Who has a better grasp of what authentic Christianity is?

Who has a better grasp of what it means to be an authentic Christian...

Jefferson Bethke 

or

Bob Thiel, self-appointed church leader, apostle, prophet, and any other name you can dream up. The one who was soundly rejected by Rod Meredith 
and all other COG leaders.

James Malm, the self-appointed bastardizer of the law who places the law above grace, justive, mercy and Jesus himself.

Vic Kubik, Clyde Kilough, Jim Franks, who connived and conspired while on WCG payroll to start a new church guaranteeing themselves and their cronies 
a perpetual income stream.

Gerald Flurry, THAT Prophet, money hungry HWA idolater who destroys families and marriages and needs his own personal jet 
just because HWA had one.

Dave Pack, who destroys families and who claims all income belongs to him as a representative of God. It is needed by him so he can make Wadsworth into a cool place for Jesus to walk around in when he returns for the 2 or 3rd time.


Gerald Weston, the legalist who places emphasis on the law over 
grace, mercy and justice. 

And most every other COG leader out there you can name...

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Though to be fair, there are a slim FEW COG men out there who actually get it

Dave Pack Exposes the Duplicitous Actions of United Church of God Leaders As They Started Up UCG

After Dave Pack rebelled against Pasadena and WCG due tot eh doctrinal changes he decided to join forces with Rod Meredith.  What he describes below proves once again how duplicitous the leadership of the United Church of God was.  Not only did Kubik and others sit in church-owned housing, while still on WCG payroll as they planned UCG, they also manipulated the church in order to get as much money as they could before that left for UCG.  Pack's comments below also show what a total jerk Rod Meredith was in starting up Global Church of God.

It was March 7, 1993. For the first time since 1972, Mr. Pack was unemployed—only this time the family was also without a vehicle! The Packs could not afford and never had a second car. He also had no computer to communicate through email.

The Worldwide Church of God gave him only two weeks severance pay for his over two decades of service in the ministry, plus a few days of any unused vacation that all terminated ministers received by policy. The small severance was because the Packs had officially declared that they were going with another organization. This made them, also by policy, “opponents” of the WCG. Virtually all other ministers, most of whom that would leave would do so two years later, would receive one week of pay for every year that they were in the ministry—because they did not immediately declare their new allegiance. These waited until the larger check had cleared the bank. This was made possible by high-ranking sympathizers in Pasadena carefully coaching them step by step regarding exactly what (and what not) to do, and when.

Mr. Pack took a deep breath and resolved to move forward—regardless of giant obstacles ahead.

But what about a car? The Packs had insufficient money to buy one.

Since the Global Church of God had been in existence for just two months, there were only about 275 members worldwide. There were a handful of deacons and local church elders to help, but no full-time ministers had yet been hired into the field. Mr. Pack was the first. The fledgling organization had limited resources. The tithe-paying base was small. The headquarters could not afford to advance a down payment for a car.

Understanding the crucial juncture facing God’s people, Mr. Pack could not let days, let alone weeks, go by. There was work to do!

His very first action as a yet unpaid minister was to go obtain a $4,000 cash advance on a personal credit card. He then sent these funds to the Global Church Headquarters so they could purchase a car in the Church’s name with this money. The promise was that they would try to repay the principal amount when and as they could.

Thrilled to get back into the field and to visit brethren, Mr. Pack charged into this unique, new assignment with gusto.

“Someone was kind enough to loan us a car until we could get a new one. We were most grateful. It allowed us to run errands and buy groceries for about 10 days.

“We had faced obstacles in the past where the only path was that of faith. This decision was easy. But what choice did we have? We needed a car, and the Church could not afford to buy one. So I offered to act as an agent to purchase the vehicle on their behalf. There was a Ford dealer nearby and we got a brand new Aerostar exactly like the one that had just been driven from our garage.

“It would look better for Global if it had purchased the vehicle, rather than I having done so on my own behalf, or even on their behalf. The goal was to have other ministers be able to see that Global was a legitimate organization—that all manner of familiar procedure, activity and support was present. We were happy that no other Global ministers had to do as we did. I would certainly do it again.

“I would only learn later about how the many scores of ministers went with the new splinter in 1995 with a tremendous amount of money—sometimes tens of thousands of dollars—simply because they did not declare their affiliation until the larger ‘severance’ check had been cut for them.

“These men would wait in the back of the hall for one Sabbath, officially ‘undeclared’ in terms of organizational destination. Of course, everyone knew exactly where they were going in a couple of days, and could not understand why they were delaying the changeover. There were always salaries, cars and expense accounts waiting from the start for these faithless, hypocritical appeasers because large numbers of tithepayers followed them out the door to the same new organization.

