I Don't Want to Read, Hear or Entertain Anything That Might Lead Me Away from the Truth!

I Don't Want to Read, Hear or Entertain Anything That Might Lead Me Away from the Truth!

In the past, I have commented about the self-reinforcing straitjacket which Herbert Armstrong devised for his followers. The psychology is simple, but it is also very powerful. It goes something like this: 1) Convince your followers that the majority of Christians are deceived, and that you alone have discovered the TRUE version of that faith. 2) Spoon feed them the cherry-picked Scriptural reasoning you employed to arrive at your system and convince them that they have proven these "truths" from their own Bible. 3) Convince them that their new understanding is the evidence that they have God's Holy Spirit. 4) Instill in them the fear that it is possible to lose some or all of that understanding and/or lose the "inspiration" of the Holy Spirit. This clever, yet subtle, conditioning of his followers allowed Armstrong to imprison his followers in a perpetual state of circular reasoning! "God has revealed his TRUTH to me, and I must hold on to it with all my might and strength." Research, questioning, and testing are no longer necessary - We've arrived at destination TRUTH. Hence, there is no longer any need to investigate or explore! Add to all of this being immersed in a culture of folks who think the same way, and the fact that they are all led by ministers who were trained to periodically remind them about the danger of losing this "treasure," and "abracadabra" you have a closed mind!

Of course, this all brings to mind Christ's Parable of the Talents. In the Gospel of Matthew, we read:

"'For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, [a large amount of money] to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.' And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.' He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, 'Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.' But his master answered him, 'You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'" (Matthew 25:14-30, ESV) Question: What did Christ do to the servant who had protected his one talent (the one who had failed to increase what had been entrusted to him)? Answer: He took away what he had been given!

Moreover, these followers of Herbert Armstrong are WRONG about the evidence that someone has God's Holy Spirit. According to the Gospel of John, Jesus Christ once said: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:34-35, ESV) Likewise, the Apostle Paul wrote to the Christians of Galatia that "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." (Galatians 5:22-23, ESV) Notice something missing in that list? Understanding isn't in the list! Indeed, Paul told the saints at Corinth that they could have prophetic powers, understand ALL mysteries, and enough faith to move mountains and still be NOTHING. (I Corinthians 13:2) He went on to say that "Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely." (I Corinthians 13:12, NLT) Did you catch that? In the present, WE (Christians) see things IMPERFECTLY! Likewise, in the second epistle of Peter, we read: "you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." (II Peter 3:18, NLT) Doesn't that mean that we will always have MORE to learn? What do you think? Is the Armstrong template regarding understanding really consistent with Scripture?

Miller Jones/Lonnie C Hendrix

Do COG Leaders Possess Insights Like No Other Men On Earth?

Apostle, prophet, Chief Overseer, Pastor General, President, Coordinator General, and lots of other self-appointed self-aggrandizing titles have been used by leaders in the Church of God-Armstrongist movement for decades. It is meant as a psychological tool to impress members and to keep them in church under the iron hammers of church government and control.

The other thing their titles were meant to convey to us is that they wanted us to believe that they possess special insights from God that no other human has ever had. Most of the time they try to make us believe that God speaks directly to them and delivers all kinds of fantastical tales and utterances, which actually 99.99% of the time is utter bullshit.

All of these bumptious "men" have proven to be nothing more than vomit-producing loudmouths who have no real understanding of the Bible and the New Covenant, nor do any of them have a real relationship with Jesus, that rascally dude who constantly upsets their applecarts yet is the one who they claim to follow, but actually do not.

Each one of the splinter leaders employs different manipulative catchphrases that are psychological tools to keep members engaged with the mountainous piles of crap they dish out daily, which ultimately have no benefit or bearing on the spiritual life of their followers. Sadly, far too many are still enthralled by cocksure bleatings by these buffoonish men.

Exit and Support Network had this up about Gerald Flurry's manipulation.

Adept at Using Copious Psychological Methods:
May 28 2024 

 

GF and his evil so-called “ministers” are extremely adept at using copious psychological methods in their literature and videos to pique people’s interest to pull them in. Words such as: lost, lost secret, God’s secret, key to, key of David, unlocks, what is truth, mystery, important message, miracle, end-time bible prophecy, world events, God’s true church; free booklet, etc., etc. 

 

One of the biggest lies I think I’ve read was in a 2016 article where they said: “Mr. Armstrong possessed insight like no other man of his time because he didn’t speak from his own mind, but from the mind of God—through the truth revealed in the Bible. Before his death in 1986, he accurately prophesied of many world events that were to take place—and they have or are coming to pass today. [Read: Did Herbert Armstrong Set Dates?] … Today, Gerald Flurry continues the same work…” (i. e., the same con game.) 

 

It’s uplifting to hear many have been brave enough to leave this cult. Gerald Flurry’s final day of reckoning is coming and hopefully soon! –R. O.

Crackpot Prophet Has Publicly Declared It Is Ok To Say Amen At End Of A Prayer!

 

Amen, Bro!

Back in 2017, we reported how Ron Harmon had a meltdown over the use of the word "amen" and disassociated himself from the House of God group. (see: More Upheaval In the COG: Pastor Resigns Over Use of "Amen" at End of Prayers). Harmon had a fit because he says the word "amen" means you are asking the sun god "Aman-Ra" from ancient Egypt to bless your prayer.

We ran another article in 2020 where this idiocy was brought up again, this time claiming the use of amen has Egyptian roots, again rooted in the deity Amun. (see: Saying Amen is Wrong? Missing the point all together.)

Never fear though if you do have concerns, Since the Great Bwana Bob Mzungu Thiel has to weigh in on EVERY jot and tittle he has thus declared saying amen is perfectly ok! 

The Great One says:

While some may say that saying Amen sounds too much like Amon (or that the sun-god’s name is also sometimes pronounced as A-men), we do not stop using words just because they have a similar sound in English as pagan deities.

For an example, one of the main Egyptian deities was Ra. People from certain parts of the USA pronounce the English word “raw” as “rah.” When one is speaking about something that is raw, one is not invoking a pagan deity. Ending prayers with Amen is also not invoking a pagan deity.

Interestingly, after I wrote all of that for the prayer booklet, my family and I actually visited an Egyptian museum in Northern California last month. And there, I was also able to confirm that the way we say ‘Amen’ is not the way that the Egyptian god is addressed. Those who claim otherwise apparently have not looked at this in sufficient detail and/or have dismissed Hebrew and Greek scriptures.

It is appropriate to end prayers with Amen.

So let it be written, so let it be done! 

When all of this stupidity was coming out, a person on Facebook said this:

Thought this was funny. What if we said Amen all those times heartening back to the “pagan” god of Amun in a church SO careful not to do anything even remotely of such origins??! I grew up in South Texas and we took a church youth field trip to a museum where we learned that tortillas were originally round in worship of the Sun god in Aztec culture. No ministers stopped chowing down on tacos. 🌮 Tacos continued to show up at every potluck and church picnic where I was from!! My point I guess is that the true roots of a lot of things are convoluted. Many hands have touched, for instance, what a cross means. It’s a very common symbol I’ve see engraved and sculpted by many cultures as I’ve had the opportunity to travel the world. Mrs. Armstrong saw what she thought were Easter eggs engraved in the walls in Egypt and HWA declared them pagan because something that looked like them decorated Ancient Egyptian ruins - I’ve seen those same engravings when I travelled there. Tour guides of multiple cultures have given me so many explanations for the meaning of the exact same symbol. The WCG/COGs not only are hypocritical in this, but they miss the point all together. I think things, symbols, and words hold the meaning we give them. Facebook