2026, The Centennial Year of HWA Finding God's Word That Had Been Lost In Portland Oregon Library

Central Library

One hundred years ago, in 1926, our intrepid hero Herbert Armstrong bravely marched into the
Portland Public Library—yes, that cutting-edge theological powerhouse—to, in the most humble and selfless way possible, prove his wife wrong. What followed was the legendary six-month super-intensive Bible study (now lovingly preserved as one of the foundational myths of the entire movement).

There, in the hallowed, musty corners where old paper, glue, and ink slowly decompose into that unmistakable “vintage library” perfume permanently scorched into your nostrils, Herbert miraculously rediscovered God’s True Message—a message that had somehow been misplaced for a casual 1,900 years.

Apparently, the Almighty managed to smuggle His forgotten truth all the way from the Middle East, through Europe, over to Britain, across the stormy ocean, and then across the wild and treacherous American frontier… only to be carefully shelved in the dim, dusty stacks of a 1926 public library in Portland, Oregon. And then—pure divine serendipity—Herbert, in just six short months of casual browsing, managed to locate every single piece of it. What are the odds?

Mind you, this wasn’t one of those dusty, overfunded historical theological libraries in Europe, where actual scholars had been arguing theology for centuries with thousands of deeply researched volumes. No, no. This was a public library. You know, the place where ordinary people checked out novels, children’s books, and the occasional almanac. But sure, it was obviously brimming with the secret keys to the universe that God Himself had lost track of.

Because clearly, while the Creator was busy daydreaming Bob Thiel into existence, He accidentally misplaced His own Word so thoroughly that even He couldn’t find it for nearly two millennia… until Herbert W. Armstrong, unemployed and heroically ignoring his family from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. every single day (including weekends), finally cracked the code. Is it any surprise the Armstrong family turned out so wonderfully well-adjusted and emotionally healthy?

This is the COG version of the Mormons' "This is the Place" monument, a place that Herbert Armstrong’s six-month library odyssey supposedly unlocked 1,900 years of divine lost mail. The Philadelphia Church of God still leads pilgrimages to that very public library, where the faithful can tread the same carpet and breathe the same musty air, convinced they’re walking on holy ground rather than checking out the self-help cult recovery section. It’s a fitting monument to a movement built on the unshakable belief that God chose a struggling salesman in Portland, Oregon—rather than, say, a seminary or a cathedral—to rediscover His truth. One can’t help but marvel at the sheer audacity of it all: a six-month crash course in a municipal reading room that launched an entire American sect, fractured families, and, a century later, still inspires guided tours. If that isn’t peak religious irony, it’s hard to imagine what is.

A hundred years later, the movement still treats a random public library like it’s the burning bush, the empty tomb, and the Mount of Transfiguration rolled into one slightly dusty building with overdue fines.

If that isn’t the single most gloriously absurd origin story in modern American religion, then frankly, I don’t know what is. Bravo, Herbert. Bravo.

What a legacy. 🙄

Number 40 - The New COG Idolatry

 

It is another sunny day in COGland and the whackiness continues on unabated. Numerology has always been an important part of the church. Numbers matter. No COG is more guilty of this than the Philadelphia Church of God. Every imaginable thing turns into something sacred from the god they claim to follow.

HWA has been dead 40 years.

Gerald Flurry was fired by the Worldwide Church of God 40 years ago.

Jesus fasted for 40 days

40 is emphasized in the lives of Moses, David and the end-time Elijah—Herbert W. Armstrong.

 

It has been 40 years since Herbert W. Armstrong died. Also, there are 40 days between December 7, the date I was fired from the Worldwide Church of God in 1989, and January 16, the date Mr. Armstrong died in 1986. 

 

The number 40 occurs often in the Bible. Have you ever wondered why? It is significant in the lives of the biblical prophets, kings and judges. It occurs repeatedly in the lives of spiritual giants. The significance of this number helps us understand why the Israelites spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness; why Moses, Elijah and even Jesus Christ fasted for 40 days; and why this number is a sign for us today.

Study the number 40 in the Bible and you see that only God could have inspired the use of this number throughout the millenniums. This number is an important sign that brings God into events to show His presence. This should be very encouraging for us—especially when you consider that 40 is emphasized in the lives of Moses, David and the end-time Elijah—Herbert W. Armstrong.

The lunacy keeps on going:

When John Amos and I were fired from the wcg on Dec. 7, 1989, it was just 40 days before the anniversary of Mr. Armstrong’s death on January 16. We found that significant, and I believe it showed God’s presence was with us because we were obeying God when we got fired. In fact, that is why we were fired! The wcg leaders were forsaking God and what Mr. Armstrong taught them. 

 

The number 40 is tied to God. These 40s are not the work of man but of God! It shows that God is involved here. What could be more important than that?

The proofs just keep piling up - or maybe the crap is, it's hard to tell when it involves PCG and Gerald Flurry.

We started our campus in Edmond, Oklahoma, with 40 acres—just like the Pasadena campus under Mr. Armstrong. Both campuses were associated with the number 40.

Then he ends with this heresy:

Just think about all those 40s, and think about God’s presence. He does sometimes curse or correct us if we get away from Him and forsake Him; He must do that! But God is re-creating Himself in man—that is His goal. We are going to be sons of God—not adopted sons but real sons of God! 

 

While the Bible doesn't mention "numerology" by name, it classifies such predictive or occult uses of numbers as a form of divination (fortune-telling or seeking supernatural knowledge through means other than God). The Scriptures repeatedly and severely prohibit divination and related occult practices.The clearest and most frequently cited passage is from the Old Testament law:

Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable (an abomination) to the Lord...This passage lists several forbidden practices, and modern predictive numerology typically falls under "divination," "interpreting omens," or related categories because it seeks to uncover hidden knowledge or future events through numerical patterns. 

