Andie Redwine: "I Was Born and Raised in a Doomsday Cult"

Check out Andie Redwine's blog  Dear God, What Now? about life in the church.

One of my earliest memories is sitting on a blanket in a room filled with folding chairs, looking up at panty-hosed legs, playing with Fisher Price Little People, and listening to Herbert Armstrong’s voice. 

“And this gospel of the Kingdom SHALL BE PREACHED,” he’d scream while pounding a desk “in ALL the world for a witness unto ALL nations and then shall the end come.”

Now Herbert Armstrong wasn’t in the room.  But his Voice was.  He was on a cassette tape playing at the front of the assembly.  But there was a microphone.  A man would get up and talk, and then he would sit down.  And then the Voice.

I wasn’t aware of the cassette tape.  I believed that God was standing in front of that microphone.  Everyone was taking notes and staring straight ahead.  It had to be the Voice of God.

Unbeknownst to me and my family in this pre-Internet age, Herbert Armstrong was in quite a bit of trouble at his headquarters in Pasadena, California.  The state had placed God’s true church into receivership, and Herbert had left the state, and later?  The country. 

It turns out when you get a quarter of a million people to give you nearly 30% of their pre-tax income, you do pretty well financially, but it might be difficult to call yourself a non-profit corporation.

A lot of people close to the Headquarters of the Worldwide Church of God saw the corruption and gave up.

But we didn’t.  We were told that we were being persecuted, that it was all coming to pass the way Herbert Armstrong said it would.

And we became more committed, if such a thing is possible.

Some After Easter Fun With The Silent Monks

Are You Having Intercourse With The World?

Dan Cafeo, of the Church of God In Training splinter cult, thinks that when you educate yourself by higher education or by reading books by non converted COG members you are fornicating with the world.  Looking around my den right now with it's bookshelves filled with hundreds and hundreds of books, I must have been a busy guy!  I do have to say it has been quit pleasurable! Delightful too!

Another reason that false doctrines are spreading in the Church of God is because of intellectualism—which is a mind-eroding cancer! I’ve seen “ministers” walk up to the pulpit with a stack of books and commentaries, in an attempt to show how “learned” and “scholarly” they are. Yet they had no understanding whatsoever. These books and commentaries have no place in the true Church of God. Reading and preaching from them constitutes having intercourse with the world! God gave us books—contained in the Bible—and we don’t need any other!

All of this worldly intercourse has blinded them from understanding what love is. And how great God is.

Say what????????  The images that come to mind that I could use here to mock this moron would surely offend some, so I won't.

Besides being pissed off at books this guy is also pissed off at Richard Ames from Living Church of God.

Now, this letter was inspired by a terrible, false doctrine being taught by an evangelist in one of the larger church groups, Mr. Richard Ames. He is teaching that “God’s love is unconditional.” This is totally false! Nowhere does the bible teach that God’s love is unconditional. If you can find it (and you’re not just “reading into it”) then contact me, I want to know.

There is a lot of what Richard Ames preaches that I feel is not right, but if he is actually saying this then he has scored some points.

So how does this guy PROVE that Ames is wrong?  By showing how God kicked Satan's butt out of heaven:

If you believe that God’s love is unconditional, then consider this: what happened when Lucifer—the epitome of God’s creation—decided to rebel? This bright, beautiful, created being decided to attempt a hostile takeover in heaven, but what happened? God kicked him out of heaven so fast, that Christ said it was like lightning! (Luke 10:18) How long did it take for God to kick him out? Did God give him a “time out” in the corner, like so many parents do today? No, He dispatched Michael to immediately cast Lucifer (Satan) out of heaven and down to earth! (Rev 12:7-9). 

Where was the “unconditional love”? Did God say, “I’ll love you unconditionally, Lucifer, no matter what you do.”? NO! He said, essentially, KICK HIM STRAIGHT OUT OF HERE! 

Can you find “unconditional love” anywhere in the bible regarding that event? I don’t think so

Satan always seems to be the gold standard for proof-texting in Armstrongism.  He is surely one powerful dude, while Jesus Christ and God are impotent because they lost their gospel for 1,900 years.

Richard Ames has also sinned in another area that has ticked off this guy:

I’ve also heard false teaching regarding our prayers. This same evangelist is teaching that we ought to pray for the world, namely world leaders and heads of state. He tried to use Matthew 5:43-48, where Christ commanded us to pray for those who hate, persecute and use us. But this command clearly refers to individuals who persecute us directly on a personal level, not some distant stranger in a high office. 

Brethren, God is the one who is orchestrating His plan on earth. He is the conductor. We are instructed to submit and honor those in authority in this world, because God has placed them in their office of responsibility. (1 Pet 2:13-25). But the Bible does not instruct us anywhere to pray for world leaders. Furthermore, Christ Himself said that He did not pray for the world, but only for those whom God has called (John 17:9). He set the example.

Words fail me.