Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Bob Thiel: Jesus Who? My Church Will Be Reading The Law and Tooting Our Horns On The Feast of Trumpets



Those fun loving Jesus freaks over at the Continuing Ed Church of God will be reading the law all day on Thursday, September 5th.  No talk about that embarrassing dude called Jesus Christ, but plenty of law, law, law.

Bob Thiel, along with James Malm, feel that it is important to toot some horns on Trumpets.  These are not to be any kind of horn, but a rams horn.  However, there is one huge distinction between Thiel's "feast" day and Malm's "feast day.  They are keeping different days.  Thiel, like most COG's will be doing it on September 5th.  Malm, will be doing his horn tooting starting sunset September 7th and all day on Sunday the 8th..

Thiel believes that people should be blowing horns across the country on Thursday.

In our family, we normally have our youngest child blow on some type of trumpet to mark the beginning of the Feast of Trumpets, as well as to blow the trumpet off and on throughout the Holy Day. And although the Bible does not specify where the trumpet blowing should take place (hence I believe it should happen throughout the lands where the faithful live), I did find it interesting to learn that there was a specific place in Jerusalem that trumpeting was designated.
Thiel also made another claim that when creation happened it was fall time.  He believes this because some "sabbath keepers" in Transylvania believed creation happened in the fall.

Christian Sabbath-keepers, by the way, kept the Feast of Trumpets throughout history. Notice for example, that the Sabbath-keepers in Transylvania in the 1500s (and probably later) kept the Fall Holy Days such as the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Trumpets (called Day of Remembrance below):
The Sabbatarians viewed themselves as converted Gentiles..They held to the biblical holidays…The Day of Atonement was a day of fasting, although they emphasized that pentinence is more easily achieved by a peaceful and quiet meditation on the law and one’s life than by fasting. The Day of Remembrance (New Year, which they celebrated in the Fall of the year) was the day on which they thanked God especially for the creation of the universe. (Liechty D. Sabbatarianism in the Sixteenth Century. Andrews University Press, Berrien Springs (MI), 1993, pp. 61-62).
Some of the Jewish teachers taught that the creation was most likely in the Fall, rather than in the Spring because in Genesis 1:11 when God states, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit”, this would be the Fall, for that is when there is both grass and fruit on trees), that the Feast of Trumpets symbolized the beginning of creation, and hence by, inference, life. The creation was likely in the Fall and various scriptures imply it (though this is not specified verbatim in scripture).


Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Team Ephraim Beats Team Manasseh By 4-0 In The 4th Annual Joseph Cup



Just when you think Armstrongism cant get any sillier, along comes the Flurryites and their soccer championship called Joseph Cup.  This earth shattering event is held annually on the cult compound in Edmond, OK.

EDMOND :: Philadelphia Church of God—Team Ephraim defeated Team Manasseh on August 22 by a score of 4-0 in the fourth Joseph Cup soccer match. It was the first victory for Team Ephraim in the history of the friendly rivalry between Herbert W. Armstrong College students and other PCG members held annually on the HWAC campus pitch.
The match is named after the father of biblical brothers Ephraim and Manasseh. Team Ephraim consisted of players from Britain and its current or former Commonwealth nations, including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. Manasseh was made up of players from eight American states.

The game was characterized by solid teamwork from the Ephraimite squad, which passed the ball effectively and kept its players spaced out. The Manassite forwards struggled to penetrate its defensive line, not registering a single shot on goal.

James Malm: If You Touch An Unclean Insect You Must Bathe To Purify Yourself And Remain Unclean Till Sunset


Did you kill that fly today with a flyswatter?  Did you step on that spider?  Did you have some larvae for lunch?  If you did, you are filthy disgusting sinner in the sight of Malm's god.  You must go take a long hot bath and remain unclean till the sun sets tonight.  Evil sinner!


INSECTS
11:20 All fowls that creep, going upon all four, shall be an abomination unto you.
11:21 Yet these may ye eat of every flying creeping thing that goeth upon all four, which have legs above their feet, to leap withal upon the earth; 11:22 Even these of them ye may eat; the locust after his kind, and the bald locust after his kind, and the beetle after his kind, and the grasshopper after his kind. 11:23 But all other flying creeping things, which have four feet [but do not have legs to leap with], shall be an abomination unto you.

To  even touch the carcase [dead body[ of an unclean creature; becomes unclean and must bathe and be unclean until the sun is set.