Self-appointed COG Prophet Claims Demons Are Behind COVID-19 and Brexit

Only in the mind of a deluded self-appointed Church of God prophet can one come up with this kind of stuff and think it worthy of being preached about.

COVID and Brexit Driven by Demons?Could Satan or any of his demons be impacting the economy of the world and Europe through having both the coronavirus outbreak and the British Exit (Brexit) from the European Union? Did governments tend to react in a way causing ‘self-inflicted’ damage to the economy? What about actions from the European Central Bank? Has demonic involvement been asked by the German press? Does the Bible teach that Satan is the god of this age and that the world is under his sway? Will involvement from Satan and his demons lead to the rise of the Beast, False Prophet (Antichrist), and the gathering at Armageddon according to scriptures in the Book of Revelation? What event did the late Worldwide Church of God Pastor General Herbert W. Armstrong feel would trigger the prophesied unification of Europe under the Beast? What about ‘miracles,’ signs, and lying wonders? What did Jesus say that Christians should do? What about prayer and the kingdom of God? Will you fall for Satan’s lies and deception? Dr. Thiel discusses each of these matters and more.

It has always fascinated me on how much more powerful COG demons are compared to the almost nonexistent and powerless Christ they claim to follow. 

God Hates Christmas Lights and Ashtrays

My favorite ultra conservative HWA worshiping site is at it again on Yahoo.  This time it's about the "spirit world."  Mind you, some of these are the "good" spirits that God uses to scare the crap out of you so you stop being a wretched sinner.  There is also one that is obviously demonic to him too. This guy has God intervening in his life by stealing Christmas lights off his light strings, then God throws them into the street to warn him to stop keeping Christmas.  Then God smashes his ash tray to make him stop smoking. More magical thinking about a god they need to imagine that does special things just for them since they are the select few in the world.

   I wonder how many of you have had experiences from the spirit world! Way back when my wife and I were first married, we had been living with my wife`s widowed grandmother for several months when we decided to buy our own home. We were both working for the same factory where we had met and we heard of this two and one half story house that was being settled by the heirs of the old woman that had died in that house and had been vacant for several months. The purchase price was $10,500 and we paid the $500 for the down payment and borrowed the rest.

  We would go to our newly purchased house in the evenings for house cleaning since it was in bad shape because of that woman`s age being unable to properly care for it. We would clean till late at night and then would shut off all of the lights. The next night, we found the light on on the floor lamp which I was sure that I had turned off. Then before leaving I made certain sure to shut off all lights. Then the next day, the *cellar* lights were on. This happened several times and then I felt that someone else had a key to that place and so I got a very thin wire to wire the three entrances to see which one was being used for entry. None of those wires were broken, so it had to be coming from within!! The problem finally stopped.

  Then when we were called into the truth and instructed that we need to get rid of all religious stuff from our walls and I didn`t believe that to be necessary and I left this only one item hanging on the wall. I had it hanging on the wall with a nail with a very large head on it to insure it not to fall! Then the next morning I found it on the carpet in pieces!! That thing was made with hard, thick, ceramic type stuff that could not break and especially when landing on the carpet!! It would likely take a hammer to break it!!

  Then at Christmas time I had put strings of lights on the shrubbery of the house and then the thieves would come and steal the bulbs. So we worked wiring the bulbs to the sockets. Then the next night, since they couldn`t unscrew the bulbs, they literally ripped the entire strings of bulbs off of the shrubs and strewn across the street. We finally got God`s messages!!!

   Then when called into the Church, I had a smoking problem and each time the minister and his assistant would come to the house to see how I was doing, I still had not quit and this went on for three years. I had smoked two packs a day for twenty years and was totally addicted. Then this one day, after the minister had left, my wife called me for dinner and as I was asking the blessing, we heard glass breaking from the living room, where I had been sitting, and this very thick astray that I had been using was in pieces!!! Then I was told, "I believe that God is trying to tell you something." I finally broke the habit after our minister, Mr. Bryce Clark told me that If I have to chain myself to the bed, I must quit smoking, and he made me quit before allowing me to attend services. Some thought that he was a bit harsh, but I credit him with not only saving my physical life but my spirit life as well. I could never have quit otherwise. We had been observing all of the Holy days, the weekly Sabbath, as well as tithing all of those three years, then with God`s help, I finally made it though I still craved a cigarette for five years after.

  Then one year at the feast at Niagara Falls, we were all packed packed up and was leaving and was in the outside lane of traffic this guy came barreling out of the mall and instead of staying in the inside lane, he came crashing on across into our lane and smashing against the side of our car and caused me to go over the curb. I tried chasing him because of the damage to our car but he sped away before I could catch him. I pulled off at the nearest exit to check the damage and to report it to the Niagara Falls police but after stopping and checking our car, there was not even scratch. As hard as he hit the side of our car, I couldn`t believe it!! It had to have been an angel of God who had protected us!!