“There was a very early surprise, however, in all of this. Instead of a thank-you for buying the car from my (borrowed) funds, the Global leader was disappointed that I had only brought an initial group of 38 people with me. It was absolutely stunning. I was not bringing enough human ‘booty’ right out of the gate to suit him.

COGWA/UCG Poaching Saga Continues

The behind the scenes shenanigans of Jim Franks continues.  Malm had this to say (below)about Jim Franks and  Gary Petty today:  Gary was in school when I was in Pasadena.  He always had a reputation of wanting to be seen as this great spiritual person.  If halo's could glow any brighter his would have been up there illuminating the entire earth - at least in his assumptions.  By having his face presented on TV around the world I am sure he is feeling very grandiose!  It would not surprise me if he took the money and jumped ship, but I would hope he was a little more ethical than that!

It is amazing to  watch as each successive COG reincarnation is more corrupt than the previous organization all the while claiming they are the most righteous.  What disgusting men!

Jim Franks requests that:   “Effective immediately, please send all donations to the Chase bank processing facility. The address they have assigned to us is:
Church of God, a Worldwide Association, Inc.
P.O. Box 731480
Dallas, TX 75373-1480”


This is apparently where the accountants live and work and does not constitute the setting up of a church office.  The actual location for a church office has not yet been officially decided.

It is reported that Jim Franks is working hard on a sweet package to lure Gary Petty from his position as the UCG television presenter.  Jim is reported as justifying this with his peers by claiming that hundreds of people, perhaps a thousand will follow Gary into COGWA.

Jim Franks COGWA's Most Perfect Leader?

In between all the silly doctrines and pronouncements of Apostate Malm there are little tidbits of COG history that are on the mark.  We have all heard how Franks manipulated behind the scenes to help form two break way COG's, all while remaining on his present church payroll.  Malm had this to say:

Jim Franks lied straight out to his peers on the Council denying that he was involved with the dissidents while he was their leader, a facebook group associated with them spread rumurs through 2010, the UCG Current Crisis site was run by the dissenters through 2010, another password protected site was available for elders to contact about joining the rebellion, Franks and Kilough are well known slick politicians and spin doctors long time closely associated. Larry Salyer was deeply involved and tried to make out that he was fired for answering questions. The IAO formed supposedly to help LA and suddenly began to finance the dissidents [preplanned as the financing of the new group all along?]: and they dare to try and deceive people that this was not a planned split. This split was all about control and power as Denny and events make clear. Just wait until they have their system fully in place and then watch the spectre of “OUR AUTHORITY” rise up in COGWA. These guys are smooth politicians like Denny and are well know to be big time bullies if they are questioned. James PS guess who Franks is trying to lure away from UCG to be the public spokesman for any future COGWA outreach? A little hint initials GP of San Antonio.

COGWA Has A New Top Dog

No real shocker here.  Same old, same old.  How long witll it take before he is conspiring behind the backs of the rest of the leadership in this splinter cult?  He did a great job of backstabbing while in WCG and UCG as he helped form two separate COG's.

 President: Jim Franks

Secretary: David Johnson

Treasurer: Jason Lovelady

UCG Sells Out to COGaWA Pressure and Reverses Sabbath Paper

UCG honchos in Cincinnati watching their church blow up in their faces and disintegrate to nothing changed their stance on the Sabbath controversy in a blatantly political move.  With close to 160 some ministers and elders jumping ship to Jim Frank's new splinter cult, UCG was set to loose thousands of more members when the Church of God a Worldwide Association holds it's conference in the next week.

In the same hypocritical backstabbing and lying  that went on when UCG split from WCG, COGaWA had the upper hand.  It was the conservatives vs the liberals all over again. The deciding factor on both sides was money.  The COGaWA's had to form a new splinter cult in order to receive income once UCG terminated them.  UCG had to do whatever it took to maintain a steady flow of income into their HQ to maintain their salaries.

Both sides now will continue to keep the members of UCG/COGaWA in bondage to a day no longer required under the New Covenant.  Both sides will continue to rule over and abuse their members with legalistic bullshit.  Neither side has the balls to really sit down and examine Sabbath keeping without using HWA's writings or other COGlet materials spread out in front of them.  But we should never expect such in depth study since COGdoom is intellectually and theologically bankrupt.

So the sheep still continue to suffer because they won't examine things either.  If HWA or a minister said it, so let it be done.

UCG statement:

January 4, 2011

After studying the material that has been provided from a couple in Chile, the Council of Elders, after full review and rendering due diligence, is prepared to issue the following statement in regards to observing the Seventh-day Sabbath and Holy Days in a proper manner to uphold the Fourth Commandment.

