Crackpot Prophet Makes A Shocking Revelation!!!!!

 

The Church of God, Armstrongist dispensation, does not realize how blessed they all are to have in their midst the greatest prophet the church has ever seen in the history of humanity. Never has the church had a more intellectually and spiritually blessed prophet walking among them than we do today in 2024 with our Great Bwana to Africa and the occasional 100 Caucasians.

God, Jesus, and that mischievous and unpredictable Holy Spirit knew what they were doing when they planned the arrival of the Great Bwana to thrust himself upon us in 2012 as the new revelator to restore the church to the faith once delivered.

Ever since then, we have received an astounding array of knowledge that was previously hidden from the world until the words came forth from the holy lips of our Great Bwana.

On Friday, May 18, The Great One revealed to us previously hidden knowledge in his article, Nanobots, 666, and eternal life?.

Like any good conspiratorial Church of God prophet, The Great Bwana To Africa sets about to instill fear about nanobots. But, since everything he posts has to always mention himself, he says this:

Let me add that back in 1966, my parents took me the the drive-in theater to watch a movie titled Fantastic Voyage where people were somehow shrunk to go into a microscopic submarine to remove a clot in someone’s brain. 

 

While people cannot be shrunk like that, here is some general information from Wikipedia on the nanorobotics:

Nanoid robotics, or for short, nanorobotics or nanobotics, is an emerging technology field creating machines or robots, which are called nanorobots or simply nanobots, whose components are at or near the scale of a nanometer (10−9meters).[1][2][3] More specifically, nanorobotics (as opposed to microrobotics) refers to the nanotechnology engineering discipline of designing and building nanorobots with devices ranging in size from 0.1 to 10 micrometres and constructed of nanoscale or molecular components.[4][5] The terms nanobot, nanoid, nanite, nanomachine and nanomite have also been used to describe such devices currently under research and development.[6][7]

Nanomachines are largely in the research and developmentphase,[8] but some primitive molecular machines and nanomotors have been tested. (Nanorobotics. Wikipedia, accessed 05/17/24)

Whew! I am glad he cleared that up! Here all along I thought humans could shrink down to remove clots from brains! Satan surely is a wiley dude! So deceptive!

The Great Bwana Bob goes on to quote the favorite doomsday evangelical Michael T Snyder, whom the conspiratorial-laden Church of God considers a modern-day truth sayer, even though he is a so-called Christian. It's funny how Armstrongists always make exceptions to their rules when someone they find in the world fits their narrative, but that's another topic altogether.

The Great Bwana Bob Mzungu wet his holistic knickers when he found Michael T Snyder had posted this headline: We Are Being Warned That Nanobots Will Be Flowing Through Our Bodies “By 2030” And Will Be Used To Connect Our Brains To The Internet

Once thousands of nanobots are zipping around inside your body, will you still be in control of your mind, will and emotions or will the nanobots be running the show? According to Google, a nanobot is “a hypothetical, very small, self-propelled machine, especially one that has some degree of autonomy and can reproduce”. Scientists here in the United States have been working on nanobots that can travel through our bodies at astonishing speeds, deliver medicines to targeted locations, and even enter our brain cells. Eventually, researchers hope to use nanobots to connect our brains directly to the Internet. …

Being God's most important prophet ever, The Great Bwana's brain immediately sprung into action and came up with this conspiratorial scenario, as only an Armstrongist could:

Being connected to the internet that way would pose many risks. The “by 2030” comment is interesting as a totalitarian system is likely to be in place then.

 

The Bible warns that a totalitarian system will be put in place:

15 He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. 16 He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, 17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666. (Revelation 13:15-18) 

 

When Jesus had the Apostle John pen this 1900+ years ago, there was no way to monitor most buying and selling. With computer software, including AI, much is already being done, and more will be done. Perhaps nanobots will be a mark of the beast. 

 

We will see.

The good ol'mark-of-the-beast! What would the Church of God do without it? 

The Great Bwana, the all-knowing one, then goes on to talk about how nanobots will not extend human life and help people to live forever. He says:

The belief seems to be that nanobots will one day be able to figure out everything that promotes aging and death in the human body and fix it so one never dies. 

