Gerald Flurry Claims He Posseses The Key To "The Mystery"

One thing you have to hand the self-anointed prophets in the Church of God, in this day and age, is that the church has never seen such a cesspool of theological idiots masquerading as "true" COG leaders and prophets in its entire history. Whether we speak of Bob Thiel, Dave Pack, Ron Weinland, or Gerald Flurry, the quagmire of theological slop these guys dish out is enough to keep a herd of swine contented for the rest of their lives.

Never in human history has God had such a ridiculous crop of buffoons claiming to represent Him and who claim to be His "one true voice" in this day and age.

This brings us to Gerald Flurry, the current KING of the Church of God, the possessor of the Stone of Herb that Jesus is returning to sit on as he brings into fruition the Kingdom of the Church of God that he thinks the rest of the world wants or needs to long for. According to Flurry, all of this is a mystery that he and he alone now possess the keys to. His god is a mystery. Its kingdom is a mystery. Its plan for humankind is a mystery. No one in the entire 2,000+ years of Christianity has ever understood this mystery till now. 

Flurry writes in his latest Trumpet rag this:

God’s mystery has been hidden from man and from the angels for eons and eons.

The angels were charged with beautifying the Earth, and later the universe if they succeeded on Earth. God wasn’t going to implement His mystery plan unless the angels failed, which they did.

Ancient Israel didn’t receive God’s mystery either because they didn’t have God’s Holy Spirit. Only a few of God’s prophets understood the mystery.

When Jesus Christ came to the Earth the first time, He revealed the mystery to His Church and gave them access to the Holy Spirit and God the Father. Church members have every advantage possible, and it all revolves around the mystery.

But in this end time, 95 percent of God’s people have rebelled against the mystery. Only 5 percent still cling to it. These two sides went to war in court for six years for the writings of Herbert W. Armstrong, primarily Mystery of the Ages, proving there’s always some kind of war going on around the mystery and the ministry that teaches it.

Where would we all be with these buffoons telling us that we are too stupid to understand things and it is up to them to tell us what to believe? We are also expected to believe that Mystery of the Ages is a sound theological document on God. A book that needs to lay alongside the Bible in order to understand it.

If there is any book in Armstrongism that needs to be burned in a bonfire, it is this book. No one and I repeat NO ONE needs any book or booklet by Herbert Armstrong in order to understand scriptures. No one needs a COG leader to tell them what to believe either. Their interpretations and opinions are irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.

Gerald Flurry, the King of the COG, goes on to claim we are in a battle. A holy war to defend the mystery.

In this end time, a lukewarm Church has the same attitude as those Laodiceans. They have rebelled against the mystery, a synopsis of the entire Bible!

“For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh; That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ” (Colossians 2:1-2). Paul was saying, Most of you don’t really get it. Mr. Armstrong said something similar to the Worldwide Church of God toward the end of his life.

It’s not easy to comprehend the mystery, but you absolutely can! This message is a warning to the Bride of Christ that will share the throne of David with Him throughout the Millennium and for eternity.

“And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ” (verses 4-5). Steadfastness is a military word. We need faith and a willingness to fight for the mystery to prove we love it. We build the character we need to enter God’s Family by waging spiritual war for the mystery.

As I have stated on this blog before, the constant battle that COG members have to be in with the god of these guys has to be exhausting. That god is always pulling some kind of crap in order to test people to see if they are worthy to be in the Kingdom of the Church of God.

The Prophet of Coors continues on with this:

“If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit” (Ephesians 3:2-5).

Again, Paul didn’t care about his fate while sitting in prison. He cared about the world learning the mystery. What dedication! What love for God and His will!

“And to make all men see what is the fellowship [dispensation] of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ” (verse 9). The mystery was hidden from mankind in general until Christ’s first appearance on Earth. When He was crucified, the temple veil split in two, symbolizing the possibility of direct access to God the Father. The Father is the Author of the mystery. He wants to give us unimaginable joy and happiness. We must have the depth of faith to really believe this mystery and hold on to it no matter what.

