Is "Armstrongism" an accurate name for the COG movement he founded?

Over the decades there have been countless books and articles published about the Worldwide Church of God that was founded by Herbert Armstrong.  Most of these books call his movement "Armstrongism" because he was the founder who claimed to have received revealed knowledge directly from God.

Brandy Webb, of the Church of God International takes exception to the phrase.

The other day, I was reading a comment on a blog regarding COGs (Church of God churches) and it basically grouped them all in the term “Armstrongism.” I have heard the term before, but honestly, I have never really looked into what defined something as being “Armstrongism” until reading some derogatory comments regarding COGs. 

I am not at all easily offended, and I know a lot of people can’t seem to get over the bad things they went through in the past due to Worldwide Church of God (WCG) and the churches that split off from them. Bitterness is a hard weed to pull out of oneself once it has rooted deeply within one’s soul. However, I never knew that the observance of Sabbath and Holy Days were created by Herbert W. Armstrong. Yes, I am being a little sarcastic here, but seriously, it is considered “Armstrongism” if you believe that we are to observe God’s Holy Days. 

Well, I would like to set the record straight. Armstrong wasn’t alive during creation week when God created the sun, moon, and stars to mark His seasons also known in Hebrew as moed, appointed time, place or meeting (Genesis 1:14). This term is the same term in Leviticus 23when God tells Moses to teach the Israelites about His appointed times/Holy Days. In addition, Armstrong was not there when the first Sabbath was created and sanctified (Genesis 2:2-3). In fact, I am positive that he was not the first Christian to desire keeping the Sabbath and Holy Days either. I can see from the Bible that the Sabbath and the Holy Days were kept in the New Testament by not only Jesus but also His disciples, after His crucifixion (some references: John 7:1-44; Luke 4:16; Acts 13:4; Acts 17:2; Acts 20:6; 1 Corinthians 11:23-29). Never in all their teachings did they teach that they were done away with either.

A person commenting on the story had this to say about why Armstrongism is an accurate word to describe the movement:

Armstrongism was the teachings of Herbert W Armstrong that many could not be verified with the Bible but they can be refuted with the Bible. The doctrines of his church could be liken to a potluck where some vain person sampled everything that was offered and claim they were all his. He borrowed some of the beliefs of the Catholics some from the Baptism, and some from secular beliefs and teaching, such as the modern-day identity of Israel, he even borrowed or should we say stole beliefs of the Seventh-day Adventist who for the most part he condemn. Armstrongism was based on new revelations that he only had access to. The number one doctrine that was kept hidden was to convince the people to support his personal business better known as the Worldwide Church of God. 

Herbert Armstrong claimed the everything he taught was a direct revelation from his God.  that included Sabbath keeping, Holy Days and the teaching on unclean meats.  Then in his arrogance and vanity, he started adding to those "new beliefs" hundreds and hundreds of peripheral teachings. When families started being ripped apart and lives ruined, the church appropriately was called Armstrongism.  They were his own unique teachings alone that were not part of the New Covenant.  Those teaching where then further bastardized by the likes of Rod Meredith, Gerald Waterhouse, James Malm, Bob Thiel and many others who took things to the extreme.

Dave Pack Deletes Many of His Teachings As He Edits His Sermon Series For Public Consumption

A reader here with an inside track at the Restored Church of God sent the following quote from Dave Pack's recent upload of his endless series of sermons preached at his cult HQ "church."

Dave has made so many wild speculations that he forgets what he has said or claims he has had some new revelation from his god that invalidated a former comment.  So far in his series he has published the transcripts to 49 sermons that he has preached.  Sermons that supposedly are revealing the hidden words of God for the first time since they had been written down. Even Herbert Armstrong was not as smart as Dave! For some reason when Jesus was personally revealing to Herbert Armstrong the truth that had been lost for 1,900 years, he forgot to tell Herb the hidden things he has now been revealing to Dave. Through all of this Dave's members have been sitting there swallowing every revelation as if God personally handed it to Dave.

Apparently though Dave has had to edit almost  every sermon he has preached.  He has made so many mistakes that significant portions have  to be deleted.  Shame on Jesus for revealing the wrong information!

Dave Pack Admits He Has Preached Wrong Information, But Members Refuse to Hold Him Accountable

"As we’re preparing all of these transcripts, one of the things we’re doing, brethren, is we’re cutting large swaths of it out wherever there was error and wherever there was any kind of exaggerated emphasis on me that could be offensive. I want all of that…I want to look like a mustard seed through the 49 or 50, 52 different parts of this. There are just some things I want to not say to everybody outside that they don’t need to hear. They don’t need to understand. 

