Gerald Flurry-Philadelphia Church of God News Source Is A Purveyor of Porn

For some reason Armstrongism has always had a great interest in porn.  So it is no shock to find that Gerald Flurry is using a porn purveyor as his source for vital prophetic news.  Only in Armstrongism!

Gerald has an article up on his site dated July 2012.  In his article, A Deadly Secret Plot Has Been Uncovered, he starts hyperventilating about those nasty Germans who are secretly plotting to bring into power a new world dictator who will be really, really fierce.  I am assuming that when Gerald talks bout "fierce" he is not referring to it's current definition:

a term used in fashion for cool, sexy, awesome, or any other positive remark about something. it is most famously used by christian sirianos, project runway winner, and tyra banks.

Damn that dress is so fierce! I love it!

Look at that model and her feirce little strut!  Urban Dictionary

 

I digress, on to the earth shattering news that is ruffling Gerald's skirt:

“A covert group of EU foreign ministers has drawn up plans for merging the jobs currently done by Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council, and José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission.

“The new bureaucrat, who would not be directly elected by voters, is set to get sweeping control over the entire EU and force member countries into ever-greater political and economic union. Tellingly, the UK has been excluded from the confidential discussions within the shady ‘Berlin Group’ of Europhile politicians, spearheaded by German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle” (emphasis mine throughout). 

This “new bureaucrat” is going to get control of the EU by flatteries—not by being voted into office. That means that he and a few cohorts will hijack the powerful EU. It will be led by Germany, the only powerful economy in the Western world. 

There may be a few small twists and turns, but this secret plot is going to usher in a fierce dictator! Bible prophecy makes that powerfully clear.

He then breathlessly continues:

The Express secret-plot article continued: “Opponents fear the plan could create a modern-day equivalent of the European emperor envisaged by Napoleon Bonaparte or a return to the Holy Roman Empire of Charlemagne that dominated Europe in the Dark Ages. …

For about 70 years we have been prophesying of the Holy Roman Empire and emperor soon to appear on the scene. It will be the seventh and last head of that superpower.

He then believes that a new German-Italian alliance will form, just as it did with Hitler and Mussolini.

These secret plotters saw the end of the Franco-German axis coming in the lead-up to the May 6 French presidential election. These two nations had led the EU from its inception. The plotters then moved to help form a German-Italian axis. 

Germany and Italy are the first two nations of the 10 nations or groups of nations to form the Holy Roman Empire. The other eight are already a part of the EU and probably eager to join Germany and Italy.

Germany and Italy have been at the heart of the Holy Roman Empire throughout the ages. When Hitler and Mussolini became allies in World War ii, it was the sixth head of the Holy Roman Empire. Mussolini even called their union the Holy Roman Empire. 

This new German-Italian axis—including the worldwide power of the Vatican—is a major shift in Europe’s direction. These two leading nations are going to shock the world as they demonstrate their worldwide ambitions—which they have done in the past.

Everything in Armstrongism has to have a conspiracy behind it. Satan is that big meanie who is influencing the Europeans to dump France and England in order to prepare for world domination.

So now that the secret plot has been exposed for all the world to see by the great Gerald Flurry, where does the porn connection come into play?

His source of news is The Express out of England. The Express has been kicked out of journalism associations and censured by advertising watchdog groups.  Here is what Wikipedia UK edition says in the "Desmond Era" section:

In 2000, Express Newspapers was bought by Richard Desmond, publisher of a range of titles including the celebrity magazine OK!. Controversy surrounded the acquisition because, at the time, Desmond also owned a number of pornographic magazines such as Big Ones and Asian Babes.. He is still the owner of the most popular pornographic television channel in the UK, Television X. Desmond's purchase of the paper led to the departure of many staff including the then editor, Rosie Boycott, and columnist Peter Hitchens moved to The Mail on Sunday, stating that he could not morally work for a newspaper owned by a pornographer. 

 The Express group lost an unusually large number of high-profile libel cases in 2008–2009; it was forced to pay damages to people involved in the Madeleine McCann case (see below), a member of the Muslim Council of Great Britain, the footballer Marco Materazzi and the sports agent Willie McKay. The string of losses led the media commentator Roy Greenslade to conclude that Express Newspapers (which also publishes the Star titles) paid out more in libel damages over that period than any other newspaper group; although most of the individual amounts paid were not disclosed, the total damages were disclosed at £1,570,000.^[9] Greenslade characterised Desmond as a "rogue proprietor".^[9]

Is Gerald Flurry so desperate to find news that fits his absurd prophetic brain farts that he has to turn to a porn producer to gather his information?  Apparently Flurry's news/editorial department did not have the sense to do a little fact checking before allowing this to go to print.  Flurry comes off looking like a fool.  Oh, no shocker there!

