old Pastor General explained the issues with his heart and being exhausted by preaching, and requested prayers from the church.

This admission counters his previous statements when he boasted about how good his health was, and also exposes his comments over the years about why he sits at a table while preaching.

David C. Pack has a history of hiding his medical problems from the brethren. He verbally hid his struggles with tachycardia, even though the symptoms on his face during that time showed the truth.

At Headquarters, he was open about how he saw sickness as “weakness” and believed it was a result of a hidden sin. The medical issues of others were repulsive to him. He shamed employees for needing to take time off work to get better and even told an elderly woman suffering from the initial stages of Parkinson’s to hide her shaking hand while in his presence. “Mr. Pack gets mad when he sees my hand shake,” she told me.

When Dave contracted COVID-19 after mocking brethren in the Living Church of God for wearing face masks and not singing during the Feast of Tabernacles in 2019, Bradford Schleifer was compelled to mislead the church by saying, “Mr. and Mrs. Pack are fine,” to hide Headquarters’ embarrassing little secret. Weeks later, David C. Pack spun his illness as biblical and likened himself to Ezekiel being locked in his house so he could have time to refine his prophetic understanding.

Known to former Headquarters members and now documented in public, David C. Pack also said he “had no life” and “this is all I do.” Perhaps realizing he is a false prophet, false apostle, and false teacher is just around the corner. But do not count on it.

Marc Cebrian

exrcg.org

 

Why are COG Groups Doubling Down On "Heeding Wise Counsel" From The Ministry?

Why has there been such an emphasis lately in various Churches of God concerning members submitting to authority? Is something big about to explode again, or do certain COG leaders feel they no longer have control over members? Are members thinking for themselves?

Doug Winnail says:

Are You Easily Entreated? 

 

The Apostle James describes a Christian who uses God’s Spirit as “peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated” (James 3:17, King James Version) or “peaceable, gentle, open to reason” (Modern English Version). Such individuals will not erupt with anger or indignation if someone questions their actions, opinions, or decisions. They will not be so convinced that their own ideas or actions are right that they are unwilling to listen to advice from others. Solomon wrote that “the way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who heeds counsel is wise” (Proverbs 12:15). Solomon made numerous references to the value of listening to counsel (e.g. Proverbs 19:20, 27; 22:17). A true Christian who is led by God’s Spirit will be approachable, teachable, and conciliatory (1 Timothy 3:2–7; Galatians 6:16). Let’s strive toward this goal!
Have a profitable Sabbath,
Douglas S. Winnail

Imagine Being So Fearful Of Your Salvation That You Have To Reach Out To A Splinter Cult Leader For Advice

Armstrongism has bred a large number of codependents in the church who are so addicted to the beliefs of Armstrongism that they cannot make a personal decision about which Church of God to join without going to one of the wackiest splinter cult leaders in the church for advice. 

Church members have been taught, thanks to the perverse "church government" teaching, that ministers are there to make your decisions for you. Making your own personal decisions is treading in dangerous waters and will possibly lead one away from the "truth" and into a different church or even apostasy. UCG recently reinforced this belief when they said that ministers are there for correct advice.

Ever since the Worldwide Church of God imploded into an appalling mishmash of hundreds of splinter groups, members' secure worlds have been ripped apart. Fearful that they see their salvation slipping away, they reach out to various whack-a-doodle church leaders for advice.

This brings us to today, when our resident whack-a-doodle and self-appointed false prophet posted a letter he "claims" was written by a concerned COG member to him about which COG to join. They cannot make a decision because they admit they are so easily deceived.

I AM CONCERNED ABOUT SOME ISSUES OF MR. …. BELIEF AND APPARENTLY YOU DON’T AGREE WITH. I DON’T THINK THAT ANY OF THESE CHURCHES AGREE WITH OTHER SO WHO DO YOU GO WITH? … 

 

SOME OF GERALD FLURRY’S TEACHINGS ARE COMPLETELY WRONG AND HE’S GONE FAR OUT ON SOME THINGS SUCH AS ARMSTRONG’S STONE REPLACING JACOB’S. MANY, MANY PLACES IN THE BIBLE STATES THAT CHRIST IS THAT ROCK AND IT’S SPIRITUAL. CHRIST DOESN’T NEED A ROCK. FLURRY BASED HIS THEORY ON THE IDEA THAT COME KIDS STOLE JACOB’S ROCK FROM ENGLAND. THAT’S AMAZING SINCE IT WEIGHS OVER 350 LBS. I’VE READ OTHER LITERATURE THAT THE STONE IS STORED IN SCOTLAND.FALSE PREACHER #1 

