In his latest video, "The Church is Essential For Salvation," Samuel Kitchen presents salvation through a distinctly Armstrongist gatekeeping lens: it depends on belonging to his version of the Worldwide Church of God remnant, remaining loyal to Herbert W. Armstrong's "one man at a time" hierarchy, and taking part in "the work" within that system.
In his video, filmed along the Flint River trail in Burlington, Iowa, Kitchen says the WCG is a spiritual organism led by Christ. People, he argues, were not called merely "to get saved"; through the organized work, they were being trained as kings and priests. He describes those who left after 1986, including GCI and the splinter groups, as having abandoned the true church for "Babylon." He says independent believers have been cut off from the Holy Spirit and will eventually hear, "I never knew you." Kitchen also claims that God works through only one man, or apostle, at a time, under a theocracy to which believers must surrender. He cites Hebrews 10:25 against forsaking assembly and portrays critics as shadowy or demonic.
Samuel's argument breaks down when he puts an organization-and the system created by a dead man-in Christ's place. Kitchen treats "the Church" as the particular historical WCG structure restored through HWA and now carried on by people like him. Scripture, however, calls the Church Christ's body: everyone who belongs to Him through faith (Ephesians 1:22-23; Colossians 1:18; 1 Corinthians 12:12-13). Belonging to a corporation, a mailing list, or an Iowa-based remnant does not determine that membership. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). He did not say, "except through the Worldwide Church of God archives and the current authorized tithe recipient."
It makes salvation depend on loyalty to the organization and participation in its work. Statements such as "independent Christians will not make the kingdom" and "the Holy Spirit is cut off from them," along with the demand to remain in the organized work under the hierarchy, place the group between believers and God. That conflicts with the New Testament's plain teaching: "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). Scripture says that people are justified by faith apart from works of the law (Romans 3:28; Galatians 2:16; Titus 3:5). Christ's completed work is enough. To add, "You must belong to this church and submit to this authority, or the Spirit is cut off," amounts to another gospel (Galatians 1:6-9).
The "one man at a time" theocracy came from HWA's authoritarian system, not from Scripture. Kitchen repeats the familiar Armstrongist argument that God works through one apostle rather than through committees or the congregation, leaving members no say in who leads them. That claim supported HWA's control. Nothing in the Bible identifies Herbert Armstrong as an end-time apostle who restored "all" truth after 1,900 years of darkness-especially when his predictions failed, and his distinctive doctrines do not withstand scrutiny. The New Testament instead shows plural leadership, with elders and overseers serving in multiple places under Christ as Head. It does not present one human gatekeeper whose writings must be obeyed for salvation.
Samuel mistakes the result of salvation for its means. Acts 2:47 says that the Lord added to the church those who were being saved. The church consists of people Christ has redeemed; it does not redeem them. Trusting Christ comes first, and belonging to His body follows. No one must join the correct post-1986 remnant or avoid every "splinter" to meet that condition. Hebrews 10:25 urges believers to encourage one another, not to prove that only Kitchen's group qualifies as an assembly. Matthew 18:20 remains clear: when two or three gather in His name, He is present.
Exclusivity feeds the demonization. Anyone who leaves the old WCG structure or voices disagreement can be branded an apostate, said to be in Babylon, influenced by spirits in disguise, or accused of promoting doctrines of demons. The pattern is familiar in cultic groups: once a community declares itself the only true body, leaving or criticizing it becomes proof that the critic stands outside the Spirit. Kitchen's own history-marked by family disputes over channels, control, and claims of "restoration"-makes those assertions about the "one true church" look deeply human and precarious.
Salvation comes from God as a free gift, received through faith in Jesus and what he completed: a perfect life, an atoning death, and resurrection. "There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). The New Covenant does not revive Sinai's system of law-keeping joined to loyalty toward an organization. It applies Christ's work to believers through the Spirit (Hebrews 8-10; Romans 8). The church exists because people have been saved; it is not what saves them. Christ saves the body (Ephesians 5:23), never the reverse-not the body, nor any human part of it, saving Christ.
Kitchen's version takes the old Roman Catholic formula "extra ecclesiam nulla salus"-outside the church there is no salvation-and recasts it in an Armstrongist form. According to that view, anyone outside our church, still organized around HWA's teachings and currently operating from Iowa, lacks genuine salvation and the Spirit. But that is not the gospel. It puts one human religious stream, marked by failed dates, unusual doctrines, and internal power struggles, above the sufficiency of Christ.
The video has 14 views, and its repeated calls to "hold fast" to the old structure do not alter what the Bible says: Jesus saves, not organizations.
