There is no need for apostles anymore in the church because we still have Herbert Armstrong

 

Bob Thiel, Dave Pack, and Gerald Flurry will not like what Tim Kitchen has to say below. These three fools think God is speaking directly to them.

Christ called his team under Him. The Apostles, with Peter being leader. That again can be proven with so many scriptures. And through the Apostles, God called the Church, a team backing the Apostles, all speaking what the Apostles taught them, speaking the same thing. Which is what Christ taught the Apostles. Today, we have an apostle, Mr. Herbert W Armstrong exemplifying God's Way of Life, teaching us that way, preparing that way. He like Elijah and Zerubabbel has a team, just like the original apostles in the First Century. And we are qualifying to be on that team in the Kingdom now!

And he like Moses and Joshua, died. For he was human.(But will lead that Team under Christ in the Kingdom of God) God commands that team, that Era to HOLD FAST to what you were taught via the Apostle, the same message he gave Ephesus. Why, because an apostle was on the scene, and God gave the Church its doctrines through apostles. There is no need for another apostle, when we still have Mr. Armstrong. Why would God restore all things, and then go around and restore them again, as if the first installment was lost and couldn't be found. No. The Witness through Mr. Armstrong is still here. Those teachings are still here. And they still witness through those holding fast and staying true to those truths in the church.

HWA has become all-powerful and set the measuring line. Gerald Waterhouse did not depart from the trunk of the tree...yeah, right. Never fear, though; Waterhouse was a human and made dumb speculations, and NO ONE had the right to correct him. Only he could correct himself. That's one of the biggest loads of crap I have heard about Waterhouse in ages. Waterhouse was a liar and a fraud.

Like Mr. Armstrong explained, he taught the Trunk of the Tree and the main branches, the outline, the skeleton, the measuring line of which we must build and grow on. The Ministers were to expound, build up, focus on the smaller limbs, the twigs and expand from there, not departing from the Trunk of the Tree. That is what Mr. Gerald Waterhouse did. He showed us the program Christ started through Mr. Armstrong. He took all of what he was taught, the Plan of God, and expounded it into an AMAZING sermon going through almost every single point we needed! But he was human and speculated on some things. But he had the authority to correct it, not anyone else. And he did. Too many thought they can take that authority given to someone and do it better themselves, and some took themselves out of the church when they did that. Others when shown their error, repented.

Did you know the open door to understanding only came thorugh Herbert?

Today, with many of the sermons and message I've heard from many ministers, they do not have that structure, that skeleton, that measuring line, making clear to everyone whom God was using, what everyone's job is, and how we fit into the plan of God. Many take the job of an apostle and Mr. Armstrong and apply it to themselves or their group. And I'm not just talking about those groups who openly say they are an "apostle". I'm also including those who take the scriptures that apply to an apostle, that did apply to Mr. Armstrong and apply it to themselves and to the group they are fellow-shipping with and leading. Many say the Matt 24:14 is a commission and it is the Church's commission. Mr. Armstrong explained it as a PROPHECY of an Apostle coming on the scene fulfilling the Great Commission, which of course was given to the Apostles with the Church backing them. If the Church is not backing them, showing their loyalty, sticking with it, making a stand with the Apostle, not denying Christ through the Apostle, how can they truly be doing their part? And how can they grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, if they are not doing what Christ commanded us? Only those who were doing what Christ commanded, are given a good understanding. That means the open door to Understand, which the Philadelphia Era is given!

Tim Kitchen, Facebook

Uppity Ambassador College Men Who Were Learning Greek And Hebrew and Raymond McNair Questioning Validity of Dr Stavrinides Baptism

Charles Hunting

A reader here sent me this appalling letter from Dr. Stavrinides to Herbert Armstrong detailing the long-held belief among church leadership that well-educated ministers and members were a threat to the organization. 