 

I SAW A DAVID PACK SERMON ON THE INTERNET ABOUT THE 2 WITNESSES . HE SAID THAT THEY ARE IN HIS CHURCH RIGHT NOW. I BELIEVE HE’S NOW PULLED THAT SERMON BECAUSE I COULDKN’T FIND IT NOW. FALSE PREACHER #2 

 

I SAW A SERMON BY THE LIVING CHURCH OF GOD ABOUT THE MARK OF THE BEAST AND THE PRESENTER SAID WITHOUT HESITATION THAT THE MARK OF THE BEAST IS SUNDAY WORSHIP. PERIOD.. HE MADE NO MENTION OF ANY MARKS ON YOUR BODY OR 666. SABBATH MAY HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH IT, BUT THERE WILL BE OTHER FACTORS. YOU LEFT BECAUSE OF DOCTRINE. I’LL ????????? …. 

 

NOW I COME TO … A FALSE TEACHER … 

 

YOU SEE HOW A PERSON COULD BE DECEIVED? 

 

PLEASE ADVISE 

 

Imagine being this helpless! Yet, they were able to see that Flurry and Pack are lying frauds and yet they are so immobilized by fear that they cannot make a decision on what to do, so they reach out to the biggest liar and fraud of them all, the Great Bwana Bob Thiel, for wise counsel.

God's greatest gift to the Churches of God had this as his response:

Dear …: 

 

As I have repeatedly written at COGwriter, I doubt that David Pack or Gerald Flurry are converted. 

 

I consider that the only COG that is Philadelphian is the CCOG–though not all in CCOG are Philadelphian and there are Philadelphians not in CCOG–but no other COG represents the continuation of Philadelphia. 

 

You should use God’s criteria, and none other to decide. 

 

Here are two links you should read and pray about if you are truly serious: 

 

How does the Continuing Church of God differ from other Sabbatarian COG groups?

Does the CCOG have the confirmed signs of Acts 2:17-18? 

 

But most refuse to believe and use their own standards.
Best regards,
Bob Thiel 

 

The Great Bwana feels that most COG members are too stupid to use the right criteria in determining which COG to join:

Many have been confused and used the wrong criteria to assess churches. 

 

Sadly, in the end time, in Revelation 3:14-19 Jesus revealed that even most real Christians would use their criteria, not God’s as they would be part of the “people decide” churches (which is basically what Laodicea means). 

 

P.S. The same former WCG member sent me a follow-up email after I posted this. Here is some of what he wrote (Note: This is a different Mr. … in a different COG than the one alluded to above):

ALSO, I’M NOT HAPPY WITH … IN THIS RESPECT—–I’VE BEEN IN THE CHURCH FOR A WHILE AND ONE OF THE 1ST THINGS I NOTICED IS THAT THEY HAVE LEFT OUT 1/3RD OF THE BIBLE AND THAT PERTAINS TO PROPHECY. I KNOW THIS PANDEMIC CAUGHT THEM UNAWARE AS MR. … DIDN’T CALL FOR A PRAYER AND FAST INTIL THE PANDEMIC WAS IN FULL FORCE. SOME WATCHMAN 

 

I WROTE A PERSONAL LETTER TO MR. … ADVISING HIM THAT ALL SCRIPTURE IS TO BE TAUGHT, AND HE NEEDS TO CRY OUT AND SPARE NOT. THE LATEST ISSUE OF OUR MAGAZINE FINALLY WOKE THEM UP AS THERE WERE SEVERAL MEANINGFUL ARTICLES REGARDING THE TIMES AND PROPHECY ALSO, HE SAID THAT THEY NEED TO DO A BETTER JOB IN BEING A WATCHMAN. THIS IS THE 1ST TIME IN 25 YEARS THAT THEY STARTED TO WAKE UP ON PROPHECY. 

 

It is really sad that church members look at ministers and church leaders for advice on prophecy when, for over 80 years now, the church and its leaders have been 100% wrong! Not one single prophecy has ever come true. Yet, even with this dismal track record lying at their feet, they continue to place their faith in theologically bankrupt leaders who continue to lead them astray. 

Instead of placing their faith in Jesus, the one they SHOULD be following, they run to these whack-a-doodle lying false prophets for advice.