 

An obviously worldly hope. 

 

But, no, nanobots do not hold the key to eternal life. 

 

Jesus does...

Christians have never thought otherwise, but this is a new concept to the conspiratorial Church of God's self-appointed prophets. 

The Great Bwana to Africa and his occasional 100 Caucasians then makes this shocking revelation:

Nanobots do not believe in Jesus as Savior nor do they have the ability to keep God’s commandments.

 

Well, CRAP! How could we have been so deceived all these years? 

Nanobots don't keep sabbath? 

Nanobots commit adultery and covet other nanobots? 

Satan sure is a crafty dude! How could we have all been so easily deceived?

 

Is It Wrong For A Christian To Doubt?

"When one permits DOUBTS to enter his thoughts and reasonings, he is on dangerous ground. He is thinking negatively. Whoever DOUBTS is damned. I want the reader to learn that lesson. 

 

"If one is not certain -- if he has not PROVED a doctrine or a fact -- then the teaching of God is, with open mind free from prejudice, to seek all the facts -- to PROVE it. This is not negative, but positive thinking and procedure. Doubting is not proving. Doubting is not intelligent! It is negative thinking about something one does not know enough about to warrant this form of unfounded disbelief." - Herbert W Armstrong, Autobiography Volume 1

When it came to Herbert Armstrong there seemed to be NOTHING that church members could ever do that was right. Do you honestly remember any time he did a sermon praising members for being strong in the faith, doing good in their lives, and following God faithfully? 

All we got was one miserable shouting sermon after another with jowls flapping and a face red with anger. as he pounded the podium/desk in anger. "You just don't get it!"

Herbert's comment that whoever doubts is damned is absurd and just one more link in the chain of cultish mind control of the church.

The very essence of faith produces questions to a believer and doubt is working through the questions. Doubt is not a dirty five-letter word. Doubt is not some dark struggle that we need to keep secret. If we are honest, all believers experience doubt at varying times and in varying degrees in their faith life.

Think about all the examples of people in scripture who doubted. Two examples stand out in the New Testament. Thomas who is often referred to as "doubting Thomas" and John the Baptist. You could really call Thomas a realist because he just wanted to see to believe. He said, "Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe." I can relate to him.

John the Baptist began doubting after hard circumstances came into his life. He found himself sitting in prison for doing what was right and standing for truth. In prison he began to have doubts so he sent two of his disciples to Jesus and asked, "Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?" In his doubt, he was questioning if Jesus was actually the Savior that he had believed in.

In both instances Jesus did not respond with disgust, by telling them they were wrong, or by making them feel embarrassed or ashamed. Instead, His response was to help them through their doubts and to fix the missing element in their faith. Thomas needed to see to believe so Jesus showed him His hands and His side and told him to touch the wounds. John the Baptist just needed to take time to remember. Jesus sent back the two disciples to tell John, 

 

Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. 

 

Remembering these facts resolved John's doubt and strengthened his faith. Is it ok for a Christian to doubt?  

 

I have heard church members claim they have never had a day of doubt. They say they have proven all they were taught as true and have nothing further to worry about. Talk about foolish thinking! It's like the Mormons who talk about feeling "a burning in their bosom" so they do not need to prove anything else or question.

Truthfully, the church was NOT a safe place to let doubt be known. The second you did you were looked at as a backslider or lukewarm in the faith. Even worse, you were labeled as a Laodicean, the ultimate epithet of the church. The church quickly and efficiently shut you down. If you dare to doubt then you dare to doubt what the minister or Dear Leader says and they cannot have that happening! Proper church government, remember! Doubt means you do not respect church government and that is the ultimate sin, one step above the unpardonable sin.

Many faithful honest Christians talk about seasons of doubt in their lives as they walk through the desert.

If you’ve struggled with doubt or are currently struggling with it, before you do anything else, you simply must know that going through these seasons — those ones that wreck you about Jesus and God — is normal.

And not only is it normal, but it’s also necessary.

