Exposing the underbelly of Armstrongism in all of its wacky glory! Nothing you read here is made up. What you read here is the up to date face of Herbert W Armstrong's legacy. It's the gritty and dirty behind the scenes look at Armstrongism as you have never seen it before! With all the new crazy self-appointed Chief Overseers, Apostles, Prophets, Pharisees, legalists, and outright liars leading various Churches of God today, it is important to hold these agents of deception accountable.
Herbert Armstrong's Tangled Web of Corrupt Leaders
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Monday, July 20, 2026
Reeducation in the World Tomorrow?
Herbert Armstrong had a very low opinion of this world's education system, and the scholarly elite which it produced. In his book, Tomorrow - What It Will Be Like (Chapter 5: Education and Religion Tomorrow), he wrote: We covered a section on this world's paganized, agnostic, decadent education earlier in this book. The academic system was founded by the pagan philosopher Plato. It has always remained pagan. Injected into it, in more recent times, has been German rationalism and the atheistic theory of evolution. He continued: Modern education has been based on a false, erroneous, untrue foundation. The supposedly educated of this world, even the great minds, have absorbed false knowledge. They have been trained in a false approach to knowledge. Almost always, error is based on a false assumed premise or hypothesis, taken for granted, never questioned-and, of course, unproved. The "educated" minds have been filled with such false hypotheses. They have allowed a false sense of values to flood their minds. Armstrong reasoned that the whole concept of education had been perverted and twisted, and he concluded that a whole new system would have to be instituted when God's Kingdom was established on this earth!
Unfortunately, like many Fundamentalists and Literalists before him, Armstrong viewed the findings of science as an attack on God and religion. This caused him to reject any evidence which he felt contradicted the Bible or his belief system. In his mind, they simply had to be wrong! Armstrong reasoned that - if they were right, then he and God would be wrong - and that could NEVER be. If this reasoning is beginning to sound circular to you, then you may be on to something! For Herbert Armstrong and his followers, the Genesis account of creation explained the mechanics of how life in all of its varied forms came to exist on this planet. Instead of seeing those chapters as an emphatic statement about God's role as Creator, they see it as the ONLY valid scientific explanation of how the earth and universe began! In other words, they turn spiritual/supernatural revelation into a scientific text. In reality, the Theory of Evolution provides a well-documented explanation for the diversity of life that we see all around us. It is evidence-based, and it has absolutely NOTHING to say on the subject of God and/or "his" role in creation!
At any rate, all of his angst about the educated of this world served as the basis for Armstrong's speculation about education in "The World Tomorrow." Armstrong wrote: In God's millennial civilization, the basis of all knowledge dissemination will be revelation. Light will replace darkness-truth will replace error. Understanding will replace crass materialism. True knowledge will replace intellectual ignorance. (Tomorrow - What It Will Be Like) Likewise, Herbert reasoned that this world's educated elite would be the toughest nut to crack when Christ returns. He wrote: Yes, indeed, the educating and reeducating of the world will be one of the most important tasks the Kingdom of God will face, after Christ returns to rule. Today people follow the false and deceptive values. Their entire thinking will require a reorientation-a change of direction. Now, while Mr. Armstrong's reasoning appears reasonable and progressive at first glance, we can clearly discern that it is extra-biblical when we take a second look. Armstrong identified a problem (education and the educated of this world) and then reasoned that it will have to be resolved in "The World Tomorrow," without referencing any scriptures to back up his reasoning! Moreover, Armstrong then proceeded to offer what he felt would be a reasonable solution to the problem: Christ would use his (Armstrong's) folks to reeducate the world!
In support of this conclusion, Armstrong turned to one of his favorite passages about the future Kingdom. However, before we address his interpretation of the passage, I'd like to quote it for our readers without prejudice. In the fourth chapter of the prophet Micah, we read: It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and it shall be lifted up above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it, and many nations shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between many peoples, and shall decide disputes for strong nations far away; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore... (Micah 4:1-3, ESV) Now, in response to this passage, Armstrong wrote: This knowledge-this teaching-and even knowledge of God's Law-shall go forth from the Church-and from Jerusalem, the new world capital. The problem, of course, is that this passage does NOT mention the Church anywhere - Armstrong injected this into the passage! Notice also that it is the nations themselves who will be seeking God's help - "that HE may teach us his ways." Notice too that there would not be any opportunities for them to learn about war anymore. In other words, Micah has absolutely NOTHING to say about ACOG folks reeducating the rest of the world!
