It has been five years since a self-appointed lying false prophet made a statement to his members that was regarded as fact. This is nothing new to the Church of God though. COG leaders have been lying to their members for decades with one false prophecy and teaching after another. Not once in the 80 some years of the current configuration of the COG has any leader or minister utter a single true prophecy. From the King of the North to the King of the South, to invading Germans, rampaging Chinese and Muslims, concentration camps, Fatima and Mayan prophecies to the precise date Jesus is supposed to return.
It was five years ago that one of the COG's biggest liars (till Dave Pack and Bob Thiel hit the scene full throttle) made the prediction that on this day, May 27, 2012, Jesus was returning in all his glory.
Ron Weinland made the prediction that the creature he calls "christ" would return on May 27, 2012. When it failed to happen Ron had his excuses ready, just like all COG leaders have done for decades.
It just struck me today what day it is…………today’s the day the world was supposed to be changed forever five years ago, but it turned out to be the day when almost everyone in PKG had their lives turned upside-down.
Yup—–May 27, 2012 was to be THE DAY that Ron claimed Jesus Christ would return, but instead it was a big “nothingburger” and a lot of us were looking up to the sky (at noon on May 26), and a HUGE letdown was to follow. I still remember a flurry of emails going back and forth, and one of them was from Johnny Harrell letting everyone know to calm down and Ron will be sure to have a sermon to explain what happened.
Ron gave a very interesting sermon that day looking back, and I truly believe he had that sermon pre-written out. IIRC, late in the day Ron posted on his blog a lengthy “explanation” of what happened, and how “heavy of heart” he was. The very next day, he gave a lengthy sermon expounding on what he wrote the day before.
I can’t believe he came up with all of that on the fly, and the more I think about it, Ron could have had that sermon written as far back as 2008 when he made the first “change” from 2011 to 2012. He knew that there’s no way it would happen despite believing it with “all his being”.
Just the same, life has certainly gone on for me, but this is one of those days I’ll never forget for as long as I’m walking the planet. I got to see firsthand all the damage that was done to people’s lives, and if nothing else it certainly was an eye opener into how deceptive people can be. It still would take me 2 and half years to finally wave goodbye to PKG and get on with the rest of my life.
I had a hard chuckle from a co-worker today (overtime) as I was telling her what had happened back then. She said, “You mean all this was supposed to happen? I wouldn’t have had to come into work today——–I hate when that happens!”
I got a good laugh, but five years ago it was no laughing matter!
So here we are with 2017 about halfway over, and still no earth shaking events to make one stop and pause. 2018 will be on our doorstep before you know it, and Ron will be proven wrong YET AGAIN when 2019 comes and goes without so much as a whimper.
And there will still be those that will swallow the “disclaimer” hook, line, and sinker.
Herbert Armstrong lied to the church when he said the Christ would be returning in 1975. For his "christ" to return in 1975, the church needed to flee to Petra on January 7, 2012. Who can forget that even prior to this Herbert started preparations for building his monument to himself, the Ambassador Auditorium, with groundbreaking in 1972. Deep down he knew he was wrong, just like every single one of the COG leaders who lie today knows.
Not only did he lie then, he did it countless times previously:
1934:
"...the year 1936 will see the end of the Times of the Gentiles.... we may expect the present worldwide depression, time of trouble and fear of war to continue until the year 1936!... quickly after that time, we may expect to see the heavenly signs of the sun and moon becoming dark, the stars falling.... which shall be followed by the 'Day of the Lord." (The Plain Truth, June-July 1934, Herbert Armstrong, p. 5)
1940:
"...Armageddon, we believe, must be at least three or four years away..." ("Democracy Doomed!" The Plain Truth, April-May 1940, Herbert W. Armstrong)
1947
"...in a few years NONE OF US will be living in our present homes—EVERYTHING material we possess now will be swept away from us...it will strike DURING THIS PRESENT GENERATION—it cannot now be more than A FEW YEARS... (Herbert W. Armstrong, Co-Worker letter, December 8, 1947)
1953:
"Now HERE IS SOMETHING STARTLING! Herman Hoeh, in his eye-opening article you will read in the June number of The PLAIN TRUTH on the Times of the Gentiles shows that the Times of the Gentiles—if chronologies are correct—will come to their final end in the year 1982." .............
