I'm smelling another Elijah the Prophet about to break forth onto the scene...

 

Aside from Bob Thiel being thrilled that the sermon mentioned Elijah, Bob Thiel, and a double portion of the spirit in the sermon, Bob is hardly going to be capturing hearts and minds with sermons, or rather Bible Story reading, as this. The translator should have just read the story to his own people and cut out the middleman Nelson. Nothing here actually needed a translator. Bob could have saved the airfare as well for Mr. Nelson.

I honestly don't see the point in this presentation. Bob sends a minister to read what anyone in the native language could read to the people and gets all excited that in some way, this is an amazing occurrence and proof to Bob of who knows what.  

With whatever all due respect I can muster, this is a pretty poor presentation. Lifeless, listless, and lazy comes to mind. The applause at the end by the three people sounded more like claps of joy this is over. 

Personally, I'd be embarrassed by this presentation, but Bob does not seem ever to suffer embarrassment. 

With breathless amazement Bob announces...

"The Continuing Church of God is pleased to announce the following sermon from its CCOGAfrica channel:
 

The Story of Elijah in English & Chichewa

In Malawi, Terry Nelson speaks in English, in a sermon that is also simultaneously translated in Chichewa by Radson Mulozowa. He talks about the story of Elijah the prophet and goes over numerous scriptures. Terry Nelson also mentions Elisha, Bob Thiel, miracles, and a double-portion of God’s Holy Spirit."

 

The 100% Failure Rate Of Prophecy In The Churches of God

In light of the recent post here about Gerald Weston's whitewashing of Herbert Armstrong, Rod Meredith, and the Church of God's abysmal track record on prophecy, I thought this would be a great separate thread.

Weston's explanation of HWA's 1975 in Prophecy booklet might be more believable if HWA hadn't already had a track record by then of making predictions and setting dates, which can be traced all the way back to early editions of the Plain Truth in the 1930s. For instance, the June 1934 edition of the Plain Truth had a chart in it where HWA labeled 1936 as the "end of the age." When that didn't happen, he simply kicked the can down the road a bit and made other predictions, and set other dates, much like Pack, Flurry, and others do today. For example, in the February 1938 Plain Truth, he declared Mussolini the "Beast" of Revelation, and in January of 1939 he further promoted this idea, saying that "MUSSOLINI UNDOUBTEDLY IS THE "BEAST" and "MUSSOLINI WILL FIGHT CHRIST!"

Weston also ignores the fact that HWA also promoted and taught the idea of 19 year time cycles, and made his own claims based on those time cycles. For example, in Chapter 24 of his Autobiography, he has this to say, 

"God set the earth, sun, and moon in their orbits to mark off divisions of time on the 

earth. One revolution of the earth is a day. One revolution of the moon around the earth is a lunar month (according to God’s sacred calendar). One revolution of the earth around the sun is a solar year. But the earth, the sun, and the moon come into almost exact conjunction only once in 19 years. Thus 19 years mark off one complete time-cycle!" 

He went on to use this statement to promote the idea that God timed his entry into the ministry based on the number of time cycles that had occurred since Pentecost of 31AD. 

It is both a double standard and rank hypocrisy to criticize the "speculations" of others, making the statement that "some never learn" while glossing over and excusing the same behavior in the very leaders you hold up as bastions of "truth" such as HWA and Meredith. 

It would be totally refreshing if just one of these guys was able to admit that HWA engaged in this behavior and was WRONG, as did Rod Meredith and others, and that we need to learn from the false claims and sins of our predecessors so we don't fall prey to repeating their mistakes. 

It is contradictory to claim out of one side of your mouth, as HWA did, that you were not called to "be a prophet" while also writing articles and booklets predicting specific events to be fulfilled by specific people, using titles such as "1975 in Prophecy" and also claiming that you are the fulfillment of an end time "voice crying out in the wilderness" as prophesied in Malachi 3:1. 

"John the Baptist was a voice crying out in the physical wilderness of the Jordan River area, preparing for the human physical Jesus' first coming to a material temple at Jerusalem, to a physical Judah. But that was a type, or forerunner of a voice "lifted up" (greatly amplified by modern printing, radio and TV), crying out in the midst of today's spiritual wilderness of religious confusion, announcing the imminency of Christ's SECOND coming as the spiritually GLORIFIED Christ, to His spiritual temple (the Church resurrected to spirit immortality)." Plain Truth Magazine, January 1980

If you claim you aren't a "prophet" that doesn't excuse you if you then go on to make false predictions, or engage in the same behavior that defines a false prophet.  

Concerned Sister

 In a second comment, there was this:

The date setting, and the abundant evidence of its ongoing denial, backpedaling, and rewrite is exactly why God would have to use a completely new and different group as His end time witness. Armstrongism has burned itself as a credible witness, and current members are just kidding themselves if they think otherwise. The credibility of other Christian groups has also fallen apart.

If you're just pulling into town from the feast, looking forward to a sabbath in your home town, and thinking to yourself "See? We have the truth about God's test commandment, the sabbath, so God will reveal His plans to us!", then you better wonder about the effectiveness of the sabbath as a signifier of God's True Church, because Armstrongism has a 100% failure rate in end time prophecy, dating way back to the WW-II era when HWA was preaching that the war would culminate in Armageddon, Hitler and Mussolini were the Beast, and Pope Pius was the AntiChrist. And, this was before Israel was even reborn as a nation, which was very necessary for the prophecies in Revelation to come to pass. For years, he denied that Hitler's body was Hitler, and preached that he was alive in South America, and would arise to complete the job. Sounds soooo much like a recent president, doesn't he? False leaders are always detached from reality!

Philadelphia Church of God: "We’re the hope of this world. This Noah-like work."

This is how Stephen Flurry imagines PCG members 

will soon be transported out of the United States 

 to the Place of Safety. 

It should never come as a shock to anyone even remotely familiar with the Armstrongite Church of God movement that its focus is NOT on the One they claim to follow but upon the law and other personalities they deem of great importance.