Doubts are the growing pains of the faith. It’s always been that way. They’re usually seasons of discomfort, and sometimes they bring us to tears. It’s real pain. But they’re seasons we must endure if we want to grow in our faith. Is it Okay to Doubt God?

One of the best stories in the bible is about a man seeking Jesus to heal his epileptic son. He said he believed but yet needed help in his unbelief (doubts).

For those coming out of Armstrongism (or any other church, for that matter) with their faith shattered, finding community with others who struggled with doubt was a refreshing thing to behold. Sharing that doubt, talking about it, mulling it over, spitting out that which was no longer needed, and struggling with others who found ways to overcome doubt is a wonderful journey. A journey where one finally realizes that doubt is a good thing and creates space for learning, investigating, mulling it over, and discarding the useless things that really have no meaning or bearing on one's Christian walk. God knows there were a LOT of useless things in Armstrongism that are not necessary for an honest Christian or doubter.

Many left the church because they felt the church was an unsafe place to question or have doubts. How can you trust a church that isn't honest and open? “Just have faith” and “don’t ask questions” are the mantras of the church and are believed by far too many, without any reservation, as biblical truth.

Doubt is often used as the opposite of faith in the church. But that isn't true. The opposite of faith is unbelief.

Even John the Baptist wrestled with doubt:

Near the end of his life, John was in prison facing imminent death. He called two of his disciples and requested that they go to Jesus and ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” (Luke 7:19). John was essentially saying, “I think I believe you’re the Messiah, but in this moment, I’m not 100 percent sure.” 

 

Really? After all John had seen and testified about? After calling Jesus the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world? After hearing the Father’s audible voice identifying Jesus as his Son? After all that, the precursor to the Savior himself doubts that Jesus is the actual Savior? 

Now, such facts about John the Baptist might make someone scoff at his lack of faith. If I’m honest, though, I’m comforted by his doubt. Why? Because if he could doubt and admit it plainly—to the point that it’s recorded in Holy Scripture—surely I have liberty to doubt and be candid about it, too.
John’s doubt means I’m free from the shame of admitting my own. I’m free to honestly stumble along in faith, knowing God is big enough to handle it when I quake.

And let’s not forget how Jesus responded to John’s questions: he was patient and gracious. He wasn’t turned off by John’s sudden doubt. He calmly answered the question and gave assurance that he was the Messiah (Luke 7:21–23).  My Comfort in John the Baptist’s Doubt

Armstrongism taught us to pray harder or more often to alleviate doubt, and of course read everything the church published, since it had ALL the answers. All that really did was make the questions even louder causing the shame and unworthyness to set in.

Christians should take stock of the fact that all of the disciples wallowed in doubt, especially at the end. Did that doubt lead them away from faith, or from being a follower of Jesus? It did not and neither should you worry if you have doubts. The true enemy of the faith is not doubt but fear. Armstrongism lived in a world of fear. Christians live in the world of grace. A world where doubt has a home.

 

The Lord's Day in Revelation 1:10

The Lord's Day in Revelation 1:10

In his infamous booklet, The Book of Revelation Unveiled at Last!, Herbert Armstrong wrote: "And so here is the very KEYNOTE verse, sounding the THEME of the whole Revelation! And it is here that most people begin to stumble, and to misunderstand! The theme is THE DAY OF THE LORD. Let us read it: 'I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet' (verse 10). As this is not understood, endless controversy and strife and confusion have come from arguing as to whether the day of the WEEK on which John WROTE this message was Saturday or Sunday. John was NOT referring to any day of the week. The day of the week on which this happened to be written - IF it could have been all written within one day - is not important, and that is not what this verse means at all. It does NOT refer to any day of the week - but to that prophetic period referred to in more than 30 prophecies as 'The Great and Terrible Day of the Lord.'" Armstrong made clear which of the three ways which various Christians have interpreted this passage that he subscribed to - the prophetic "Day of the Lord." So, the question is: Was Herbert Armstrong right? OR Does the reference refer to the day on which John received the Revelation? AND If so, can we know if he was referring to Saturday or Sunday?