When a COG leader starts talking about grace then you need to tell that fool to shut up. They have no idea what they are talking about. Nor, should any COG member believe that their leader knows what that mystery is, because they do not.

Any COG member can read the verses of Ephesians 3:2-6 and discover that mystery. The New King James Version says this:

Ephesians 3:2-6     New King James Version

² if indeed you have heard of the ^[a]dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, ³ how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, ⁴ by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), ⁵ which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: ⁶ that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel,

Or, as The Message interpretation says:

The Secret Plan of God

3 ^1-3 This is why I, Paul, am in jail for Christ, having taken up the cause of you outsiders, so-called. I take it that you’re familiar with the part I was given in God’s plan for including everybody. I got the inside story on this from God himself, as I just wrote you in brief.

^4-6 As you read over what I have written to you, you’ll be able to see for yourselves into the mystery of Christ. None of our ancestors understood this. Only in our time has it been made clear by God’s Spirit through his holy apostles and prophets of this new order. The mystery is that people who have never heard of God and those who have heard of him all their lives (what I’ve been calling outsiders and insiders) stand on the same ground before God. They get the same offer, same help, same promises in Christ Jesus. The Message is accessible and welcoming to everyone, across the board.

It is pretty simple what that "mystery" is. All people, Jew or Gentile, those who have never heard of him and those that have heard of him their entire lives are all on equal ground before God. They get the same promises.

No one needs some stinking turd masquerading in self-important glory over the head of some splinter church telling them this. The problem is that NONE of them do. Their god is an angry pissed off god who is just itching to fry the rebellious asses of those around them. They want this and need this in order to legitimize their self appointed titles as prophets and apostles of the church.

Instead, what you hear is this crap:

God is re-creating Himself in man! That’s at the core of God’s mystery. Verse 9 seems to indicate that God will keep re-creating Himself in human beings throughout the universe for all eternity! (My free booklet Prophesy Again will explain this to you. This truth will blow you away.)

And this:

“But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin [is about] to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets” (verse 7). The seventh trumpet blast, the very last one, is a warning tied to Mystery of the Ages.

Verse 7 dates this prophecy. Jesus Christ will return when the mystery has been fully declared! We can know that His Coming is at the door.

“And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings” (verse 11). The commission of God’s Church today is to prophesy again. This is necessary because God’s own people almost destroyed the mystery! They “cast down the truth to the ground” (Daniel 8:12).

There is a reason the church has no need of prophets in this age and this is why. They have all been liars and continue to be liars.

This is why Jesus said to rest in him and stop worrying and fighting with one's self over whether or not you have done it correctly:

Mathew 12:28-30 (The Message) “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

So rest.

“My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:2–3).

Rest in wonder, amazement, and peace.

 

 

 

 

Hypocritical COG Leaders Tell You to Not Vote And Yet Devote Huge Amount Of Time Preaching Politics

 

As this tumultuous election season comes close to an end and with the electoral college voting in Joe Biden as our next President, it has raised the hackles of many COG leaders.

Matthew Armstrong has been on a holy terror for the last several months with all kinds of conspiracy theories and how awful things will be under a new regime.

Gerald Flurry and his Philadelphia Church of God and Church of God Inernational have been the biggest political foghorns the church has ever seen (this year).

Flurry has been absolutely adamant that Donald Trump would be reelected and that the electoral college would vote him back in. He has expounded on this in his TV broadcasts, Twitter, Facebook, and in his church rags:

In his Philadelphia Trumpet magazine he  had this:

According to Flurry and many other COG leaders, Biden is close to ushering in the time of troubles that COG leaders are looking so eagerly forward to. Flurry even goes as far as to claim that Biden is contrary to Bible prophecy.

Lonnie Hendrix has these observations about the various COG groups sticking their noses into politics.