Leave it to the Philadelphia Church of God to take this to the extreme, once again. That most inconvenient dude they know nothing about is once more relegated to the rear of the room so that Noah can shine forth as the great savior of the world, as the one who led people to safety.

The Philadelphia Church of God is not known for having any great theologians who actually understand the Bible and the works of Jesus. It instead has a poorly trained group of man/boys who were trained at the feet of Gerald Flurry, who himself was so poorly trained that he based his entire movement upon Malachi's Message, a book he stole and plagiarized from Jules Dervaes, The Letter to Laodicea. The very same book that Stephen Flurry had a mystical vision about while at a PCG weekend at Robber's Cave in Oklahoma. Robber's Cave was the site of an event so sacred to the PCG that the student body of Herbert W Armstrong College make yearly pilgrimages to gaze in wonder at the very cabin  Stephen stayed in as he read Malachi's Message, thus validating his father's madness and the establishment of the Philadelphia Church of God cult.

In a letter sent to Exit and Support Network a few days ago, Stephen Flurry has given us proof once again on how theological bankrupt he really is. This time he is praising Noah and how he set the example to save the righteous. 

SF Talks About “Our Noah Like Work” and Going to the Place of Safety: 

 

September 5, 2021 

 

SF gave a Bible Study on August 20 at HQs entitled, “Our Noah Like Work” in which he compared GF’s “work” to “Noah’s work” and talked about members going to the Place of Safety. Below are some of the things he said. 

He said Joel Hilliker had a Trumpet Brief on August 18 (“Prophecy is Fulfilled in Afghanistan”) and he [Hilliker] “talked about these people desperately clinging to those cargo planes, even on the outside and he said that it brought to mind images of people clawing at the sides of Noah’s ark when God sent the flood.” [Those who read The Bible Story books in WCG will remember Basil Wolverton’s frightening cartoon depiction of that scene. 

 

“We in the church know the flood is coming.” 

 

“And in a lot of ways, the pictures of those people all sitting on the bottom of that C-17, crammed in there– that may be something that we experience ourselves at some point. We don’t know exactly what it means to be lifted away to the place of safety on the wings of a great eagle. But somehow or another, we are gonna to fly to the Place of Safety. And as Amos 7 says, we’re gonna be escorted out, or asked to leave. … There might be some government jets that are part of that massive transport operation. … 10,000 saints headed off to the Place of Safety. And then when you look at the outside of the vessel, when the people know the rain has set in and it’s not gonna stop–it’s a pretty sobering visual.” 

  

He referred to GF’s Peter booklet several times and said “We’re like the family of Noah. Hard at work during these final days of the present evil world. And soon we are going to be flying right into another world, a new world.” 

 

He referred to 9-11 as the time they [PCG] “entered into the Last Hour.” 

 

“Noah and his family were a type of this church; a type of this work that we are engaged in. A Noah like work. We are facing universal destruction.” … “God promises to save us.” 

 

“If we are supporting God’s preacher of righteousness [i.e., GF] [Noah was called a preacher of righteousness in II Peter 2:5], then God promises protection; God promises to save us.” 

 

“This present, evil world is almost over.” 

 

“When we are lifted over to the Place of Safety, that is the new world; that is the World Tomorrow.” … we are IT. We’re the hope of this world. This Noah-like work.” 

 

“Noah had to go out and build for God for a century. Then the rains came. … He had to plan ahead.” 

 

“It’s been almost a century since God opened the mind of Herbert Armstrong. And here we are–right where God prophesied.” 

 

“We’ve got to support our preacher of righteousness.” [i.e., GF] 

 

“We are here to tell this world that is about over.” 

 

He quoted from GF’s Peter booklet and said “You can look at Noah’s example and see that God saves a few. God is going to save us; He’s going to rescue us. He’s going to protect us. He promises that. We’re His children and He’s our Father. He’s going to look after us.” 

 

“God is still teaching us. The new revelation just continues. We haven’t even gotten some of the finer points or details regarding the Place of Safety and our flight and how that operation is going to be carried out. That is going to be exciting, getting some instructions in sermons from my father–‘Hey! We’ve got to be ready. God has shown me this and this and this about this verse here or this verse over there.’ Selling off our belongings. And being air-lifted out of a dangerous world.” 

 

Reading from the Peter booklet again, “Noah and his family were spared. A big benefit of doing God’s Work as He commands. Rewards always accompany obedience to God. … all the way to the end.” 

 

He read I Peter 3:19-21 “This age is about over. … God tested Noah to make sure he would wait and endure until the very end.” 

 

 

 

“Eventually, we’re going to be packing our bags–for good!” 

 

–Bible Study critiqued by Anonymous

Headline Theology: The Modus Operandi of the Church of God Movement

 

A reader here sent me this comment about Jeff Reed's recent article on Church of God International's website, The Dangers of Headline Theology.

Jeff Reed is really asking for it now by debunking headline theology. Not only are the Bill Watson minions within CGI going to be mad. But so are all the other Armstrong COGs who rely on headline theology to scare people into sending money.

Anyone who has spent even a minuscule amount of time in the Armstrong Church of God movement knows by now that headline theology is how the church operates. Headline theology is also the main method that the churches use to scare people into sending in every hard-earned dime they have.

Jeff Reed has become a rare breed in the church, kind of like Ian Boyne was. Here are some of the things he said:

“Headline theology” can be defined as searching out sensational headlines in the news upon which to base one’s biblical theology. Many supposed modern-day prophets find joy in connecting world events to their prophetic scenarios even though they continually are proven wrong and continue to move the goalposts of their predictions. 

The COG over the decades has been filled with these types of ministers and church leaders. Today in the COG the biggest adherents of this theology are Dave Pack, Gerald Flurry, Bob Thiel, Ron Weinland, and Alton Billingsley. These men use headline theology to try and pump up their self-appointed  "prophethood" status. That doesn't mean that lesser men like Gerald Weston, Victor Kubik, Jim Franks, and the leaders of other small COG groups don't do the same thing, it is just that they hide their adherence to this kind of theology undercover.