27 comments:
No need to watch any of the Kitchen videos, because I didn't leave some kind of true church in 1985-86. I left a false church and false teacher in 1975 when God failed to validate HWA, because HWA had crapped the bed with his false math! He tried to know something Jesus said could not be known! But, in the aftermath of that "disappointment" the cult leaders went into emergency survival mode, backpedalled about it all, leading many of the culties in reprogramming themselves to "sometime within the next 3-5 years" as their renewable end times prophecy mantra. Thus, the empire was salvaged and rebuilt. Herbie Madoff died with the most toys and won, not even having cared sufficiently to groom an adequate successor following the failures of his son, Garner Ted. After GTA, HWA had no plan B. His haphazardly chosen successor who drew his inspirations from other resources did!
What we now see was inevitable. A cult teaching bizarre heresies as restored truth makes an initial splash, exploiting the world's first major self-induced existential threat (atomic bomb) in conjunction with the Germans, and Hisloppian fears of the Catholic Church, experiences its heyday in the sun, which slowly sets, and then as it rises the following morning, finds that cult to be impossible to sell in quite the same ways, due to a changing world, one that has changed in quite different and unexpected ways! Armstrongites today act as if the post-WWII news HWA used in interpreting Bible prophecy for us all is still an accurate reflection of world conditions! It is nothing like those conditions at all!
All that is left of the Armstrong empire today is dead seashells on the beach. A grand piano, some bird sculptures, rights to booklets which were clumsily edited in an attempt to shoehorn real events of today into the old Armstrong prophecy model. Draconian, fear mongering church government. A long, unused corporate name, itself brought into existence to replace a hopelessly outdated name which had become laughable as more modern technologies rapidly took over! Archives which had been moldering in church members attics, and somehow were dutifully transferred to the internet. These are trinkets, the things of nostalgia over something that's "Gone like a freight train, gone like yesterday, gone like a soldier in the Civil War, bang bang, gone like a '59 Cadillac, ain't never coming back again, gone, gone. gone!"
Armstrongism was always going to go into decline if we didn't flee in '72, and if Jesus didn't return in 1975.
BB
Ephesians 2:14-16,
Ephesians 4:4-6, and
1 Corinthians 12:13 :
All explicitly define God's people as a unified body and how Jews and Gentiles are brought together into "one new humanity." They teach of Christ's people collectively, and not on a future corporate organization set up in USA.
Was Apostle Paul unified with Apostles Peter and James ?
BB has laid it out again so nice & easy. These are the two biggest blunders of Armstrongism below. See if God had validated HWA as His end time messenger, then that would have meant Christ would have returned during HWA lifetime. That didn’t happen. Somewhere in scripture it says “lean not on your own understanding.” And that’s the biggest problem with them in regards to: prophecy, BI, Germany, third tithes. Concerning GTA, I feel he perhaps would have been the backup plan C, as Richard David would have been the one to carry on “their work” had he not been in that accident.
1. “God failed to validate HWA, because HWA had crapped the bed with his false math!”
2. not even having cared sufficiently to groom an adequate successor following the failures of his son, Garner Ted. After GTA, HWA had no plan B.
Hold fast! What that really means is, do not learn anything new.
You know, 11:48, there is one thing I will never understand! How could all of these people who hung on to every word of the Old Testament, leading up to 1972-75, have failed to obey what God says in Deut. 18:21-22? These are people who believed that the framework of the Old Covenant served as the basis for the New Covenant, adding the things which Jesus brought to the table to it, to create a better covenant from which point forward, the laws were written into the hearts of Jesus' followers through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the Ruach, the Comforter. Did they not realize that there still are false prophets on planet Earth today? That Deuteronomy 18:21-22 is neither done away, nor fulfilled, that it is still there as a discernment tool for those who seek to follow God? Do they not realize that disobeying that identifies them as people who have chosen to follow a man??? Especially those who are in the more abusive splinters?
It makes no sense at all to me. There is some really twisted logic in that! Big red flag. That and the current state of their church should be causing people to continue their search, realizing that they need some better answers!
BB
Yep BB, That Deuteronomy 18:21-22 is the verse that did it for me, as I came upon that verse about five years ago and it solidifies my exit even more so. But this verse is something that they fail to look at as well as others in the OT that invalidates Armstrongism. That verse also extends as a warning to the splinter groups that spew in the next “3 to 5 years”, or “5 to 10 years” (RCM) and not just 1975.
They somehow want to be baptised in the old testament, while putting Christ on the outside of the package, but Christ is not their centerpoint or nucleus. Then they pick and choose which verses they want within the OT to be a part of their paradigm.
