Bad Religion In The Churches of God

Our illustrious mountain man and true prophet, revelator and God's most might witness, E. W. King, talks today about "Bad Religion" using a letter by Herbert W Armstrong.

King seems to feel that by using this letter that he is exposing the world of non-COG Christianity, something he and Bob Thiel love to mock.

He quotes this letter by HWA:

What Has Religion Contributed?

Well, surely we should expect to find, at long last, in religion the knowledge of life's purpose, the true values, and the right ways that should make this world a better world — a happy world — a peaceful world.
  
Here, at last, we must surely find a stabilizing and uplifting influence for society.

Yet, shocking though it be — incredible though it is — if we put the searchlight on the facts, and view them realistically with an open mind, we find here the most sickening disillusionment of all. 

Yes, that sounds exactly like the current state of affairs in the Church of God.  Disillusionment reigns supreme.  Closed mindedness has stifled the growth of the splinter groups, and there is no longer a search for facts.  If it did not happen prior to 1986 it is not worth listening to, reading about or preaching about.

Reluctant though we are to recognize it, we find the established religious organizations which profess the name of Jesus Christ teaching the diametric opposite of His teachings —  condemning the customs He practiced — following, instead, the pagan customs He condemned! 

The churches of the Western world are divided and in confusion. They have not converted, saved, and reformed the whole world as they profess to have been commissioned to do. If that be their mission, they have failed miserably. 

The Churches of God are divided and in confusion.  There is absolutely ZERO unity between any of the groups.  Even exchanging preachers during this past Feast of Tabernacles has produced no unification.

Methodist Bishop Hazen G. Werner once said: "We have been dried out by the hot winds of secularism. We who are to overcome the world have been overcome by the world." 

Armstrongism has been overcome by greed and avarice.  Greedy little men have set themselves up as Popes of their little empires where they deliberately destroy lives to further their goals.  The power and greed of the world has overtaken 

"The Church," said Harvard Divinity School's Dean Miller, "simply does not have a cutting edge [it has thrown away the 'two- edged sword' — the Bible]. It has taken the culture of our time and absorbed it." 

To this, Yale's Chaplain Coffin agrees, "We church men are gifted at changing wine into water — watering down religion." 

This world's so-called Christianity has taken the name of Christ — has proclaimed to the world that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ — has preached the name of Christ with a Message about His Person — but they have rejected His Gospel — the Gospel God sent for all mankind by Him — the Gospel He taught. 

Armstrongism can't even advance to the point of using the name of Jesus Christ.  If it is about the law or some Old Testament patriarch or leader, then they know everything, but Jesus - not so much.  they cannot even talk about what Jesus did or accomplished.  They claim they are the only ones to talk about the "kingdom", but most every church I know talks about the kingdom an dhow to make it tangible for the downtrodden today.   The Kingdom of Armstrongism is about ruling with "iron rod's", wielding "swords" of power, and whipping people into submission.  Who wants any of that?

Look at the other religions of the world — Buddhism, Shintoism, Taoism, Confucianism, Moslemism, Hinduism, and the others. In most countries where these religions are embraced, we find illiteracy, poverty, degeneration, misery, suffering, despair — general unhappiness. None of them has produced a happy world. They have spawned communal wars, hatreds, and violence.

By Mr. H.W.Armstrong

In the countries and cities where Armstrongism is embraced, we find illiteracy, degeneration, misery, suffering, despair and general unhappiness.  What has the Church of God done to help alleviate that?  NOTHING!  Not one damn thing!

Geoff Neilson: HWA and GTA To Be Reanimated Back To "Life" In January 2014

The other day the news story was all about the bones of St. Peter. 

Peter is now passe. 

Now it is the reanimation of the bones of HWA and GTA 

who will be returning as zombies 

in January 2014 to finish the mighty work.

Geoff Neilson, that wild and crazy guy from South Africa, who credits one year's worth of Ambassador College "education" as his standard of excellence, writes:

Who is The 7th Messenger 

God sends to His Church?

God said He'd 7 Messengers send 

To the 7 Churches before they end 

We know the 6th Apostle came and went 

But who's the 7th of these special men? 

Sent by Heaven they're all Apostles 

So is the last Elijah by definition 

His work God regards so colossal 

It saves Earth from utter destruction 

Jesus said Elijah would restore all things 

Meaning the first to last crucial doctrine 

So that prophet's time had to begin 

With the first endtime Philadelphian 

Asked if he was Elijah the 6th said “No” 

Meaning not the first one, as meant John 

Who was also quite dead when Christ foretold 

Of final Elijah's future Restoration 

For him or Two Witnesses to first come 

In the Beast's Terrible Tribulation 

Is too late to warn Israel's wayward sons  

To escape the penalty of their sin 

Do you remember HWA foresaw? 

'The Temple in 2 Thess 2 is spiritual'  

Then a Man of Sin defiled its ritual 

Thought himself God by 'changing' His Law 

But prophecy is dual it's now clear 

Since the False Prophet must still appear 

And show the world--not himself--untruths 

Camouflaged by 'miracles' the Devil brews 

Did HWA forget the day

--In 1974, that May-- 

When he passed his mantle to GTA? 

Was that the real passing of the baton? 

Christ separating Sixth from Seven?

Ted garnered more Members before his sin

Other than those his father deleavened

After disfellowshipped in 1978

They never spoke or met again 

“To restore all things” means from first to last.

Elijah decides what's to be “held fast” 

That's not the 7th's legal domain 

Ruling out any imposter's false claim 

“The hands of [the endtime] Zerubbabel

have laid the foundation of God's Temple. 