"I want them to understand this terrible trial they’re going to go through, that they can escape it; how the Kingdom of God will come, and where their part in it is. They don’t need to hear all the error that we’ve had to walk out of through this long series. They don’t need to hear what my role is, or there are just certain things that don’t need to be in it. Partly, to make it shorter and less daunting for even the most serious Bible students, who might say, can I really read all that? The serious ones will and others won’t, and we may break out certain ones for the people who say I don’t want to read them all, and we give them a chance to read certain key ones. The three on the Man of Sin might be such a case—this one, and Part 31, and one other that came a little later. 

"So, in some of these parts of the series, I speculated, and some of that speculation is being cut out; some will be left in. But we’re going to speculate here."

Ian Boyne | Are The Gospels Reliable?

Ian Boyne invites your comments:

Ian Boyne | Are The Gospels Reliable?

It's that time of the year when the big American media focus on Christianity, alleged contradictions in the Gospels, and the controversy surrounding whether the Bible is really true. Often, the discussion is unbalanced, sensational, and less than fully informed.

There are certain regularly regurgitated views that have not, by any means, been proven beyond reasonable doubt, yet they are taken as dogma in liberal biblical scholarship. Take the view, heard frequently expounded by Mutabaruka on The Cutting Edge, that the Gospels were originally anonymous. You will hear Muta asserting with absolute dogmatism many nights: "Dem seh Matthew, Luke, Mark, and John wrote the Gospels, and Christians in Jamaica don't even know seh that when dem book dey did write, no name never deh pon dem."

Well, that same view is written in perfect English and intoned with impeccable diction every day in scholarly circles. But is it beyond reasonable doubt? And how would one prove that the Gospels originally had no authors' names on them? Well, manuscript evidence would help. If we found manuscripts dated early that were anonymous, that would constitute proof. Yet do you know, despite the fact that Muta's view is, indeed, held by many scholars, that there is absolutely no manuscript evidence that the Gospels were originally anonymous? The earliest Gospel manuscripts discovered had the names Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

To assert that they were added later without supplying proof is intellectually irresponsible. Often, it is a theory that determines a particular viewpoint, not empirical evidence. If the dominant view is that the Gospels are folklore rather than biographical literature, one simply infers that the Gospels were likely anonymous in line with that genre of literature. So in that case, it is the theory that determines the view, not the facts determining the theory.

All the extant copies of the New Testament Gospels date from the second century. The earliest (Papyrus 4) has the title, 'The Gospel According to Matthew'. The oldest Greek copy of the Gospel of Mark, Codex Siniaticus, begins with the title 'The Gospel cording to Mark'. It is felt by liberal scholars that the reason why the anonymous Gospels were later changed to ones with names we know today is because of the need to establish authenticity.

You see, when early Christians began to face competition with different views of Jesus being circulated in the other Gospels about him (Marcionite, Ebionite, and Gnostic), it was necessary to attach the names of apostles or their disciples/companions to our four Gospels to establish their superiority. Remember, liberal scholars see the Bible as theological and political documents, not historical accounts. Their concern is not so much historical accuracy, but faith.

So in the face of the Gospels that eventually lost out, early Christians attached apostolic names to the Gospels. Well, let's test that theory for plausibility. First, why wouldn't the earliest Christians have thought of that from the beginning? Why didn't they attach the names originally to gain authenticity? Were they so dumb that they never thought impostors could arise later to claim authenticity for their rival Gospels? Why circulate anonymously for a hundred years?

But there's more. If the early Christians wanted to attach the names of disciples of Jesus just to confer legitimacy and trump others, why only attach two names - Matthew and John? For, remember, Mark was really written by John Mark, who was an associate of Peter's, and Luke was written by an associate of Paul's. Why wouldn't the early Christians, if they were forgers, as the well-known liberal atheistic biblical scholar Bart Ehrman charges, not attribute all four Gospels to disciples? Why not then have a Gospel according to Andrew or Phillip or Thomas, the Doubting One? (The later forgers did, in fact, name their Gospels after disciples.)