For instance, like:
Jeremiah 33:17-18 “For thus says the Lord: ‘David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; nor shall the priests, the Levites, lack a man to offer burnt offerings before Me, to kindle grain offerings, and to sacrifice continually.’ ”
Armstrongism chooses to believe that the throne of David is still being occupied on earth by the British monarchy. But then they accept that Christ is High Priest doing the priestly duties not on earth. This just to keep BI, this and other tricks they use are just a put off to me.
There is nothing to fear amongst them as far as they are concerned. Notice how in the NT in Acts, how fear came upon people when the Apostles started turning the world upside down for Christ.
Would you like to see something really mind-blowing, 6:09? Something that "they" never quoted? Something that blows their entire theory regarding the British Monarchy sitting on the throne of David clear to smithereens?
Ezekiel lived and worked in the 6th century BC. Jeremiah, 7th century BC. Here is what Ezekiel wrote, many years after Jeremiah wrote what you quoted. Jeremiah 33:17-18 was officially taught by HWA and his proteges, as if it were the final word on the subject. They quoted the promise, but apparently accidentally forgot a few details surrounding the punishment!
Ezekiel 21:13 Testing will surely come. And what if even the scepter, which the sword despises, does not continue? says the Sovereign Lord.
Ezekiel 21:24-27 Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because you people have brought to mind your guilt, by your open rebellion revealing your sins, in all that you do, because you have done this, you will be taken captive.
You profane and wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come, whose time of punishment has reached its climax. This is what the Sovereign Lord says.
Take off the turban. Remove the crown. It will not be as it was. The lowly will be exalted and the exalted will be brought low. A ruin! A ruin! I will make it a ruin! The crown will not be restored until he to whom it rightfully belongs shall come; To him will I give it!
I'd advise reading the entire 21st chapter of Ezekiel, of course, for proper context. Babylonian captivity followed the prophecies of Ezekiel. Also of note, the Herods were Idumean, foreigners, not of the line of David. The crown? I assume it rightfully belongs to Jesus.
BB
By the way, the Bible leaves Jeremiah and Zedekiah's daughters in Egypt. Anything further on that topic is purely extraBiblical guesswork. We do not know from scripture where they might have gone thereafter. We do know that the British royal family is German, and went through a name change in the early 20th century from the German name Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to the British name Windsor.
BB
The British Monarchs have not always been German, only in recent history and future history will dilute the German roots.
Prince William future heritage as King will bring in unique genealogical and historical milestones. He will be the first British Monarch to descend from King Charles II and King James I. This royal bloodline re-enters the monachy through his mother Princess Diana from the Spencer line.
William will also be the first British monarch with American ancestry via his mother's American great-grandmother Frances Burke Roach and her line includes American Revolutionary war patriots!
Wow BB, thanks for the insights!! I will be reading Ezekiel 21 later today. This is the benefit of a blog such as this. They tell you to read your bible but they are the ones on the biblical guesswork on such topics. Thanks again.
8:55 I always chuckle when I hear or see the word written "American ancestry" as though white Americans are native to the land of America. Take for instance our president Donald Trump, he is of Scottish and German ancestry not "really" American ancestry. It goes back to Europe.
Saturday, October 24, 2026 at 10:29:24 PM
Yes in my view. I say so because the existence of disagreements does not mean they were not united in Christ.
Paul could rebuke Peter in Galatians 2 because both belonged to the same body and gospel. While there were disagreements over conduct and practice, they remained united in the sense described by Ephesians 2:14-16, Ephesians 4:4-6, and 1 Corinthians 12:13: one body, one Spirit, and one people of God.
There was that time that Paul and Barnabas broke up, they split up over John Mark, but then Paul requested him back later.
There is such a thing as American ancestry, the fact you don't respect it and somehow see it as an insult to American Native Indians is your personal opinion.
They are Native Americans, they never called themselves "indians", that's the insult. Columbus thought he was going to Indian. Indians are from India, like Germans are from Germany, French are from France. You just insulted the Native Americans. Respect it
Dude! You really need to get out more and travel! I just spent 14 days going through Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Nevada visiting Indian ruins, pueblos, petroglyphs sites and more. Every single one of these states had Bureaus of Indian Affairs, Indian Tribal Offices and more, visible from the road.
While the Navajo will refer to themselves as Diné when amongst themselves, they still use Navajo, Native American and Indian on signage and other identifying markers. They also realize that technically they are not even Native Americans since their ancestors came over the Beringia and down through what is now Canada as they trekked all the way down into South America.