 

I, Dr Bob Thiel - Am The Greatest - blah, blah, blah...

The worlds greatest theologian and the only Church of God leader carrying on Herbert Armstrong's message in this dark and dying world, is back once again tooting his little horn about how magnificent he is. 

We are not worthy!

Consider also the following from Herbert W. Armstrong’s last letter before he died:

It may be that the Work that God has given me to do is complete, but not the Work of God’s Church, which will be faithfully doing God’s Work till Christ, the True Head of this Church, returns…Remember brethren, this is not the work of Herbert W. Armstrong…The greatest work lies ahead…Never before in the history of the Church has it been possible to reap so great a harvest. It has only been made possible through modern technology, beginning with the printing press, radio, television...Each of you must commit yourself to support God’s Work…God’s work must push ahead as never before. God is opening up new doors in television (Letter, 1/10/86).

Actually, those new doors for television have included the internet, which allows videos as well as online radio.

Another new door has been being a radio guest.

As long-term readers are aware, I, Dr. Bob Thiel a.k.a. COGwriter, have frequently been a radio guest. After being so over 230 times, the time seemed right for the CCOG to sponsor our own programs.

Prior to that, CCOG Overseer Samuel Ofosu from Ghana had already doing a COG-sponsored radio program. We also have CCOG radio presenters in Kenya.

Plus, in New Zealand, Shirley Gestro helped handling our Bible News Prophecy online radio channel. Various men in CCOG have been on it. This is another way we reach people.

We also have a Bible News Prophecy International radio platform. This has links to our non-English language online radio station as well as materials in multiple languages. Kristy Gorman oversees this.

We reach people all around the world from the online radio program.

But we are also on commercial broadcast stations in North America, Africa, and Europe. Plus, we are on shortwave broadcasters that are based in the USA and Europe which, together, cover much of the entire world.

Another “new door” in television has been my appearing 33 times this year as a guest on a podcast program, almost all of which had video as well as audio).

Radio and the internet are two mass-media “doors” we are using to work to fulfill Matthew 24:14 and Matthew 28:19-20, while also working towards part of the fulfillment of Romans 11:25.

And we in the CCOG have been greatly reaching Gentiles–around the world, but mainly in Africa, Latin America (in person, but also with online sermons and sermonette videos), and Asia, but also in Europe and elsewhere.

Because of our high percentage of Gentile brethren in poorer regions of the world, we have much lower income than groups with as many congregants as we have.

Yet, we still seem to have a greater radio presence than any other true Church of God Christian group at this time.

Does that make sense to you?

If you are a Philadelphian Christian, it should. 

Consider that most, even in the Church of God, will not believe the message of the work, even though they were told and could see the truth if they were willing. 

Thanks to Rod Meredith and the Living Church of God members publicly denouncing you as a false prophet, fraud, and a narcissist, it is no wonder the entire Church of God movement has turned its back on you and laughs at your endless foibles. 

 

Crackpot Prophet Now Being Persecuted In Canada! Oh Noes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Poor Bwana Bob, he has worked tirelessly spreading himself thin around the world as the world's most important Church of God to ever exist, and now, some nare-do-well is taking funds from him! The Great Bwana's ministry is one big hot mess.

Fake in Canada
We have long warned about various fakes on the internet pretending to be related to the Continuing Church of God and/or some of its leadership. 

 

Well, the latest fake we became aware of was from a website in Canada. The website is part of https://mycharityfund.ca. While the mycharityfund.ca is a legitimate company, someone pretended to be the Continuing Church of God there. It listed the late Herb Haddon as a contact along with his last valid address. However, it listed a website in Canada that does not exist, nor has mycharityfund.ca ever given the Continuing Church of God any funds.

Bob Thiel's African Mess - Lies, Lies, and More Lies

 

Sadly, Bob Thiel is completely in the dark when it comes to Charms and Witchcraft practiced by his top clergy in Africa. It's hypocrisy for him to write such articles and ignore his own Den of Demons. 

BOB I KNOW YOU READ THIS BLOG. LISTEN AND LISTEN WELL. 

All that you believe about Africa is a lie and a scam. An example, today I received a call from Forester in Malawi. Radson had called John Machemba and was questioning him about certain things, and saying BOB is putting pressure on me with questions. Radson is worried he will be found out, but Bob, the truth is right in front of you, but you refuse to believe, because you can't accept the truth that your whole African Church is not what you think. 