NO EVIDENCE 

If the earliest Christian communities were into deception, why have companions of Peter and Paul (the latter who was not even one of the Twelve) write the earliest histories of Christianity? The anonymous Gospels thesis is implausible. Plus, if the four Gospels were anonymous and later attributed to authors, why is there no evidence of any early controversy or debate over this? There are books in the Bible over which there has been considerable debate about authorship. A number of books attributed to Paul are hotly contested even today.

And there is one book that even conservative scholars admit we don't know who wrote it - the Book of Hebrews. Many thought it was written by Paul, but others have said that it was written by his companion, Timothy, and still others by Barnabas. Church Father Origen in the Second Century famously said, "Only God knows" who wrote Hebrews. There was no such controversy over the authorship of the four Gospels among church fathers.

The Gospels were well attested by all of them. People like Papias (AD 130), who was a disciple of John; Justin Martyr (AD 140-165); Irenaeus (around AD 180); and Clement (around AD 200) all testified to the authenticity of the four Gospels. What about the Da Vinci Code theory that it was pure politics that determined the Christian canon? In other words, that what we have with the Gospels are simply those books that won out in the political struggle?

Why do we have the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and not The Infancy Gospel of Thomas, The Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Judas, and the Gospel of Peter, which were another four Gospels in circulation? There is one historical fact that must be noted: These Gospels that did not make it into the Christian canon were later than the four that did. You would sometimes get the impression in the discussion that they were written around the time of the Bible's Four and just didn't make the cut because of politics and expediency. No.

None of them was written in the first century, and the scholarly consensus is that our biblical four were. They were written well within the lifetime of Jesus, the Apostles, and those who followed them. The Gospels were written between, AD 60s and AD 90s, according to most scholars.

University of Notre Dame Professor Brant Pitre, in his brilliantly argued book, The Case for Jesus: Biblical and Historical Evidence for Christ (2016) says:

"The destruction of the Temple is never mentioned as a past event in any of the Gospels. If the Gospels were written after the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, then why don't the writers emphasise that Jesus's prophecy had been fulfilled? That would be a natural thing to do."

That is exactly what Luke did, as recorded in Acts 11: 27-28 when he wrote that the prophet Agabus foretold the worldwide famine " ... and this took place in the days of Claudius".

So Pitre asks a logical question: "Isn't it strange that Luke would go out of his way to emphasise that the prophecy of a little-known Christian prophet named Agabus had been fulfilled in the days of the emperor Claudius (the 40s AD) but fail to mention that Jesus' prophecy of the destruction of the temple had been fulfilled in AD 70?"

The indications are that Mark and Matthew were written before AD 70 and the recorded prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem was given as a warning for Christians to flee (See Matthew 24:15, 20).   Jamaica Gleaner

- Ian Boyne is a veteran journalist working with the Jamaica Information Service. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and ianboyne1@yahoo.com.

It's That Time of Year: The Annual COG Pseudo Christmas Celebrations

COG News has this about how UCG, COGWA and LCG have their pretend non-Christmas Celebrations.

2016 will be the 20th year for the Annual Winter Family Weekend, to be held at the Griffin Gate Marriott Resort in Lexington, Kentucky, December 23-26. The event is open to all.

Three Church of God groups in the USA have taken up the tradition of holding a very large social gathering over the Christmas period.

Church of God a Worldwide Association members will be in Louisville, Kentucky, December 23-27, where the Galt House Hotel will be offering a range of seasonal activities for its young guests.

The United Church of God Family Weekend, will be at the Great Wolf Lodge in Mason, Ohio, December 23-27.

The Family Weekend for members of the Living Church of God will take place at the Renaissance Charlotte Suites Hotel, North Carolina, December 22-25.

“Activities will begin on Thursday evening with a casual themed dance at the hotel. Friday morning there will be a number of targeted seminars followed by an afternoon activity. Friday night and Saturday morning there will be special Bible Studies for everyone. We plan to again live-stream the Saturday afternoon Church service over the Internet. Saturday night there will be a formal dinner/dance for all ages. Sunday we will have the increasingly popular Sports Day with basketball and volleyball tournaments, free play, kids’ games and lots of free food! Sunday night we will wrap things up at the hotel with a Games Night. Last year we had over 800 people join us for the events and we hope that this year even more of you will attend. So grab your dance shoes and your tennis shoes and come join us for an exciting weekend of physical and spiritual rejuvenation!”—Jim Meredith

The Streets Cry Out!

