Exposing the underbelly of Armstrongism in all of its wacky glory! Nothing you read here is made up. What you read here is the up to date face of Herbert W Armstrong's legacy. It's the gritty and dirty behind the scenes look at Armstrongism as you have never seen it before!
With all the new crazy self-appointed Chief Overseers, Apostles, Prophets, Pharisees, legalists, and outright liars leading various Churches of God today, it is important to hold these agents of deception accountable.
Herbert Armstrong's Tangled Web of Corrupt Leaders
Everything about Dave is one big exclusive club where special insider information is handed out to his followers. This in turn makes them feel special and set apart from the other Laodicean pond scum of the regular COG's. Dave claims Herbert Armstrong establish a method of decimating knowledge to the church members that was layered in its dissemination. The elite at Ambassador College got the strongest meat possible, much more than the low lever field church members. However, they in turn received more information that the public did. Its that old "milk and meat" thing. Dave admits he tries to emulate his guru from Pasadena. Even as vain as Herbert Armstrong was, he is no match for the vanity or narcissism of Dave Pack.
Now let me go to something else that I mentioned a few weeks ago. As we write literature…As Mr. Armstrong wrote literature, and then I did…you write it at a certain level of detail for the world. We go into all the world, all nations and teach all things whatsoever Christ has commanded. With every subject, decisions have to be made as to how much detail do you give on a subject to the world. You can write too much. You can get it, you can pull it all out of the Bible, but you can say too much, and then you miss the marvelous Plain Truth style that Mr. Armstrong taught, and which I tried to emulate.
But when it comes to the Church, then you can go to a much greater detail. You can go to what I call the “Church” level, not the “world” level. We can cover, in much more detail, this prophecy to the Church than we ever would to the world. If people want to respond to the part of it they see, which is enough to know whether it’s from the Bible, then they can come and hear a more detailed explanation. But beyond that, we all understand…again, under Mr. Armstrong…there was a level that was taught at Ambassador College and it went way beyond what the Church would hear.
The Church met once a week, on the Sabbath…of course, throw in Holy Days, and sometimes, two services…but that can’t begin to match up or compare to the level of detail that we could hear in Ambassador College. So Ambassador College, when you went four years, and most did, it had hundreds and hundreds of extra hours of detailed discussion just about prophecy, for instance, or on other doctrinal subjects. It was just way beyond where the Church would be—as much beyond, in some ways, as the Church beyond the world.
But then, if you made it into the ministry, and you came to conferences, and you read the Pastor General’s Report, there was even a fourth level, where you heard things within the ministry that sometimes did and sometimes didn’t ever make it out to the Church, but was even beyond the college. So, I want you to think of those natural thresholds that always existed.
What I have chosen to do…and in some ways, didn’t choose to do, but was sort of thrust into…was to give you a level of detail that’s probably at the minister’s level, except, in a way, beyond…because the ministers never understood this—including yours truly. We just never saw that we had a vine growing in the wrong place, and in tearing it clear all the way out of a beautiful tree and getting that vine over to where it belongs, took a long time. And it involved a lot of additional detail that sort of “begged itself,” if you will, begged to be explained as we undid what happened only in the twentieth century, to my knowledge. As we undid that, it lead us down a lot of corridors. In the end, it’s been a very detailed description.
It is heartening to know that brother Dave Pack is an authority on everything in the world. Not only is he a master lumberjack, but he is a great ornithologist! Who knew! He is such an all around man!
All of you probably have tried to pull vines out of places where they don’t belong. I have. We’ll be doing some more tomorrow. We have a lot of “old growth” forest, here, on the campus, and we have some of the biggest, toughest, tallest vines, wrapped up into giant trees, you could ever imagine. I’ve literally tried to pull some down. I usually work with a team of about five on Sunday mornings when we’re cutting trees, and some of these vines—four guys can swing on. Tarzan’s got nothing on them. [laughter] It’s amazing, and…Now, if you wait a year or two, they’ll rot, and they’ll fall out…but once a vine is entrenched in a tree, it’s incredibly difficult to get it out.
The kudzu vine will take over trees, and kill it and suffocate it. Anybody who’s ever tried to pull poison ivy vines out know how uniquely difficult they are to get out. They always grow up along poles and trees because birds eat poison ivy and then they eliminate the seeds right…Guess where…right at the edge of the poles or the trees, and then they grow up the trees, which is the way God designed it.
I wonder if birds will be allowed din the First Dominion? How can the First Dominion have bird poop soiling it up?
(Car salesman explaining to me why someone would buy the color car most people wouldn't be seen dead in)
This crowd loved it. Others...not so much It was, however, said to be the final nail in Benny's marriage.
Humans tend to select the religious beliefs that suit their needs, not their beliefs. Beliefs are maintained to keep feeling that whatever need they have for that belief is fulfilled. Beliefs and practice are more often a function of personality than many would like to admit. We might think of God as being able to call, work with and maintain a group of "Chosen Personalities" easier than generically "Chosen People." Cats tend to hang with cats, dogs with dogs and fish with fish. Organizations divide up in much the same way based on needs that lead to beliefs to maintain and fulfill that need. Have a need that is unfulfilled, and you will find a belief to meet the need. It's what the brain looks for when the mind is not happy, insecure or confused.