An example of your gullibility or don't-care attitude. Forester has obtained your Facebook messages from Radson's ex-wife, where she's telling you the truth about Radson and his current wife, and you don't even believe it's Priscilla you're talking to. You believed Radson when he supposedly had you talk to Priscilla. Why didn't you verify it was Priscilla through a Video Call? 

The Woman you talked to wasn't Priscilla. I've seen Priscilla many times- she can't hardly speak English, but I can tell what her voice sounds like because I know her well, can you? You should have video verified it, but you didn't. 

Another big lie Radson told you was about Louis Wahela. You think he's been with the CCOG since you published that article in December 2023 in the letter to the Brethren, and you believe he wrote that letter to you. He can't even speak or write English in the manner that you received. RADSON WROTE IT!!! 

THAT picture you saw was obtained because Radson gave Wahela some small funds and fanta, that's all. 

Louis Wahela never left Hope of Israel, nor did Chipangwa. We have proof on all this and so much more. 

Another example you got scammed on is believing Evans' story about John Machemba. John was bribed by Evans and Radson that day to tell lies about Forester and the number of Feast attendees in Hope. John has already given his testimony to our lawyers and the court about what happened, and also the video that was taken. John wasn't aware of it, and that's a crime according to our lawyers. We are considering taking legal action against Evans and Radson for this alone, if you keep having Evans and Radson bribing our people!!!! 

Also, Evans gave money to John the last time he saw him. John denies that letter you published not too long ago. All you're getting from Evans and Radson are lies, period!!!!! Radson spoke to Forster today and was bad-mouthing Sosten to him. Radson even asked Forster to join him; however, Forster flatly refused, as he knew the treachery of Radson. I'm sorry things had to work out this way, but I couldn't be part of the CCOG and know what I know, and you not caring to defend the truth. My family and couldn't stomach that garbage. If you want proof, I can give you Forester's app number. MAY GOD OPEN YOUR EYES. Terry Nelson

Should YouTrust The Words Of Your Leadership Just As Much As You Trust God? UCG Thinks You Should.

Nathan Albright has posted another letter addressing an issue in the United Church of God. UCG recently sent out a letter to its members telling them that they need to trust God, but also to trust the authority figures of the church, regarding them as reliable sources of information, while mistrusting unreliable sources such as AI.

A church-wide message was distributed across all congregations, framed around the theme of trusting God. While the primary message appeared routine and uncontroversial, the inclusion of offhand remarks about trusting authority figures, regarding them as reliable sources of information, and mistrusting artificial intelligence (AI) has puzzled many members. This paper examines the likely purposes behind such a coordinated message, the possible institutional concerns it signals, and the range of congregational responses to its delivery.

It is all well and good that UCG tells its followers to trust in God. As a church, that should be its mission. The problem is, and this is not unique just to UCG, they also ask members to trust authority figures as if they can do no wrong, after all, ministers are the earthly appointed spokespersons for God here on earth and can make no mistakes. Even if they did, on the rare occasion, make a "mistake," you are bound to heed what they say because you are under church government. Even if they are grossly wrong, you must do what they say, and God will bless you later for doing so. That perverse reasoning was preached too long in the COG movement.

Albright continues:

The subtle encouragement to “trust authority” suggests an institutional aim beyond spiritual exhortation. Such phrasing may be an attempt to counteract growing skepticism of leadership or outside information sources. In a time when many members receive news and perspectives from digital media—including AI-generated material—church leaders may feel the need to reestablish themselves as the authoritative interpreters of truth.

UCG's fear of AI is also interesting:

The warning about AI indicates institutional anxiety about its influence. AI tools can produce sermons, generate theological interpretations, and aggregate information more quickly and diversely than traditional church channels. By framing AI as untrustworthy, leadership may be attempting to limit competing sources of authority, guarding against members substituting algorithmic outputs for pastoral or organizational guidance. 

 

It is pretty telling that members can search AI for all kinds of religious perspectives, and it generally lays out a lot of good information that many times refutes the Old Covenant ways of UCG—and THAT is something they cannot stand.

Albright also questions if this might be a preemptive strike about upcoming issues the church may be facing.

A preemptive, broad message might also be designed to manage potential crises. If there are internal disputes, rumors, or controversies circulating—perhaps amplified online—the uniform call to “trust” leadership and dismiss external information channels functions as a stabilizing signal. It tells members where loyalty and interpretive reliance should lie.