"Now if this chronology is correct, that means Christ shall return some very few years PRIOR to1982! NO MAN KNOWS THE DAY, HOUR, OR YEAR OF CHRIST'S RETURN. But we CAN know exact dates of one or two other events." ...........
"IF THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES END IN 1982, in October, as Mr. Hoeh has it figured, THE INVASION OF AMERICA AND THE GREAT TRIBULATION MUST BEGIN NOT LATER THAT MARCH-APRIL, 1972!" (Herbert W. Armstrong, Co-Worker letter, May 22, 1953)
1956:
"Indications of prophecy are that this drought ... will strike sooner than 1975— probably between 1965 and 1972!" ... "Yes, millions of lukewarm inactive professing Christians will suffer MARTYRDOM—and that before the anticipated push-button leisure-year of 1975 dawns upon us!" (1975 in Prophecy, 1956, pp. 10, 20, Herbert W. Armstrong)
"You're going to be shocked to read what goes on undercover in the United States. Five major vices threaten the total collapse of our country inside of 20 years. The handwriting is on the wall of America, now!" ("U.S.A. Riding to Total Collapse in 20 Short Years!" [subtitled: "Here are the naked FACTS that ought to astonish and shock you into immediate action.] (The Plain Truth, February 1956, Herbert W. Armstrong)
[After fostering many scare tactics in the article concerning how many in the U.S.A. are going to die of famine, pestilence and war "in less than 20 years," he goes on to say:]
"I've shown you from the very word of God what is next coming in prophesied events...It's prophesied for 15 to 20 years or less." ("U.S.A. Riding to Total Collapse in 20 Short Years!" (Ibid.)
1957:
"God prophecies that finally, within the next fifteen years, fully ONE THIRD of our whole population will die of disease and famine." (The Plain Truth, December 1957, Herbert W. Armstrong)
1958:
"We are just coming now to the grand smash climax of this whole age when there are far more prophecies--far more world shaking events--to happen in the next 15 or 20 yearsthan ever happened before in the history of the world!" (The Proof of the Bible, 1958, Herbert W. Armstrong)
1959:
"I say to YOU, now, that your money—your home—every material thing you have—will be taken from you SOON—probably in 12 to 13 years, certainly in 15 or less!" (Herbert W. Armstrong, August 13, 1959 Co-Worker letter)
1960:
"In 12 years or less the U.S.A. will suffer the worst depression ever suffered by any nation." (Herbert W. Armstrong, December 1960 Co-Worker letter)
1963:
"We may now have only eight or nine more years to FINISH His Work!" (Herbert W. Armstrong, October 27, 1963 Co-Worker letter)
"In eight years all of our ministers will be silenced!" (November 23, 1963 sermon, Herbert W. Armstrong)
"Somewhere along about seven to ten years from now the REVOLUTION IN THE WEATHER will become a national and international calamity. Drought, epidemic of disease, will reap a mountain harvest of death across North America--and in Britain." (The Plain Truth, January 1963, Herbert W. Armstrong)
1964:
"We may have an occasional good year in the weather, but the trend in general will continue until--probably by 1971-1972--it will become an acute disaster, especially to the United States, Canada, Britain and Australia." (The Plain Truth, January 1964, Herbert W. Armstrong)
1965:
"We are in the grand smash climax--only six more years left." (Co-Worker letter, December 13, 1965, Herbert W. Armstrong)
1966:
WE MAY HAVE ONLY ONE OR TWO MORE YEARS LEFT TO FINISH THE WORK THE LIVING CHRIST IS DOING THROUGH HIS CHURCH! Time is running out on us! It is now FAR later than you think! (Herbert W. Armstrong, Co-Worker letter, June 27, 1966)
"The God who is REAL says of OUR PEOPLES: 'Prophecy against the prophets of Israel . . . O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes of the deserts. Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up a hedge for the House of Israel TO STAND in the BATTLE IN THE DAY OF THE ETERNAL (Ezek. 13:1-5).' That is NOT a message to ancient Israel—but to OUR NATIONS TODAY. The 'DAY OF THE ETERNAL'—a time foretold in more than thirty prophecies—is going to strike between 5 and 10 years from now! You will know, then, how REAL it is. You will wish, then, you had heeded. I am not writing foolishly, but very soberly, ON AUTHORITY of the living CHRIST!" ("HOW the U.S. Can END the Vietnam WAR . . . NOW!" (The Plain Truth, Feb. 1967, p. 47, Herbert W. Armstrong)