For several months now, I’ve been drawing attention to the blatant partisanship exhibited by many of the church organizations that have emerged from the wreckage of Herbert Armstrong’s Worldwide Church of God. Although the ACOG culture has always leaned right, like most of the rest of Americans who are so inclined, many within that culture are in the bag for Donald Trump. Perhaps this development should not have elicited such surprise and consternation on my part - as it would be completely disingenuous to suggest that we shouldn’t have expected it. After all, those who have willing given themselves to the personality cult surrounding Herbert Armstrong and his teachings were bound to have a predisposition for joining the cult of personality surrounding Trump! 

 

Predictably, Gerald Flurry’s Philadelphia Church of God is completely in the bag for Trump. In a recent offering at the Trumpet.com, Brad MacDonald wrote: “Mr. Biden has a long, easily proven track record of political corruption. The Hunter Biden scandal shone the light of truth on this reality just days before the election. Joe Biden supports both Antifa and Black Lives Matter. He also has a record of rejecting the rule of law and the Constitution (for example, he is a key member of the Obama-led cabal behind the Mueller report and impeachment trial, both of which were unconstitutional). Meanwhile, Kamala Harris, the candidate for vice president, is even more far left than Joe Biden.” – Thanks to Democracy, America is Over, Virtually 

 

MacDonald continued: “To choose Joe Biden and his radical agenda, one must suffer from at least one of two basic flaws in thinking. First, he would have to be totally ignorant of the facts illuminating Mr. Biden’s condemning record, his radical policies and his sadistic ambitions for America. Second, a person must not sufficiently value America’s continuation as a capitalist Republic, its political and social stability, and the general idea of traditional America. He mustn’t value America’s Constitution, the rule of law, and its Judeo-Christian heritage and morality. As president, Mr. Biden would assault all of these.” – same article reference above
Mr. MacDonald concluded his diatribe with a discourse on the failure of democracy in America. His reasoning – Since a majority of Americans were stupid enough to vote for Joe Biden (instead of the obvious choice, Donald Trump), democracy has failed. The underlying thesis, of course, is that America’s only hope is Trump staging a successful coup, overthrowing the results of the election and continuing in office! 

 

It should be noted that MacDonald’s effort was intended as a companion piece to the main offering in this regard provided by none other than the notorious pastor general of the PCOG, Gerald Flurry. In an article entitled Donald Trump Is Going to Win This Election (penned November 9), Mr. Flurry wrote: “Regardless of how things look right now, I am confident that Donald Trump will remain president.” See Flurry Article at Trumpet.com He continued: “The radical left in America have done everything in their power for the last four years to discredit and destroy Donald Trump. They have spied. They have lied. They have cheated. They have broken laws too numerous to count. They have committed treason, trying to depose the duly elected government! And somehow, President Trump has weathered all those storms.” He went on to declare that “a Biden presidency is contrary to Bible prophecy.” Really, that will come as quite a shock to millions of Christian Americans! 

 

Flurry went on to say: “The mainstream media insist there is “no evidence” the Democrats tried to steal this election. This is patently false: There is plenty of evidence. But it is also absurd, when you think about what the left has been doing for the past several years! You would have to be naive not to think they are committing great frauds with this election.” He continued: “I also marvel that so many people voted for the radical platform the Democratic Party has embraced. They want to encourage illegal immigration, even giving them free health care and welfare and education. They want to ravage the economy to combat “climate change.” They accept radical racist ideals and far-out sexual practices. They applaud lawlessness and a spirit of insurrection. It doesn’t take much to understand that in a democracy, when that many people are so ignorant, it is over. This nation is lost, virtually.” 

 

“Oh well, that’s crazy Gerry and his minions!” some will innocently declare. “You can’t paint the entire culture with that paintbrush.” 

