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.