Some people need a thinking man's religion. Episcopal, Unitarians, Methodist and perhaps Lutheran (I'm being illustrative here based on my own experiences so keep this in mind), might fall into this category for people like that. The people, or at least their ministers, are highly educated in theology and, while often not able to share everything they know about the Bible, its origins, transmission, contradictions and problems, are open to the fact that human beings wrote it in some way inspired by God but maybe not perfectly or as we might have wished. These types tend to go with the flow and as long as church feels good, is informative and inclusive, their need is for that is fulfilled. Unitarians would allow for the most free thought, in my experience, and usually attract those that need to express and validate what their own personal studies about the errancy of scripture, the many ways God can be and a very large inclusiveness of all. Unitarians tend to meet people where they actually are in life and it is ok. They don't throw you out for understanding that Christmas is the birthday of lots of Godmen like Jesus, throughout history. Similarly,
Unity Churches (different from Unitarians) are a step above and you can understand that much of the theological cycle of belief can be understood in the study of astro-theology or the journey of the sun through the 12 signs of the zodiac. They also don't mind much if one is gay and any other ideas you have may also be welcomed, or tolerated. Love is the answer. We're all hear to learn. People who come to these types of churches tend to have suffered under the more fundamentalist denominations and beliefs, stepped outside the box of what they grew up with and simply refuse to be restricted in the beliefs that work for them personally any longer. They need to not be controlled or come under the "guidance" of personalities or denominations that demand respect as being specially called of God to annoy them. Of course, many are born into these churches too.
Some people and personalities need emotional experiences to feel good and loved. They seek people, churches and organizations that fill that need and arrange their beliefs to keep the flow going. Many Evangelicals fall into this need. Hand waving, lots of emotion charging music, group hugging and "fellowship" are high on their list of needs that fuel their beliefs about the truth their church has to offer. They love a good Passion Play or Christmas program with lots of human actors to play out the story of Jesus visually. They can't undertand why those who do not need that kind of emotional reenactment aren't crying along with them and wanting to go out and tell the world about Jesus. They loved Mel Gibson's "Passion of the Christ" and took it very very personally.
Their ministers tend towards the emotional type sermons, wipe their brows often in sweaty performances for Christ and walk around a lot behind the lectern. They like people, (not themselves) carrying big crosses down the isles and stages drapped in purple. Some of their ministers have a cadence in their speech would only work in church and a presentation that would make you chuckle, if it wasn't the minister under God's inspiration. The more gawdy, (no pun intended) the furniture, the better they like it because they think it resembles what God might use Himself in heaven. They like the color of gold as well and in fact, love the gold itself. Their followers give the gold too as if they were really giving it to God, who in fact, doesn't really need it personally. There is little accountability over the spending of the gold because God has informed the Pastor just how this should be done and that's pretty much the end of it. These folks tend to enjoy a good Gospel show and will support any visiting star of the Christian stage that comes to town, in addition to their local church.
When these types of people loose their spiritual minds during sermons and switch over to pure entertainment or freudian slips, they say things like Mrs. Benny Hinn, who a couple of years ago went nuts on stage telling the audience that they needed "a holy ghost enema right up their butts." She then proceeded to rant and rave, break the heal off her shoe, tell the audience she didn't need shoes and they needed to put on combat boots for Jesus and fell on her face. The scary part is that the audience applauded their approval loudly and with vigor. No critical thinkers here. Emotion, inclusiveness and specialness is what this group needed, along with accepting the ridiculous, and that worked just fine. Accepting the ridiculous in both religion and government is often the price one pays for wanting to feel safe, special and cared for. Not one person got up and said, "this is nuts and I am out of here." That's the power of need.
Some groups attract people who need to feel special and experience the direct and the perceived power of God. This would be Pentecostals who, while they tell the new person that speaking in tongues is not required, make them feel less than spiritual if in time they cannot perform this feat of emotion. Let's face it, if you can speak in a heavenly language that no one understands in fact, YOU ARE SPECIAL. The fact that speaking in Christian tongues sounds the same as speaking in voodoo tongues is beside the point. Add throwing yourself down on the floor and flopping around like a fish out of water, and your degree of godliness and specialness soars through the roof. This type of emotional need also brings Pentecostalism and Pentecostals the distinct honor of being the denomination that has the most sexual "sins" among it's membership and ministry over all. Emotionally motivated people need all emotions, not just the flopping around on the floor ones.
The best drinkers in the country are the Baptists who aren't allowed to drink by the church. The denominations that prohibit it suffer from the most alcohol abuse and alcoholism. The counties that ban it and go "dry" are the wettest counties in America behind the scenes. As they say, a Good Baptist can't remember you're name if they see you at the liquor store, or Hooter's. In these cases, "Thou shalt not..." provokes "Oh yeah, just watch this." The Baptists also have a very high turnover rate, perhaps the highest of men in the ministry for falling into the sins that they deride the congregations over week after week. "Me thinks thou does protest too much," applies quite a bit of the time when a man can't stop referring to specific sins or lifestyles, in my observation and experience. We tend to berate the things that fascinate us.
Some people need to feel secure and safe in a world that they perceive as ruled by satanic forces opposing the now just around the corner, (still) Second Coming of Jesus. Their churches and ministers tend toward reading the Bible like a newspaper and every world event is leading towards "the crisis at the close." It's all about prophecy, the true church vs. the false, the called vs. the uncalled and the saved vs. the unsaved. There is an immediacy in every sermon and you can't outgive God financially to do this end time work, but they ask you to try. God may love a cheerful giver, but being a cheerful tither is pretty much expected if you are sincere about knocking Satan off his throne for Jesus sake. You don't need to fix your teeth, your home or prepare for your children's education, because "by then" you'll be a spirit being born into the family of God, so give us your money.