Talk about a leap in logic. Herbert Armstrong went on to write: This Headquarters Church, at Christ's own world capital of Jerusalem, then, undoubtedly, will be given the administration of the world's new system of education. Did you notice that word "undoubtedly"? In other words, this is the only reasonable conclusion for us to reach! Is that, however, true? Even so, the speculation didn't stop there. Armstrong went on to conclude: Also, the indication is that the teaching of spiritual truth-of the true gospel, the spiritual conversion of the world-will be directed, worldwide, from this Headquarters Church, under Elijah and the overall direct supervision of Jesus Christ. Now, laying aside the fact that all of this is unsupported by scripture and is based entirely on Armstrong's reasoning out the "problem," how likely do you think that it would be for God to use a group of educators to retrain the world whose own teachings have been so thoroughly discredited by reputable sources? Indeed, Mr. Armstrong's Worldwide Church of God doesn't even exist today - some forty years after the death of its founder!
At this point, I think that it would be appropriate to actually examine some of the appropriate prophetic scriptures dealing with the dissemination of spiritual knowledge in God's Kingdom. In the book of Jeremiah, we read: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:31-34, ESV) Notice that God intends to put his law within them and write it on their hearts. Moreover, we are informed that it will no longer be necessary to instruct people to "Know the Lord, for they shall ALL know me." Finally, this passage seems to imply that spiritual knowledge is inextricably linked to forgiveness of sins! In other words, no teachers appear to be necessary in this passage!
Finally, there is that other Armstrong favorite passage from the book of Isaiah. Anyone with any background whatsoever in one of the ACOGs will remember the often-quoted passage from the eleventh chapter of Isaiah. After talking about the shoot which emerges from the stump of Jesse (Jesus Christ) and the nature of his person and reign (Isaiah 11:1-5), we are treated to a vision of his Kingdom. We read: The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious. (Isaiah 11:6-10, ESV) Once again, we notice that the nations will seek him. Also, we are told that "They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be FULL of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." Universal knowledge of God and "his" ways, but no mention of ACOG teachers reeducating people!
Bottom line - the world will be reeducated in a sense, but it won't be as Herbert Armstrong imagined it. Scripture indicates that it will be accomplished by a Divine miracle, and the willingness of the people of all nations to learn about God and his will for us. Moreover, as with our own experience, it appears that this will be accomplished by believing in Jesus Christ and accepting what he has done for us. In other words, no crash course in Torah will be necessary! What do you think?
by Miller Jones/Lonnie C Hendrix
How to Get Into the Kingdom: Step 1 – Submit to Headquarters. Step 2 – There Is No Step 2
Instead, we got 2026 — and a parade of spectacularly unhinged men who make the old Worldwide Church of God look like a model of sanity.
And then, sitting at the very top of this pyramid of delusion, we have Gerald Flurry — self-appointed King of COGland, professional Irish dance enthusiast, and the man who has somehow convinced his followers that he and his headquarters now hold the actual keys to salvation.
Yes. You read that correctly. (posted as written)
What is the key of David? IT IS THE ROYAL GOSPEL VIEWED THROUGH THE EYES OF THE FATHER, AND THE HUSBAND, AND THE HEADQUARTERS BRIDE---the highest level of God's government through all eternity.that's right---the headquarters Bride. That Bride consists of those who will go no more out from God's Headquarters temple---those who will be ruling with Christ there in Jerusalem foreverv(verse 12). That is the highest calling for a body of God's people ever! That is the resplendent reward awaiting those who teach the key of David! They will be sitting on the Headquarters throne of David forever! So this is the gospel viewed through their eyes too.Those during this Laodicean era who reject the key David will not have that reward. Fifty percent of them will repent and be in God's Family, but they will not be at Headquarters, because they reject rejected the key of David , the greatest vision of the Bible. Revelation 3 makes it clear that anyone who goes into the Tribulation will not be stationed at God's Headquarters.The very ELECT comprehend God's family government far better than most of God's people.
The big question is this: Will you understand and submit to this government in the age of man's rule of man and act while there is time?Consider this carefully: THE ROYAL KEY OF DAVID GOSOEL IS UNDERSTOOD NOW ONLY BY THE HEADQUARTERS KINGS AND PRIEST IN EMBRYO! If you fully understand and submit to this teaching now, you are going to reside in Jerusalem forever.Only 5vpercent of God's own people in the Laodicean era have remained faithful to God---and only that 5 percent will qualify for that level of royalty in this end time. We can't drift into such an exalted position. We must work hard and fervently support God's Work toady.In past ages, God has only prepared a small number of His people to rule from the Jerusalem Headquarters.It is hard to fathom the level of royalty God's Philadelphians truly are. God has given them knowledge He never gave to the other eras of His Church because He is specifically training His Headquarters personnel who will teach the key of David vision to the world. That is why God gives us that vision from the perspective of Headquarters in Jerusalem forever! He is revealing this vision with greater clarity all the time. Christ personally gives it to the Philadelphia era and to the Philadelphians in the Laodicean era. But only a small percentage of both eras qualify for Headquarters rule in Jerusalem.Armed with this key of David knowledge, we will be better able to support the prophets, apostles and leaders that God prepared in part ages."
