Michael Venish Speaks Out Against All The False COG Splinter Leaders

 

Michael Venish of the Vigilant Church of God is back with another video ripping into the myriad of false Church of God leaders leading the splinter groups today who are actively damaging the spiritual lives of their followers.

Venish gained a lot of fame a few years ago when he exposed Dave Pack as the fraudulent liar that he is and encouraged Restored Church of God members to leave Dave's personality cult. Many did leave thanks to Venish.

This time he is ripping into the leadership of the splinter groups. Like all of those he condemns, Venish has set himself up as a splinter leader who has a following. So, the question to be asked is, "Isn't Venish just as bad as all the other splinter leaders?" He is starting to sound like Bob Thiel (no, that is NOT a compliment) when he proclaims everyone else is wrong but him.

In the Church of God Semanitics Is Everything

Herbert W Armstrong: Semanitics Is Everything

 

If we Google the term semantics, we learn that this word conveys “the meaning of a word, phrase, sentence, or text.” And, while we all recognize the importance of being clear about the meaning and scope of what is being communicated, most of us have also experienced those obnoxious individuals who love to split hairs so that they can be right (and, more importantly, everyone else can be shown to be wrong). Unfortunately, in the religious realm, Herbert W Armstrong was one of those individuals who obsessed over semantics.

For Armstrong, most of Christianity had completely missed the proper meaning of what constituted the “gospel” or good news message which Christ taught to his disciples. Armstrong believed that the Christ-centric message of Traditional Christianity completely ignored or suppressed the message about a future and literal world government headed by Christ. And, as has been pointed out in this forum and other places, Armstrong both ignored the Great Commission of Matthew 28 and the clear indications in Paul’s epistles that his message was focused on Jesus Christ and his salvific work. It is unfortunate that Mr. Armstrong seemed incapable of allowing that a message about Christ could accommodate a message about his kingdom. For Armstrong, it was an either/or proposition – clarity demanded one explanation or the other (making one wrong and the other right).

It seemed to be incomprehensible to Mr. Armstrong that words can have multiple meanings. Indeed, his writings suggest that he rejected the notion that words, phrases, sentences or texts might be subject to different interpretations. Armstrong had discovered “THE TRUTH.” If there were other possible meanings/interpretations, they must be disregarded because God or the Holy Spirit had revealed to him the “TRUE” meaning/interpretation.

Armstrong believed that the fact that his organization incorporated the terminology “Church of God” as part of its name was a hallmark that his group was the “TRUE” Church which Jesus Christ had founded on that day of Pentecost so long ago. Never mind that the Greek word “ekklesia” suggests an assembly of people called together for the purpose of worship. Never mind that Scripture also attaches the term to Christ, the First Born and various places. Why not the “Assembly of God”? Why not the “Assembly of the First Born”? And, if the “ekklesia” was composed of everyone who had God’s Holy Spirit, would it really be accurate to suggest that any one human organization claiming to be the “Church of God” fully encompassed what that term really means?

For Herbert Armstrong, traditional understandings of terms like religion, Christian, paganism, grace and truth were said to be wrong. Indeed, in almost any area of Christian doctrine/dogma which we could name, Armstrong claimed that the traditional understanding was the diametric opposite of the truth.

However, Armstrong’s preoccupation with semantics was probably no where more apparent than in the realm of prophecy. It was how Armstrong defined terms like Israel, Babylon, Assyria, Zerubbabel, one crying out in the wilderness, place of safety and Great Whore which colored his unique interpretations of Biblical prophecy. For Herbert Armstrong, it wasn’t just the meaning of these terms either – it was the timing and chronology which he insisted were implied by those understandings. In short, Armstrong’s semantics demanded that the “end times” were upon us and insisted that his followers even more fully embrace his understandings of Biblical semantics.

There are a few scriptures that come to mind when dealing with the power of words, and how they can positively or negatively impact us. Here are a few of them: “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits” (Proverbs 18:21), “There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing” (Proverbs 12:18), “Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble “ (Proverbs 21:23), “Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin” (Proverbs 13:3), “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak” (Matthew 12:36), “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12) and “If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless.” (James 1:26) One has to wonder what Mr. Armstrong thought these verses meant.

Miller Jones/Lonnie Hendrix

Gerald Weston - "My friends, they cannot all be right"

 

From an LCG source:

Gerald Weston writes:

“Many think they know—but, once again, we must ask: Have they proved it? Most people accept the religious beliefs of parents and peers. While many individuals at least temporarily stray from religion after leaving home, normally Protestants remain Protestant, Catholics remain Catholic, and Muslims remain in the Islamic faith. But are all religions equal? Do “all roads lead to heaven,” as some believe? Try to get to Detroit that way! No, there are contradictory doctrines even within dominant religious categories. Consider how many Protestant denominations there are. Some believe baptism by immersion is necessary, others that you are only saved if you speak in “tongues of angels.” My friends, they cannot all be right!” (my emphasis)

 

There is no parody like self-parody.

 

There are over 500 splits of the old WCG. That line may have worked in the 70s, but now the statement should read: Consider how many WCG denominations there are.

 

Jerry should start living in the 2020s – the 1970s are history.

"Why do you bother with the past? Forget about it."

"Why Do You Bother?  Forget About It!

It is not uncommon for someone to tell me "Why do you bother with the past?  Forget about it."  I'd sometimes wonder that myself and know many who seem to be long gone from the WCG experience and yet still stuck or spinning within it.  