We in the Church of God International may occasionally look at world events and examine them through the lens of God’s law or prophecy. Still, we carefully avoid making dogmatic statements and identify our observations as speculation. Those who practice “headline theology” go much further. They may predict specific days or years as an absolute fulfillment of prophesied events. Or they may suggest that the end is only a few years away.

While the history of the CGI is also filled with men in the past who practiced headline theology, they currently are not setting dates like today's splinter group leaders are. CGI is not immune to do this and will skirt this issue in the days and years to come by claiming that certain events "seem" to fit certain prophecies.

Reed then goes on to say what happens to church members who are fed this twisted way of thinking on a weekly basis:

One of the dangers of this mindset is paranoia. We are told in Philippians 4:6-7 to “not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Looking at every new war, earthquake, natural disaster, social trend, or political change as a fulfillment of prophecy can cause anxiety.

Not only are the members being whipped into a constant state of frenzy with daily doses of doom and gloom, but the biggest adherents of headline theology are some of the most paranoid and narcissistic men the church has ever seen. Not confident to rest in the assurances of the One they claim to follow, they lash out and condemn anyone who disagrees with them by labeling it persecution. Persecution has rarely if ever, come upon the Armstrongite Churches of God from the outside. Only when some catastrophic event happens are COG groups brought into the limelight and the public hears about them does the world even know who they are. 

If someone were to conduct a survey of how many in the world even know about the COG the chances are billions to 1 that no one has. At least with Herbert Armstrong, he traveled the world and had his face plastered all over the news of those countries, unlike today when COG leaders sit in the "headquarters" or storefronts and bellow, bluster, and babble incoherent nonsense as if God was speaking to them. The same goes for CGI. Ask any person on the street who CGI is and what they preach and no one will have any idea. However, those in Jamaica might, as many of their leaders are active in politics and other public service areas and actively work in their communities for good. Those other COG leaders living lives of luxury in the United States and pampered with every imaginable good fortune at their fingertips do absolutely NOTHING for those in their own communities and the world around them. All any of them do is condemn.

Today's COG leaders think that the constant bombardment of doom and gloom headline theology is essential for their votaries' spiritual understanding. All of them are so arrogant and narcissistic in their views of themselves and what they preach that they can't comprehend why anyone would ignore them or ultimately abandoned their churches. Reed writes:

Another danger with “headline theology” is that it may cause some to lose their faith. Many over the years have put their hopes in a prophetic fulfillment that never comes to pass. Church leaders have unwisely predicted specific dates for the return of Christ or have implied that it would occur within a certain number of years. This date-setting has caused disillusionment in many former Christians. Faith in Christ becomes entwined with faith in their leader's predictions. Once these predictions ultimately fail, they can have a devastating effect on those who gullibly believed them.

Reed goes on to mention the ultimate example of  headline theology by mentioning the great, great, great, grandfather of the COG movement, William Miller:

William Miller predicted that Jesus would return to earth by 1844. He was so wrong in his calculations that the ensuing failure has been labeled the “Great Disappointment.” This failed prediction caused many to abandon their faith entirely and others to refer to this event as a reason to not even consider Christianity. Since then, many others have made similar predictions based on faulty calculations and their perceptions of world wars, disasters, and other dramatic events. They have all been wrong, and some of the fallout has been many people losing faith entirely. This also hurts the credibility of organizations and preachers, making their ensuing evangelistic efforts less effective.

The Church of God movement has been forever damaged by the failed prophecies of Herbert W Armstrong, Garner Ted Armstrong, Herman Hoeh, Gerald Waterhouse, and others, in addition to today's current crop of self-appointed theologically bankrupt church leaders.

In one of Reed's closing paragraphs he states:

The final danger of “headline theology” is that it can shift our focus away from what is fundamental to Christianity. Calculating dates, proof-texting, deciphering prophetic puzzles with world events, and other related activities take away our time from what is important. The Apostle Paul made this clear to the Ephesians. “For the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ” (Ephesians 4:12-15).

Headline theology takes away church members' focus upon the One they should be following and places the emphasis on that human leader, without whom no one would have any understanding, or in Bob Thiel's case, know when it was time to flee to Petra. 

Christians down through the centuries who have had a direct relationship with Jesus in their lives did not have any need to worry about the crap that COG leaders pump out on a daily basis. Their confidence and faith were in the One who assures them, is by their side no matter what. This is what those Christians in Iraq and now in Afghanistan understand as they are being hunted down and slaughtered. Christians outside the COG have understood this for millennia. Sadly not so much for COG members.

Ask any COG member about the law, clean and unclean meats, and dress codes and they can rattle it off for you immediately. Ask any of them about Jesus or grace and they are at a loss for words. Ask them about justification and sanctification and they will stare at you blindly or accuse you of being a "graceite", "so-called Christian", or a "Christian in name only". They cannot explain any of these theological concepts because they have never been taught to them in the church by today's COG leaders. These men can not teach it because they themselves do not understand it. 

Thanks to the headline theology prophets in the COG today, today's Church of God movement is an utter disaster that is leading to its rapid decline. Their focus is on ultimately unimportant things instead of on the One who they should be following. Just take a quick cruise through Bob Thiel's websites and you will see this in action. Nothing he says is ultimately important or relevant to any Christian who is standing assured in Christ. Not one thing!  The same goes for Dave Pack and Gerald Flurry as they wait for the imminent return of their creature called "christ" while spending millions in tithe money on infrastructure at their headquarters. 

None of these men care about what Jesus teaches or the rest that comes from him. All they are concerned about is taking tithe money from their followers to build world-class buildings and campuses that immediately erect walls around them to keep the public out. Christ never left anyone outside, not so in the Churches of God.