According to the current PCG gospel, Jesus is apparently far too occupied trying to get back to Wadsworth and working with Bob Thiel preparing to flee to Petra, to bother with minor details like saving people. So Gerald and his loyal Headquarters staff have graciously stepped in to handle the whole “eternal life” thing themselves. If you don’t submit to their “royal government,” you’re apparently not getting in. The pearly gates now require a Headquarters stamp of approval.
This isn’t just weird. This isn’t just “different doctrine.”
This is straight-up, grade-A, gold-plated blasphemy.
This is the theological equivalent of saying the only way to get into the wedding feast is to have the right stamp from the right committee. It turns the gospel into a corporate loyalty program with eternal consequences. It takes the beautiful promise of Revelation 3:12 — “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God… and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God… and I will write upon him my new name” — and turns it into an exclusive club for those who stayed loyal to one particular splinter group’s leadership.
Herbert Armstrong had plenty of issues, but even he would have taken one look at this nonsense and thrown these people out so fast their heads would spin. He did not raise up a church so that some guy could later declare himself the new toll booth operator between humanity and God.
The Facebook post quoted above is not some fringe comment from a confused member. It is the logical endpoint of everything that has gone wrong. It is the distilled essence of the very “quagmire of heretical stupidity” that represents Armstrongism today. Who could have imagined that the highest reward in eternity is not found in Christ Himself, but in proximity to “Headquarters.” We are told that the “Key of David” is not ultimately about Jesus, but about recognizing a physical organization and its leader as the pinnacle of God’s government. We are told that only a tiny elite — the self-described “Headquarters kings and priests in embryo” — will sit on the real thrones in Jerusalem, while everyone else who fails to submit to this system gets a lesser seat in the Kingdom.
This is not biblical Christianity. This is not even a creative misreading of Scripture. This is a man-centered, headquarters-centered religion that has quietly replaced Jesus Christ with an institution and one elderly man as the practical gatekeeper of salvation and glory.
Yet here we are in 2026. The same movement that once preached Christ as the Head of the Church now has influential voices teaching that only those who accept “Headquarters” as the highest expression of God’s government will receive the highest reward. The irony is almost too perfect: the very people who claim to be the most faithful to Herbert Armstrong’s legacy have created a system he would have found utterly intolerable.
This is what happens when the focus shifts from Jesus Christ to an organization, from the Head to the “headquarters,” and from grace to government. It doesn’t produce humility. It produces spiritual arrogance dressed in royal language. It doesn’t produce people who are desperate for Christ. It produces people who are desperate to be recognized by Headquarters.
How unimaginable this future would have seemed in 1986. The conclusion is even more sobering: not only did no one see this coming, but the very people who claim to be preserving the truth have managed to create something far more dangerous than simple error. They have created a system in which loyalty to men and institutions is presented as the highest form of faithfulness to God.
That is not the Church Jesus Christ is building.
That is something else entirely.
And the longer it continues, the clearer it becomes that the real tragedy is not just that these men exist — it is that so many sincere people have been convinced that submitting to them is the same thing as submitting to God.
Sunday, July 19, 2026
Why Preach a Dead Christ Still On the Cross When You Can Restore 1,900 Years of Missed Truths Instead?
A Church of God member wrote recently:
The WWCG became the Laodicean Church. With out putting HWA on a pedestal, when you look at the Bible, God used HWA to restore many truths that went against the grain of mainstream Christianity. He was criticized because he didn’t initially preach Christ. However none can come to Christ lest God the Father calls. But the true Gospel begins with the Gospel of coming the Kingdom of God. Just the way John the Baptist, Jesus, and the apostles proclaimed it. Depending on how each person responds, God the Father calls those with a broken contrite heart to Christ to have their sins cleansed. But that is not where the Gospel ends. That is where mainstream Christianity ends-with a dead Christ hanging on a cross. The sacrifice of Christ is not enough. Christ said if a house is cleaned and swept and remains empty we come to a worse spiritual state. We are cleansed by Christ’s blood but we are saved by His life-Romans 5:10. The resurrected Christ imparts His Spirit to our cleansed spirit and begins transforming us-Romans 8:9. Christ fulfilling the Wave Sheaf Offering presents us to God the Father and then we also receive the Holy Spirit of God the Father joined to our cleansed spirit-Matthew 20:10. Fulfilling John 17:21. That is the full, complete Gospel.
