Symbol and Meaning

Symbol and Meaning

Symbol is something I have thought about for a long time. It goes back to studying marketing, branding and the use of symbol to project power, wealth, influence, solidarity and belief. The COGs love to criticize others for the use of symbols. An obvious example is the cross. The COGs say that the cross is a Pagan symbol that goes back to the worship of Tammuz in Babylon and other various Pagan connections. The COGs also mock the use of the cross as a symbol because it was a Roman instrument of cruelty and death. The "reasoning" goes that if Christ was killed with a machine gun or an electric chair, would Christians wear those around their necks?

It shows a fundamental ignorance of what symbol is, how it functions and why. The question I would ask is: Does a symbol define its meaning, purpose and use for people or do people define the meaning, purpose and use of a symbol? The obvious answer is that people define symbols. A symbol in and of itself cannot ascribe anything to itself. With that in mind, does it make any logical sense to try and attribute Pagan meaning to the cross for a people who decided that the cross represented the sacrifice and resurrection of their Savior? It does not.

Because individuals define symbols, it is an arrogant offence to tell someone else what a symbol should mean to them. Try going up to someone with a tattoo and tell him what his ink means and you will probably get a deserved punch in the face. And yet it is what the COGs do constantly in their "gospel" message and wonder why the church continues to shrink.

A day can be a symbol we attach meaning to. God defined what the seventh day was to mean to Israel. Saturn is a planet as well as a god and is commonly attributed to be a symbol of Satan. We even call the day "Saturday" and go to worship God on "Satansday" but if anyone was to try and use the kind of reasoning we do concerning the cross, for example, against us, we would be offended. We don't worship Satan or Saturn and they have nothing to do with the Sabbath and the God who defined its' meaning in the Old Covenant...as far as we are concerned.

When the COGs are criticized for having "Winter Family Weekends" at Christmas time, they  get offended. It has nothing to do with Christmas as far as they are concerned and they are correct. Yet! They will turn around every December and tell Christians who observe Christmas that they are celebrating a pagan holiday and somehow bolstering an ancient practice of roasting babies in fires and eating them like Babylonians or Canaanites did 4000 years ago or supporting drunken sexual orgies practiced at this time of year by Greeks and Romans 2000 years ago.

With no Sola Scriptura establishing time as a symbol in the New Covenant, Christians were free to set aside any time they chose for religious purposes. The Gentile Christians who were regularly assaulted by Jews and Jewish Christians about the Old Covenant, the Sabbath and circumcision, naturally developed an aversion to Saturday and an affinity toward Sunday as a day to get together since Paul started the custom to gather offerings for Jerusalem on Sundays and the Christians knew Jesus was resurrected on a Sunday.

I know Sunday-keepers today elevate Sunday in the way Jews elevate the Sabbath. But the early Christians did not transmigrate the symbolism, meaning and purpose of the Sabbath into another day (Sunday). Neither Christians, nor Pagans observed any day as a day of rest. Later generations of Christians chose to define what Sunday was to them and how to use it. Rome imposing its will and meaning on Sunday observance has no bearing on what it meant to Christians for 300 years beforehand.

It is interesting that the two annual observances that Christians did create was:

1. Celebrating the Resurrection (called "Easter" later)2. Celebrating the Incarnation (called "Christmas" later)

Both observations are practiced annually by Christianity but largely ignored by COGs. I don't think I have ever heard a minister rehearse the Incarnation in a sermon. And the only time I hear sermons concerning the resurrection is to simply try to prove that a Friday crucifixion-Sunday resurrection is wrong. Look at what Paul says in I Corinthians 15:1-4

"Now brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to Scriptures, that he was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures." 

Paul says this is the most important part of Christianity and this is exactly what is embodied in the observance of Easter and Christmas every year. The COG's two annual main focuses are on Jesus being the Passover Lamb acknowledging His death and His prophetic return as King of Kings. Not saying this is wrong but is it any better than a focus on the Incarnation and Resurrection?

Focus on prophecy was confusing people in Thessalonica (II Thess. 2). Paul and Peter both had to walk back their false assumptions about the immediacy of prophecy. COG focus has always been Old Covenant (Seventh Day) and Prophecy (Adventists) which, in my opinion, has only brought back into focus, first-century confusion caused by Jewish Christians, no matter how well-meaning.