Over the decades there have been various crackpots that have come up with all kids of pet theories, wild speculations and outright lies.  It is this same legacy that has allowed Bob Thiel and James Malm to flourish and find a few gullible members to join them.  Liars have always found fertile ground in the Church of God. We have had lying false prophets that knew the exact timeline of prophetic prophecy.

We have had crack pots that claimed the egret found in front of he Auditorium were going to come alive, four of them would pick up the auditorium and the fifth would lead the way as they flew it to Petra. This idiot actually had people who followed him out of the church over this.

One of the crazy things that was swirling around Pasadena when I came to college was the belief by some that God had personally placed his name on the campus.  That belief gained traction because of the street names surrounding the main campus.

Green Street
Orange Grove
Del Mar
St. John

When you take the first letter of each street you come up with this, "GODS," God's campus.  God's church, God's college.  You name it and some idiot claimed God was behind it.

That belief is still in existence today, even though God apparently abandoned the property a couple decades ago.

There is a new crackpot claiming to be God's mouthpiece, just like all the other COG face prophets out there.  This guy is Lee Clark.

The streets cry out!

As long as we're here let's apply the principle of using names to identify who Jesus is talking to in this letter. Notice that in verse 12 the word God is used exactly four times. Now did you know the following interesting bit of trivia? The Worldwide Church of God's Ambassador College campus in Pasadena, California, is bordered by four main streets. On the north is Green Street. On the west is Orange Grove. On the south is Del Mar. And on the east is St. John. These are all names of streets. Streets are places. Now if you take the first letter of each of the streets that border the campus, starting at the north and moving counterclockwise, they spell G-O-D-S. GODS!!! 

Most will say that this is just coincidence. Is it?! I can heap so many coincidences like this on top of each other that after awhile anyone with a converted mind will only be able to conclude that God Himself is so powerful and intelligent and detail-oriented that He planned all these "coincidences" out some time long ago in the eternity that He inhabits and that when Jesus, who had been God in the flesh, dictated these letters to the apostle John, He knew exactly what He would raise up in the future. He knew down to names of the streets that He would have a Worldwide Church of God in Pasadena, California, USA, eighteen-and-a-half centuries down the road. And He named the streets this way to remind us of our destiny!

Living Church of God Says There Is Splattered Blood On Christmas Trees

Requested reposting:

The Living Church of God has another ridiculous article up about Christmas.  This time the personalty cult is claiming that the red on Christmas trees symbolizes splatted blood.  Long red ribbons symbolize the "flowing blood of pagan temple priests who ran around slashing their bodies.

The man-god Attis, after an unsuccessful courtship of the goddess Cybele, mutilated himself, “under a pine-tree, and bled to death on the spot. ... After his death Attis is said to have been changed into a pine-tree … [in worship practices] a pine-tree was cut in the woods and brought into the sanctuary of Cybele, where it was treated as a great divinity … Stirred by the wild barbaric music of clashing cymbals, rumbling drums, droning horns, and screaming flutes, the inferior clergy whirled about in the dance with waggling heads and streaming hair, until, rapt into a frenzy of excitement and insensible to pain, they gashed their bodies with potsherds or slashed them with knives in order to bespatter the altar and the sacred tree with their flowing blood.” (The Golden Bough, Sir James George Frazer, “The Myth and Ritual of Attis” Chapter 34).

Attis’ bloody act under an evergreen tree, along with—as the historical record points out—subsequent duplications by Attis worshippers, has provided paganism with its seasonal red and green motifs.

When Dave Pack Apostatized From The Mother Church He Took All The Thorns and Thistles With Him

Superfantabulous Dave Pack claims that the ministers who leave his cult take all the thorns and thistle members with them, thus leaving Dave with the delightful fruit.  Of the tens of thousands COG members Dave has been a pastor to over the decades he learned to discern who the "prickly" rebellious members were.

One of the interesting things I have learned down through the years…When I watch ministers leave…It could have been Worldwide; sometimes, it was Global, and certainly, in the Restored Church of God. Mr. Armstrong saw hundreds of ministers leave. To some newer brethren it might be surprising if they hear ministers leave. They have been leaving for 2,000 years. Hundreds left while Mr. Armstrong was alive—need we even talk about what they did after he died? It’s a big subject. I have noticed that when ministers leave, invariably, there are a couple of things about them. They never served much. That’s number one—they never served much, and the people who follow them always had, virtually, no fruit. They were thorns and thistles…

In the Church, there are always thorns and thistles. They practically poke you at socials and different activities, at times. Down through the decades, I have seen it. I have pastored thousands and thousands and thousands of people, and there are people who are wonderful—warm, loving, spirit-led people—and other people, who God just reduces and says they are thorns and thistles. They are, literally, prickly in some cases. You don’t want to be known as somebody who is prickly. But ministers who leave, take those kinds of people with them.

