Deconstructing Herbert Armstrong

"When my interest was first turned on to religious subjects....I knew that such unattractive, cheap looking, carelessly-designed literature never would sell goods, if used to carry the message of a selfish-motivated BUSINESS [and] cheapened the whole message by the psychological effect I knew....it inevitably had on those who saw it.....was less convincing......"

Translated:

"When I found how religion could profit, I knew that such cheap literature never would sell the message of a religious business by the psychological effect I knew it inevitably had on those who saw it."

contributed by SHT

Are you willing to take correction from Bob Thiel?

The great doubly-blessed self-appointed prophet from Arroyo Grande has posted one of his sermons for his so-called "feast".  It is part 10 of a 10-part sermons series consisting of a jumbled mess of hundreds of topics in those 10 sermons.  Just look at the subjects in this 10th sermon.

Thiel says you MUST be open to correction by himl and his minion ministers, then starts discussing fools, thieves, children, dating, speaking, and "not" pride. Then there is wealth, linen/flax processing, clothing and cotton. It doesn't take much thinking by a COG member to know where he is headed with this malarkey. He then covers the prophetic ramifications of Proverbs, ignoring the fact his prophecies have been epic failures.

Just imagine 10 weeks of listening to this crap with him bouncing all over the place.  No focus on a specific topic, but on hundreds and hundreds of things that almost all in the church could care less about. As he preaches about these issues through the lenses of a privileged American, the Africans in his group could care less.

Proverbs 29-31: Are You Willing to Learn From God’s Word?

This is the tenth part of a ten-part sermon series covering the Book of Proverbs. In this sermon,. Dr. Thiel covers all the verses in the 29th, 30th, and 31st chapters of the Book of Proverbs. He goes over why Christians should accept correction, dealing with trials and temptations, being a Proverbs 31 wife, being a Proverbs 31 husband, and other aspects of Christian living. He goes over verses related to fools, thieves, children, dating, speaking, and not pride. He goes over items that God’s word says to do as well as not to do. He mentions Solomon, Agur, Ithiel, and Lemuel. He even discusses work, wealth, linen/flax processing, clothes, and cotton. He also discusses prophetic ramifications of some of the verses in the Book of Proverbs. Furthermore, Dr. Thiel ties in various passages in the New Testament to show that the scriptures in Proverbs are also intended for Christians in the end times–including items related to the Beast and Antichrist.

What HWA Said Christ would Ask when He Returns: "How Much Did You Give to The Work?"

Herbert Armstrong's gold dinnerware that he used 

while begging us to send more money in.

One of the sickest, most wretched examples of the greed of HWA was found in a co-worker letter of February 21, 1974. 

In this long, drawn-out co-worker letter, which, "coincidentally" was drafted two months before opening date of Ambassador Auditorium, HWA said that when Jesus Christ returns, He will "demand of each of us to show how much we have used the GIFT of His Holy Spirit - how much we have CONTRIBUTED to His Work -- the PURPOSE for which 

He put us in His Church NOW! He will demand of each of us to show how much we have grown spiritually in the way of God's Law -- the way of CONTRIBUTING AND GIVING. Those who prove disloyal or drop out of the Work -- THE ONLY PURPOSE FOR WHICH YOU WERE CALLED NOW -- will find themselves in the position of the one described..."

Of course, he meant the Lake of Fire, and loss of salvation.

Why? Because you stopped giving to Herbert's Building Fund - "the purpose for which you were called" - because you were "getting" and Herbert was not.

Herbert Armstrong was extremely skilled at "Spiritual Double Talk", and you can see that in the quote above. He will first use the religious context to justify himself, and follow it with the physical context - what he really means to say. 

"The Gift of The Holy Spirit...how much we have contributed to His Work."

"Grown spiritually in the way of God's Law...Contributing and Giving."

Saying and preaching that on Christ's Return, that Christ would ask of the brethren "How much have you CONTRIBUTED to His Work?" and "CONTRIBUTING AND GIVING" was a very deceiving way to shroud a physical appeal for financial funds into a spiritual call of contribution. 

The End of the letter proves this:

It was YOUR job to fund Herbert's going before kings, presidents, emperors, prime ministers, and the Leaders of many nations as God's and YOUR representative.

If was YOUR job to fund him getting the "message of the Kingdom of God into all the world" - which he was not doing even in the slightest.

"Let's put our hearts and fervent PRAYERS" always meant "SEND MONEY". 

Let there be no doubt - in all of his writings, the picture becomes clear. 

Herbert had severe financial concerns. He was concerned that he had to meet the long-term 15+ year loans that he had spent the last 14 years sucking the blood and life out of enough good-hearted and scared out of their minds people through the extortionate threat of losing salvation, the tribulation, and Petra, and every conceivable tactic of manipulation and guilt to get the glorious oh so holy Master Plan of Herbert finally completed. Now he had to meet the obligations. If people drop out, and he didn't meet the revenue, he had a problem. Of course, it would have been your fault. So he had to keep up the pressure. At least until the loans were finally paid off  - somewhere 15 to 25 years from then. Oh, somewhere around the Middle 1990s.

He was concerned that now that he has these loans etched in stone for the Auditorium, his lavish world-travelling lifestyle talking about "A Strong Hand from Somewhere" and "world peace" would not be able to continue.

He admitted - if you will boldly read between the lines (ignoring his salesmanship, and looking at it in the context of a businessman) at the context of all of his writings over 40 years - that the purpose of the Worldwide Church of God was to FUND Herbert's "message"  and "work" on Earth. 

And expensive buildings, luxury treasures, and paintings, suits, dinners, outings, trips, expense accounts - all under the pretense of religion. ALL while the worst types of sin and debauchery were constantly happening at Headquarters from the ministers and leadership of the Church - who were doing a worldly work with worldly principles. 

What an abomination to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. What a deception to all those who fell for it. What a GOAL for crooked ministers who saw business potential. 

Which explains so much of today's problems in the COG's. 

Contributed by SHT. Read additional original material, or Contact SHT at The "Owl in Some Poor Wasteland" Blog, which is linked here.