If you consider Judaism and Mainstream Christianity at opposite ends of a spectrum, the COGs seem to exist somewhere in a confused middle because they refuse to articulate a clean break from the Old Covenant. Supposing all three positions miss the mark, where is the sweet spot? Some think it's inching closer to Judaism. We see it in a growing Hebrew Roots Movement. I know some here would say completely off the spectrum. I personally lean closer to mainstream Christian scholarship and historical research instead of HWA's 6-month library study but fully realizing fundamental flaws in Catholic and Protestant doctrines.

I think if Paul were around today, he would be telling us all to leave each other alone about the observance of days. I feel no inclination to observe Easter, Christmas or Sunday but I also see no benefit in harassing well-meaning Christians that do. Some may say I am wandering too far off the COG farm but I would just ask anyone with eyes to see if they see the churches of God growing in grace or knowledge or in fruits of the spirit? Have we set any better of an example of what Christianity should be than Catholics or Protestants? Since growth in the "work" was established as a measuring stick by HWA, is there growth in the works being done by the petty, infighting, AC alumni we call ministers?

The unpleasant truth is we are the descendants of an Adventist Movement started 176 years ago on the foundation of a false prophesy and that has continued to provide additional false prophets along the way. Are we really "the" church or are we just "a" church? Are we really a church or are we the dying aftermath of a personality cult? If we are a dying remnant of a cult, can we be salvaged and reformed into a church? Should we seek to be grafted back into the parent church started by Gilbert Cranmer? Will the church of God movement as it exists right now, spread a Sola Scriptura gospel to the whole world and usher in the return of Christ?

"Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to dispute over doubtful things...Who are you to judge another's servant?...One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind...He who observes a day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe a day to the Lord, he does not observe it...But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother?" --Romans 14:1, 4, 5-6, 10

I think everyone under the fundamentalist umbrella trip over themselves because they all declare Sola Scriptura but no one actually abides by it rationally, nor accept that Scripture does not plainly answer many questions. Approaching the Bible with a spirit of grace allows us to accept our vast ignorance and resist telling everyone else what's what. Sola Scriptura in the hands of narcissists and psychopaths is a "thus sayeth the Lord" cat o' nine tails in each competing and divided church of God that demands their work be your god, their thoughts be your meditations, their cross be your burden, their days be your idols, their private interpretations be your doctrines and their every precious heresy be your sin; sucking the free will out of hapless souls over doubtful things.

Gerald Weston used his Winter Weekend message to attack tattoos and vaping again. But I digress.

Stoned Stephen Society

Were the teachings of Herbert Armstrong "beautiful truth" as Gerald Flurry claims?

I was busy earlier in December with year-end holiday jobs and the Rose Parade when Gerald Flurry came out with an "open letter" to the Churches of God.  It waxes with a deep longing for the "good old days" of Armstrongism, a myth that some in the COG believe was actually a good thing, and yet today, have never been able to achieve any of those things they look longingly back upon.

Herbert W. Armstrong was part of something great. That Church was a work of miracles.

Do you remember that glorious history? Too many of God’s people don’t. God challenges us to always keep the big picture. 

Over Mr. Armstrong’s 55 years in Jesus Christ’s ministry, the work blossomed. It started as nothing and grew into a huge, Spirit-led work that spread God’s beautiful truth throughout the world.

What "beautiful truth" did the church spread around the world? What impact did "a strong hand from someplace" ever accomplish in the Philippines or elsewhere? How can "beautiful truth" end up being a law enforcement hierarchy that made Church of God member's lives miserable? How can "beautiful truth" lead so many COG members into suicide and even murder? How can "beautiful truth" lead over 400 some self-appointed lying despots to set themselves up as the REAL "one true church?" Even worse, how can a church that was filled with so much "beautiful truth" deny and continue to deny the One whom they claim to follow?

Oh, but what about the "beautiful truth" of "give vs get?" Church member's bank accounts were bled dry by Herbert Armstrong and others demanding tithes and offerings be sent in for one emergency after another.  Many times when Herbert Armstrong sent out those letters he was buying art, gold, and silver to furnish his home and office with. My family mortgaged a paid-off home to fund Herbert in one of his money demands.  How is that a 'beautiful truth?"

How can we forget the Ambassador International Cultural Foundation as "beautiful truth?" AICF ended up being an enormous money drain on the church.  When it could have been using the money for good, it was spending untold millions on concerts, dinners, and receptions in order to entertain the elite of Los Angeles and around the world.  Thankfully, Tkach Sr. closed it all down, while today we have Flurry and Pack building or planning to build their own mini-me auditoriums to further drain followers pocketbooks.