When Charles Hunting presided over the Bricket Wood campus he did not take too kindly to Ambassador College men/ministers who were learning Hebrew and Greek and who looked up certain words and phrases HWA had "translated" and found that the words/phrases did not mean any such thing. Hunting had a two-fold disgust, one for men who decided to educate themselves in Hebrew and Greek and for them to turn around and call the church out for improper translations. Apparently, in Hunting's sight, all information that flowered from HWA'smouth and fingertips was God sent. We now know what a joke this idea was.

Then, to add more fuel to the fire, Stavrinides discusses how Raymond McNair was taking his baptism into question. McNair was always known to be an uppity jerk who took things to the extreme. Ratting out people to HWA was one of his favorite activities. Plus, the very idea that he took upon himself to stick his snotty nose into the baptismal status of Stavrinides is disgusting.

Double-click to enlarge 

Will The Doors To The Kingdom Be Shut In Your Face In Regards To How You Dress For Church?

 

Armstrongism had a lot of idiotic teachings that were not founded upon any scriptural basis but upon late 19th-century/early 20th-century cultural norms and personal opinions, most of which stemmed from Victorian standards ingrained in the culture here.

The internet is filled with countless websites, blogs, Facebook groups, Reddit pages, Instagram, TicTok, and Rumble accounts that sing praises to Herbert Armstrong and the pre-1986 version of the Worldwide Church of God. The church was pure and untainted before January 16, 1986. Then, the very instant Herbert breathed his last breath Satan entered into the church. Satan was never interested in the church before that or actively seeking to destroy it. The second Herbert died, the demonic realm went into overdrive. After all, Satan is the much-discussed all-powerful god of Armstrongism. God the Father and Jesus were too weak to stop him from destroying the church.

Despite all the numerous sites preserving Herb's writings, there is a new one on the block, as if we need another one! 

Only Armstrong

One thing for sure about their site, it is well done. It puts the Mickey Mouse run-on sentence junk of Bob Thiel's blogs to shame. It is a slick well well-crafted site that is visually appealing and keeps the reader intrigued for more.

Like all of the hudnreds of other splinter groups out there entrenched in legalism and law-keeping, this one seeks to recapture the old values of HWA and the church. Particularly when it comes to dress.

The article by Corey Smith is reminiscent of the fire and brimstone articles and shouting sermons by HWA over the proper dress for church. Armstrong says your very salvation is dependent upon the clothing you wear. This is just pure utter bullshit, but yet here we are...

Double-click to enlarge, or read it here: Proper Attire 

Herbert W Armstrong declared himself to be a false prophet

 

HWA declared himself to be a false prophet

I realize that there are many twists and turns to the Worldwide Church of God (WCG) story, but it is sobering to me that so many COG members in the offshoots (e.g., UCG, LCG, COGWA) know so little about the actual history of the WCG.

Perhaps a stellar example of this is the appalling ignorance of Herbert Armstrong’s (HWA) often histrionic behavior and failed prophetic utterances.  Some claim that all HWA did was speculate about the future, but that is not true according to HWA himself. HWA in his radio broadcast apparently linked his prophetic interpretations and utterances to the standard in Deuteronomy 18.

Deuteronomy 18:18-22 New International Version

²⁰ But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death.”

²¹ You may say to yourselves, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?” ²² If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously, so do not be alarmed.

The most readily accessible example of this reckless behavior can be found in David Barrett’s excellent study of the collapse of WCG: “The Fragmentation of a Sect”.  Barrett cites the late Richard Nickels a well-known researcher and COG historian. Nickels concluded that HWA labeled himself a false prophet based on this direct quote from an early World Tomorrow radio broadcast: 

“A terrible famine is coming on the United States, that is going to ruin us as a nation inside of less than twenty years. Alright, I stuck my neck out there. You just wait twenty years and see whether I told you the truth. God says, if a man tells you what’s going to happen, wait and see. If it doesn’t happen, he was not speaking the word of God, he’s speaking out of his own mind. If it happens, you’ll know God sent him.”

HWA clearly spoke out his own grandiose self-delusions and not for God resulting in incredible harm to those who trusted him. There are still many ignorant people even now in the COG, and it is time to share the above documentation with them – graciously -- especially the young members of UCG, LCG and COGWA.

Aristophanes