 

Nevertheless, I have pointed out some of the very partisan articles and sermons delivered by “moderate” Church of God International pastors, Bill Watson and Adrian Davis. And those gentlemen apparently aren’t the only “reasonable” ACOG folks who have fallen into this partisan trap! 

 

Dave Havir’s Church of God Big Sandy has published some very interesting articles in the latest edition of their Eye on the World. In an article entitled No Time for Phony Healing by Michelle Malkin, we read: “We, the 71 million Americans who voted to reelect Donald J. Trump, do not forgive. We, the 71 million Americans who voted to reelect Donald J. Trump, do not forget. We, the 71 million Americans who voted to reelect Donald J. Trump, do not surrender. We, the 71 million Americans who voted to reelect Donald J. Trump, resoundingly reject the phony olive branches of former Vice President Joe Biden. After liberal media operatives prematurely declared Biden the winner of election 2020 this weekend, Biden’s handlers carefully trotted him out in front of the cameras to read a script that proclaimed: “It’s time to put away the harsh rhetoric, to lower the temperature, to see each other again, to listen to each other again.” 

 

The author’s response to Biden’s overture: “This is the time for hell-raising, not healing. Every legal vote must be counted, every illegal vote thrown out, every lawsuit heard. Anything less amounts to exactly the kind of “coup” undermining the “peaceful transition of power” that anti-Trump forces falsely accused our president of perpetrating. We, the 71 million Americans who voted to reelect Donald J. Trump, resist the media-Silicon Valley coronation of Biden-Harris. We, the 71 million Americans who voted to reelect Donald J. Trump, do not relent. We, the 71 million Americans who voted to reelect Donald J. Trump, do not yield. We, the 71 million Americans who voted to reelect Donald J. Trump, do not concede.” 

 

How can anyone claim with a straight face that the rejection of forgiveness, the offer of an olive branch, reconciliation and humility be characterized as "Christian"? Do Christians advocate for "hell-raising, not healing"? Indeed, I can't imagine anything being more antithetical to the tenets of the Christian religion! 

 

Now, it is true that Pastor Havir prefaced these offerings with a disclaimer: “This compilation of material for “Eye on the World” is presented as a service to the Churches of God. The views stated in the material are those of the writers or sources quoted by the writers, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the members of the Church of God Big Sandy. The following articles were posted at churchofgodbigsandy.com for the weekend of Nov. 14, 2020.” Nevertheless, I fail to see how the inclusion of this material could be considered to be rendering "a service to the Churches of God."Moreover, another article in the same offering dealing with the political cult of personality surrounding Trump was prefaced with this qualifier: “Following is a letter from an individual who claims that “[President] Trump has succeeded in creating a cult.” This letter probably reflects the opinion of 90 percent of the corporate media and many of the population that voted against President Trump. (For the record—Although the current vote tally has half of the voting population as voting against President Trump, not all of them would go so far as to claim that his supporters are members of a Trump cult.)" 

 

Now, while I’m confident that most of the folks in the ACOG culture will be perplexed that anyone could find fault with these offerings, I am also confident that objective Christians will find these remarks to be very objectionable. Once again, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE A REPUBLICAN OR A TRUMP SUPPORTER TO BE A CHRISTIAN! Unlike Herbert Armstrong, I do not have any problems with Christians voting or expressing opinions about the moral implications of policy, but I do object to ministers announcing the correct political view from the pulpit! And we should all be able to recognize the fact that such offerings severely curtail the appeal of any religious message offered by these groups. After all, almost 80 million Americans voted for Joe Biden and telling them that they are ignorant and Satanic for doing so is NOT likely to make them very receptive to any appeal offered by these folks.


- Lonnie Hendrix aka Miller Jones

Gerald Weston On Democracy

 

From an LCG source:

(Gerald) Weston said,

"But neither democracy nor a military approach correspond to the model Christ gave us."

I agree with the military comment, but the democracy comment is 100% incorrect.