 Albright lists these congregational responses:

3. Likely Range of Congregational Responses 

3.1 Acceptance
Some members will take the message at face value, finding it a harmless or helpful reminder about trust in God. The comments on authority may blend seamlessly into their preexisting trust in church leadership. 

 

3.2 Confusion
A significant group, as you noted, is puzzled. They may interpret the authority and AI comments as tangential, odd, or unnecessary, and question why this was considered important enough to broadcast universally. 

 

3.3 Suspicion
Some may interpret the message as a defensive maneuver—signaling insecurity within leadership or anticipating a challenge to authority. To them, the remarks may seem like a subtle attempt at conditioning or controlling interpretation. 

 

3.4 Resistance
A minority may respond critically, resisting what they perceive as overreach. They may reject the implied directive to mistrust AI or may bristle at the suggestion that leadership should be automatically trusted without accountability.

These four responses are how the Church of God members have reacted to all kinds of things over the decades—from procedural matters, doctrines, church leadership, and more. Members continue to react this way.

Albright ends with this:

4. Implications for Institutional-Individual Dynamics 

 

The message highlights a tension common in religious organizations:
Institutional need: Leaders seek loyalty, cohesion, and protection against external interpretive rivals. Individual perception: Members expect clear spiritual nourishment and may resist or resent what feels like manipulation or unnecessary control. 

 

When side comments appear to carry hidden motives, trust can be undermined rather than strengthened. Ironically, a message about trust risks producing doubt if its purpose seems less about God and more about protecting institutional authority. 

 

5. Conclusion 

 

The coordinated message serves as both a spiritual exhortation and an institutional signal. While its declared theme—trusting God—is broadly accepted, its subtext—trusting authority and mistrusting AI—reveals leadership concerns about maintaining interpretive control in a rapidly shifting information environment. Congregational responses range from acceptance to suspicion, with puzzlement being the most common. For long-term stability, leadership must balance the need to reinforce authority with transparency and genuine spiritual teaching, lest attempts at message control backfire and erode the very trust they seek to build.

Read the entire article here:  White Paper: Institutional Messaging, Trust, and Congregational Response

 

ht: Lee Walker 

Dave Pack Threatens Young People Into Baptism

 

During "The Greatest Untold Story! (Part 590)," on August 16, 2025, David C. Pack of The Restored Church of God applied pressure with threats to "young people" to get baptized before his new deadline for the arrival of the Kingdom to Israel on the Feast of Trumpets (Septemper 23, 2025). David C. Pack lacked the faith to believe God knew how to move His little ones toward baptism in a timely manner and took it upon himself to threaten the loss of eternal life if they did not act quickly. All credit to former member Marc Cebrian for this clip and description: exrcg.org

A Simple Solution for Bob Thiel's Fears

 

Crackpot Prophet On How Crosses, Tattoo's, And Good Luck Charms Equal Witchcraft And Lead To The Fall Of Civilizations

Crackpot Prophet On How Crosses, Tattoo's, And Good Luck Charms Equal Witchcraft And Lead To The Fall Of Civilizations

Nothing pops the corks of our resident crackpot false prophet and Church of God leaders more than the cross does. They search high and low to find whatever pagan connotations they can connect to it. The more vile it is, the better. It's pretty much how many of them react to the New Covenant over the required law-keeping they bow down to.

It should come as no shock that our resident crackpot false prophet is getting his holistic knickers in a sacred knot right now over lucky rabbit's feet and crosses. People who have either of these two are wallowing in witchcraft.

Those of you who have a lucky rabbit's foot on a key chain had better get on your knees and REPENT, fast for a week, and donate all of your money to the true church.

Our Chief crackpot searched long and hard until he found a 2018 article by Voice of America—not known for their hard-hitting journalism—that goes on to quote Elle magazine, another bottom-of-the-barrel "news" source, on how certain actors and musicians have lucky necklaces they wear (as if anyone really cares).

Voice of America (VOA) ran the following: 

 

Nearly Quarter of Americans Carry Lucky Charms 

 

Nearly one in four Americans carries a good luck charm at least occasionally, according to a new survey. 

 

According to a YouGov poll, seven percent of Americans carry a lucky charm every day, four percent said they carry one frequently, and 13 percent said they carry one occasionally. 

 

Seventy percent said they don’t carry a charm. 