Finally, there are those that need one grand religious know-it-all to tell them everything about God, Christ, Jesus, the Gospels and how it all fits together from Genesis to Revelation. These are the Religions of the Grand Poopas. The one minister that those who need the one man show follow is "amazing," "charismatic," "smart," "truly lead by God," "Knows the mind of God," (in all things by the way), and Apostolic in his ordination. To not come to services in groups like these is to be checked up on and ask why not. To miss an church sponsored event is to be thought of as "non-supportive," or even in danger of falling away from the church. The followers tend to sit back and just listen, needing the comfort of his words and perspectives while their own are dismissed as limited in scope. No one tells the Pastor he is out of line, as he is never out of line and no one has any authority over the man. While not often spoken, the feeling the man gives is that "when I need to be corrected, God will correct me." Of course, this is a rare even, often unrecognized by the man even it were to happen, which it doesn't, but no member can ever inform the Pastor of his mistakes or in some cases, mental problems.
I have often felt a minister or self appointed leader can better hide out in a church than in a corporate environment. IBM would fire by noon a man who declared himself to be the "One True CEO or Manager."
Ministers with mental problems or with narcissistic tendencies appear to be "spiritual" or more obedient to God, because they alway quote scriptures to make it sound like they are doing what an Isaiah, Jeremiah or Jesus would do. Aside: Did you you know Jesus wears a bracelet that says, "Why Did I Do that?" Some say it really asks, "What Would I Do?" Some church members who come under the authority, because for some reason they need to, of one man need to wear a bracelet that says "remember not to leave my brains at the door of this church every week." Oh well. Mental illness disguised as righteousness or obedience is what gets some churches, ministers and their members into the headlines. Quirkiness in the ministry can be harmless or harmful depending on the need to tolerate such things the congregation has. The level of toleration that some audiences have for the words spoken by the one man show can sometimes leave one's head spinning as to why. But only those that don't need that type of religion, who often in the past were victims of it, tend to be able to spot it when they see it.
People who need this type of church are easily lead and controlled, which is their need. "You tell me why the world is this way, and make me feel safe and special, and I'll support you." These people need to feel God's daily protection from harm, specialness and that "a thousand shall fall at thy right hand and ten thousand at thy left, but it shall not come nigh unto thy dwelling." Adventists, many Evangelicals and Christian Zionists fall into this category of need. Some take the need for personal security to great lengths with stored food reserves and a home arsenal that would make a Marine blush. Some will kill you and let God sort you out, if you get in their face or space, or try to inform them that the Bible may not be informing them quit as accurately about the times that THEY just happen to be living in as they think.
Whatever our need is that informs our beliefs, it might be safer to also understand these observations about not giving up your self, your brain, your money, your time or your need to let other people, organizations or governments do all your thinking for you. Don't let your needs take you into something that you'll end up sorry you got for your efforts.
"A man who does not think for himself does not think at all."
"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation." Oscar Wilde
"Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Howard Thurman
"If I'm going to sing like someone else, then I don't need to sing at all." Billy Holiday
"Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers" Voltaire
"Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something." Plato
"There comes a time when you have to stand up and shout: This is me damn it! I look the way I look, think the way I think, feel the way I feel, love the way I love! I am a whole complex package. Take me... or leave me. Accept me - or walk away! Do not try to make me feel like less of a person, just because I don't fit your idea of who I should be and don't try to change me to fit your mold. If I need to change, I alone will make that decision. When you are strong enough to love yourself 100%, good and bad - you will be amazed at the opportunities that life presents you." Stacey Charter
We all have needs. We need to be loved, listened to, appreciated, helpful, believing, trusting and to feel secure in an insecure world. Those needs end up informing our beliefs. There are many things that one can believe about many things. There are many organizations, belief systems, Churches, Temples, men, women, gurus, apostles, priests and kings who are more than willing to manipulate your needs, either deliberately or in their own ignorance of doing so, for advantage. Next time you sit in a crowd, congregation, group meeting, or audience, ask yourself "what is my need that I am here, listening to this?" Sometimes when we answer that question we end up defining our real needs better by getting up and voting with our feet on whether one really needed that.
Remember, if your head says yes, but your tummy says no...your tummy is telling you the truth and your head is lying through it's follicles. When the mind makes your stomach hurt, it's trying to tell you some truth. We don't need to come up with any more beliefs based on artificial needs, created by others. for us to fall into at this particular time in history
Foretold in Scriptures as a forerunner to the true light of the world to come.
In the last days, Jesus returns to Wadsworth, Ohio first,
to become the TRUE fire and light of the world.
Once Dave's "jesus" returns to Wadsworth as The Sprout, he and the rest of his group will spread out around the world and billions will be converted. They will swallow all of the "truth" that Restored Church of God members will share with them, particularly the fact that "jesus" comes to Wadsworth before it goes to Jerusalem.
The Jews that are remaining in Jerusalem get to fight. Who knows what you will do when no one can lay a glove on you, when enormous angelic forces are subject to you, when we head out into a world of billions that believe our stories of Jesus Christ coming not only somewhere other than Jerusalem—but also to His spiritual Temple—makes us a whole lot of kooks, and Christ chooses to dial Himself down, but nobody can lay glove on us.
