One of the stranger men in charge at the Philadelphia Church of God cult compound in Edmond Oklahoma is Dennis Leap. He used to write a lot for the PCG propaganda magazines but has somehow made fewer and fewer appearances.
He is back once again with an article about Daniel 12:3 and the potential for PCG members to be shining as bright as the stars of heaven because of their worthiness and ability to remain true to the one true prophet of God and his teachings.
As usual in the PCG and COG's as a whole, church members are encouraged to emulate Old Testament heroes and sayings. Seldom are they asked to follow Christ or do anything he says. It's too inconvenient to be a Christ-follower and much more easy to be a law keeper, at least in their eyes.
Dennis asks:
We need to be honest with ourselves. Are we living by Daniel 12:3?
He claims PCG members must be wise and diligent as they prepare for the rapidly approaching end times and their trip to Petra. PCG members must constantly be doing something in order to impress their god and their dear leader.
Word came out at the Feast this year that they are excitedly awaiting that phone call to flee.
To help us respond quickly and urgently to Daniel 12:3, God ensured that two action steps were coupled with the two poetic images. Notice the first part: “And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament ….” The English word wise in the Hebrew is sakal and can mean to act, be, or make wise. To fully comprehend what God wants us to understand here requires all three of these definitions. It is also important to recognize the context of Daniel 12.
Verse 1 tells us it is the time period just before God’s people must flee to a place of safety—your people shall be delivered. That time period is rapidly approaching. Now is the time that God’s people must work diligently to become more wise and to act on that wisdom. Time is short. Jesus Christ’s return is imminent. How do we get such wisdom? Christ has shown us the way and provided the means to obtain it.
In these wild end times and the intense persecution being dished out upon the church by Satan and the world around them, PCG members need to be attuned to the one true prophet of god in their midst. Many false prophets (like Bob Thiel and Dave Pack) have rised up in the church deliberately used by Satan to deceive PCG members. Only Gerald Flurry has the truth and the true interpretation of scripture.
Who can and will properly explain Bible prophecy to you? Jesus Christ warned that many false prophets would arise just before His Second Coming (Matthew 24:24), so we must beware of what men we listen to and follow. “God wants His prophecies understood, so He reveals that understanding through His faithful servants. ‘Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets’ (Amos 3:7),” wrote Royal Vision editor in chief Gerald Flurry in his May-June 2020 Trumpet personal, “Prophecy Is Proof of God.” This personal is a must-read to understand the connection between Bible prophecy and world events! If you have not subscribed to the Philadelphia Trumpet newsmagazine, now is the time to do so. This magazine consistently and expertly brings Bible prophecy to light!
Realize, there are many church denominations in existence today that call themselves Christian. But how much of their religion is Bible-based? One of the largest denominations does not view the Bible as the sole source of its doctrine. Its members are not typically Bible readers. Prophecy is not a line item in its religious instruction. Regrettably, many other denominations follow that example. Jesus Christ said that His one true Church would be a small and persecuted flock (Luke 12:32; John 15:20). So we should not be fooled by religious groups with large members. You need to prove where Christ’s Church is today so that you are taught properly about God’s prophecies. A truly wise Christian is a student of prophecy and watches carefully, noting prophecies as they unfold. How wise are we?
The Philadelphia Church of God is on a mission to "turn people to righteousness." Considering how morally bankrupt they are as a church they have a hard mission ahead of them. But, that is of no concern because money is. PCG members become active in "turning people to righteousness" by giving money to the church so it can support its ministers in spreading its message. Of course, like all COG's out there, there has to be one prophet in charge who has a direct channel to God who regularly dumps prophetic nonsense into their empty minds.
How do Church members turn many to righteousness today? By supporting the work of the Church. This work involves getting God’s warning message out to this sin-sick world. God has trained ministers to teach the members and help prepare them for their future. But God’s chosen apostle and, to a lesser extent, his evangelists also speak out God’s message to this world, primarily as a warning. These faithful men still cannot do it alone. It is the encouragement, daily prayers, offerings and tithes of God’s faithful members supporting God’s Work that greatly helps hasten righteousness today. God also uses that warning message to call new members into His Church so the work of the Church can continually expand. Again, what an opportunity!
What new members is Leap talking about? PCG has been declining in membership for years, as has all the other Churches of God.
This world’s immediate future will be full of some black days and nightmarish calamities. The vast majority of humanity will be caught off guard and shocked mentally and emotionally. At Christ’s return, many will be depressed and hopeless. But that is where God’s resurrected and changed saints come on the scene. We will be as brilliant as the clearest blue sky and shine like the stars forever and ever. Let’s take these poetic images—our hope—and use them to prepare for the future God has prepared for us. Our final brilliance depends on what we do today!
The world has certainly seen some dark times recently. Wars and rumors of wars abound. Famine, pestilence, fires, earthquakes, all make the news gatherers in the COG's go into orgasmic fits as they claim these are sure signs of the end. the problem we all have with this is that we have lived through eight decades of these self-appointed liars spouting one false prophecy after another. They lie and lie and lie without any sense of guilt or embarrassment.
What does embarrass them all is that if they actually followed the teachings of Jesus they would not need to sit around worrying day in and day out about how awful things are as they need to see things. There is a reason Jesus said that with him the yoke is easy and the burden is light.
