Is The Philadelphia Church of God South Africa Stealing Money From Members?

Silenced has up news today about the PCG ministry in South Africa and how there is documented cases of the PCG stealing money from its members.  This is nothing really new in Armstrongism, it has been going on for the last 70 some years.  Most of the time it was covertly done and most never knew about it.

A former PCG member is spilling the beans about it all.  It occurred at last years Feast of Tabernacles.  Church members were told to use the Church "discount" price that the hotel had given them for their hotel rooms.  This has been common practice by the COG over the decades in regards to Feast site accommodations.  Supposedly the church negotiates with the hotels for lower rates for guaranteed  room occupancy.  This was all fine and dandy till a SA member found out that the PCG was actually charging the SA members a higher price than the hotel was offering.
 
In one of his letters the man writes:

Should I keep quiet when I know with all my being that foul play is afoot? We have not been taught to keep quiet. What I have put my faith and energy in for the last 17 years seems to be vanity. The vision of this world being filled with the colleges of God seems to falter with the knowledge and reality of ministers deceiving and robbing God’s people. 

What these COG leaders fail to remember is that many members no longer sit back and let the Church get away with things they normally have over the decades.  With the Internet, people have ways of checking up on the church. 

HWA always claimed the printing press was created for the express purpose of the COG publishing its materials.  In that same vein, the Internet must have been created in order to expose the lies of Armstrongism.

Silenced writes:

We’ve been hosting a couple letters by former PCG member Alex Foster on behalf of ESN for several weeks, but haven’t gotten around to wading into them. Essentially, PCG ministers stole money from members in South Africa over last year’s Feast of Tabernacles, a practice that is apparently rampant across its international operations.

We have insisted since this blog launched that COG cults do this regularly. We have long claimed these churches add markups to their “discounted” event deals, which would never be discovered since members most often book through ministers and other ordained members (or their wives). COG members have jumped up and down angrily telling us that we’re wrong about that. This is documented proof that it’s true and likely common – if it’s happening in Australia, Fiji and South Africa, it’s likely happening elsewhere — at least within PCG. And to us, there’s no way other COG groups aren’t doing this. Why wouldn’t they? As Foster points out, it’s the “perfect money laundering plan.”

Make sure to click on the "letter" links.  It will open a pdf of the letter and documentation.

The first letter describes Foster’s attempts to book a cabana for the FOT at a hotel called the Seabreeze. PCG tried to get members to book through the church at “discounted rates” but Foster discovered — through clerical screwups on PCG’s part — that the cult was charging members more than its agreement with the Seabreeze. Members directly booking with the Seabreeze were paying less under its agreement with PCG than members booking directly through officials. PCG was adding a secret markup to the price.

In the second letter, Foster writes:

He explained to me that because the costs of the hall etc., in George for the Feast, is normally more than the funds received from the tithe of the tithe monies, he instructed Mrs. Wakelin to add R50 per day to the cost of each cabana for the South African brethren. He told me that they do the same in Australia and in Fiji. He said that the international brethren which attend the feast in George are charged an extra R100 per day for their cabana because the exchange rate for dollars is pretty good, he also said that if a room in the booked cabana is not occupied an additional R100 would be charged per room per day, the reason being that brethren must not think that they can book a cabana only for themselves. This additional money was imposed on each and every one of those attending the Feast without their knowledge or consent.

Wow!!!!!!!!! Why not just rent a hall which is affordable? This is a just a “wonderful” money making scheme which cannot fail. The perfect money laundering plan. Doesn’t have to be declared etc, etc. Next year he will probably load the rates by R200.00 per day – gullible, gullible sheeple, or so he thinks. Well I wouldn’t have known about the blatant theft of God’s peoples 2nd tithe monies if MR Meaker hadn’t, by mistake, put the original cabana cost document on the information desk instead of the fraudulently altered one.

David Nix: One Truly Crazy Armstrongite Who Claims God Spoke to Him About Hedges and Light Blasts

Here is a former Armstrongite that has went off the deep end.  Sadly, like so many of the false prophets and liars of Armstrongite mythology, this guy was able to dupe a group of followers.

God speaks directly through him and reveals all kinds of important things, like praying hedges around the unconverted and getting blasts of light from God.

Here is what he says about praying down hedges:

· A hedge of thorns prevents and works to lead a lost one home.