Today's Church of God member is tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of these men, with all their cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting. Not one of these men leading COG today can bring the rest and peace that comes from the assurance of following Christ, a simple understanding Christians outside the COG have understood for centuries.

 

Philadlphia Church of God Cult: Kicked out of PCG because she was a "threat to their cause"

We have had a lot on here over the years about how the PCG and particularly Cal Culpepper and Wayne Turgeon have treated members like dirt. Both of these men are particularly despised in PCG circles for their extreme nastiness and unbiblical ways of dealing with people. 

Exit and Support Network had this letter up from a young woman who was kicked out of PCG by Culpepper over mental health issues. 

The Church of God over the decades has treated members with mental health issues in appalling ways. From being told they are possessed by demons, telling them that medicines that could assist them were wrong, to outright kicking them out of the church because they "looked bad". The church looked down on mental health professionals and called them all kinds of names and disparaged their professions all the while claiming that all a person needed to do was to draw closer to God and stop sinning because that was the main issue of their mental health issues.

I Was Described as a Threat to PCG’s Cause:
August 15, 2021 

 

I am a child who was mentioned in Case #3 in “Abuses I Was Aware of in Philadelphia Church of God.” I would like to elaborate on that story and talk about where I am now. 

 

The reason I was thrown out was because of my mental health. I was deeply depressed, self harming nearly every day. It got to the point that I was admitted to a hospital. When the PCG found out what happened, my dad read a letter that was addressed to me. PCG described me as “a threat to their cause.” 

 

I had so many friends that I deeply miss from my time there, but I know I’ll never see them again. As far as my life after this, I’m finally getting help and going to therapy. I tried to go to a church to appease a friend, and as soon as I entered I felt an overwhelming sense of dread. I haven’t been back since. 

 

I don’t know if I’ll ever heal from it, but I’ve at least accepted that it happened. –Child survivor of PCG [name withheld]

Case #3: [This was as recent as 2013] 

This concerns a member from Louisville, KY. This man was a loyal servant of the congregation. He went to all of the PCG activities. He did the garage sale for the building fund, was in Spokesman’s Club, went to the cookouts, picnics, etc. He had joint custody of his 15 year old daughter. The girl was torn between her dad and mom. Cal Culpepper verbally abused the girl at a PCG activity in Ohio. The girl was then condemned by Culpepper and told to not come to services. The father was told not to have any contact with the girl (15 years old) at all. The man refused and was disfellowshipped. 

 

There are many more cases like this but these three will suffice to give a picture of the unbiblical and illegal practice of abandoning your minor teens. 

 

In a recent PCG sermon it was stated how the non-PCG performers who do the Concert Series at God’s House [Armstrong Auditorium] gush and rave telling the HQ people how they were “treated like Kings” with fine dining and accommodations while they stayed at the Auditorium. I wonder if these people were told how minor age children were being tossed out in the street by orders from PCG ministry? Would they still be willing to perform for the Philadelphia Church of God? 

 

I have witnessed much suffering amongst the youth in PCG. One girl in the congregation was told by Wayne Turgeon she could not go to the college because she was “too fat” and did not “fit the proper image of the church.” Many of the youth are leaving PCG. 

 

There are a lot of people with drinking problems in the PCG. One “contact person” in a Kentucky congregation sometimes comes to services high. But he attends Spokesman’s Club and is in good with the regime. 

 

There are ministerial scandals (especially in the North West region) going on. One minister was carrying on a two year affair with a woman in a congregation! He tried to get his wife to leave him. When that did not happen, he tried to convince the PCG that she was “crazy or demon possessed.” He took it to HQ and they suspended the wife. Then it came out about the affair and they kicked him out and let her back. 

 

Also, J. C., a member, was doing security detail at a HQ function in Edmond, OK a few years ago. Grant Turgeon1 (son of Wayne Turgeon) came into an area off limits to people. When confronted by J. C., the little Turgeon said, “Do you know who I am? My father is Wayne Turgeon.” Later, this member was accosted verbally by Wayne Turgeon for telling his son where to go and was suspended not long after. 

 

Whenever I walked into services, there would be no warmth at all; no encouragement from the podium, no mention even once that God loves us–just law, judgment, threats, and doom.

By Chris

For more first hand abuse check put these addtional letters and articles on Exit and Support Network:

Recommended Material:

Profile on a Sociopath (A number of abusive, religious leaders may exhibit many of these behavioral characteristics)

Grant Turgeon Has an Attitude (2013 letter to ESN)

Crazy statement by Wayne Turgeon (What Wayne Turgeon once said)

Related Testimonies:

Cal Culpepper Continues to Threaten and Intimate Members (5-14-14 letter to ESN)

Fear and Dread in PCG (5-24-13 letter to ESN that covers Culpepper)

Frightening Incident With Cal Culpepper (4-29-13 letter to ESN)

Why I’m Ex-PCG (8-28-14 testimony; cruel and cold-hearted abuse by Culpepper)

True Love Lacking in PCG Members (3-6-07 letter to ESN)

Footnote by ESN:

1 Read: Grant Turgeon Has an Attitude (1-3-13 email to ESN)

Living Church of God Still Beating A Dead Horse: 5,000 Man European Army Soon To Arise! GASP!!!!!!!!!!!

The Church of God has always had a love/hate relationship with Europe. They like evangelizing their people with American beliefs and values and then on the other hand see them as future slave owners of Americans and running concentration camps. Nothing pleased Rod Meredith more than to scream and bellow from the pulpit about Laodicean church members being hung on meathooks in concentration camps and as they starved during famines they would turn to eating their own children. Bob Thiel carries on this idiocy today, then he also to bring in the rampaging Chinese 2 million man army and pissed off Muslims.

Even after Rod Meredith's death, these visions of doom and gloom still occupy the minds of Living Church of God leaders. Death and damnation are constantly knocking at the door of COG leaders but all of them are too wimpy to open the door no matter how desperately they need it to happen. They all like their comfortable lives living and acting like Kings too much.

