One thing you do have to hand to Herbert Armstrong is that he genuinely appreciated quality. Whether it was in his personal home, the beautifully maintained college campus, its facilities, or the polished visual presentation of Church of God speakers and television backgrounds, the man insisted on excellence. Almost every COG splinter group has carried at least some of that commitment to quality forward into their video programs and public image.
Well… almost every group.
Enter our most highly favored Crackpot Bob.
For the last thirteen years, the very concept of “quality” appears to have never once crossed his mind. His videos are a visual trainwreck: crooked bookcases, bizarrely arranged books, random doorknobs hovering behind his head, file cabinets, and perpetually creased banners. The clutter is every bit as distracting as his constant arm-waving and hyperactive bouncing in that oversized leather chair.
And here we are, just days away from the most sacred observance of the year for Armstrongists, and our bouncing, flouncing prophet has delivered yet another banger. While solemnly lecturing his dwindling band of faithful on how to properly observe Passover at home, viewers are treated to a glorious, wide-open view straight into his closet — proudly displaying his impressive collection of magic, holistic and overpriced ju-ju pills.
Quality all the way, folks. Truly inspiring.
25 comments:
The quality HWA enjoyed required some of us to live in poverty with nothing of quality.
Where is the scripture that says quality is SO darn important?
Hopeless, hopeless, hopeless.
On this Bob Thiel has done nothing wrong.
Herbert Armstrong was a snob, a man who rose from humble poverty to vast wealth, who used his and the church WCG wealth to validate his new status to gain acceptance in higher social circles.
Well, that would be interesting! Washing your own feet, drinking some wine and eating Matzohs. Reading some meaningful passages from the gospels and epistles as you go along. I guess you could find a Messianic group with which to do Passover. I doubt if even these Lone Ranger Christians will be thinking of CCOG and the words of "Dr." Thiel!
A quality suit helps to promulgate fake news.
" His videos are a visual trainwreck: crooked bookcases, bizarrely arranged books, random doorknobs hovering behind his head, file cabinets, and perpetually creased banners."
You forgot about the Crappy Curtains!
You find quality mentioned in Matthew 25:23 -26 when Christ mentions cleaning both the inside and outside of the cup.
Matthew 25:26 "Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean."
You don't find engineering loose ends in God creation. God is quality.
Bobs crazy, he shows these pictures of Priscilla, Wahela, Machemba meeting with Evans; anybody can see Bob's desperate to show everything is legit in his church. Next week a video will show the same 3 denouncing Bob; maybe he'll finally realize he's just a big suckaš¤Ŗš¤£
Contempt for others displayed in mocking, cruel insults and general unpleasantness is a core repeating theme of this blog.
Luke 18:10. The Pharisee in the temple stood alone and prayed 'God, I thank you that I am not like other people...'
His contempt for others condemned him.
1:09, you are right. It is contemptible that so many charlatans are deceiving so many in the COG.
I know business people who deeply resent Yelp! To their credit, many of them will get on that site and do followup comments regarding the improvements they have made in response to the complaints. They want their five star reviews!
Perhaps one day the purveyors of Armstrongism will learn from these examples to take constructive criticism and improve their level of service to their patrons, as opposed to complaining that nobody respects them, and going into lengthy indulgences in self-justification.
BB
Are you calling John Elliot a Charlatan ? Victor Kubic? What about Jim Franks? and Gerald Western? Is discerning people's characters such an easy cut and dry task?
"Contempt for others displayed in mocking, cruel insults and general unpleasantness is a core repeating theme of this blog."
Yup! Cry harder.
There really does not seem to be much (if anything) about quality in the scripture. People are reading into it what they want it to say. Cleaning the inside of a dish is really stretching it. That is about cleanliness.
If theyre affiliated with one of these groups longterm, 7:00, then yes.
I will stay home and watch the Jimmy Dore show during Pass over.
At least he's come out of the closet. If he was ever in it.