In the first of six answers to the question "What is 'the Lord's Day' in Revelation 1:10?" on Biblical Hermeneutics, we read:

It's unlikely that John intended the phrase to refer to the 'day of the Lord' as found in the prophets.
While the phrase found in Revelation 1:10 isn't found elsewhere in the New Testament, the phrase "day of the Lord" is found in several places. When the phrase is used elsewhere in the New Testament, the grammar matches that found in the prophets. In 1 Thessalonians 5:2, for instance, the phrase 'day of the Lord' is ἡμέρα κυρίου, where κυρίου (Lord) is in the genitive case. The same is true in 2 Peter 3:10. In the LXX, the phrase 'day of the Lord' always appears with the genitive case. 

 

In Revelation 1:10, the phrase used is κυριακῇ ἡμέρᾳ, where κυριακῇ is in the dative case and is being used as an adjective. This doesn't rule out the possibility of it referring to the same thing, but it does make it highly unlikely and puts the proof of burden on those who would claim otherwise. Authors tend to retain phraseology when it carries a heavy theological weight. 

 

The context also suggests that John does not intend to refer to the eschatological 'day of the Lord' found in the prophets. The phrase in the prophets is accompanied by a dread of expectation and judgement. Yet John's experience, while disturbing, is not shaped after the day of the Lord but after Daniel's experiences with his visions."

This answer is also reinforced by references to the "Day of the Lord" in the Hebrew Scriptures. In the book of Isaiah, we read: "Wail, for the day of the Lord is near; as destruction from the Almighty it will come!" (Isaiah 13:6, ESV) And, in the ninth verse of the same chapter, "Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it." (Isaiah 13:9, ESV) Likewise, in the book of Jeremiah, we read: "That day is the day of the Lord God of hosts, a day of vengeance, to avenge himself on his foes. The sword shall devour and be sated and drink its fill of their blood. For the Lord God of hosts holds a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates." (Jeremiah 46:10, ESV) Also, in the prophet Joel, we read: "Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is near, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes." (Joel 1:15, ESV) Likewise, in the book of Amos, we read: "Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! Why would you have the day of the Lord? It is darkness, and not light..." (Amos 5:18, ESV) In the prophet Zephaniah, we read: "The great day of the Lord is near, near and hastening fast; the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter; the mighty man cries aloud there." (Zephaniah 1:14, ESV) And, finally, in the prophet Zechariah, we read: "Behold, a day is coming for the Lord, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city." (Zechariah 14:1-2, ESV)

Hence, we see that the "Day of the Lord" referred to a particular event in the Hebrew Scriptures - a terrible time at the end of the age of humankind. Now, while the book of Revelation includes this event within the context of the many predictions that are made there, we can clearly discern that it is NOT the theme of the entire book! In other words, there is a great deal more contained in those pages than the story of the "Day of the Lord."

In one of the supplemental answers on the same website referenced above, we read:

kuriakē(i) (LSJ) (from κυριακῇ ἡμέρᾳ) is an adjectival form of kurios, 'lord', which could be rendered 'lordly' (on analogy of 'royal' = 'kingly', roughly!). As the adjective "royal" indicates something belonging to the monarch ("the royal palace"), so kuriakos indicates something belonging to the 'lord'...

...Some other early Christian writings use the Rev 1:10 phrase. In Didache 14:1, for example: 

 

'On the Lord's Day of the Lord come together, break bread and hold Eucharist, after confessing your transgressions that your offering may be pure' 

 

Which precise day is in mind of these options (first day? Sabbath day? Easter Day?) is not specified. However, one or two of the early Christian apocryphal writings are explicit about which day this is, e.g. Acts of Peter, in the prologue [scroll down to second line of I. THE COPTIC FRAGMENT]: 

 

'On the first day of the week, that is, on the Lord's day...'

Moreover, as the word "sabbaton" (Sabbath) appears sixty-eight times in the Greek New Testament, it seems very unlikely that John would use the "Lord's Day" to describe the Sabbath. Hence, the notion that this revelation was given to John on a Sunday seems the most plausible and likely conclusion about its usage in Revelation 1:10.

Miller Jones/Lonnie Hendrix