LCG keeps beating the 10 nation drum as they freak out over a presumed 5,000 man army. They envision these 5,000 troops soon converging on Jerusalem and ushering in the end times so that the two witless witnesses (Bob Thiel and Ron Wienland) can preach for 3 1/2 years.

The European Union began discussing an EU army in 1999 and set up combat-ready battle groups in 2007—however, the battle groups have not yet been used (Euractive, May 6, 2021). But these forces have not been forgotten: “Fourteen EU countries, including Germany and France, have proposed a rapid military response force that could intervene early in international crises.” Currently, “the bloc has a joint budget to develop weaponry together, is drawing up a military doctrine for 2022 and detailed its military weakness last year for the first time.” 

 

The latest military proposal calls for “a brigade of 5,000 soldiers, possibly with ships and aircraft, to help democratic foreign governments needing urgent help.” Europe’s foreign policy head, Josep Borrell, has repeatedly stated, “the EU needs to learn the language of power.” The organization now has an official European Defense Fund and has recently launched its European Peace Facility, “a mechanism that will boost the bloc’s ability to provide training and equipment—including, for the first time, weapons—to non-European military forces around the world” (The Guardian, May 19, 2021). 

 

End-time prophecy reveals that the coming "King of the north," a German-led European "beast" power, will have significant military might (Daniel 11:40) and will use this might to surround Jerusalem with armies (Luke 21:20–21). Students of Bible prophecy should watch for a military build-up by Europe and efforts to extend this military power beyond its borders! For more insights into this future European military force, read or listen to Fourteen Signs Announcing Christ’s Return.

Students of Bible propehcy should NEVER take the world of a COG leader or use any other booklets as proof of anything. We have 80 plus years of false prophecies dished out by COG leaders. If they would only put this much energy into following that Jesus dude then they would not need to be living in a state of fear all the time.

Why Is The COG Always Trying To Provide Easy Answers?

 Why is there no room in the Churches of God for mystery and wonder?

What we all got stuck with was hundreds and hundreds of books, booklets, pamphlets, and letters from the Personal Correspondance Department that sought to answer every single question imaginable. Instead of relying upon church members to engage their brains and develop a personal theology for themselves, the church treated them like toddlers and spoon-fed them bad baby pablum.

Look at Bob Thiel today with the thousands of topics he thinks he has an answer for and of which hardly any of his 3,000 African members and his 299 Caucasians could care less about. Yet, he thinks his followers are too stupid to think for themselves so he provides his own take on things, not God's, but his.

Gerald Flurry and Dave Pack do the exact same thing. They feed their members putrid baby pablum that is so far off base and so far removed from the Gospel message that their members now are just as brain dead as they are.

Followers of The Way were meant to live in the mystery so that they would always be in awe, so much so that they yearned for more.

Guess What PCG Says Is The Greatest Thing The World Needs Today?

 

When it comes to the Philadelphia Church of God and its proclamations, nothing should surprise us anymore. The focus is never on Jesus, but on sacred rocks, Irish dance, Gerald Flurry's visions, breaking up families and proclaiming Gerald Flurry as King.

Today they featured an article on their website that is from 2003 and written by the King himself.

It discusses the MOST IMPORTANT thing in the entire universe that PCG is to proclaim. Is it Jesus, his words and what he has accomplished, or something else? This is a Church of God after all, so forget about the focus being upon Jesus.

This focus is God's most supreme goal facing humanity today. Without this goal, humanity will never understand anything about salvation! 

This must be God’s supreme goal for His Philadelphian elect today. 

So what is that goal? Many of you probably already know. It is the promotion of the most god-awful book ever written. A book so bad and sooooooooo incredibly boring that most COG members have never completed it and a book that they have stuck in a box in the garage or on the top shelf of a bookcase where it will never be looked at again. Yet humanity's salvation is dependant upon this book.

The greatest single gift we can give to the world is Mystery of the Ages. Let’s think and work like God and give it to “the largest audience possible”!

Who knew that the single greatest gift to the world was a frigging book! Not Jesus. Nope! But a stupid, poorly written book. A book filled with so many doctrinal errors and outright deceptive lies that it should be dumped in the trash just like the Worldwide Church of God did in the 1990s when it hauled tens of thousands of copies of the book and other literature in the Glendale dump.

Even Bruce Lyon in Servant News panned the book.

A Mixture of Truth and Error

“All teaching came from Christ through the apostles… God’s Church today, as in the first century, receives its teachings from the living Christ, through an apostle, just as in AD 31.” (Page 350)

Considering the plain errors noted in a number of the teachings of this book and the previous book (The Incredible Human Potential), something is terribly wrong here. I’ll trust the Bible over Herbert Armstrong any day. Sure, I could go through this book and list a dozen or more good things. However, I did not come to praise this book, but to bury it.

I honestly thought we had allowed these two books, Mystery of the Ages and The Incredible Human Potential, to die natural deaths after they were both withdrawn by the WCG about 1990. They were rarely, if ever, referred to even before 1990 in my experience. I assumed that was because the numerous obvious errors were plain to many—especially to educated elders. 

When books have upwards of ten percent error, then they are as much or more trouble as they are worthwhile.

In the categories of unproven statements and opinions stated as fact (many of which I believe are easily disproved), along with information that is simply erroneous, I estimate that The Incredible Human Potential is 30% or more flawed (and not just chapters 4 and 5!). I estimate that Mystery of the Ages is at least 25% flawed. I have only shown some of the problems in this book.

As a whole, these books have way too many holes!

When truth is greatly interlaced with errors, the credibility of the whole suffers and the credibility of those who promote it. Even unconverted people can often see some of the false concepts, scriptural and historical, noted above.

The mixture of good and error in these books is strongly intertwined. Several themes and concepts Mr. Armstrong weaves throughout both books are false or unsupported by the Bible (yet stated as fact).

My desire is simple: let’s get rid of obvious biblical errors and other misinformation (1 Thessalonians 5:21), and let’s not be unbiblically cult-like in any way.