Do you remember that history? God put our tithes and offerings to magnificent use, and we were happy to be a part of such a noble cause.

The Ambassador International Cultural Foundation, which Mr. Armstrong founded in 1975, freely sponsored humanitarian projects including archaeological digs, schools and anthropological excursions. Its activities stretched from Bombay to Brussels; the Philippines to the Netherlands; Tokyo to Cairo. We hosted projects in Jerusalem, Jordan, London, Nepal and Okinawa. Why? Because Mr. Armstrong wanted to preach the gospel “for a witness unto all nations” (Matthew 24:14).

Using the international contacts Mr. Armstrong established through the cultural foundation, God opened doors for him to meet high-ranking officials around the world. Mr. Armstrong was invited to speak publicly on many occasions, and he took those opportunities to preach the gospel—to tell people about God’s master plan and about their incredible human potential. These events opened the way for personal appearance campaigns, where he spoke to hundreds of thousands of leading people in various countries.

How was a "beautiful truth" proclaimed when the church dumped millions of dollars into rebuilding the Globe Theater in London, the Wanamaker Organ in Philadelphia, and the Reagan Library in California? How did establishing Everest House Publishing create a "beautiful truth" that the world needed? With books and a magazine on sex, witchcraft, and glowing books on a mass murderer that committed genocide in the Congo, just how was this "beautiful truth?" How was dumping money into funding a Hollywood movie a "beautiful truth?"

Under Mr. Armstrong, the Church of God practiced the way of give—of godly character, generosity, cultural enrichment, true education—of beautifying the environment and caring for fellowman. Mr. Armstrong never deviated from his God-given commission, and the work prospered! His work acknowledged God’s desire to have all men saved and brought to the knowledge of His truth (1 Timothy 2:3-6). It was an inspiring display of God’s love for all mankind.

Just who was "saved" by Herbert Armstrong's message" when the law replaced Jesus as the ultimate authority, just how was that "beautiful truth?"

What about today in Church of Godland?  Who has that "beautiful truth" to share?

Now, did Mr. Armstrong do all that? Certainly he worked hard to implement God’s law and government and to walk by faith. But was the work so powerful and effective simply because of Mr. Armstrong’s intellect or advertising expertise? Did Mr. Armstrong swing open all those mighty doors?

No—the great God did that!

It doesn’t take great spiritual discernment to recognize that God was behind that work—God was blessing that work—God was empowering and multiplying that work—as Mr. Armstrong submitted to Him.

No man could have ever built such a marvelous and wondrous work in this satanic world. It was built and sustained by the miracles of the living God!

No Church of God leader today has any "marvelous and wondrous work" that is delivering a "beautiful truth."  Almost all are impotent self -appointed men who dreamed up their positions as god's anointed.  God certainly was never part of the picture. That is the main reason all of the splinter groups are such epic failures today. Dave Pack's campus will never be finished so the feet of Jesus can walk the grounds with Dave as they plan Jesus' third coming.  Gerald Flurry's campus is still nothing more than a boil on the Oklahoma landscape, despite the Holy Prayer Rock, and Lil Stevie's presence.

Right at the heart of Mr. Armstrong’s teaching was his instruction about the God-plane institution of family (Malachi 4:5-6). He taught us how to build beautiful marriages and to rear happy children. We educated our children with Youth Educational Services lessons; we provided our teens rich experiences through the Youth Opportunities United program—with its sporting events, talent shows and summer camps.

A trail of broken marriages, divorces, suicides, broken family relationships, suicidal children and members, is NOT a legacy of Armstrongism that needs to be celebrated.  Herbert Armstrong was not even able to keep his own family in the church, with most of them despising him for what he had done to the family. Youth Opportunities United gave pedophiles in the church fertile ground for new meat. Flurry's own cult has ripped families asunder with his perverse "no contact" law.

How can the son of an evangelist who was mistreated by fellow Imperial students and shunned by his own father be "beautiful truth" when he took a gun and shot himself in the head in his front yard?

How can the documented cases of ministers who were pedophiles be "beautiful truth" as they broke a sacred trust and sexually assaulted little boys and girls?  How can it be "beautiful truth" when parents are sent for jail for beating their children with 2x4's?