I hope you’re inspired to now know you’re going to see the apostles sooner. You’re going to see David sooner. You may see your aunts, and uncles, and you know, all of your relatives, but inspired to know that so many more will be in the Kingdom. And…let’s not forget…And I’ll close on this note…that a man, who is God, will walk among us for several years—for about the same length of time as the first time, exactly as He did before, and you will enjoy Him exactly as the apostles did.
You will see Him as He is then, when He comes as a man, and you can more greatly love Him and thank Him and honor Him that He’s going to wait to give Himself resplendence, only at the time He can give it to us.
In the first go-around, Jesus came to earth as a baby. When Dave's "jesus" returns to Wadsworth he is coming as "The Sprout."
Dave says this is the most inspiring thing you can know......
Did you ever notice that “the man” whose name is the Branch grows up? He doesn’t come as a baby again. So, that’s I guess important to know. He’s a Sprout. He starts out as a man, whose name is “the Sprout.” Not a baby, He’s a man. If He’s not a man, why are we allowed to believe that? I’m trying to just say it in ways…This is incredibly inspiring. The little group that takes the Kingdom, you’re going to have complete access to Jesus Christ…Day 1. You’re ever with the Lord…foreveryou’re with the Lord, and when He changes and becomes resplendent in glory, we do, too, and we’re still with Him.
His Kingdom never ends. There is this period of world punishment, before it goes on to 1,000 years, and then the Great White Throne and whatever happens after that. But when David comes up, he rules forever and ever, and never stops. We stand down. I can show you some interesting verses in the Old Testament…
Can you imagine what the shoppers at The Giant Eagle will think when they see a pillar of fire centered over Dave Pack's superfantabulous campus? they will be so shocked to find out that in the midst of that fire is Dave's creepy "jesus" coming down to roost in Dave's temple. When it comes to Wadsworth it will be sitting his "throne of glory."
And if you understand Christ is coming back as a man, who is not accessible to people who did not take the Kingdom—no man can approach unto Him, if they’re the congregation of Israel. Just like in ancient Israel Moses, and Aaron could. That isn’t because He’s just a pillar of fire. I mean, we sit at the reckoning and we can’t see Him? We’re with Him forever, but we can’t see Him? Can’t talk with Him? A lot of problems, if you think about that.
I’ve had an enormous difficulty understanding how Christ could come and there’s a 100-, 500-, 300-, 200-foot column of fire on the campus, and the whole world doesn’t realize Christ returned, simply because He came to the wrong place? [Author’s note: Obviously this understanding was cleared up and seen to be a whole lot more than a column of fire on the campus. Also, some of what follows has of course also expanded in meaning but it is left for the helpfulness that it brings.] He comes to His temple. How is it with the resurrection of the dead, the death of the Man of Sin…Literally, the Man of Sin is going to be put to death by the man, Jesus Christ. I mean, it’s going to be literally man-on-man, but it will be lopsided. You understand! And all of these things happen, and the wizards, He puts to death, too, before that, and the whole world doesn’t understand what went down.
Dave's "jesus" is coming to Wadsworth to confuse the world, which in turn will cause hundreds of other false "jesus" things to arise.
Your thought is…Who would ever believe Him? But if Christ came as a man, and other men said, “Wait a minute. I’m as a man. The one you claim is Christ is a man. He’s over there in the United States. I’m here in Russia…or Africa…or Mexico…or Germany…or Italy or the Vatican…or wherever else. You see? It makes more sense that counterfeits would arise, if you understand counterfeits that look a lot like the original, doing great signs and wonders—that’s what the Man of Sin does. The Man of Sin comes and says he’s Christ. Nobody doubts that. That’s the way it’s described.
After this "jesus" has been in Wadsworth for a while working with Dave and sitting on his "throne of glory" he will fly over to England and confiscate the Stone of Scone from Gerald Flurry and then place it in the coronation chair, which he will promptly sit down upon in order to stop Charles from sitting down first. Dave's "jesus will only be sitting there keeping the seat warm for David, who then will sit in a few minutes and then get up and turn the chair over to Dave's "jesus" who then can be the true heir to David's throne.
Christ, literally, dials Himself back to be a man sitting on David’s throne, and holding it for David, because He’s not going to let Charles get it, unless he gets it before Christ comes. This should be crystal clear as you think it through. No wonder false Christs abound in chambers and deserts. There will already have been one false Christ, who got taken out, but these false Christs just boil out and prophets boil out, because here is this prophet, and this other person who says He’s Christ, and he does miracles—but so do these over here, and so do these over there. No wonder, they try to counterfeit.
Why call it the throne of His glory, if He’s on the throne of His glory just in the United States, somewhere else? Well, it’s a different throne, and He comes looking very, very different, and what that means is…You know, we’ve been talking about a lot of people, things moving closer to us? Well, how far away is the Kingdom? One year? Two years? Three years? Six? I don’t know what it is, but when it comes, you will have absolute access to Jesus Christ, if you’ve been saved, and He’ll look exactly like a man.
If you think this can't get any weirder...Dave's "jesus" apparently is in Wadsworth for a thousand years during the "first dominion," where he appears as a man keeping David's throne warm so that when David returns in the millennium of Herbert Armstrong then he can rightfully sit on it in Westminster Abbey.
