Vern Mattson On Herbert Armstrong Committing Incest

Here is an excerpt from a letter from a former COG member that talks about Herbert Armstrong committing incest with his daughter Dottie.

 They found that at this time, Vern Mattson resided in Sun City, AZ., the year being 2010. Upon finding their number, my dad simply called them. Vern Mattson picked up. Dad just told him that he was a member of the Philadelphia Church of God and had been for a few years, raising his children in the Worldwide and in the PCG. Then, he just told him what my mom had heard and could these things be true? And, if they were, our dad's big question was, to Vern Mattson, why didn't someone, somebody in their family come out years ago, and tell the WCG, the truth?  

First thing out of Vern Mattson's mouth was that he couldn't believe that there was now an actual college named after Herbert Armstrong in Oklahoma3, and why would they do that? My dad's answer was, starting with Gerald Flurry, right on down, they firmly believed that he (Herbert W. Armstrong) was God's man. Whatever, over the years, that the leaders or members have heard or seen, no way would it or could it be believed! He told him, it's who they are, it's their lives, just like it was ours.  

It's what our fathers have taught us and on down the line it goes!! My dad said it was pretty quiet on the other end there, for a bit. Then he heard the words, "Well, it's true. You can believe it."  

He said he really had no problem talking about it now, because his wife Dottie [Dorothy], had just recently passed.4 He said it made him angry, sickened them for a long time, because of the thousands of people out there, in the WCG, that really had no idea! He told my dad things that evening, on the phone, that my dad felt responsible to tell me.   

Vern Mattson said, over the years, with all that's out there now, on these computers, David Robinson's book, and plenty others written by his top ministers; he said, you got the Ambassador Report, full of documented facts and dates, exposing all the lies, mishandling of money, the incest with his own daughter.5 When I found out what he had done to my wife when she was just a young girl, you see we raised a daughter too, this was his own daughter, scaring and hurting her like that, over and over again, I was going to kill him!  

I won't forget her words, years ago, when she asked me, how could a great and loving God go against Himself like that, by calling a man to raise up His "one and only true Church," a man that would hurt his own daughter like that?  

To all the fathers out there who have a daughter, your little girl, how would you answer that?  

I can tell you how Herbert Armstrong answered that, because of the last thing Vern Mattson told my dad on the phone that day, something he said, he has never forgotten. 

His wife, Dottie [Dorothy], told him of an incident that had happened back in the late `30s or so, that he could never ever repeat, but what he could say, was that she was pleading with her father one night, she wanted it to stop. (Herbert Armstrong had her in a hotel room, and her voice was overheard by others, and a person who worked there came knocking on their door, wondering if anything was wrong?) His reply, his answer--the man we so strongly believed in--his answer when my wife, his daughter, his little girl, cried out to him, was:  "God gave you to me and it is my job to teach you. This will help you to be a better wife someday."  

So there you are.

The entire letter can be read here on the Exit and Support web site.

Living Church of God: Did Doug Winnail Take A Swipe At Rod Meredith's Lack Of Love?

Doug Winnail really laid it on thick in his December 18, 2015 LCG Weekly Update. His remarks were made following the latest LCG Counsel of Elders meeting in which there was much disunity in the "most unified church EVER" about the direction of the church, doctrinal upgrades/theories, tactics to address all the bad PR they have earned in the last year and most especially WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE FACT THAT THEY ARE OVER-EXTENDED FINANCIALLY.  Counsel members all had to put their pet projects on the table for possible budget cuts. Alliances were formed and politics ruled the week. Winnail likely had all of that fresh in his mind when he penned this Update.

Sadly, anyone close to LCG headquarters or close to any honest minister who is willing to openly share his thoughts and observations about church government, knows what a load of crap these statements are coming from the head of Church Administration of one of the most corrupt and carnal church headquarters ever in the ACOG movement.

Winnail admonishes those in LCG to "develop and exercise Godly Love". Most of us would completely agree that Godly love is a real rarity in LCG's higher ups. Doug goes on to define Godly love as, "an unselfish outgoing concern for others" which again is true but in stark contrast to the self-serving, greedy, power hungry RCM and his LCG ministry that demands total obedience and admiration from their subjects. They expect to be served and are far too high and mighty to ever lower themselves to the level of a servant. The admiration and submission that many in LCG give them (think of the long lines at the Feast just to meet and shake the hand of Richard Ames or Rod Meredith) just fuels the flames of their over grown egos. The men at headquarters really impress themselves!

The best line in the whole piece is, "Godly love does not seek its own way; it is calm and not easily provoked, it does not jump to conclusions or assign motives or sit in judgment of others. Instead, Godly Love is gracious and forgiving". Seriously?! Rod Meredith is one of the most spoiled, narcissistic, self-seeking men I have ever met. He FREQUENTLY jumps to conclusions and assigns motives. He is RARELY gracious and forgiving and feels that as 3rd in all the universe, it is not only his right, but his duty to sit in judgment of WHOMEVER HE CHOOSES. 

It really makes one wonder if Winnail was aiming this piece directly at Meredith himself...

The Most Important Quality

Most of God’s people understand the importance of keeping the commandments, the Sabbath, the Holy Days and the health laws of the Bible. They also know the importance of government, tithing, faith and watching for the fulfillment of prophecy. Yet sometimes, in our zeal to obey the laws of God, we can overlook something else that is even more important—the need to develop and exercise Godly Love. We are told in the Scriptures that without Godly Love, we are nothing (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). Here the biblical word for love (agape) refers to an unselfish outgoing concern for others. In 1 Corinthians 13, the Apostle Paul states that Godly Love does not seek its own way; it is calm and not easily provoked, it does not jump to conclusions or assign motives or sit in judgment of others. Instead, Godly Love is gracious and forgiving. It is positive and focuses on what is right and true. It never fails or falters. Godly Love is the most important fruit of God’s Spirit that we must nourish and cultivate if we hope to become like our Father and Elder Brother Jesus Christ because God is love (1 John 4:8). Let’s make that our goal. Let’s ask God to help us learn how to love Him and love others as He does, so we can develop this most important quality of Godly Love. Have a profitable Sabbath,Douglas S. Winnail 

UCG Still Doesn't Know What It's Members Think After 10 Years of Surveys

You would think that the United Church of God knew what their members thought and felt.  Apparently not.  Its been 10 years now and they still can't figure out how to survey their members correctly, so they are giving it another shot, not that the UCG Big Boys really care what members think.  If they did why would they continue to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars every year on wasted campaigns and personal appearance campaigns?  That money has been wasted due to its inability to attract new members from the public.

Bill Bradford, as the chairman of the Strategic Planning and Finance Committee (SPFC), led the discussion looking to improve and prepare for the future survey for 2017. The SPFC has consulted with Julie Brown to work through this process. After 10 years of utilizing the same basic survey with occasional edits, it was felt best that we produce a new survey that specifically will meet our needs in serving the brethren, the ministry and the home office employees as we evaluate its input for the major strategic survey in 2017. They will also move up the time schedule to send to the brethren so that the Council will have additional time to review its content before the winter meetings of 2017. The emphasis is serving the brethren. There was much input to the topics they would like to know more about for the future survey.

If the Big Boys of UCG really want to serve the brethren why don't they go out and paint the poor members homes, help them repair their cars, buy food for their tables and truly be SERVANTS!  Better yet, how about becoming a 100% volunteer ministry instead using tithe money for your own personal interests.