Educate yourself:
New Mexico Indian Affairs Dept: https://www.iad.nm.gov
Arizona Bureau of Indian Affairs: https://www.bia.gov/regional-offices/western
Colorado Bureau of Indian Affairs: https://www.bia.gov/regional-offices/southwest/ute-mountain-ute-agency
Utah Division of Indian Affairs: https://indian.utah.gov (Notice the word INDIAN in their web site address)
My ex wife (who is Native American and very much looks the part) and I gradually toured all the ruins, the ancient cave dwellings, etc. back in the early 1990s, Gary. While we were in our dating stages, we used to go to Pow Wows. It was fascinating. Several of the prominent tribes use my services in producing their printed materials, for their tribal documents, in support of their healthcare system, and for the casinos, so I am occasionally working on tribal lands. One of my early customers traced genealogies for Native Americans who had not grown up on reservations, and who needed authentication to be admitted to tribes.
I was always interested in Native Americans, but what really kicked my interest into high gear was the early Billy Jack movies.
BB
BB. I've been doing petroglyph sites for several years now. Endlessly fascinating. My fear right now is with the decommissioning of a lot of Bears Ear by the president that a lot of that heritage will be destroyed or stolen.
First of all NO2HWA Dude!!!, I was just joking with 3:43. You guys gotta lighten it up a bit over here.
Secondly and on a more serious note the three ways that westerns classify or identify these peoples are from the 1600s to 1800s. 1. Native American (Academic term) for history so that I can “educate myself”, Indigenous (modern term) BEFORE those imaginary lines came in you know like AZ, UT, NM. Indigenous refers to before colonial geography. They get to tell their story not the people who came in later. 3. Indian (became the legal term) based on the paperwork already written up by the US government without their say so. They use the term because Columbus (West Indies) couldn’t read a map no better than George Bush trying to figure out which middle east country to attack. But “Indian” is fine for legalities or laws (designed by westerners). Again I was just joking Dude, take a chill pill NO1. HWA
Third, with my interactions with “Native American’s, I always referred to them by what they wanted to be called (their tribal name). I also had the pleasure of working with one for a year (not just 14 days).
The end of this is actually the better way coming from the source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwWgnbK2Pac
& BB, Your'e no BB King!
This last trip for 14 days was just that, a road trip. This does not take into count the many years I have worked with Native Americans on their lands with projects and other works. Not one of them have ever been offended at the term Indian. Checkout the largest Pow Wow in the nation in New Mexico sometime. Native American, indigenous and Indian are used interchangeably.
I am glad for the work you do, you are more Christian than the Armstrongist. Just don't call them red people. 😀
Wow, 2:41. You live in my neighborhood, and have heard me play? I freely admit I'll never be a BB King, or Albert King, Freddie King, Albert Collins, Lowell Fulson, Buddy Guy, Ike Turner, T-Bone Walker, Otis Rush, Bo Diddley, John Lee Hooker, Elmore James, Muddy Waters, Earl Hooker, Taj Mahal, R.L Burnside, or Magic Sam. They are all my heroes, and provide countless hours of entertainment, inspiration, and exemplary playing.
BB
"The thrill is gone" BB, the thrill is gone.
You know why, because you didn't mention the baddest blues player of all time Stevie Ray Vaughn. Can I introduce you to Johnny Lang, a decade ago, he was one of the new kids on the block. I also like this guy named Derek Trucks.
But yea those guys you mentioned inspired those British guys back in the day. And most importantly it inspired you, BB.
Gary, those petroglyphs are one of the only ways we can know about the history of people who had no wrtten language. It ties in with the observations I've been making about the pre-Roman British Isles. When we do not have written history to rely upon, it opens the door to guesses turned into doctrine guised into definitive answers promoted by scammers like HWA, GTA, and their cast of latter day clowns. I hope you are being the Ansel Adams of petroglyphs, documenting everything you can find!!!!
BB
Hey, 4:49, The Rolling Stones, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, the Cream, John Mayall's Blues Breakers, early Fleetwood Mac, and Canned Heat first exposed me to the old "masters" way back when. By the time George Thorogood and Stevie Ray came along, I was already fully immersed. It's all good, and has provided an excellent sound track for life. I did get to see SRV in concert at the Wiltern Theatre in LA,, and in various other venues The Allman Bros, Johnny Lang, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, George Thorogood, Buddy Guy, Otis Rush, Tina Turner, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, James Harmon, and ZZ Top, There were various Blues Blasts, in fact the Long Beach Blues Festival was awesome. Not usually a joiner, but was actually a member of the Blues Society at one point.
It's almost a lifestyle!
BB
9:09 What a life, the American Dream!
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