The Church of God/Jehovahs Witness/Millerite Millennium

The typical Armstrongite/Jehovah's Witness/Millerite version of the millennium

Our littlest crackpot prophet is back again mocking Christians for doing things he does not consider Christian, even though most of the stuff he does no 1st-century follower of Christ would ever recognize, but that's another subject.

He copied and pasted a list of things that Church of God Outreach Ministries posted about so-called Christians keeping things not in the Bible. One of the topics is concerning heaven. They state:

Heaven
No—the saved do not go there. They remain in God’s care (as inert spirits) until Jesus returns, when they reign with him firmly on Earth. In the end, the Father comes from heaven to reside on Earth.

In the myths and legends of Armstrngism, Christ returns to earth where he reigns assisted by loyal Church of God ministers and members who persevered to the end when they are all turned into gods and goddesses, just like Jesus. God will return in a golden cube that plops down where Jersuelam once stood and all people will flow to it. 1,500 mile high and square. Why would anyone want to live elsewhere if you can live in a golden cube with God? That is a post all by itself!

In that magical kingdom, the world will be made right and children will play in parks with lions, tigers, and bears. People will be out hiking in the mountains and enjoying nature as it was meant to be. Various Church of God headquarters campuses will be museums of truth and beauty that will amaze people for centuries. It will be the epitome of the peaceable kingdom. There will be no war, no crime, no arguing, no guns, and nothing negative will ever see the light of day. The lion will dwell with the lamb and all will be glorious.

And then there is this version that COG excuse makers quickly gloss over:

When Christ returns the elements of the earth will melt. The heavens and planets will be destroyed with "fervent heat". Everything will be consumed by fire. 

10 But when the Day of God’s Judgment does come, it will be unannounced, like a thief. The sky will collapse with a thunderous bang, everything disintegrating in a raging inferno, earth and all its works exposed to the scrutiny of Judgment.

11-13 Since everything here today might well be gone tomorrow, do you see how essential it is to live a holy life? Daily expect the Day of God, eager for its arrival. The galaxies will burn up and the elements melt down that day—but we’ll hardly notice. We’ll be looking the other way, ready for the promised new heavens and the promised new earth, all landscaped with righteousness. The Message Bible

10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be destroyed with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed.[a]
11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening[b] the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set ablaze and destroyed and the elements will melt with fire? 13 But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home. NRSVUE

Perhaps Basil Wolverton got it right, after all!

I can hear it now though, "You are wrong"! This is all post-millennium when Satan is allowed to roam the earth again and deceive people. God will be so pissed by that point he burns it all up. What a cruel trick to be played upon humanity to live in glorious peace and harmony while lingering in God's mind the upcoming return of Satan deliberately sent to wreck the peaceful world and deceive many so they can be slaughtered.

 

Crackpot Prophet Claiming Apostolic Succession

 

Our most highly favored end-time prophet of the Church of God is back with his annual missive on how the Walldensians were Sabbath keepers and had apostolic succession.

The Great Bwana to Africa would claim apostolic succession considering he believes himself the greatest Church of God leader in human history. The problem lies in the fact that the Great Bwana Bob Mzungu Thiel was never ordained by anyone over him in ANY of the Church of God's he attended. This also leads to the myth that true apostolic succession is only available in the COG movement inherited over the centuries from other Sabbatarian leaders.

If that were true, which it is not, then how can the Great Bwana claim such nonsense? Herbert Armstrong never ordained him. Dibar Apartian and Rod Meredith never ordained him. Gaylyn Bonjour never ordained him. Heck, even Joe Tkach never ordained him when he was part of the Worldwide Church of God!  The Great Bwana just adds this to the growing list of lies he tries to con his African members with. 

The true Christian Church of God, and all of its true ministers, have laying on of hands succession from the original apostles to present. 

 

And yes, we believe all who held succession did keep the seventh-day Sabbath, including Peter Waldo.