Dave then proceeds to tell everyone that he is a false minister, just like James Malm and Bob Thiel.  Look at the people who followed Dave, Bob and James.  They have attracted the bottom of the barrel from the COG.

One of the ways you know a false minister is look at who follows him. Now, Christ’s sheep know His voice, and they don’t follow strangers. What has been exciting to me…I’ve gone back and looked, over the last three-and-a-half years, at the ministers who have left us. Almost all of them—almost all of them—took nobody. We looked back and realized they were terrible ministers. They weren’t serving. They couldn’t take anybody with them. I watched in the earlier years under Mr. Armstrong, sometimes, men would rise up and they would take large numbers. Most of our ministers take no one but their wife and children. A few take a few, and they were always thorns and thistles…problems. Now that might seem strange to you.

Dave Pack: God's Most Favorite Dendrologist

Superfantabulous Dave Pack is such an incredible man that he also if a world renown dendrologist that has been studying trees all of his life.  Is there any subject that Dave does not know something about?  Of course there is an anterior motive behind Dave's tree study.  He developed this hobby in order to be able to discern good "Trees" from bad "trees.  Those trees are ministers.  Dave knows all about ministers who do not bear fruit.  They are the foolish leaders of the LCG, PCG, UCG, including Bob Thiel and James Malm.

“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves…[The Sermon on the Mount is all the basics—so that’s a basic.]…You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree brings forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit” (Matt. 7:15-18).

I wish I had remembered this verse, and also Matthew 3, back when we were studying the trees of Zechariah 11. Christ calls ministers “trees.” They are either good trees or bad trees. Now, the last two Sundays, we’ve had a team working in the upper woods, there, and we cut over 350 trees down (many of them small) over the last two Sundays. I will be here tomorrow, after Mother’s Day in the morning, and I’ll be cutting a lot more trees. There will be three guys joining me who have been very helpful. We are getting a lot done. It’s going to be a very beautiful woods. I am very careful. Don’t worry. I let others use the chainsaws now. I use a handsaw and cut the smaller ones. But I want to be very, very careful exactly how we do this. I want these woods to be beautiful. Everybody knows I have studied trees all my life. I know why that was. God compares good and bad ministers to trees—that’s just what He said. False prophets…and then He goes and talks about trees.

The Perpetually Angry "god" of the Self-Appointed COG Leaders

When Jesus returns the second time, before the third time, he will come to slaughter one at a time, three Church of God leaders. Dave Pack's "jesus" will then proceed to spend several more years killing all kinds of people.  Why does the "god" that the various self appointed leaders of Armstrongism follow always  need to be such a violent and perpetually pissed off creature?

If you really want to understand what we began to study four years ago—the “remnant” prophecy, where we were learning Christ was going to cut off three shepherds—the very first group of enemies that Christ deals with. So He starts with those enemies. When Christ begins to work…He says “Open the doors and let the fire devour the cedars” and He executes those three shepherds in sequence. The last one is Christ—remember—coming to His Temple…We will see that in a moment…and beginning a process that takes years, of where He gets rid of—He defeats—all His enemies.

The Kings and Priests of the Church of God

Living Church of God: Masonic Temple Refuses To Renew Contract For Church Sending Lil'Jimmy Into A Frantic Search

The weirdest comment below is about Mario Hernandez, the narcissistic abusive legalist masquerading as a minister, where he claims he saw "demons" in the Masonic Lodge that the Charlotte congregation has met in for years.  I can guarantee you that Mario did not see any demons.  That is a fact.  The crazy magical thinking that is predominate in the Church God is fertile ground for such crazy imaginations.  Just look at what it has done to Bob Thiel!

From an LCG source:

The Masonic temple in Charlotte is not renewing LCG's rental contract (there is construction planned on the site) so Lil Jimmy is running around Charlotte trying to figure out an alternative meeting place for weekly Sabbath services.

In true LCG hypocrisy, many ministers and members explain away the trial by saying that "God doesn't want His people worshipping Him from such a Pagan temple". I've also heard people say that "God is protecting LCG from demons that Mario Hernandez saw in the Masonic hall" so He orchestrated a way for His people to be forced out of that hall.