His hands shall also finish it.  Then you, 

will know the LORD sent him too” 

Bible arithmetic doubt overturns 

One man can be the 6th Apostle,  

The First Witness, and Elijah returned 

With God all things are possible 

“Rise from your earthly grave and measure 

the condition of God's Spiritual Temple: 

and the Ministers and Members who worship there” 

Seems to be the Revelation from John's quill 

Something similar happened once before 

After Christ was resurrected from the dead 

Many rose from their graves who kept God's Law 

Then witnessed in Jerusalem, Matthew said 

The Two Witnesses represent 

The last two eras--Christ clearly disclosed 

So who's the 7th Messenger then? 

Surely the Joshua needing clean clothes 

God said He would send only 7. 

6 Messengers + 2 Witnesses = 8. 

So at least one must return hints Heaven 

More likely it's both Armstrong's future fate 

GTA couldn't speak 'til he was three 

His father anointed him and God healed 

His speech was a miracle heard by us all 

The gifts of God are without recall.

If God forgave the sins of this 'Joshua' 

That great act of mercy would signal to all 

No matter how poor or posh they are 

Laodiceans can rise from their fall 

The Two Witnesses 1260-day ministry 

Will be miraculous from start to end 

Rising from the dead would show you and me 

They are both prophets--if again sent 

Sealing their place in Church of God history 

Herbert Armstrong prophesied far more 

Than all the Bible prophets combined 

Of God's World To Come and of things before 

So how could he not be one of their kind? 

As the men Jesus trained were His disciples 

As the prophet's books are God's not their's 

So the Work of Elijah's disciples 

Is first accrued to his account not their's. 

He's the Philadelphia Apostle 

The final Elijah, the start-to-finish- 

Temple-building Zerubbabel 

The Voice Crying in the Wilderness: 

“Prepare the way of the Eternal” 

Who else in the Church is so well known 

By top people in Jerusalem? 

What other ministers Royal Lineage own? 

Which from esteemed King David stems 

Is that why it says: “When this comes to pass, 

You'll know a prophet has been among you”? 

Meaning you knew him sometime in the past 

When he made plain and restored God's Truth 

No-one since has kept the Church united 

Though some claim to be Heaven's sole earthly voice 

Are they failing the test in Scripture cited? 

Echoing the Fallen Angel's wrong choice 

As the Joseph Tribes increasingly fall 

As Assyria spreads her eagle wings.

Remember when and how you were called 

And who first prophesied all these things 

Jan 2014 may the answer provide 

One Sun Cycle after HWA died 

Will he return with his son at his side? 

Turn the hearts of many a Jew and Gentile 

Lead the way to the Christ they denied 

What if this is the final test of your heart and mine? 

Would we follow Elijah-who's-come a second time? 

Would our new loyalties seem more sublime? 

Or would we be Philadelphians? 

Measured by Zerubbabel's plumbline 

The first and last words are the LORD's: 

“He that receives a prophet 

in the name of a prophet, 

shall receive a prophet’s reward” 

“He that receives whomsoever I send 

receives me; 

and he that receives me

receives Him that sent me”

 Geoffrey R. Neilson 

geoffneilson@gmail.com 

Cape Town 20 November 2013

Back In Print: The Edges of Seventh-day Adventism Separatist Groups

For those interested:

The Edges of Seventh-Day Adventism: A Study of Separatist Groups Emerging from the Seventh-Day Adventist Church (1844-1980) Including the Worldwide Church of God, the Ford and Brinsmead Controversies, as Well as the Massacre of David Koresh & His Follower

Amazon has this to say:

Lowell Tarling wrote ‘Edges’ for that most wonderful of all author incentives – insatiable curiosity. Combined with a quest for enlightenment, he undertook a subject few would have chosen—the history of those people and groups that separated from the Seventh-day Adventist church. Of necessity, this also includes touching on the history of the mainstream Seventh-day Adventist church. Lowell’s education and early adult experiences were deeply entwined with the Seventh-day Adventist church. However, it would be a mistake to assume that his writing on the subject suffers from any degree of bias. There is a sense that he took on the role of bystander, and this essentially gave him a valuable degree of separation and objectivity. Methodical in his approach and relentless with regard to research, Lowell delivers a surprising, connective, inside view of a divisive period in the growth and emergence of the separatist groups that were spawned within the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Sparing nothing, he pares back the layers of doctrine, dogma and the heated nature of the schisms in the church. He deftly reveals the angst, divergence and egotism; but also humanity, desire for truth and humility. For all of these were present in the interchanges that shaped not only those movements that separated, but also the Seventh-day Adventist church. The first edition of ‘Edges’ was published in 1981. Reprinted now to a generation who did not share the past struggles is indeed worthwhile. It is because of the conflict and debate of those times that they now sit in the pews of churches of their choice, where ‘saved by grace alone’ is integral and unchallenged. Essentially, emergence from dissension is a human experience. It occurs with every doctrine, creed or organisation. There is a wider view - this is not only the history and narrative of one church’s crises. It touches wherever we are in life. Ultimately, it is impossible to ignore the authenticity of Lowell’s search. We sense that it means more than a disengaged treatise on a topic of interest. In the end it matters less whether he found viable answers to a religious dilemma. It is significant that he had the courage to ask questions. Above all, it is notable that at the close of the book he chose the words spoken by Christ, ‘Whosoever will, may come’.

Buy it here:  The Edges of Seventh-day Adventism Separatist Groups