Deuteronomy 18:10-12 (NIV) 

While PCG and the COG do not use numerology as divination, they have elevated the use of numbers to a sacred status, especially when they can use it to promote their own group as the only true and correct COG. 

 

LCG : In the world, but not of the world...

 

It is hard to believe that here we are in 2026 and COG groups are still having to justify why they use the Roman calendar and other peripheral issues around daily life. They still like to claim that while they are of this world, they are not part of this world. That is one of the biggest cons of the church (besides British Israelism). Some are so quick to point out that they only observe biblical days and seasons, and yet the very days and seasons they celebrate in the church are all days that were patterned after the so-called Canaanite days of the ancient tribes.

A New Year? In Winter? Why do we in the Living Church of God not engage in “New Year’s” parties or festivities—or even the greeting “Happy New Year”? Because the new-year celebrations our world just observed are from pagan sources, which you can read about in the commentary by the late Gary F. Ehman, “The Two Faces of New Year Celebrations,” posted on TomorrowsWorld.org this week. We live in this world, so it’s not wrong to use the Roman calendar as a part of functioning in it—but we are not to be of this world. As Jesus prayed to the Father, “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15). Let’s thank God for the fact that He has called us out of ancient superstitions and customs of this world and called us into His sanctifying truth (John 17:17)!
Have a peaceful Sabbath,
Rod McNair

They love to mock Christians, whom they claim have reinterpreted days associated with pagans, such as Christmas and Easter, and yet keep days appropriated from Canaanite pagans that ancient Israel came out of.

COG groups have no problem keeping the three major biblical pilgrimage festivals (Shalosh Regalim): Passover (Pesach), Shavuot (Weeks/Pentecost), and Sukkot (Booths/Tabernacles). These holidays have deep roots in ancient agricultural harvest cycles that were common across the ancient Near East, including among the Canaanites (the pre-Israelite inhabitants of the land). Over time, the biblical authors reinterpreted and "historicized" these observances, transforming them into uniquely Israelite/Jewish celebrations tied to key events in salvation history (like the Exodus and Sinai).

The Torah itself preserves clear evidence of the festivals' original agricultural character, even as it layers on historical/theological meanings:

• Passover / Feast of Unleavened Bread — Tied to the spring barley harvest (the first grain to ripen). It falls in the month of Abib (spring), when the new planting season begins after winter rains. The emphasis on unleavened bread (matzah) and the offering of the first sheaf (omer) of barley reflects this. Some scholars propose connections to Canaanite spring rituals involving unleavened bread and apotropaic (protective) rites.
• Shavuot — Called the "Feast of Harvest" or "Day of First Fruits" in the Torah. It marks the wheat harvest (about 7 weeks after Passover) and the bringing of first fruits (bikkurim) to the sanctuary. Later rabbinic tradition linked it to the giving of the Torah at Sinai.
• Sukkot — Originally the "Feast of Ingathering" (Hag ha-Asif), the major autumn harvest festival celebrating the gathering of grapes, olives, figs, and other late-summer fruits. It was the most prominent and joyous of the three in biblical times (often just called "the Festival"). The practice of dwelling in temporary booths (sukkot) likely derives from field shelters used by farmers during the final, intensive harvest period before the rains.

These three festivals align precisely with the natural agricultural rhythm of the Land of Israel: spring barley → early summer wheat → late summer/autumn fruits.

Archaeology, Ugaritic texts from ancient Canaan, and comparative studies, hold that the early Israelites — who emerged within Canaanite culture — adapted existing regional harvest festivals rather than inventing them from scratch. This was a common process in the ancient world: new cultural or religious groups often reframed inherited seasonal rites to fit their theology.

• Sukkot shows particularly strong parallels to Canaanite autumn new-year/harvest festivals, including seven-day celebrations, temporary booths/shelters, and rituals linked to rainfall and fertility (e.g., Ugaritic texts describe similar practices for deities like Baal). Some scholars trace the sukkah itself to Canaanite customs of building ritual booths on rooftops or terraces.
• The overall pattern — three major seasonal pilgrimages to a central sanctuary — fits broader Canaanite and Near Eastern patterns of harvest thanksgiving and petitions for fertility/rain.

The biblical texts themselves show this evolution: earlier layers refer to the festivals purely by agricultural names (e.g., "Feast of Ingathering"), while later passages add historical explanations (e.g., Sukkot recalling the desert booths of the Exodus, or Passover recalling liberation from Egypt).

It's more accurate to say the biblical authors took over and transformed pre-existing Canaanite/Levantine harvest festivals than to call them simple "substitutes." The process was one of historicization and monotheization — removing pagan elements (like fertility rites or polytheistic myths) and reorienting the celebrations toward the God of Israel, the Exodus covenant, and ethical/historical memory.

This pattern is typical in the development of Israelite religion: the prophets and Torah writers repeatedly criticize purely agricultural or "Canaanite-style" observances, insisting that festivals must remember God's acts in history, not just thank nature deities for crops.

The core ancient Jewish pilgrimage festivals originated as regional harvest celebrations with likely Canaanite roots, but Judaism intentionally reframed them to emphasize historical redemption, covenant, and dependence on the one God rather than seasonal cycles alone. This creative adaptation is one of the fascinating ways ancient Israelite religion distinguished itself while remaining deeply connected to the land and its rhythms.

Dave Pack Lies That All Is Right On Track For Christ's Return