The reason statements like this stink of hypocrisy is that during the McNair /League Purge of 2014, people were kicked out of church for voicing concerns about the temple LCG was holding weekly services in and accused of "causing division".

Now LCG wants to use the very same reason people were kicked out in their defense! They have no shame.

Lil' Jim must now find an equally comfy hall but with "room for growth" because they continue to preach that the "work is growing" and they are so delusional they actually believe that they need a hall that will hold 500-600 people so they are "prepared" when all this "growth" occurs. 

Lil' Jimmy's search is not going to be easy. The church is broke so they need something cheap in addition to needing something fast. Most "worldly" churches aren't an option because although Mr. Meredith appears to be okay with corn hanging from the ceiling in weird ritual rooms, bizarre alters on the same stage he uses to preach from, pentagrams, all-seeing eyes, Baphamets, Masonic bibles and worshipping from "Pagan temples", Old Man Meredith draws a hard line when it comes to having church in a hall that might have stained glass depictions of Biblical stories or heaven forbid... a cross.

Scientology and The Living Church of God

From an LCG source:

I recently happened upon a new show on A&E called "Scientology and the Aftermath". It drew me in immediately because of its similarities to my experience with the Global/Living Church of Rod.

The Scientologist have achieved what ACOGs could only hope for in in terms of their membership and size but the ACOGs, LCG and PCG especially, have nailed the member abuse just like the big guys.

I can just imagine Rod Meredith and Gerald Weston tuning in to A&E to learn new cruel and abusive ways to manipulate, control and destroy anyone who dare question them or anyone who fails to 'understand' that they are to be obeyed because they 'represent Christ'.

The leaders of Scientology practice "Disconnection" which is akin to ACOG's  "marking". Family members and friends are forced to shun whomever the leaders decide they should without evidence or explanation. To do otherwise puts one at risk of being 'disconnected' themselves and everyone fears that because their whole lives and all their friends are within the church (sound familiar?).

They also practice something called "Fair Game" which basically means it's okay to defame, lie about, set-up, etc anyone that questions the church or fails to demonstrate 100% obedience. They believe that the "ends justify the means" which is completely on track with how Meredith and Pack think (and we already know that these men are completely fine with lying if it serves them)

The manipulation of followers and the overtly evil and corrupt leadership of these groups is eerily similar to Armstrong splinters. 

Listening to survivors tell their exit stories is eye-opening and powerful. I literally prayed that as many ACOG members as possible would see this show in hopes that they would see how their minds were being controlled. I hope Meredith/Pack battered sheep with see these stories and feel empowered to make the change no matter how hard it is. I know that many of them know in their hearts that their churches are not the church of God and yet they lack the courage to brake away and truly seek God and obey him. Put not your trust in man...

Here's the link to the show:

Scientology and the Aftermath

CGI: Bill and Wayne’s Excellent Adventure in Politics

Bill and Wayne’s Excellent Adventure in Politics

By

Lonnie C. Hendrix

The Church of God International has reaffirmed its bona fides as a legitimate part of the Armstrong Church of God culture. Like their counterparts within the ministries of most of the other descendants of the Worldwide Church of God, Bill Watson and Wayne Hendrix have made clear that they are firmly in the conservative/Republican camp when it comes to American politics. The CGI’s latest webcast, Post Election Discussion, is an adventure into the political mindset of most folks within this culture.

They begin their conversation with a discussion of the liberal/Democratic media bias which they claim should be obvious to anyone with an ounce of sense (sound familiar?). According to Bill and Wayne, the media was in the tank for Hillary. The way they see it, the media neglected the stories about her “ethical” problems; and instead focused on calling poor Donald Trump a racist, misogynist and homophobe (the implication being that there is not one shred of evidence to support the use of such labels – in other words, please ignore all of The Donald’s statements during the campaign). As with many other issues, they pine for the good old days when journalists were neutral and exhibited “professionalism” (like the folks over at Fox News?).

Next, they move on to an examination of some of the statements which various celebrities (Cher, Snoop Dogg, Kelly Clarkson) made expressing dismay over the results of the election. They proceed to make fun of the distress that many folks have felt over the election of Donald Trump. They simply cannot seem to understand how anyone could be that disenchanted with the results of the 2016 election. According to Bill and Wayne, most of the protesters are paid by the likes of George Soros and his allies to do so. In other words, the notion that these crowds might be motivated by genuine disgust with the result is not even worth considering.