We keep up with the splinters and the antics of their ministers.  We, or at least I, listen to their sermons, not for edification, but to confirm that I am happy not to be a part of such foolishness.  I shake my head and chuckle when one such as David Pack, Apostle of the Restored Church of God, uses so many personal pronouns in sermons and begins many with "I don't think I ever given a sermon quit like the one you are going to hear today."  That would be a major hint to me it is all being made up as we go. 

Nothing is more humorous than listening to one of the very two true witnesses of Revelation get angry over people who throw paper on the floor or say the word "amazing" about a zillion times in every sermon usually in wonder at how stupid everyone else besides he and the 12 people in the room are. 

From "That Prophet" to "And yes brethren, I am an Apostle," I find it all rather fascinating now that I don't have soak in it or lay awake at night wondering what else is going to happen to shatter my idealistic belief that it once was to me the True Church of God and I had been called by the Deity to be both member and minister.  I really believed that and I think there in lies the key to the ongoing fascination.

Those who are the most sincere, in my experience, suffer the most when they learn their sincere seeking was misplaced. It accounts for our anger, sarcasm, keeping up and ongoing interest in that which proved to be less than encouraging. I think we subconsciously or very consciously wish to be some kind of vehicle for helping others through the process and coming out better and not worse for the whole experience.

Sadly, some literally ended their lives due to the instability all the upheaval produced in the place they sought solace and safety for their own mind and spirit. I know several ministers who died either deliberately or through the abuse of alcohol so often used to mask the pain, perhaps not realizing just how much it would actually magnify it.  I started down that path for a time out of the pain of separation from that which I loved and at times to mask the pain over the loss of those I love, but got off that train.  For every moment of "forgetting" there were a thousand of depressing recall that just made matters worse.  It is a treadmill one needs to pay very close attention to and just say no to.

There is more truth than the truth we know.  The God many think they know is not all the God there is.  It is the glory of a King to search out a matter, not just accept the ideas of others.  All these things are true.  And while it is incomprehensible for most Bible readers to grasp, there is more truth in life to explore than whatever truth is perceived to be contained in the pages of the Bible.  The Bible is not inerrant, was not written literally by any literal Deity, is not the "best book ever written," and does not tell us where we either really came from nor why exclusively.  

In the Churches of God, neither splinter nor sliver, their pious conviction coupled with their marginal information, training and education is not enough to qualify to tell everyone else what the Deity wants, demands, requires or thinks about us all. 

A few things I have come to know now that I wish someone had taught me back then when thinking I was "called" to be a minister.

Genesis 1-11 are purely mythological stories, mostly borrowed from Sumerian myths and given a Hebrew spin.

"Moses" did not write the Pentateuch but rather is a compilation of different authors mostly Priests during the Captivity of the 5th century BC.

There is no evidence that the dramatic events of the Exodus ever literally happened in history and that most of the OT is designed to give an insignificant cultic people an amazing pedigree.

Characters such as Abraham, Moses, David and Solomon may or may not have literally existed in history. 

Clearly, God "evolves" from a polytheistic Deity to a monotheistic one over a very long time and the people of Israel held on to many gods throughout history.  The Canaanite God "EL" of Genesis was talking to his Council of the gods, when he is quoted as saying "Let US make man in OUR image..."  He was not talking to a future incarnation of himself called Jesus.  When God said, "you shall not bring any other gods into my presence (what the words in Exodus really say,) He wasn't saying there were no other gods. He was saying don't bring them around me as I am a jealous God.  I don't like their competition.  Clearly, polytheisim was the norm. 

Concerning the NT, I wish I had understood that Paul's writings preceded the Gospels which is why he never quotes an earthly Jesus, tells of his life, healings, teachings, miracles or birth circumstances. Those tales had not yet been written in his lifetime.  Paul's Jesus was cosmic and hallucinatory and not any real Jesus he ever knew or met.  I also have doubts about just how much the Jewish Church under James felt Paul was anything but a charlatan.  Luke's rendition of Paul's life and calling is not the one Paul himself speaks of in his real writings.  Not all the books attributed to Paul were actually written by Paul.

The Gospel accounts are not coherent or harmonious. 

Jesus birth narratives in Matthew and Luke are two different stories

Mark never heard the birth stories of Jesus nor did John and Paul said he was merely born of a woman. 

The resurrection accounts are muddled and contradictory in major ways. They can't all be right and are not four different ways of describing a car wreck.

The Book of Revelation is a failed prophecy written just prior to the fall of Jerusalem under the Romans.  It is not a book for today and its expectations of the Kingdom of God to route the Romans failed.  

The story of Jesus is the same story as Mithras and Osiris and is astrotheological in nature.  All Sun Gods are born on the Winter Solstice and all take away the sins and darkness of the world which they overcome at Easter in the Spring. 

Christian apologetics get down right silly at times

Life is short....and lots more stuff like that.

So why bother keeping up?  Because it's fascinating and I have always loved the study of origins.  From where humans really come from (common hominid ancestors) to the origins of mythologies and ideas that spring from them, its all amazing.  I want to know what may be worth believing and what may be just plain silly or even harmful.  Much of what religion, not true spirituality, teaches or demands sucks the soul out people and is harmful in the long run.  Religion keeps you the same yesterday, today and forever.  There can be no progress when you know it all.  It is no coincidence the Dark Ages arose when the Church did.  

I may regret my WCG experience but I can't undo it.  Next time around...if, I want to be a Paleontologist.   You can't unring a bell.  So I may as well use it to learn from.  And perhaps if I can help just one person step out of the box and take a bigger look around, it will be worth it.  It is for me a challenge and fascination though the price of this education has been and will continue to be high.

To not accept what is, is insane.  To not use the experience to help others  grow through is a wasted experience. 

Namaste....

DenniscDiehl@aol.com