 

A lucky charm could be a shirt, a pair of shoes, a coin, a bracelet or a piece of ribbon. In fact, at the World Cup, star Lionel Messi tied a ribbon given to him by a fan around his ankle.

According to Elle magazine, actress Cameron Diaz wears a lucky necklace, as does Lindsay Lohan. Actor Benicio Del Toro is reported to have a lucky ring. 

 

Women are slightly more likely to carry a charm, with 26 percent saying they carry one at least occasionally, compared to 20 percent of men who say they do. 07/13/18 

The crackpot false prophet then goes on to say this about crosses:

However, if you include religious icons like crosses, the amount of Americans who carry ‘good luck charms’ is much higher. Plus, various tattoos are considered to be ‘good luck.’

Armstrongism has had a long history of despising the cross, which stands to reason since it is a works-based performance belief system. It shouldn't surprise us that the same goes for the Mormons and the Jehovah's Witnesses, two groups Herbert borrowed beliefs from..

A Facebook group on Christian Doctrine and Cults had this to say:

All cults and false religions have one thing in common they make the cross of Christ of no effect. 

 

When a cult or a religious group tells you what you have to do to earn salvation they make Jesus' sacrifice on the cross of no effect. Hebrews 10:12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;, Titus 3:5 "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us.

Besides leading to witchcraft (Crackpot Bob should be well-versed in this since he has followers in Africa who practice it), these kinds of things lead to the downfall of civilizations. Crackpot Bob includes this little tibit by Lester Grabbe:

One of the major causes for the collapse of Rome was the decay of religion from the status of moral judge and champion to a hollow shell of ritual and liturgy. In desperation, people turned to astrology, sorcery, and divination, the natural refuge in a time of confusion and collapse. (Grabbe LL. The New Fad: MYSTICISM and the OCCULT. Plain Truth, November 1971)

Crackpot Bob then adds this:

The amount of superstitious Americans has seemingly increased over the decades. 

 

Good luck charms are a form of idolatry. 

 

They bring to mind something that the prophet Jeremiah wrote: 

 

5 Like scarecrows in a cucumber patch, their idols cannot speak. They must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them for they can do no harm–and they cannot do any good. (Jeremiah 10:5, CSB)

Look at how Crackpot Bob and other COG leaders have created their own magic spells and idols to make people feel safe. Bribing God with good works is foundational to Armstrongism.

You must belong to the one true church to be saved.

You must follow me to understand prophecy.

You must keep the Sabbath as a prerequisite for salvation.

Celebrating Christmas and Easter is paganism and is a salvational issue.

You must drag out Herbert Armstrong's books and booklets whenever you study the Bible. Without his magical interpretations, you cannot understand the Bible..

Your child must be blessed at the Blessing of the Little Children to set them apart for God's protection.

Your salvation revolves around not eating pork and shrimp, or a big, luscious ham sandwich.

Then there is this to consider:

Modern day Christian "tithing" is an abomination. This practice assumes that God can be bribed. It assumes that God is a transactional accountant. It assumes that the Old Testament economy of truth was never replaced by the New. It assumes, in effect, and blasphemously so, that the cross of Christ either never happened or has no meaning. God forbid! 

 

Groups which tithe have in common that they put money over everything else – the leadership by preferring a non-biblical means of getting more money over the truth; the congregants by showing that they will do anything to become prosperous – but we know that no one can serve both God and Mammon (Matt.6:24; Lk.16:13). 

 

Church of God leaders and crackpot false prophets need to keep their self-righteous mouths shut before they start condemning others, especially when their own groups are cesspools of filth and false doctrines. 

2nd John 1:10-11 tells us not to pretend that individuals who pretend to be servants of Christ really are – just because they say so – and therefore not to support them in their efforts because their efforts are not of God. 

Jesus taught that His yoke is easy and that unless we come to Him like a child, we will not enter the kingdom. Being under the law, however, is not an easy yoke and does not reflect the simple faith of a child, so it contradicts what Jesus taught. Even Jesus performed work on the Sabbath, declaring that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. The issue with reverting to being yoked under the law is that it often makes people so obsessed with following rules that they neglect two essential things: loving God and loving their neighbors. Jesus identified these as the greatest commandments. Notice He didn't list keeping the Sabbath as the most important—or even the second most important? If you truly love God and your neighbor, it naturally fulfills the other commandments. That's why Jesus is so perfect and why God's gift in Him is so profound.

Understanding that then sets you free from crackpot false prophets and the other agents of deception that seek to control members' lives.