The United Church of God, an International Association, has a long-standing teaching on the subject of owner-operated businesses in relation to the observance of the Sabbath and biblical Holy Days. If a business is solely or majority owned by a Church member, then the business should close on the Sabbath and the Holy Days.

There are some exceptions, as Jesus Christ gave Sabbath-keeping principles in Scripture in this regard, which would apply to healthcare and retirement facilities and dealing with dairies and farm animals. But, day-care centers and schools do not fall under these categories. Therefore, the Council of Elders stands by the authority of Scripture in our lives and the consistent position of the Church which requires that such businesses, as long as they are solely or majority owned by a Church member, be closed on the Sabbath and the Holy Days.

We deeply appreciate the sincere request of the members in Chile in asking for the Council of Elders to render a judgment.

Melvin Rhodes—Chairman, on behalf of the Council of Elders

Jimmy - The Man Behind the Curtain?

Frankie is dancing around the fact that he has been implicated in the the background workings for the  formation of UCG's new splinter group.  Once again we get to see ministers lie through their teeth.  Ethics be damned!  Oh wait, I am talking about Armstrongism where ethic's is not taught or practiced.

You can read more about Frankie's indignation on the Shining Light blog

From: Jim Franks <jimbfranks@                                                                                                 
 Sent: Fri, December 17, 2010 9:52:38 PM
Subject: December 17 Update

Hello,

I simply can’t imagine how things could get any more interesting!  Each day now brings a new twist.  Legal accusations, firings, resignations and suspensions are coming at us from all directions.  I have a couple of items to share with you this evening and then I will leave it until our meeting on Monday.  There are some important decisions that we will need to make in the next few days…

Next week we need to firm up plans for moving forward… 
Within the next few days we will need to discuss the following (among other things):

When should a general meeting take place?
Where should a general meeting take place?
Should we resign or should we wait to be terminated?  What should be the timing of a resignation?

Please keep in mind that all of this is confidential.  We have added another 12 men to the mailing list, which means it is even more important to be circumspect in any information that you share with others.

You should have received an official invitation for a meeting on Monday, December 19.  The time will be 12 Noon CST.  I look forward to talking with all of you soon.  Take care.

All the best,

When you read the comments on the Shining Light in regrades to Franks you see that this man has very few fans.  It is blatantly obvious to everyone that Franks was working for quit some time in the back ground while still on UCG payroll planning this.  This one post in particularly proves that Ethic's is not part of the picture.  Especially since Franks was also on the Ethic's committee for UCG!  What an idiot!

Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy what a huge mistake you made! This makes you look like an unscrupulous leader, and you were in the Ethics Committee?! As James has stated it won’t be long before many ministers and L.A. sympathizers realize they were duped.

Was Jim Frank's The Snake In The Grass at UCG HQ?

Luker does not name the person, but word is that it was Jim Franks.  Information is supposed to hit the Internet tomorrow on this person.

The Council of Elders is in possession of irrefutable documentation that demonstrates complicity by certain ministers and members in secretive efforts to undermine and destroy the very organizational fabric of the United Church of God. We are greatly saddened to see this, as it hurts to know as a fact that some have essentially said one thing regarding reconciliation or resolution of differences while working behind the scenes with a completely different agenda.

This documentation, authored by a former home office administrator, lays bare organized efforts at a very high level to break away. It distorts the record and generally reflects a grievous state of mind among those who are fracturing current relationships and trying to influence members of the United Church of God into following them.

Sadly, if past events are any guide to the future, documentation will soon appear online, together with varied “analyses” of various stripes and colors, trying to again spin this documentation somehow into one more quasi-“proof” of the alleged evils of the Council of Elders. It is being said that we demand personal loyalty to men. This is not true—as we would not even sign a document that required that. We simply ask for the faithful service of our employees and ministry to the Church that employs them, recognizing that not everyone thinks alike but that we all need to work within the structure we all agreed upon in 1995.

Then Luker boldly makes the following predictions:

Please be comforted in knowing that we will continue to provide pastors and shepherds so that you have a peaceful and spiritually nourishing home in which to worship on each Sabbath and Holy Day. You have multiple sites to choose from to attend and participate in the annual Feast of Tabernacles. Your children have summer and winter camps available, where they can learn the truths of God and how to apply them as they grow and mature. You have the Ambassador Bible Center, where members can attend to obtain in-depth knowledge of biblical truth. You have a vast array of literature—available in print or online in increasingly interactive formats—together with a growing Beyond Today program that is reaching thousands of new people on television and through the Internet.

And that, we believe with all of our being, is only the beginning. Moving forward, we believe that we are being prepared by Jesus Christ for growth. How and when that appears is up to God and the living Leader of this Church, Jesus Christ. We must ready ourselves in renewed prayer, deep meditation and earnest fasting.