There is nothing that infuriates Church of God leaders more than people having access to the internet. The internet had a direct impact on the spectacular implosion of the Worldwide Church of God into hundreds of hundreds of little worthless splinter groups, starting in the early 1990s and onward. Various members started newsgroups on AOL, mailing lists like Good News Grapevine, and other sites. Church of God members could no longer be kept in the dark and church leadership no longer had control of how information was dispersed.
During the 1960's all kinds of books started being written about the church but they had little impact upon church members. Most never even knew they existed. That all changed with the internet. Information flowed freely and swiftly as more and more people began to own computers.
Today there are numerous websites, blogs, and Facebook groups dealing with COG splits and spiritual abuse. All of those groups exist thanks to the groundbreaking work of the Ambassador Report starting in 1975. Church members were no longer afraid to spill the beans on anything happening in the church.
The next big leap in information technology was cell phones with internet access. As primitive as they were earlier on, they still allowed quick access to information. Then, smartphones hit the scene. Who could have imagined that a little phone held in your hand was more powerful than the WCG/AC computer system at HQ that took up an entire floor of a building!
In spite of all of this, most COG groups embrace this amazing technology and make use of it. Some don't though. Dave Pack has railed on and on about the internet and how demonic it is. Bob Thiel says the technology is tuned in to Satan's wavelength but yet he prostrates himelf at the feet of that technology multiple times a day as he ignores his family.
And then there is Gerald Flurry, who is in a class all by himself.
Gerald Flurry has tried many times to get all the ministry and all members to stop using smartphones. Many have blatantly ignored him and continue owning them. In one of his fits of rage recently, he lashed out again at ministers and members using smartphones. Exit and Support Network has this up:
March 30, 2021
Smartphones were forbidden to be used by those on campus last year (read November 19, 2020 letter: “PCG Ruling Says No Smartphones Allowed“). It was January 24, 2020 when Andrew Locher gave a sermon about “Technology Use” where he said using smart devices will “destroy our teenagers.” That was the time G. Flurry put in place policies that would eliminate Smartphones on campus to “set the example for the brethren,” even though some did not obey that policy at the time.
The February 21, 2020 phone policy update said full time ministers were “expected to switch from their Smartphones to a future phone.” However, if some needed a Smartphone for their business, that was okay. G. Flurry “approved” the use of i-pads if you needed one. Then the April 2020 Pastor General’s Report reiterated again that the cell phone policy for ministers was that ministers should not be using Smartphones unless they were required to use one for their business. There were no exceptions for this policy. Minister’s wives were likewise expected to make the transition away from Smartphones.
Not all members have been following this policy because this subject about Smartphones was brought up again at the recent PCG Ministerial Conference when Stephen Flurry gave a lecture. He talked about what he called “the signs of warning and danger” for the congregation if they used Smartphones. One of the warning signs he said was “too much technology.”
Wayne Turgeon on day two of the conference gave a lecture on “Materialism” [Note by ESN: Why then did Turgeon in a 2021 sermon refer to all the materialism, riches and luxuries at HQs as “perks and fringe benefits” for being the few first fruits on this earth?] and said, “Materialism [not Charles Darwin] is the father of evolution and what we call human nature is really Satan’s nature. [Note by ESN: Human nature is that which makes us distinctly human] … People change a little at a time in the direction of the masses as they are influenced a little at a time.” This sounded to me exactly how PCG members change a little at a time as they are influenced by the leader’s mind control.
I know several members in PCG who all have Smartphones. But if G. Flurry continues his crack down, the day could come when we’ll see them with a flip phone again. It’s ridiculous to what lengths PCG will go to in order to keep members from finding out the truth about PCG. I know GF is also worried about someone recording their sermons with these Smartphones.
Members have been told that if they want to overcome they must hear what God (i. e., PCG government) is saying about this.
Members, however, are still using Smartphones. –[name withheld]