Brethren, I want to just stop and say the Church never addressed it, because it was an enigma. It was a Gordian knot—When? Where? How? Why did He start there?—If David is right there at that time, how does He come and sit on the throne of David? Nobody thinks He did it in His first coming. No one has ever even…would be foolish enough to suggest that. So when does He do it? And why does He stop? Although, you’d really want to start…Why does He do it?
Because He’s getting ready for David to sit on it, which is another great indicator that before David comes up, in what we thought would have been 1,000 years, when we thought all the 12 apostles came up to rule for 1,000 years, we would have had to figure somehow, some way, Christ comes before the Millennium and sits on David’s throne, because for the Millennium, He sits on His own. That’s the only way you could have explained…But nobody said that. Nobody speculated that. Nobody ever asked, “Why He does He call Himself the Son of man?” You’ve read it many times—did you?
Superfantabulous Dave, leader of the most incredible Church of God to ever exist in human history, the builder of the most beautiful college campus ever built and the brains behind the best internet site in the entire word, is also the world's most humble and modest man ever to exist.
HIs own words:
“And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus says the Lord GOD to the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? You eat the fat, and you clothe you with the wool, you kill them that are fed: but you feed not the flock” (Eze. 34:1-3).
Now that’s a picture of the ministers of this world who live in kings’ palaces. One of the things that pleases me is that person after person who’s seen my house on campus…most never will, but those who’ve seen it say, “Oh, Mr. Pack, it’s modest.” Now, I think it’s a lovely house inside. But it’s one story, and it’s smaller than the one I had…and I’m mentioning something you’ll read this week…I’m paying more rent for a smaller house. I don’t want a big house. I’m not interested in a big house. I’m interested in something that is fitting, but I don’t want a big house. You look at what the ministers of this world live in, and then there’s how many houses do they have? It’s a disgrace. They eat the flock instead of feeding the flock.
One more blessing to be a part of the superfantabulous Restored Church of God...you will be benevolent slave masters.
All right…Here’s another one…The Gentiles are going to serve Israel. It’s been reduced to a tiny remnant, remember? That just stops short of looking like Sodom and Gomorrah. And the Gentiles, billions of them, are going to come and serve a tiny fraction of the people that were already only about a twelfth as big as all the Gentiles of the world? That introduces slavery that dwarfs—dwarfs—anything the world has ever seen…or servitude—nothing in the old south even begins to rival that in numbers of people who would work for one slave owner. Now, the Israelites are benevolent masters. We’re not getting into the nature of servitude, as the Old Testament teaches Gentiles will do it initially. So how does that work?
For decades the Worldwide Church of God controlled every aspect of our lives. Booklets, articles, and personal correspondence letters on hundreds of different topics spelled out what we should be doing and what we should not. Church members were treated like ignorant little kids who were incapable of making decisions on their own. Ministers told members what color of clothing and what style to wear, what color of cars to buy, what kind of jobs were permissible, what kind of foods to eat, the importance of carob and honey, when to make reservations for the Feast, what schools and colleges church youth could attend, and much much more.
I remember many times my mother would write countless questions for the minister to answer at Bible Study. These ministers determined how we lived, what we ate and how we "worshipped." While some of these men were telling us what to do they were wife swapping, committing adultery, stealing tithe money for their own use and more.
Here is a person in 2017 who is still expecting church ministers to tell him what to do. This person is also upset that Herbert Armstrong did not articulate more on the subject of what was "approved" medicine. Even if he had gone into great detail there were two standards for the use of medicine in the church. Herbert Armstrong's use and what members were told to do. Two opposite extremes.
Now then, there is one major area that I certainly WISH that Mr. Armstrong would have covered in some detail. That is the role that health and this world's traditional Medical profession should play (if any) in the life of a truly converted Christian. And it is not like this topic is of minor importance in our lives. Virtually EVERYBODY will get sick or contract a major disease at some point in their lives.
Frankly, that's what happened to me. And since the time I came into the Church in 1969 at age 19, I never wanted anything to do Doctors, Hospitals, their procedures, or chemical medications. I, like I believe we were encouraged to do, sincerely wanted GOD and JESUS CHRIST to be my doctors. I wanted to always rely on GOD for healing - if by reason of ignorance, weakness, or even foolishness - I found myself in the situation of serious illness and in need of healing. But I never remember Mr. Armstrong addressing various detailed topics of health and the medical profession and its procedures in any detailed way.
What I mean by that is, for example:
- How should we deal with high cholesterol issues? Should we be tested for it? Should we be taking prescribed medications to control it?
- How should we deal with diabetes? Should we be tested for it? Should we be taking medications for it?
- How should we deal with high blood pressure? Should we be tested for it? Should we take prescribed medications for it?
- Should we screened for various cancers? If something shows up, should we medically do anything about it?
- and on and on.....
I was told by a minister who was in the medical profession and close to Mr. Armstrong, that he (Mr. Armstrong) DID go to doctors. He had a doctor attending to him near the end of his life. I asked the man, "Well what about Mrs. Loma Armstrong?. I understand that she could have undergone a fairly simple procedure to clear her intestinal blockage, but it was refused.". He responded to me that Mrs. Armstrong was not quite on the same page as her husband when it came to doctors, medications, and procedures. She was more hard and fast against all that, whereas Mr. Armstrong was not. It almost sounded like had it been up to Mr. Armstrong, he might have opted to have the doctors clear the blockage.