Jesus used the Greek democratic "ekklesia/ecclesia" to describe his model. Even if he didn't intend for every detail of a Greek ecclesia to be mimicked, his first followers would have immediately associated it with a democratic approach. 

From “The Assembly,” C. Blackwell, ed., Dēmos: Classical Athenian Democracy :

The Assembly (ecclesia) was the regular opportunity for all male citizens of Athens to speak their minds and exercise their votes regarding the government of their city. It was the most central and most definitive institution of the Athenian Democracy.

From Encyclopedia Britannica entry "Democracy":

What political institutions are necessary for governing?—the Athenians adopted an answer that would appear independently elsewhere. The heart and centre of their government was the Assembly (Ecclesia), which met almost weekly—40 times a year—on the Pnyx, a hill west of the Acropolis. Decisions were taken by vote, and, as in many later assemblies, voting was by a show of hands. As would also be true in many later democratic systems, the votes of a majority of those present and voting prevailed. 

 

Aside from the question of whether Jesus and the Apostles restricted participation to only males, the pertinent issue in this discussion is whether Jesus endorsed a democratic model. If he did not then he would not have used "ecclesia" to describe what he was building, because the people of his time would have known exactly what an ecclesia was, and that it involved direct participation in decision making by all the members of the group, so it would not have made sense to use "ecclesia" if he meant an elite hierarchy or corporation.

If Jesus had meant to adopt a human hierarchy with governance by a few then he would have used another term besides "ecclesia" to describe what he was building such as "dikasteria," which was a smaller group that served as a powerful court, or "aristocracy," “the rule of what Herodotus called ‘the one man, the best’” Ancient Greek Democracy

Or Jesus could have said he would build his "boule" which was a "council of 500 men, appointed annually by lot from among citizens aged at least thirty, and with severe restrictions on repeated membership. Its chief function was to prepare the agenda for meetings of the ekklesia, and to undertake certain routine administrative duties, in particular, that of coordinating the activities of numerous boards of minor officials" A Glossary of Athenian Legal Terms

King James I had the same concern about government and ecclesiastical authority that Gerald Weston has, and so when he authorized the English translation of the Bible, he made sure to give the translators the rule:

"The Old Ecclesiastical Words to be kept, viz. the Word Church not to be translated Congregation etc."

This is where King James insisted that when the translators find the word ecclesia that they make sure to substitute the traditional institutional word "Church" and not use a proper translation of "congregation" like Tyndale used and was murdered for. What would be King James’s motive for forbidding the proper translation of ecclesia and using "Church" instead? I think the answer should be obvious, but it has to do with maintaining a separation between clergy and laity and ensuring that the authorized translation supported ecclesiastical authority over and repression of the masses. The COGs today fall right in line with King James’s rule when they insist that their groups must use the term "Church of God" to be valid.

Even the popular ISBE (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia) says this in the first line of the entry “Church”:

The word "church," which is derived from kuriakos, "of or belonging to the Lord," represents in the English Versions of the Bible of the New Testament the Greek word ekklesia; Latin, ecclesia.” 

 

What this is saying is that “church” is not derived from ekklesia, and that English Bibles substitute (“represent”) the Greek word ekklesia with the English word “church.” So, if Jesus had meant “church” then he would have used the Greek word kuriakos.

Democratic ecclesia didn't mean lack of leadership as would be the accusation to this by the aristocracy in the COGs, and it’s why teaching discernment to the followers of Jesus is so important. The Greek ecclesia had heralds whose job it was to make sure everyone who wanted to speak had an opportunity. This freedom to speak presented the risk of an ecclesia getting out of control, thus,

  This freedom to speak was not absolute or without regulation. Aeschines tells us, for example, that in the early democracy (before the 5th century) citizens over 50 years of age could speak first, and only after those had their say could younger men speak. Other formal restrictions could apply, such as decrees limiting discussion of certain topics to certain meetings of the Assembly (C. Blackwell).