Ah, the Armstrongite classic: "We didn't preach Christ at first because reasons... but look, we restored ALL the truths mainstream Christianity missed for 1,900 years!" This comment is textbook legalism dressed up as "deeper truth," and it perfectly illustrates why starting with anything but Christ as the blazing center leads to the fractured, authoritarian, prophecy-obsessed mess Armstrongism became.1. "HWA didn't initially preach Christ... but none can come to Christ lest the Father calls"Brilliant strategy! Don't lead with the actual Person the entire Bible revolves around. Instead, start with British-Israelism, end-times flow charts, "God's Law" (your selective version of it), and radio broadcasts hammering Saturday Sabbath and holy days. Christ can be an afterthought once the Father does the heavy lifting.
How exactly are people supposed to respond to the Father's call if no one is proclaiming the One they're supposed to come to? Romans 10:14-15 has some awkward questions for this approach: "How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?... As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!'"
Apparently, those beautiful feet were too busy restoring "truths that went against the grain" to mention the Grain of Wheat, who actually died and rose. That's why Armstrongism is such a mess today — dozens of splinter groups all claiming to be the "true" continuation, still arguing over who keeps the law purest, still waiting for the same failed prophetic timelines. When your foundation isn't Christ the Rock (1 Corinthians 3:11), but a man's "restored package," it predictably crumbles into legalistic factions.2. "The true Gospel begins with the Gospel of the Kingdom of God... mainstream Christianity ends with a dead Christ hanging on a cross"Yes, because nothing screams "we have the full gospel" like accusing billions of Christians of worshipping a dead guy on a stake (God forbid if you call it a cross) while you have unlocked the real message: a future government you qualify for by keeping the right holy days. Newsflash from the actual New Testament: The gospel is about Christ. Mark 1:1 calls it "the gospel of Jesus Christ." Paul defines it as the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ for our sins (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).
The Kingdom of God is real and glorious — but it's His Kingdom, brought by the crucified and risen King. Jesus didn't say "Preach the Kingdom... and oh yeah, me too if there's time." He is the Kingdom in person.
The apostles didn't tiptoe around the cross to get to the future government; they led with "Christ crucified" (1 Corinthians 2:2).
Calling mainstream Christianity "ending with a dead Christ" is peak projection. We celebrate the empty tomb every single day! The living Lord is at the right hand of the Father right now. The comment's version reduces Christ to a ticket-taker for the coming Kingdom while you work on your law-keeping résumé.3. "The sacrifice of Christ is not enough... We are cleansed by Christ’s blood, but we are saved by His life... Wave Sheaf Offering... full complete Gospel"Here it is — the heart of the error. The cross is just the beginning of your spiritual house-cleaning. Now you have to keep it occupied with... what? Your obedience to Old Covenant shadows? Hebrews 10:10-14 laughs at this: "And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all... For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified." One offering. Done. Perfected forever. Not "start with the blood, then add Sabbath-keeping and holy day observance to finish the job." Romans 5:10 ("saved by his life") doesn't mean "the cross got you in the door, now keep the law to stay saved." It means the living, risen Christ continues the work He began — interceding, giving His Spirit, keeping you. The New Covenant doesn't pit the death against the resurrection; both are His finished work applied to us. The Wave Sheaf Offering typology is cute. Christ fulfilled it perfectly as the firstfruits. We don't need to reenact the shadow to "present ourselves." That's the whole point of the New Covenant replacing the Old (Hebrews 8–10). The comment turns fulfillment into "now you do your part by keeping the feasts."4. It always boils down to enforcing the law over grace, justification, and sanctificationThis is the core rot. The comment admits the cross cleanses but insists it's "not enough." We still need the "resurrected Christ" plus (implied) law-keeping to complete the deal. New Covenant reality check:
- Justification is by faith in Christ apart from works of the law (Romans 3:28; Galatians 2:16).
- Sanctification is the Spirit writing God's law on our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33; Hebrews 8:10) and producing fruit — not external observance of shadows (Colossians 2:16-17).
- Adding Sabbath, holy days, or tithing as requirements for ongoing favor puts you back under the tutor that was meant to lead to Christ (Galatians 3:24-25). Paul is brutal in Galatians 5: "You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace."
The comment tries to sound profound by saying "mainstream ends with the cross, but we have the full picture." In reality, it diminishes the cross, subordinates Christ to a coming government + law checklist, and justifies starting a "restoration" ministry without leading with the Restorer Himself. That's why it produces spiritual pride ("we have the truth others missed"), division (endless splinters), and a focus on external observances rather than the indwelling Christ who is our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption (1 Corinthians 1:30). The New Covenant doesn't say "Christ's blood gets you started — now keep the law to finish." It says Christ finished it. Preach Him — crucified, risen, reigning, and coming again. Everything else flows from there. Anything else is just rearranging Old Covenant furniture in a house Christ already tore down and rebuilt in Himself.
Silent Pilgrim