Do you remember what life was like in the Church under Mr. Armstrong? If you were applying God’s family education, then you have personally experienced the blessings that come as a result! Do you remember that?

Yes Gerald, we sure as hell do!

Never fear though, God was just testing you to see if you would stay in the church and especially in Gerald's "beautiful truth." It really did not matter that you were sexually abused or assaulted, or that you lived on the verge of poverty. Even when Terry Ratzman killed you in church services, it was all a test to see how you would react.

Naturally, the Church wasn’t perfect; there were problems. Some members and even ministers did not implement God’s loving family government the right way. But the problem went beyond simple neglect. Revelation 3:9 tells us that “the synagogue of Satan” was actually at work within the Church of the Philadelphia era—under Mr. Armstrong!

The Bible is filled with prophecies that show how God knew this crisis would happen—and actually allowed it in order to test our loyalty to Him. The Bible also shows that He is going to bring every abuse to judgment. God will not be mocked! I strongly encourage you to request a free copy of my book Malachi’s Message for a very thorough scriptural study of God’s perspective on what happened to His Church.

If there is a "synagogue of Satan", it is surely being run by Flurry, Pack, Malm, Thiel, Weston, Weinland, Kubik and many other COG leaders today.  Never has the church seen so many despicable men in its midst than it has today in 2020.

Today in 2020, the Church of God has at least five Elijah's in its midst.  Every single one is a self-appointed fool who was NOT set apart by God to do any kind of work. We have Flurry, Malm, Pack, Thiel, and Weinland, all claiming they are Elijah. All five of them are certified lairs and abusers of the brethren. God certainly had no part in their appointment to their apostate ministries and certainly is not blessing their ministries, despite how much they lie that "it" is.

Just what is the single greatest truth that the church has today in its midst?

And—most importantly—God has continued to bless us, as He did Mr. Armstrong, with new revelation. The living God did not stop speaking to His people when Mr. Armstrong died. He has continued to give us “present truth” (2 Peter 1:12) that builds upon the foundation of the truth He restored through Mr. Armstrong. The pcg produces over 100 books and booklets, the large majority of which contain new biblical understanding from the great God.

That is the single greatest proof that the God who inspired Mr. Armstrong is behind our work.

Is god speaking to Flurry? Is god speaking to Thiel?  Is god speaking to Weinland? Is god speaking to Pack? Is god speaking to Weston?  Is god speaking to Kubik?  Is god speaking to Malm? They all claim "it" is. What "beautiful truth" have you ever seen these men utter?

If you are a follower of Christ, then that is the only beautiful truth you will ever need.  None of the buffoonery of today's pack of Armstrongite leaders will ever be beautiful.

"...little is left of perhaps $1 billion of believers’ money that was squandered over the years"

• America’s all-time champion evangelist was Garner Ted Armstrong, whose national broadcasts drew $75 million a year to the Worldwide Church of God run by Garner and his father, Herbert W. Armstrong. (That’s double the amount collected by Billy Graham.) Money poured in from followers, many of whom met in secret groups and donated 30 percent of their incomes. Garner lived like a maharaja in a California mansion with his own private jet, elegant sports cars — and, allegedly, female believers in bed. Trouble hit in 1976 when some members published a protest. They accused Garner of sex and Herbert of self-enrichment. Chess champion Bobby Fischer said the elder Armstrong had used “mind control” to take nearly $100,000 from him. In 1978 the father fired the son, who started a new television religion.

In 1979 the California attorney general filed a receivership suit accusing Herbert and treasurer Stanley Rader of “pilfering” at least $1 million a year for themselves. Gold bullion owned by the sect was reported missing. Financial records indicated that Herbert and Rader each got salaries of $200,000 plus fabulous expense accounts. Garner accused Rader of taking $700,000 from the church in one year. Garner’s sister said Rader had three homes, a horse stable, a Maserati, a Mercedes and a limousine. On June 2 the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the attorney general’s right to investigate the church. Meanwhile, little is left of perhaps $1 billion of believers’ money that was squandered over the years.

From The God Biz, Part 1

And today, in 2020, "men" like Bob Thiel, Gerald Flurry, Dave Pack, Ron Weinland, and many other COG leaders continue to squander money in order to fund their lifestyles.  It's not about any gospel message but the gathering in of money.  How can they preach a gospel message when they all deny the one about who the gospel is about?