We only mock the human garbage that teaches or defends Armstrongism. If you wish not to be mocked, the solution is really simple! Repent of your Armstrongism!
11:14 I guess it depends on the substance so all I can give you is my opinion which is I believe God values quality more than quantity and I do now too eg Jesus was just 1 man but like the lamb and High Priest had to be without blemish. And yet He died at a very young age in comparison to many others especially in our day. Further IMO I’d rather have lived a short life myself filled with high quality health, wealth, knowledge, relationships, experiences etc than a long one filled with poor health and poverty in all these already mentioned. Anyway just my 2¢.
Yes, those flowery curtains were really awful.
If I might interject, here, 6:36, I'd like to point out that there are really profound spiritual lessons, and life lessons which are learned from poor health, poverty, and other dire circumstances. Some of what society would consider the least among us are actually closest to God. Of course, some lapse into crime and immorality, but that happens in the more affluent classes as well. HWA lived the prosperity gospel himself, while affecting policies and questionable doctrines which impoverished his followers who were supporting his lifestyle for the most part.
Most people never realize that we were a subset of the greater system. If planet Earth is an ecology system, we were HWA's little sub-ecology system within the greater ecology system, reacting to, and surviving simultaneously in both. Fortunately, being part of the HWA quarantine was completely voluntary. Leaving it was an act of survival for most. We entered a better system, one in which our blessings and freedoms were taken a way to a much lesser extent.
Poor Bob. He is functioning in a world in which "Your raise becomes effective the minute you do!"
It's the world of sales, whether tangible, intangible, or gospel goods are being sold. Make no mistake, we are all in sales! Most people are selling their own value, themselves, as something hopefully of value to employers, institutes of higher learning, or to assorted key fellow citizens. We humans are different from the animals in that we can monetize ourselves.
In the world in which Herbert W. Armstrong functioned, he was able to establish relevancy with members of his radio audience, in those now forgotten times when verifiable facts were not just a click away. His was a big booming voice, on the radio, with polish and aplomb equal to or surpassing the professionals in the budding telecommunications field of his day. Information one obtained from the radio carried much more weight in those days than it does today. He was also able to tap into the angst, on the heels of World War II, associated with perhaps the first man-made existential threat (the bomb), and to intertwine that with historic, nonmanmade existential threats such as disease epidemics, natural disasters and the boom and bust nuances of free market economies to create a motivational fear which literally scared people into membership in his church. Membership was presented as his total solution for existence as a human being. Other televangelists learned much from Herbert and began to outstrip and surpass him, and his son GTA, sometime during the late 1970s.
As HWA passed away, so did the basic mold which had made him so successful! Times and methods were rapidly advancing. Let's face it. Jesus WAS the gospel during His human existence. His very existence and constant examples sold the philosophy He brought to humanity. The disciples/apostles, the eye-witnesses He personally taught, gave testimony as to the veracity and efficacy of His message. Fast forward the history tape to the present time, and we are left with thousands of years of interpretation, and yet the remaining responsibility of Christians to illustrate continuing relevancy and to participate in the role which Jesus initiated with the disciples. Spreading what He taught! Interest has both risen and waned over the centuries. Armstrongism has certainly waned during our and our parents' and grandparents' lifetimes. This, as the proliferation of existential threats increases, presumably as we approach the endtimes (see Armstrong Prophecy Model)!
There are some who condemn teachers of Armstrongism for introducing innovation, and some who condemn the cessation of growth. One thing is certain! Whether or not God ever had anything to with Armstrongism, the leaders' "raises" (growth) will become effective the moment that they become effective in spreading its message! There has been a nearly 40 year learning curve amongst these people since the death of Herbert W. Armstrong. And yet, none have come up to anything near speed, let alone massive growth! Is this nature's way of telling us something's wrong???
Jimmy Dore was in the closet?
Funny. I had never heard of Jimmy Dore, but then again there are so many influencers and other new celebs foating around that it's difficult to keep up. The brat packers are in their 60s!
Post a Comment