God was never dependent on Herbert Armstrong. Nor does our salvation depend on Mr. Armstrong in any way; it never did.

If grossly inaccurate books are retained as beneficial and recommended, then continual and needless controversy and confusion will result. This is already the case.

Truer words could never be spoken than what Bruce Lyon stated above (highlighted in yellow).

God did not need Herbert Armstrong. He does not need Bob Thiel, Gerald Flurry, Dave Pack, Vic Kubik, Gerald Weston, Bill Watson, or any of the other splinter group leaders out there to do His supposed "work". 

COG groups need to stop focusing upon "grossly inaccurate books" and grossly inaccurate teachings of people like Thiel, Pack, and Flurry. Their words are nothing more than stinking dung on a steaming pile of manure.

 

Why Do COG Leaders Set Themselves Up As Our Intermediaries?

Someone made a comment on here recently about how COG leaders have set themselves up as intermediaries between their members and the god they claim to follow.

Most of them, but not all, will bellow that they do no such thing, but in actuality they are.

All of them have made the claim that they are the one true church carrying on in the footsteps of Herbert Armstrong. As leaders of the one true church, they have deliberately maligned all other COG's and delegated them into lesser than status or actual Laodiceans.

They all claim exclusive knowledge through dreams, visions, nightmares, or whatever other entities they channel their "knowledge" that comes to them through.

Dave Pack has been preaching a 300+ sermon series on the visions and dreams he has that lead him to interpret scripture to prove his creature he calls "jesus" will be returning three times and that its imminent return is always days or weeks away. He bellows that no other church has this knowledge and no other church has access to God and his "christ" unless they are members of the Restored Church of God.

Bob Thiel does this by claiming his legitimacy through dreams and visions he claims he has had along with a couple other mentally unstable people in the Australasia regions of the world. Never have we seen a more pompous self-indulgent leader than we have in Bob. He has the exclusive doctrines and teachings that only he understands and repeats ad museum that only he has the right interpretations to scripture. His endless diatribes that all COG members need to recognize him and his work, and join in that work, in order to know the "correct" time to flee to  Petra/Pella or some other hellhole he expects his followers to go to are beyond pale. No one knows the right time to flee except him. Therefore your salvation is dependant upon his interpretations, dreams, visions, and nightmares.

Gerald Flurry has set himself up as King of the Church of God because he has now in his possession a dirty old rock from the hills of Oregan that he claims his creature he calls "jesus" will return and sit upon. No other COG out there has this revealed knowledge and therefore are Laodiceans and are cut off from God. Only through Flurry can salvation be attained.

UCG, LCG, COGWA, CGI, and many of the other minor COG groups also claim that they are the only ones with the real truth. Most of them no longer state that publicly in order to appear more "loving" towards other COG members, but corner a diehard evangelist or minister and they will tell you that their group is the only COG doing the work and that they are the correct path to salvation.

COG members have been duped for so long by this kind of reasoning that they have turned into gullible sheep who sit there week after week believing that their leader is the right, correct, and one true leader of the end time COG, and because of that, their salvation is in his hands. Most will not admit that until you push them as to why they have not left for another group or left the COG entirely. They have been frightened into following a bunch of spiritual frauds that only care for the members as long as they give money.

COG members believe this because they have never heard that much about Jesus preached. Oh sure, they will talk about the veil in the temple being torn in half, and in the next breathe tell you that every damn law in the old covenant is still in force today, all except for the ones they conveniently don't want to follow and they always have an excuse as to why they don't. The new covenant is always shoved to the rear burner in order to promote the law and other nonessentials.

Ask most Christians today who their intermediary is and they will name Jesus and the work accomplished and finished on the cross. Most COG members cannot do that. They need the revelations from their leaders, their writings, and visions to tell them what to believe.

There is only one intermediary and it is NOT Bob Thiel, Dave Pack, Gerald Flurry, or ANY of the other COG leaders or corporations. Bob, Gerald, Dave, and the others are not necessary for anyone's salvation and no one will ever attain it through them. It is an impossibility.

Gerald Flurry Tells All Of His Members To Have The Spirit Of Prophecy

 

Gerald Flurry, leader of the Philadelphia Church of God has a new article up about The Spirit of Prophecy. It is another convoluted mishmash of false beliefs created by Gerald  Flurry in an attempt to promote the law and whip his followers into the notion he is the one true prophet to the church. Jesus gets the short end of the stick again.

“And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Revelation 19:10). The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. 

 

Testimony comes from the Latin testimonium, which is the word used for the Ten Commandments. Webster’s offers three primary definitions: the tablets inscribed with the Mosaic law; a firsthand authentication of a fact; and a solemn declaration. 

 

So this testimony the Apostle John wrote about is very different from most: It is a declaration from God in the flesh! 

 

The Temple Dictionary of the Bible writes: “In the plural, this word stands in the Old Testament, especially in Psalm 119, for the divine law. … Testimony is frequently joined with ‘commandments’ (2 Kings 23:3) …. It is used emphatically for the two tables of the law.” This is a testimony from God in the flesh. It was His message when He came to Earth.

Christ said, “I receive not testimony [the same word used in Revelation 19:10] from man: but these things I say, that ye might be saved” (John 5:34). Christ’s testimony didn’t come from a man. It is perfect and it’s in the spirit of prophecy. 

 

Thayer’s further amplifies this word: “[T]he testimony of Christ is that which He gives concerning divine things, of which He alone has thorough knowledge … that testimony which He gave concerning future events relating to the consummation of the Kingdom of God ….” That is prophetic testimony! 

 

It is critical that we, like Christ, understand and have the spirit of prophecy!

The article is a huge slobber fest of idolatry to Herbert Armstrong and quotes HWA at every chance they can get. It also makes the excuse for why Flurry left the mother church to start his own group. Of course, it is an attack of Tkach Sr. and high praises for the most significant moment in PCG's history when Lil'Stevie read Flurry's plagiarized Malachi's Message.