"A STAGGERING TURN in world events is due to erupt in the next four to seven years. It will involve violently the United States, Britain, Western Europe, the Middle East." (The United States and British Commonwealth in Prophecy, Introduction, 1967, p. IX, Herbert W. Armstrong)3
"Now, other prophecies reveal, we are to have soon (probably in about four years) such drought, and famine, that disease epidemics will follow taking millions of lives ... Well, we have been getting foretastes of that! That condition is coming! And I do not mean in 400 years—nor in 40 years—but in the very next FOUR or FIVE!" (Ibid., p.184)
"You need to look at the prophecies of Jesus of Jeremiah, of Isaiah, and others, describing how much more INTENSE is to be the punishment God is going to lay on the British and American people in five to seven more years!" (Ibid., p. 185)
1969:
"If that unseen Hand does not exist, humanity will not survive on earth another 25 years, or less! I know whereof I speak, for no organization on earth has a more knowledgeable grasp and understanding of world conditions, trends, and causes, than ours. ..." (The Ambassador College Correspondence Course, Lesson 5, 1969, p. 15)
"There is very little time remaining. You now know only a minority of humanity will remain alive just a few years from now
1977:
"During this generation--within 60 to 90 years or less-from 1927--Christ will come again..." (Herbert W. Armstrong, Co-Worker letter, January 20, 1977)
1980:
"The actual movement of world events as prophesied WARNS US that all this MAY now occur in the decade we entered day before yesterday--and, if delayed past 1990, most certainly during the decade of the 90s." (Herbert W. Armstrong, Co-Worker Letter, January 3, 1980)
1984:
"The Plain Truth brings you UNDERSTANDING of the very Word of God, the SOURCE of TRUTH--and of the PROPHECIES of events soon to occur, in the next two, five or 10 years!" (The Plain Truth, September 1984, Personal from Herbert W. Armstrong)
Right up to the end of his life Herbert Armstrong continued to make false predictions. Here is just one quote from his Mystery of the Ages:
"And, secondly, to reveal—preserved in writing for us TODAY—what is to happen "in the latter days"—actually within the next two decades—THIS LAST HALF OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY! (Mystery of the Ages, Herbert W. Armstrong, p. 298)
From Exit and Support
Why do COG members sit there, year after year, listening to the lies of men like Dave Pack, Bob Thiel, Gerald Flurry, James Malm, Rod Meredith/Gerald Weston and others, as everything they have said consistently fails to happen? Even with the blatant lies of Ron Weinland, there are still gullible members who send in money to him. Despite being liars, Malm, Thiel, Flurry, Pack and others still con their members into sending their heard earned money in. Why?
; 11:14; 12:15). Marriage is one of the most important decisions of one’s life (second only to baptism). The ministry must never become a “blessing factory,” just putting the Church’s stamp of approval on a marriage, no matter what. Rather, the ministry is here to help couples seeking marriage discern God’s will as they consider making a covenant with each other, before God.
While the Church has historically suggested premarital counseling for all couples considering marriage, it makes much more sense to seek pre-engagement counseling. The intended purpose of counseling has always been to help couples themselves better determine if they are “right for each other” in God’s sight and to increase their opportunity for success in a potential marriage.Regrettably, in all too many cases, once a couple is engaged, the couple’s focus is no longer on evaluating their relationship and whether or not they are right for each other. When their main concern is planning the wedding, they are far less evaluative of their relationship. Counseling can be simply an afterthought.Pre-engagement counseling makes far more sense. The couple may be dating seriously but they have not yet publicly committed to marriage in an engagement and they are much more open to honestly evaluating themselves as potential marriage partners. This, in turn, gives much more opportunity for God to guide their decision-making. To better serve our membership in these critical decisions, the Church requests that all couples considering marriage seek pre-engagement counseling from the ministry before any formal engagement.