Well, I thought to myself, "Isn't that great!". Here in a critical area of life where very serious consequences are at stake for our well-being, our futures, and our families, there is possibly major differences of opinion amongst our "first family", our ministry, and perhaps the entire membership! So how is it? This way or that? Yea or nay? Do we sometimes make use of them for more than just the proverbial "setting of broken bones" or what?!? THIS IS IMPORTANT!!!
I mean, Mr. Armstrong spent hundreds and hundreds of sermons giving essentially the exact same message concerning the "Two Trees". Not to say that that message was not very important. I still listen to his many reiterations of that message to this day. But wouldn't it have been nice to have had a little instruction on some of these other topics from time to time (say even once a year), and dealt with in such a way so that there would have been no mistaking his stand on the issues?
I loved Mr. Armstrong, and still do. And I have the highest respect for him and his instruction and ministry. That's why I wish there were some of these other areas he would have paid some attention to in terms of giving us desperately needed guidance. I mean, he could have prepared us for the eventuality we find ourselves in right now in 2016-2017, where there are an abundance of false ministers and false prophets, each tugging away at us to put ourselves under them. He could have foreseen what we might have had to go through in terms of being on our own, without brethren in a formal congregation and instructed us about it. He could have explored the possibilities of what we might have to do if time went on after he died, even if time went on for more than 30 YEARS after he died. There's just SO MUCH that could have been said in so many critically important areas, that might have significantly helped us to successfully navigate the rest of our lives.
Here is the main reason this person is asking these questions. He bought into the idiotic teaching gotta church members were too stupid to make right decisions and to think on their own. Thirty years after Herb's death and people are still brainwashed.
We brethren are all, to one degree or other, in one area of life or other, imperfect - that is lacking knowledge, being weak, or just plain being foolish. It's not a matter of being "rebellious". We should never be rebellious in any area. But being ignorant, weak, or even foolish, is just being human. Honestly, I don't want to be ANY of those things, not even human. But alas we are human. And as a result, it would have been nice to have been instructed in these, and perhaps many other CRITICALLY IMPORTANT areas of life so that we could have been more prepared for our futures in this life in 2016-2017, and ultimately in the Kingdom of God.
Truly, can people be this immature and needy? This is sick. Totally sick!
There have been many authors over the years who have written books about their life in Armstrongism and what it has done to them spiritually. Some have left their faith behind and others have went into new spiritual directions.
Now there is a new slant.
A COG member has written a book of fiction that incorporates the teachings of Armstrongism into the story line.
I can see this making the best seller list! Feast present!!!!!!!
The Bridge to Eden: The Arduous Passage From This Age of Chaos to the Next Age of Perfection
Today's chaotic and uncertain world sends us a message of desperation as we see the basic institutions of society-the family, religion, education, government, and business-under attack from all sides. In the face of such cultural carnage, we need a message of hope to shine through these dark clouds surrounding our homes and loved ones, a message that annihilates the aura of confusion that the Adversary casts over the face of humanity. We need the Truth revealed in the Word of God concerning the wonderful world prophesied to come. That Truth sits patiently within God's Word for all who have eyes to see. The message revealed is as amazing as it is conflicting with the prophecies of modern science, technology, digital wizardry, and robotics. It is a message of how this world will be transformed from pain and desperation in the face of burgeoning population growth and food shortages, terrorism from religious fanatics, totalitarian governments, and fractured families to one of peace, love, order, and prosperity beyond our wildest dreams, where families thrive and find true joy in daily living...where people finally learn to live as the Creator intended without Satan around to tempt and deceive.The bridge to that new world is being built so you and I can cross over and enjoy it for a thousand years. It is designed by the Creator, and He wants you to walk across and enjoy it because He loves you, and wants the very best for you. It is a return to the Eden of Genesis. It is as sure to come as the sun rises each morning in the east. Let's read this book and discover the nature of that new world coming so we can wake up each morning to the incredible hope God has placed before us!"
This is not a book for the fainthearted. It is a thrilling adventure story that carries the reader through the entire pageant of history, from the farthest reaches of antiquity to the utmost limits of prophecy, complemented by supporting secular knowledge, focusing on the awesome plan God has put into motion. Throughout this anthology, the chosen people of promise are brought into sharp relief against the unceasing tactics of Satan to derail the plan, and bring an end to history’s climax: the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the salvation of mankind, and the resurrection of the saints to bring new government – the renewed Eden on earth.
In the process of this thriller there are shown to be not one, not two, but three Edenic periods on earth! Follow the chapters of this book and its thorough documentation into an exciting and new experience that will tantalize and inspire you to the higher thoughts of the Almighty.
Paul W. Syltie was raised on a crop and dairy farm in western Minnesota, and attended universities in the Upper Midwest, obtaining a Ph.D. in Soil Fertility in 1980. He married his high school sweetheart Sandy, and they are the parents of six children and nine grandchildren. Dr. Syltie is a farmer, writer, and instructor in natural agricultural methods who travels worldwide to help farmers improve their health and productivity by returning the soil to its God-intended vitality.
"We live in an age of broken marriages, broken homes, and broken lives, brought on by an adversary whose wavelength permeates this society and teaches us that a person is free to do whatever he wishes. Do what feels good, and fear not the consequences!
My wife and I have proven that a married couple and their children do not need to follow this course. In fact, it is much, much easier not to, because the fruits are infinitely better if you do not ... and we all like good fruit! God ordained it that way, because He invented marriage and family.