After Mr. Armstrong died, terrible spiritual destruction fell on the Church. God started that famine, exactly as Mr. Armstrong prayed it would. And look at what has happened since. “And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit” (verse 18). On July 16, 1989, exactly 3½ years later, my son read Malachi’s Message. The latter rain started at that time, and “brought forth her fruit.” We are that fruit! One man prayed to God and changed the course of everything. Look at the fruits of that prayer. We are here because of Mr. Armstrong’s prayer and God’s blessing. We have all kinds of marvelous new truths God has given—truth that God and Mr. Armstrong didn’t want the Worldwide Church of God to ever have again. He raised up the Philadelphia Church of God to receive God’s new revelation.

Imagine basing your church on demented writings of Jules Dervaes that Flurry plagiarized and the fact that Lil'Stevie read it. It can't get any crazier, except maybe for Bob Theil's fantastical reasons on why he formed his group.

Only one wcg minister continued for about six months to deliver the truth of God. Eventually, he too caved in and accepted wrong doctrines. If you were in the spirit of prophecy, you would never follow that church because they were teaching “Prophesy not”! That’s no small mistake—it’s rejecting God and His law and our testimony. 

 

Mr. Armstrong knew what that leadership was all about. He knew Mr. Tkach was not going to lead God’s true Church. And he saw to it that he didn’t receive any new revelation. He saw an evil that he hadn’t seen six days before. 

 

We are dealing with those who are “according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders.” We are in a war against that evil being, and Satan is in his worst wrath ever. That is what we are fighting against. Being in a war can result in a lot of persecution. This is why we must understand the spirit of prophecy. 

 

Know We Are at War 

 

Prophecy describes Mr. Tkach being in the bonds of Satan and his son being a spiritual Antiochus. God says these men are liars, and He’s going to expose them. These ministers were in the synagogue of Satan (Revelation 3:9). Satan is the father of liars and a murderer from the beginning because there is no truth in him (John 8:44).

Propehcy has absolutely nothing to say about Tkach, Flurry, Thiel, or any of the other looney tunes leading COG's today other than the fact the Bible states that false prophets will arise to deceive many.

Flurry then gets to the gist of what the spirit of prophecy is in the church and it does not involve church members. It's all about him. and corporate prophecy.

This little group, with a powerful message going around the world, believes in the spirit of prophecy! If you are in the spirit of prophecy and you have the testimony of Jesus Christ, you see the future and you know it is worth any trial we have to endure. 

 

With the spirit of prophecy, you understand that we have a spectacular future when Christ returns. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). We are going to be like God! What a stirring God Family potential!

There's that "we will be gods" myth, again.

He then moves on to his favorite book in the Bible, Lamentations. Not anything that concerns Jesus but a book filled with death and destruction. Hell yeah!

Lamentations is the most horrifying book in the Bible! Some of it is tough to read. It’s not something you sit and read before going to sleep—it would keep you up all night! But it is talking about real events that are going to happen to Israel. For example, Lamentations 4:10 talks about the “compassionate women” of Israel boiling their own children for food! (Revised Standard Version). The Laodicean churches are going to experience that! Unparalleled punishment is coming on God’s own Church! They are self-righteous and lukewarm. They can sound chic today proclaiming their messages of “love,” but they won’t be doing that when Lamentations is fulfilled! God will force them to face their rebellion!

A little later he writes:

The book of Lamentations is a funeral dirge—a poem of the most intense grief and mourning. Yet we must remain encouraged. You need the spirit of prophecy to put all this into perspective. This book makes clear that God will do what it takes to bring members into His Family. If you lack the spirit of prophecy, then you won’t see the beautiful bigger picture in this book—God building His Family!

He does mention Jesus a couple times, but only as it fits his warmongering of death and destruction of the Laodiceans:

The spirit of prophecy is filled with hope. How could Jesus Christ endure the suffering of being marred more than any man—how could He be crucified—if He weren’t in the spirit of prophecy? He knew He was to be a King! He was born to rule this Earth and this universe under His Father. Nobody could stop Him from fulfilling that destiny! 

 

We must have the testimony of Jesus Christ. If we are going to be like Christ and get through severe persecution, we need the spirit of prophecy!

Only Flurry's group has any hope of being the "elect".

But look how God describes His very elect: “The precious sons of Zion, worth their weight in fine gold, how they are reckoned as earthen pots, the work of a potter’s hands!” (verse 2; rsv). What powerful poetry! 

 

If you want to be a “precious son of Zion,” you must let the master potter shape and mold you! We are simply the clay in the potter’s hands. This is a powerful truth. These are people who give everything they have to God’s Work. How precious that is! 

 

Live in the spirit of prophecy! If you can get this wonderful vision in mind, there is nothing like it and never will be anything better on Earth during this age of man’s rule! Allow that to stir genuine hope in your life and to stir your motivation and fire your imagination. Give everything to God, even your life if that is required. That is the perfection of beauty! That is what God loves.

While Flurry tells his followers to have the spirit of prophecy it is only to be the prophecies revealed by him or Lil'Stevie after Flurry dies.  It is all about corporate propehcy and has nothing to do with any "spirit" of prophecy. Members are to be subservient and NOT believe they can have the spirit of prophecy.

Can you imagine what would happen if one of Flurry's members popped up and said they had a prophecy from God? They would be out the door so fast they would know what happened. Flurry's "spirit of propehcy" schtick is that his followers develop the understanding that Flurry's prophecies are true. That's the only "gift" they need to have.

There is no need for a prophet to be in the New Covenant church. One can easily see that this is true considering the mishmash of demented weirdo's currently lying to the church in 2021.

MALACHI’S MESSAGE: HOW TRUE IS IT?

The PLAIN TRUTH About Malachi’s Message And THAT PROPHET

Living Armstrongism: Reading Malachi's Message: Part 1 (links to Part 2,3,4 are at the end of the posting)

The Painful Truth: Flurry the Fony?