Hat tip to Tom who had this to say as a perfect conclusion:

Which of Desmond's publications is he going to cite next?  "Big Ones?"  "Asian Babes?"  Or maybe his porn network, "Television X?"

"It's a shocking demonstration of how infantile his thinking is, and of how his entire organization is built on sand. What a complete joke."

Apostle Malm: A Vain Jangler On Law Keeping?

The apostle wrote today:

We are to stand on God’s word and not on the words of the heathen, pagan fables or endless genealogies about whether we are distantly related to some king and that make us something;  we are not to indulge in such nonsense which cause doubting of the truth and confuse people away from the word of God.

Well, that pretty much writes off a lot of Hebrew Scriptures since many deem genealogy as vital information.  Even Jesus' genealogy is high up there.

The apostle the writes a perfect description of himself:

Vain jangling; meaning a sound that signifies nothing.  many false teachers have now arisen and thinking of themselves as some great teachers are spouting vain nonsense not understanding what they are trying to teach.

Apostle Malm's has arisen in Armstrongism with what he perceives as a vital message that is sheer nonsense.
 
He then writes about an impossible scenario that neither he nor any of his acolytes are capable of doing:

People who keep all the commandments of God can do so because God’s spirit is in them and leading them to behave in a certain manner and to avoid certain wicked things, they keep the law by the very nature of God dwelling within them, because they have a new nature imparted to them through the indwelling of God’s spirit.

The Jews were never able to do this and cannot to this day. Christians cannot and never have done this and most specifically the Malmites are incapable of doing this.

The apostle then writes the main point of his preaching, its all about control!

The law exists to control the wicked nature of the natural man.

Grace frees and is entirely free.  No amount of slobbering over the law will earn you grace.  Freedom trumps law any day. Malmites and most Armstrongites cannot grasp the  concept of freedom from law.  They need control.  They need structure.  They need some outside source telling them what to do.

He then writes:

The law condemns wickedness. The law does not condemn the righteous. The law is there to keep people from wicked or evil behavior. It is there to keep people from sinning.

Apostle Malm fails to see that the law condemns the righteous along with the "wicked."  The law absolutely condemns the righteous because not a single human on earth has ever been able to keep the law.

Ron Weinland and Steve Dalrymple On Church Expenses

Mike has another great post on his blog about Ron Weinland and the trial.  Juror 251 is back with more information.  He points out how Ron's right hand man came out looking like a fool.

And then Steve Dalrymple took the stand…


The prosecution asked him what kinds of things he would consider to be church expenses.  Then they asked him what kinds of things he would consider to NOT be church expenses.  They asked him if he traveled or dined out with Mr Weinland, and he confirmed that he did attend an Elder’s meeting at one time in Las Vegas.  When asked why the meeting was in Las Vegas, since there was no church, or logical reason other than personal entertainment to go there for a meeting, he testified that it was Mr Weinland who chose their meeting locations. {I am aware of elders conferences in Las Vegas in 2007, 2009, 2010, and 2011.  The last two established as being in the 5-diamond Venetian Resort Hotel Casino}.

It was at this time that the prosecution asked the judge for “leeway” with the witness, and this was granted.  It began to get very interesting…

The attorney began showing Mr Dalrymple receipts for various “expenses” of Ron Weinland.  He showed him receipts from a spa.  Mr Dalrymple did not know what “deep-tissue” was that was listed on the receipt, and had to be told that deep-tissue was a kind of massage.  Apparently a very expensive massage.  Would that be an appropriate church expense?  He stumbled and mumbled, and said that if Mr Weinland had a bad back, then it could possibly be a church expense.  He did not have an explanation for the next receipt, which was another deep-tissue massage, this time for Laura.

The prosecution showed receipts for shopping, from the Fashion Show Mall in Las Vegas, and a couple receipts from Nordstroms.  Were those church expenses?  He began to visibly shrink within himself, as there appeared to be no way for him to continue to defend his Prophet.  No, those did not look like church expenses.





The prosecution showed receipts from the Union Pet Clinic, listing many expensive bills for veterinary care for the Weinland’s dog.  Did Mr Dalrymple think that medical care for the dog fell under the umbrella of church expenses?  No, those did not look like church expenses either.


Steve Dalrymple took the stand with the air of someone who was going to do everything in his power to defend Mr Weinland’s actions, even though he was a witness for the prosecution.  He left the stand looking like someone who had been crushed by the knowledge that their hero was in fact a human being, and a very flawed and dishonest one.

There is much more to the post here Porch-Mouthed Ron