· Is the power to hedge up the way and make a wall around someone who leaves the path of the Lord.

· The hedge of thorns is rooted in love and it is the power to change hearts and lives.

· The power of the hedge of thorns is power only available to Christians.

· There are five steps to seeking the power of the hedge of thorns. 1. You must be in right standing and you must walk the clear paths of the Lord, so only one walking in the light has the standing to pray this prayer. 2. The person seeking the Lord to place a hedge of thorns around someone must be connected unto one of the people you pray the hedge for; this will not work on someone who is a stranger. 3. Your request must be rooted in love. 4. The power of the hedge of thorns is that it will change a person’s path and their desires will be frustrated so that they will turn their heart back to the Lord, so you can not bind that which is against the Lord’s will, so you must seek the Lord’s will before seeking the hedge of thorns. 5. The request must be spoken in prayer and must be ongoing; this is not a single prayer but something that you must pray through.

· With this prayer you are seeking God to cause the person to lose their way, their direction so that they will seek God once more.

· Involves relationships, and the person or persons who are influencing the person you are praying for will lose interest.

· The hedge of thorns will not be placed upon Christians who are walking in the light of heaven. You cannot hedge in two people or multiple people who walk in the light of the Lord. Is only unto those who have left the desire of the Lord to walk a path of their own choosing.

Now if that makes absolutely no sense to you, the following is even weireder:

A blast of  light and mercy can only be sent by the Lord God or the Lord Jesus. The blast is their thoughts that are placed within someone and is sent as a light of yearning and it is a desire to believe and to hear.

· God opens a person’s mind to believe that which God desires them to believe. He opens their mind to receive, and in his blast of yearning he can make men believe truth or rumor, and the person will do as God’s blast of yearning desires.

· With his blast of light and mercy God does not remove free choice, but a blast of light opens the mind of men to believe that which he desires them to believe.

· The blast of light and mercy influences both thought and behavior so it is a tool of very great power.

· As with the hedge of thorns, you must be in right standing, "To have us move when you seek a blast of light, you must be righteous,” so we must be people of truth and purity to use the great power of the blast of light and mercy.

There are three steps or requirements for seeking a blast of light and mercy from the Lord. 1. You must be in right standing to even request a blast of light; your words must be pure and your motives must be pure. 2. You must be a person that the Lord delights in, and the Lord delights in the just and upright. 3. You must be pure, and you must only seek a change in someone that is of the light, and your request must be of the Lord’s will. This does not mean that the person you want the blast  · of light to be sent unto has to be of the light, it means that the change you seek must be one of light and of the will of the Lord. This is important, the person that you seek the blast of light to come upon does not have to be a Christian, but the change you seek must be of the light and of the will of the Lord.

· A blast of light will never be sent to lead someone upon a path of evil or to sin.

· Our position in the light affects the power of our prayers, and for the blast of light we must be nigh unto the Lord. "There is great power in prayers that move us, and to send a blast of light and mercy you must be nigh and you must have righteous desires.”

· The blast of light and mercy are to be requested in prayer.

· Whispered words are not the same as a blast of light; evil whispers place thoughts within  but do not affect conduct; all sin is a choice, and a blast affects thought and conduct, and a blast of light never leads to sin.

· A blast is sent by God and will be sent if he desires and will be sent when he desires, but once sent a blast of light and mercy will result in immediate action or action within a short period of time for his blast is great power.

· The blast of light and mercy is of God’s breath and spirit, it is his thoughts placed within men to move them. Job 4:9  "By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed.” The word ‘perish’ in this verse means, ‘to wander away, to lose oneself, to be undone.’ His blast influences thought and behavior. The word ‘consumed’ means, ‘to bring to pass, to end, complete, prepare, to accomplish. Therefore this verse can be rendered in this way, "By the blast of God they lose themselves and become undone, and by the breath of his nostrils are they prepared, and his will is accomplished and brought to pass.”

· A blast dries up the root of resolve and causes men to think the desires that the blast of the Lord gives unto them and his blast removes the root. The Lord explained that  the root may be a philosophy, a set course, or location.

· A blast from heavenly light and mercy can cause men to seek a new course and it can literally cause them to move to a new place.

· The purpose of the blast of light and mercy is to cause change in thought and behavior, so this needs to be considered in our prayers.