For 45 years my wife and I have witnessed the fruits of striving after God's perfect plan for married couples as outlined in His word. True, Sandy and I were brought up as hard-working farm kids totally dedicate to each other — that helped to get a good start — but in today's world, as in any age, the pulls of the flesh and of this fallen age can easily derail a family if they take their eyes off the goal. That goal is to love God, and to love your neighbor as yourself ... starting within your own home!
We have proven that in spite of society and families disintegrating all around us, you can have a wonderfully fulfilling marriage, and as a major part of that rear a loving and joyous family. Look through the pages of the photo albums especially, and see snatches of the good times we had — and still do have — while growing up together. (Parents grow up too, and their kids teach them a lot!)
Do not follow the road most traveled. Read this book, live God's way, and be amazed that happiness will indeed pursue you!"
The Short answer is “no.” The whole subject of the Exodus is embarrassing to archaeologists. The Exodus is so fundamental to us and our Jewish sources that it is embarrassing that there is no evidence outside of the Bible to support it. So we prefer not to talk about it, and hate to be asked about it.
For the account in the Torah is the basis of our people’s creation, it is the basis of our existence and it is the basis of our important Passover festival and the whole Haggada that we recite on the first evening of this festival of freedom. So that makes archaeologists reluctant to have to tell our brethren and ourselves that there is nothing in Egyptian records to support it. Nothing on the slavery of the Israelites, nothing on the plagues that persuaded Pharaoh to let them go, nothing on the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea, nothing. Nothing at all. There are three Pharaohs who said they got rid of the hated foreigners, but nothing to say who the foreigners were, and no Pharaoh is named as having persecuted foreign slaves or suffered unspeakable plagues.
However, there is another way of looking at it, another way of seeking support for this fundamental experience of our peoplehood.
We do not look for evidence from the biblical text, but we can look to it for the general context of a sojourn in, and an exodus from, Egypt, and there are three major elements.
The first is that the Israelites were slave workers in mudbrick. They had to manufacture the material and they were semi-skilled workers in laying the bricks. As there were thousands of Israelites, what projects were they working on? The pyramids and the temples were in stone, the mudbrick houses of the peasants were built by themselves, so what project needed hundreds of workers in mudbrick? Secondly, when the Israelites escaped, it was during a period of turmoil brought on by the magical plagues, a period when the Egyptians were off their guard and keen to see the slaves go as they wished into the desert.
When could that have been? And thirdly, the Israelites escaped into the desert and there built a most luxurious portable shrine to their God, to accompany them through their long desert trek and to house the Deity that would lead them and protect them on the way. It was to be made of fabulous materials, in hardwood and colored cloth with gold and copper trimmings, as described in detail in 16 chapters of the Torah.
How could all that have been manufactured and assembled in the arid Sinai wilderness? We should then ask, is there any period in Egyptian history when the conditions for these three elements could have come together and thus formed a basis for the context and account of the Exodus? And the answer here is “yes” – there was one such period.
It was around the death of the heretic Pharaoh Akhenaten, the one who decreed that all worship should be directed to the single god Aten, the disc of the sun, and all other gods should be downgraded to secondary rank. To impose his new religious order, Akhenaten closed the old cultic centers of Saqqara and Luxor, closed the temples there, disowned their priests and founded a new city, Akhetaten, called the Horizon of the Aten, on a prime site well away from the old centers.
TO IMPOSE the new rule, the city had to be built quickly, and it went up in the incredibly short time of two years, being built throughout in mudbrick, except for the temple and palace, which were in traditional stone.
How could it have been built so quickly? It was said to have employed thousands of slaves working under military taskmasters. It was the largest mudbrick project in Egyptian history and it required thousands of bricklayers and millions of bricks. It employed the army to supervise the slave workers and force them to work as fast as the Pharaoh demanded.
The new city was at El Amarna, on the east bank of the Nile, where there was plenty of soft mud for the bricks but little straw.
Thanks to slave labor, Akhenaten’s model city was built in record time, but it did not last long. After only 16 years, Akhenaten died, his reforms had been deeply unpopular and when he died, his new religion was abandoned, and so was his city. Akhenaten and his beautiful wife Nefertiti had had no son, only six daughters, and so it was one of the sons-inlaw who succeeded him: Tutankhamun, the famous boy king Tut. He had the onerous task of restoring the old order, the old religion, the old gods and their priests, and he was under threat if he did not do so. The restitution stele says that the old gods would punish him if they were not given back their old rights and positions.
Hapi, the androgynous god of the Nile, would make its waters undrinkable; Kermit, the goddess of fertility, would release her frogspawn to swarm over the land; Osiris, the god of corn, would not prevent the locusts from consuming his cereals, and Ra, the sun god, would refuse to shine. Sound familiar? The laws of succession had already been altered, there was no firstborn son to succeed Akhenaten, only a daughter and son-in-law.
As the new city was abandoned, there was breakdown in law and order and the Israelite slaves saw their chance to escape. Like the other departing inhabitants they took with them any treasure they could lay their hands on. They “despoiled the Egyptians” (Exodus 12:36) and marched off with precious materials and above all the battle shrine of Tutankhamun.
Every Pharaoh had a portable battle shrine, to go with him into war, so he could consult the deity and look to it for guidance on the field. Tutankhamun did not go to war, as far as we know, but he had to be ready and he had a war chariot, as one was figured on his furniture, so he would have had a battle shrine as well, but none was found among the luxurious treasures of his tomb when it was uncovered by Howard Carter in 1922.