Waldensian Apostolic Succession
Jesus said that the true church would continue to the end of the age. Did any in the groups called Waldensians (or Waldenses), Vaudois, or Moravians have apostolic succession? Were there such claims over 500 years ago? Did any group claim to have an actual apostolic succession list of bishops? Was such a list at least partially accepted by the British Parliament in the 18th century or the Greek Orthodox Church in the 15th century or others centuries ago? Could the Waldenses have came from the true church in Antioch or Asia Minor in the 3rd or 4th centuries? Do modern American Waldensians claim to have such a list? What about the ones associated with that church or its Archivo Della Tavola Valdese in Italy? Did Dr. Thiel put together such a list and share it with them? Can such a list be seen today? Dr. Thiel goes over that and some of his research into this topic, while also asking for others to help fill in the gaps or assist in improving the list in this video. Dr. Thiel also discusses its symbol with a candle on a lampstand pointing to the fourth star and Jesus words in Revelation.

 

Restored Church of God Exit Letter by Steve Bell From England

 

The following Restored Church of God Exit Letter by Steve Bell in England was given to exrcg.org with permission to share publicly.

 

 

January 14, 2024

 

My Dearest Brethren,

 

Greetings from the Northwest. I hope this email finds you all doing well and keeping warm.

Thankfully, spring will be here before we know it, which means warmer weather.

For 14 years, my family and I have been blessed with the ability to have broken bread and have fellowship with you. We thoroughly enjoyed all the time that God has allowed us to share together on the various Holy Days, and we long for that fellowship daily.

I know I don't write to you very often and haven't emailed you all in a long time. I suppose life gets in the way. Being in my mid-forties with a little one who keeps my wife and me on our toes and exhausted at the end of each day, a lot of time passes without noticing it. It seems like only yesterday that we were at our first Feast of Tabernacles, where we met most of you for the first time. It’s funny how time passes so quickly the older one gets.

I write to you from a place of genuine love and concern because we all are being deceived, and for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, I'm certain that most, if not all, of you have at least thought about this yourselves. We have been listening to a great heresy for many years. We have been hearing incredibly confusing messages, and yet Scripture tells us that “God is not the author of confusion but of peace and a sound mind.”

We have been given failed prophecy time and time again by Mr. David C. Pack. From March 2022 to today, we have been given 78 false dates for the return of Christ/God's Kingdom, and each one of those dates has come and gone without consequence.

I don't know how many more dates were given before then, but I know there were many.

Deuteronomy 18:21-22

And if you say in your heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken? When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken, but the prophet has spoken it presumptuously: you shall not be afraid of him.

The word “afraid” in the Hebrew means “to sojourn or abide with.”

2 Peter 1:20

Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation.

“Private interpretation” in the Greek means “one's own solution or explanation.” And yet, the men at Headquarters sit behind closed doors and privately interpret them, and they fail. God's prophecies NEVER fail.

Another recent heretical teaching is that Christ will take the Passover on the 15th of Abib when Scripture clearly states time and again that the Passover is the 14th of Abib. Ask yourselves, would our Saviour “unlawfully” take the Passover a day late?

Also, we have learned that Christ isn’t the Branch, although YOU KNOW HE IS!!! This is absolute wickedness and heresy. Scripture is being perverted to mean what it doesn’t mean!

God admonishes us to trust NO MAN, put your trust not in mortals, TRUST GOD!!!!

Also, consider the new “new moon” doctrine, which is absolutely unscriptural. The ONLY new moon that is to be observed is The Feast of Trumpets.

Isaiah 1:14

Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.

Scripture also tells us:

1 Thessalonians 5:21

Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.

Yet, I remember four or five years ago, a letter was sent to Headquarters regarding the prophecy series from a brethren stating this verse to which this response was given:

“You’ve already proven all things, you’re in the Church, that’s all you need to prove.”

The word ALL in 1 Thessalonians 5:21 is “pas” in the Greek. It means literally “everything, the whole, every kind of, all things.”

REMEMBER YOUR FIRST LOVE

We have all been betrayed and lied to. You should not abide with that false prophet any longer.

It is with a heavy heart that I inform you that my family and I are leaving the organization of The Restored Church of God. I know that you will be told we have left “the Church” or “the Truth.” We are not leaving the Church or the Truth. We are leaving an organization where lies and wickedness abound.

Brethren, we genuinely love and care for you all. We hope and pray that at least some of you will not cut us out of your lives. You are our family and friends, and we are thankful for that. Never in my life have I known such genuine and kind people.

May God continue to guide and bless you all for all your days. I look forward to the day when we all see each other again.

All Our Love,

Steve Bell & Family

 

Courtesy of marc Cebrian

See: RCG Exit Letter: Steve Bell