Philadelphia Church of God Doctrinal Changes

COGWA: Funny Post Of The Day

 

Wade Cox Humilates Bob Thiel In The Numbers Game

 

The Great Bwana to Africa loves to brag about his inflated numbers of members in Africa and a few Caucasians spread around the world (299 to be exact). In his eyes, there is no greater COG to exist in human history than his improperly named "continuing" Church of Bob God. We are supposed to be in awe of all of these church-hopping SDAs and other Sabbatarians who continue to bounce around to the highest giver. 

This deluded world of Bob's has come to a swift end after Wade Cox released his own inflated numbers, far outdistancing Bob Thiel by tens of thousands of followers. Truth be told, no one should believe either of these two liars since they have been spreading false information and doctrines for many years now, but here is Cox's word on the matter:

Over the last twelve months we have had some 40-50,000 people ask to be inducted and baptised in CCG around the world. There have been over 40,000 in Africa alone this year, both before and after the Passover. We simply cannot baptise them fast enough. God seems to be testing the western nations and allowing them to drift towards world war. There seems to be a spirit of madness now among their leaders and especially in the US and among the Globalists (Deut. 28:28). God is now bringing in those who were previously ignored or misinformed by them. Many are in Refugee camps in Uganda and now in Tanzania and Malawi. Many of those joining CCG now are Protestant, and Roman Catholic, as well as others of various persuasions. These figures represent almost 45% of the entire WCG system at its peak, joining us in a matter of three months. These are not coming in through CCG digital media, which of itself is in the millions a week. We will see who can endure to the end. 

 

This last month we commenced the induction and baptisms in Malawi with some 11,000 and George has just reported that he inducted a number of ministers last week at a meeting in the Mount Kenya Region (covering Meru up to Isiola) who have now returned to their regions and are preparing to induct and baptise what George says will be the biggest number of baptisms conducted in CCG. I assume he means in Kenya, as 11,000 are hard numbers to beat if he means worldwide. God is adding to CCG now on a massive basis worldwide.

PCG's Andrew Locher Is A Perfect Example Of The Complete Idiocy Of So Many In The COG Ministry

 

There is one thing about the ministry in the Church of God movement and that it has some absolutely batshit crazy ministers who are theologically ignorant about the book they claim to follow. The problem is that so many of them do not follow that book and instead bow down at the altar of Herbert Armstrong and worship everything he said and did. To them, HWA was the most perfect thing to walk this earth since Jesus, that inconvenient dude they know nothing about.

From Exit and Support Network

Andrew Locher, April 9 Bible Study, spoke on the “Mark of the Best” and came up with the answer by quoting HWA who said the mark is “Sunday” and “those with the mark of the beast will suffer God’s wrath, but those without the mark will be tortured and killed by man. Do you want to die at the hands of man or by God?” (Quite an option.) “We can be protected in a Place of Safety during the Tribulation. It requires faith and obedience to God’s Law.” 

It absolutely does NOT require faith and obedience to the law. COG ministers continue to lie to this day that this kind of obedience is required. Jesus be damnd, the law rules the day. After all, Jesus is still in that high school gym or Masonic lodge where he was left on Passover night till they have to mention his name again as they re-crucify him. 

“Satan was cast down at the death of HWA. It was the transition into the Laodicean era. The 7th head, the Holy Roman Empire is here.” (There is no biblical basis at all for this.)
“We are the only ones that keep the Sabbath.” (Those tutored under HWA have heard this a thousand times.) 

Another lie of the ministry. Satan was not cast down to earth at the death of HWA. Herbert was not some bulwark that kept Satan at bay. The stupidity in this belief is astounding. 

The following notes were gathered from a recent PCG conference: 

 

GF admitted he doesn’t emphasize certain verses or words on his programs because he “will lose listeners.” 

Flurry doesn't mention certain scriptures because they condemn him. If he spoke about Jesus, grace, justification, and mercy, he would have no ministry to con people with. 

“God’s law is a law of love.” (Does the Bible say that? If so, I can’t find it. Your Q&A say the Law was given to ancient Israel, not to the Church.) 

Scripture says the law is death. "for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." 

“God wants us to get it into our minds about the Father and the family.” (No, God wants us to understand about His Son who gave His life for us so we might have everlasting life.) 

Another deceptive lie. The emphasis in PCG and many COG's is the erroneous belief that COG members will become "mini gods" and thus equal with Jesus. 

“The Laodiceans would forget everything in the Tribulation if it wasn’t for us. They will know they are being punished for their sins “.(I wonder if GF will know he is being punished for his sins when he finds himself in the Tribulation?) 

 

“If we don’t have the Law we are going to be deceived by the Devil.” (No, if we hold to the Law, we will not understand the grace of God.) 

More idiotic theological bullshit that places the law about Jesus and anything he said, did, and accomplished with his death. The majority of Christianity understand what that means except for the Church of God fake theologians. 

“There is the possibility that we will be martyred. So what if you have to give up your life?” (Yeah, so what? No big deal.) 

The chances of COG members dying at the hands of COG leaders and their blasphemous teachings are far greater than martyrdom for being Christians. The PCG and many COG's are the ministries of death.  

“There is no way we can ever get in this Paradise without God teaching and correcting us.” (We will be in Paradise if we have accepted the sacrifice of Jesus; it has nothing to do with correction; He took our punishment on Calvary.) 

 

We will rule over all the universe and all the planets will blossom like a rose. (I thought it was the desert that would blossom like a rose.) 

 

“God feeds us so much new revelation.” (No, GF thinks God is feeding him new revelation.)
“The Laodiceans have no new revelation. God cuts them off because Elijah [HWA] prayed that He would.” –name of country withheld

God has no more revealed any new revelation to Gerald Flurry than he has to Dave Pack and Bob Thiel. The blasphemous things these guys say come straight from the narcissistic minds and the darkness that dwells within them, not from God.