For Bill and Wayne, God is in control – the right person to fulfill God’s plan always wins. Barack Obama was exalted to tear down America, and Donald Trump was anointed to set things right.

At one point, they even go so far as to compare Trump’s ascendancy to the U.S. Presidency with the ascension of Josiah to David’s throne. They even venture to speculate as to what degree Trump might be able to “turn things around.” At the very least, they conclude that Trump will probably be able to slow down America’s decline. In fairness, they do finally admit that the analogy is not perfect – that Mr. Trump is no saint, and that his focus is very secular in nature.

In their analysis of Trump’s victory over Clinton, they conclude that a vote for her would have been a third term for Obama. Fortunately, according to them, the American people voted against Obama’s policies (what happened to their assertion that Clinton was an extremely flawed candidate with serious ethical issues). For them, Donald Trump was the champion of the average American – ordinary folks – the common man. There is no mention of the fact that Trump won with 46% of the popular vote (meaning 54% of Americans voted for someone else for president). There is no mention of the fact that Clinton received almost three million more votes than he did (I guess those Americans don’t count as average, ordinary or part of the majority they have in mind).

Finally, almost as an afterthought, Bill and Wayne address the issue of whether or not it is appropriate for two elders of “God’s Church” to discourse on political issues. Of course, they conclude that it would be remiss on their part not to address the topic. Apparently, they feel that their perspective (inspired as it is by the Holy Spirit) is indispensable to a right understanding of the issues involved. Thus we are left to wonder, do these guys honestly believe that they are presenting God’s perspective on the 2016 election? AND, if that isn’t what they are suggesting, why should church members be interested in anything they have to say on the topic?

One thing on which we can all agree with Bill and Wayne:  The country is very polarized/divided. Nevertheless, finding ourselves in agreement on this one point, one has to ask:  Why would two ministers of Almighty God decide to take sides in such an environment? Wouldn’t the more prudent course for a minister be to stick to religious/spiritual issues? What do you think?

I Told Rod Meredith to NOT Write His Autobiography, but He Refused to Listen to Me, as Usual!

The other day when the COG News and this blog posted about Rod Meredith announcing that he has published the first three chapters of his new autobiography, it sent those that know his legacy into instant mocking.  One person however did one of his typical self-aggrandizing meltdown's.   It won't take too much guessing to know that the person pontificating was our very own Almost Arrested, Elisha, Elijah, Joshua, Amos, Joel, Second Witness, Self-appointed Mayan authority and certified False Prophet, lashed out at Rod Meredith for DARING to write his autobiography.

Theil wrote one of his holier-than-thou posts declaring that he personally told Rod Meredith many years to NOT write an autobiography until he corrected doctrinal problems in the Living Church of God.  Daddy Rod refused to listen to his wayward egotistical "son" and started the book anyway.  The non-ordained leader of the falsely called "continuing" Church of God was NOT happy!  How DARE Rod Meredith IGNORE his "words of wisdom!"

Gerald Weston wrote, December 8th: “We have all encouraged Dr. Meredith to write an autobiography to fill in some of the history of the Church, since he played such a major part in the Work of God under Mr. Herbert Armstrong. This week he distributed the first of a planned three-part series, titled ‘The Early Years’. The importance of this project cannot be understated, as he is the last man to fill in many details in the early years of Ambassador College and the Radio Church of God during its existence and afterward ...

Well, that may be the case now that "We have all encouraged Dr. Meredith to write an autobiography," but five years ago when I was an appointed advisor to Dr. Meredith, I discouraged him from writing his autobiography as I explained to him that it was much more important for him to correct errors in doctrine, literature, church history, and prophecy that he and the other Charlotte-based evangelists admitted LCG had. Well, it looks like Dr. Meredith ultimately decided to write his autobiography instead of correcting those errors. It was sending out known errors, breaking promises, and making it clear that he did not need to keep his promises that led me to leave LCG

Why does this little man think that Rod Meredith should be listening to him?  Since he is not ordained, is not a real COG minister or leader, has never been appointed by God for any purpose, and  does not have a real theological education, why does he assume anyone wants to listen to him?

Thiel should have realized that people would have a field day with his published comments, but no.  After making a complete fool of himself with his disgusting tirade against Gavin, Thiel must have known he would catch some shade for being such an in considerate fool.  Poor thing, he just CANNOT do anything right any more.