  There have been other times that I can recall when we were protected by God, but this is getting quite lengthy!!

Demons: Armstrongism's Greatest Friend

Who is discussed the most in your church area?  Who does your church leaders talk about the most?  Jesus or Satan/demons? Who gets the most airplay?  How many articles have appeared in your church magazines and on it's web sites?

After having spent over 40 years in Armstrongism, I have to say that I have heard demons and Satan discussed far more than Jesus ever was.  We always had to be on guard because they were lurking around every corner ready to devour us.

Demonic folktales have circulated around Armstrongite churches for generations.  Almost everyone knows a story involving demons.

One that was in Dayton church in the early late 60's was about a church woman who was visiting her neighbor (a Catholic).  While they were talking a horrible stench started filling the kitchen.  All of a sudden this huge gorilla was sitting on the bar-stool over in the corner and it started talking to them.  The Catholic woman had some 'holy water' on hand and threw it on the gorilla/demon and rebuked it. The true Church of God   member also rebuked it. Confident knowing that only she had the power to rebuke demons.  And lo and behold it disappeared.  The stench remained, but evil was gone......  Of course the moral of the story was that the WCG woman was the one who actually rebuked it instead of the false Christian Catholic woman.

Another involved Ambassador students in Pasadena.  Right before I cam to the holiest place on earth, there were some students who started having toothbrushes levitating in the bathrooms.  These demons loved to play with tooth brushes and shaving cream. For some reason these demons like to hang out in the bathrooms.

The house on the corner of Del Mar and Orange Grove was considered haunted by many students.  It particularly had a bad reputation in the late 80's when a couple of women from the dorm were assaulted and raped on campus.  Bad things seemed to constantly be happening to those who lived there.  Later residents who were evangelists and department heads, had family issues with mental health.  One had a foster daughter that they locked in her room with padlocks on the outside of the door, another had a child who tried to stab his mother.  Of course these were all attributed to the demonic forces prevalent in the house.  Even Tkach Sr. did not escape the problems with his wife's mental issues.  The fundie church members all attributed these issues with demonic influences.

But interestingly enough, the Israelite people never were that much into demons.  Since we loved to imitate Judaism as much as possible you would have thought church 'scholars' would have done their research and found out that Satan and his demons were never major players in Judaism, especially in pre-exilic Israelite religion.

So where did these little buggers come from?  Blame the Persian Zoroastrian's.  

Somethings to consider and a few excerpts from   

Cognitive Discopants: Did Demons Fall or Just Get Traded?

What’s interesting to me is the difference between pre-exilic Judaism and post-exilic Judaism. Many of the ideas that show up for the first time in 2nd Temple literature bear resemblance to aspects of Zoroastrian thought (eg. the resurrection of the dead, the apocalyptic destruction of evil, etc.). One has to be cautious about jumping to the conclusion that Judaism simply borrowed from Zoroastrianism. Our Zoroastrian sources are relatively late, so it’s not entirely clear what the religion looked like at the time of Persian rule. And of course one shouldn’t overlook the influence of Greek thought following years of Judean Hellenization. Nonetheless, there does appear to be a relationship of some sort between Zoroastrian thinking and some novel aspects of 2nd Temple Jewish thought.

Pre-exilic Israelite religion, like its near eastern neighbors, was monistic in the sense that it “viewed the universe as a unified system in which each member, divine and human, had its proper domain and function above, upon, or below the earth.” There was no band of demons, led by Satan, fighting against God and seeking to undermine his purposes. Rather, God had at his disposal both benevolent spirits and spirits of calamity. The significant point is that the malevolent spirits were not fighting against God; they were doing God’s bidding.

 This viewpoint is quite foreign to us, because we’re far more familiar with the dualistic worldview that emerged post-exile in which Satan and his demons are thought to be rebellious angels battling against God. But recognizing that this was not the way pre-exilic Israel thought helps to explain a number of passages that tend to bother us moderns.

 In other words, once dualistic notions of a cosmic conflict between good and evil emerged, some within Judaism began to read their holy texts in this light. Satan, competing deities and other dark powers were reassigned to the evil camp. The notion of a “fall from heaven” emerged to explain (I assume) how this competing camp arose. Verses such as Isaiah 14:12, “How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn!”, which was originally a prophecy against the king of Babylonian, were co-opted in support of the new narrative. By the time we get to the New Testament – take the book of Revelation, for example – the dualism is fully developed and Satan is “that ancient serpent” whom God will finally destroy.

Fundamentalist/dispensationalist Christians say that demons are active all around us and are in everything. Other Christians say that Satan and his demons have been vanquished and have no power over us since the resurrection.

So what do think about it?