· We must seek their will. "It is the blast of light and mercy, but it is the blast of my will for I or my Son only send a blast from heaven when what is sought by my people is of our will and desire.”

 Both God and Jesus speak directly to Nix:

"I am the Great and Mighty God above all things, I am before all and I am above all and I speak unto you Meionickie from the place of my most excellent glory. You are called and chosen and unto you I reveal mysteries and the mysteries of heaven shall unfold for much shall be given in the days ahead. You shall come to know great truth and mysteries shall be made known. My blast of light and mercy is great power but my truth must be accepted and obeyed. The hearts of my people are pure but they are as children playing with a sword. I shall give you words tomorrow and Wednesday as shall my Son and you are to go to Woodruff on Wednesday to teach and guide my people. I give you verses to guide you. "

"I am the Lord Jesus, your Messiah and most tender shepherd. I bless you this day with words of revealing and words of power. My Father told you that this day and tomorrow you will be blessed with words to better understand the blast of light and mercy. More will be given but before you learn more of the power of our blast of light, you must learn more of our hedge for the hedge and blast of light can be joined. Your mind is open David and you see the three aspects of the hedge but there is actually a fourth purpose that shall be explained unto you. Of this you will speak on our Sabbath day.
 

Daniel Cohran: Make Up Is NOT A Minor Doctrine!

The self serving hypocritical men of Armstrongism have always sought to beat women down to be submissive baby producers or house cleaners. Make up was one way of stopping women from being attractive.  It was OK for men to wear wigs and toupees, but a little paint on a woman's face was the ultimate sign of vanity.

Danile Cohran from the Hold Fast To All Things splinter cult has this to say about makeup.

Is MAKEUP really just a “minor” doctrine?  Do we not realize that there are NO “minor” doctrines in the Church of God?  Indeed ALL the doctrines placed into God’s Church are MAJOR, and ALL equally important, and are placed there for a reason!

Mr. Armstrong felt it was important enough to preach on it frequently when God was using him to put the Church back on track doctrinally in the early 1980’s.  In the article posted below, Mr. Armstrong shows how Satan used this doctrine to get the Church OFF TRACK!  So it must be more than just a “minor” or insignificant doctrine.  And it’s evident that God Himself feels that it is important because He inspired His apostle to set the doctrine straight once and for all.  Remember only God’s apostles have the AUTHORITY to change or place doctrine into God’s Church. And God BINDS that decision in heaven! THEN it is up to us as members of God’s Church to remain faithful to that doctrine, or not.

So a bunch of women wearing makeup got the church off track instead of the whoring, lying, money grubbing, power hungry church leaders?   These spiritual deviates ran the church in the ground with excess and greed, but that was OK because they were God's anointed.  Yet some paint on a woman's face was a grievous sin?  What is wrong with this picture?????????????

Part of the problem that this "doctrine" is still in force today in many of the splinter cults is because the Church of God taught that Herbert had the authority to bind and and loose any doctrine on earth as in heaven.  If he said it, God did it.

Christ teaches us through His Word, and Mr. Armstrong taught us through his writings and sermons, that only APOSTLES have the authority to bind and loosen doctrine within God's Church.  More is covered on this subject elsewhere in this website.

...there IS NO EXCUSE! God Almighty placed this doctrine, ALL the doctrines into His Church through His apostles, and they are STILL BINDING TODAY!

Cohran quotes Herbert's silly logic:

Again look at HOW SIN BEGAN--with LUCIFER. God had created him perfect, and he was in all his ways, TILL he SINNED. HOW? His heart was lifted up IN VANITY because of his BEAUTY (Ezek. 28:15- 17). Being BEAUTIFUL or the desire for it led to VANITY. SELF- glorification! His mind went to his BEAUTY, in VANITY. Of course he would have denied having vanity just as mortals today.

Satan introduced SIN into humanity through a woman, mother EVE. She was MISLED, deceived. She didn't deliberately WILL to do wrong--to lead her husband into the first SIN! She was deceived, as our women have been today. Go back and read the beginning paragraphs of this article. It is precisely the way Satan has been getting to our women today.

Because sin entered humans through Eve, sin entered the COG through its women with makeup on their faces!  Talk about proof-texting!  Talk about asinine stupidity!