Where then was his battle shrine ? It had been taken away by the Israelites.
And what was its form? We can assume that it was similar to that of Ramesses the Great, whose battle shrine is depicted on the walls of his temple at Abu Simbel. It was a two-chamber movable building set in a large courtyard; the inner chamber was square and contained the ark of a deity protected by two winged birds, and the outer room was twice as large, for the worshipping priests.
That of Tutankhamun was taken by the fleeing Israelites and converted by artisans Bezalel and Oholiab, as instructed by Moses, to become the portable Mishkan or Tabernacle, that accompanied them through the wilderness and landed up at Shiloh, in Canaan. Thus it was made of the finest material, as was everything else that Tutankhamun left behind, including furniture with carrying poles and a golden chest surrounded by cherubim. Sound familiar? THUS, AT the death of Akhenaten we have a situation in Egypt where the three major conditions of the Israelite account of the Exodus came together; the building of a vast mudbrick project; a period of unrest and turmoil when slaves could escape; and the foundation of the Mishkan in the shape of a luxury battle shrine. The date of the death of Akhenaten is placed at about 1330 BCE, and Tutankhamun came to the throne the same year. Was that then the date of the Exodus? Dating is a tricky subject and it is difficult to see how the Hebrew Bible can give us exact dates, for how were they counted in antiquity? But the Bible gives us two hard dates. One is that the Children of Israel were in Egypt for exactly 430 years, from entry to Exodus (Exodus 12:40). If the Exodus was 1330 BCE, the entry would have been in 1760 CE. That of course is too early for Jacob and his 12 sons, and the rabbis themselves have rejected that period of 430 years and reduced it to 210 years in the Passover Haggada, to relate it more logically to the four generations from Jacob to Levi, to Kehot, to Amram, to Moses. But it works with the idea that the Israelites came to Egypt with the semitic Hyksos, as proposed by Josephus Flavius, the early Jewish historian, and that event is placed by scholars at around 1750 BCE.
The other “fixed” biblical date is that the Solomonic Temple was built 480 years after the Exodus (I Kings 6:1). That is a nominal date as the author will have counted 12 generations and multiplied them by the biblical reckoning of 40 years per generation. But that figure is too high, as a generation, for even in biblical times it was more like 30 years. If we then say 12 generations make up 360 years, then 360 years after 1330 is 970 BCE. The Temple is dated by most scholars to around 950 BCE, so 970 BCE is not a bad fit. Evidence or not for the Exodus? Evidence there is none, but we can see that there was one period in Egyptian history when such an event could have taken place, one period when the three major conditions suggested by the biblical account came together and could have given it plausibility. And that would make Akhenaten the Pharaoh of the Oppression and young Tutankhamun the Pharaoh of the Exodus. And the date? That would be around 1330 BCE.
Doug Winnail's "sabbath" message this week is about forgiveness. The person who sent this to me said this was a way of silencing members into never critiquing the LCG leadership and the church. If you dare critique or question the leaders or the church then you have a bad attitude because you have never forgiven them for any wrongs they have committed. You are filled with bitterness which means you have allowed Satan to have control of you. When you have negative emotions and memories they are directly tied into "personal pride." Remember, REAL Christians forgive (them) though they rarely ever forgive you. You, on the other hand, are disfellowshipped and marked.
The Power of Forgiveness
One important key for working together in harmony with others is the willingness and the ability to forgive someone for real or perceived words or actions that hurt us—and that is exactly what Christians must learn to do. The Scriptures tell us that we have all sinned, but that we can be forgiven because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ who died for our sins (Romans 3:23-26; John 3:16). However, Jesus also taught that we must be ready and willing to forgive others who offend us—or God will not forgive us(Matthew 6:12-15). Forgiving others involves: not holding grudges or harboring bitterness against others, not seeking to get even, and not gossiping or saying negative or derogatory things about others who have made mistakes or hurt us in some way. This is not always easy, especially when memories, emotions and personal pride are involved, but that is what we are admonished to do if we want to be real Christians—because real Christians have learned to forgive. Forgiveness is a powerful tool that makes working together in harmony with others possible, productive and enjoyable!
Late yesterday afternoon, we were informed that on March 3, 2017, the University Of North Carolina Board of Governors authorized Living University to offer an online associate of arts degree (A.A.) and baccalaureate degree minors in business and communications. We plan to implement these programs this fall semester. These programs are in addition to the University’s authorization as a religious-exempt institution to offer Associate of Theology and Bachelor of Theology degree programs.
This is indeed very good news. In regard to our application, the UNCA staff report to the Board of Governors concludes: “Upon review of the Team of Examiners’ report, and Living University’s response to the recommendations and suggestions of that report, the UNC General Administration staff finds that recommendations have been satisfactorily addressed, and recommends that Living University be licensed to offer the degree programs requested. An appropriate review will be performed within two calendar years of the initiation of the licensed degree programs, by UNC GA, to ascertain the institution’s compliance with the Rules and Standards, including the recommendations contained in the report.”
Living University is now a recognized University. The examiners and the UNCA staff placed a lot of confidence in us and we intend to continue to function with integrity and in good faith and fair dealing with you and everyone whom we serve.
Thank you for your continued support and all you do to help our collective pursuit of achieving excellence in godly education in service to God and His people. Your continued prayers bring about more than we can even fathom.
