Would Canada and Austrailia PLEASE Stop Picking On The Church of God!!!!

What is it with Canada and Australia right now?  Why are they sooooooooooo ticked off at the Church of God?  Apparently, we are supposed to believe that Satan is using these countries to persecute some little itty-bitty Church of God.

Gerald Weston had a fit the other day about how Australia was going to censor the Living Church of God's "FORCEFUL" writings and teachings. Australia has been persecuting the LCG by prohibiting one of Rod McNair's sermons from being aired in the nation.  Weston apparently feels the need to subject almost 24,000,000 Australians to the mindless rantings of a pissant COG minister.  McNair is a little "nobody" sequestered in his privileged lifestyle in Charlotte due only to the fact he is still living off the teet of his family name and Rod Meredith's support.  Then Canada had to go and pass a law how having people treat each other with respect and dignity, even if you don't agree with each other, and this did not sit well with Weston who still feels the need to endlessly talk about sex.  Common decency to fellow humans is not a thing Church of God members apparently need to be doing.  Jesus says otherwise, but that has never had much impact on most COG leaders.

Mr. Rod McNair’s excellent upcoming telecast on the Miracle of Dunkirk has been preliminarily rejected in Australia because Dr. Meredith’s booklet, Who Controls the Weather?, did not take into account global warming! Bill C-16 recently received Royal Assent in Canada, adding gender expression to the Human Rights Act. It supposedly gives protection to the transgender community by, among other things, making improper pronoun usage a prosecutable offense. I recently noticed using MS Word that it marked the word “mankind” and suggested substituting the word “humankind.” In other words, MS Word is now in the business of determining which words are politically correct and which are not. Look for far more intrusion into our everyday lives from these language police. I mention these examples to show how rapidly the noose is closing in as the “illiberal left” is taking control of a complacent world. We no longer have to wonder how persecution will come to the Church. Some good news is that this weekend the Tomorrow’s World program begins airing on Angel One at an additional time, 8:30 p.m. on Saturdays. This is additional nationwide exposure and will be a new Saturday evening audience for us.—Gerald Weston

Now we have another COG "leader" messing his little boy pants over Canada.  After getting his "news" from ultra-right "news" sites, he is sure that his future pronouncements will be prohibited by the Canadian government.  According to God's only true COG leader, Canada has turned anti-god and anti-church.

But Canada does not accept the Bible at this time.  Since a court decision in 2002, Canada has restricted freedom to quote and cite the Bible (watch Canadian censoring of the Bible). It also passed a motion limiting giving one’s view of Islam (http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-24/canada-passes-blasphemy-bill-silence-critics-islam).

Damn Canada!  You will not let him use his big thick Bible as a weapon.  Don't you realize he is God's TRUE spokesman on earth today???????

Canadian officials are often not acting in a manner consistent with what Canada was supposed to stand for.

If all that were not too much, a Canadian court decided this week that it has authority over the internet around the world and in the USA:

Canada Says It Has Authority to Censor Internet in United States

June 29, 2017

This seems like a bad thing:

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled against Google on Wednesday in a closely-watched intellectual property case over whether judges can apply their own country’s laws to all of the Internet. In a 7-2 decision, the court agreed a British Columbia judge had the power to issue an injunction forcing Google to scrub search results about pirated products not just in Canada, but everywhere else in the world too. http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2017/06/canada-says-it-has-authority-to-censor-internet-in-united-states/ 

Big bad meanie Canada will obviously be using their laws to stop God's only true leader on earth today from running off at the mouth, as he continually does.  He is so sure that the world is against him that has has been preaching this nonsense for many years.  Because he imagines himself in his dreams as more important than he really is, he thinks Canada is out to get him.

Regular readers of this COGwriter.com news page have been aware that things like this were coming. Notice, for example, something posted on this page back in 2011:

I have long expected government censorship (including the internet and perhaps other forms of social media) … I will again gone on record to declare that I believe that stopping/interfering some of us … to get out our message on the internet and/or other media is likely to be something that the USA and perhaps other governments will do as we get closer the the time of Jacob’s trouble (Jeremiah 30:7) (Thiel B. UK’s Cameron May Call Out the Troops and Restrict Social Media. COGwriter.com, August 11, 2011)

On October 2, 2016, we also put up a video titled Internet Control, Famine of the Word, and 666.

More and more, in Canada, as well as other lands (see yesterday’s post: Germany approves ‘same-sex marriage’ and sets fines for Facebook, etc. to crack down on ‘hate speech’) we are seeing governments taking steps to remove/control content on the internet.

As usual, our prophet has to run to the Bible to find some isolated scripture to support his dreaming.

This was partially because the prophet Amos was inspired to record the following:

11 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord God,

“That I will send a famine on the land,
Not a famine of bread,
Nor a thirst for water,
But of hearing the words of the Lord.
12 They shall wander from sea to sea,
And from north to east;
They shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord,
But shall not find it. (Amos 8:11-12)

Notice what the false prophet says next.  He cannot stand the fact that Canada might possibly stop him from interpreting his big thick Bible as the weapon he needs it to be. As if Canada cares what he thinks!  They most likely see him as just one more disturbed religious nut job from America, which he is.

Notice that the Bible tells of a time that will come when the word of God will not be found. I do not believe that this means that there will be no more Bibles–but that those wanting to better understand it will have trouble finding explanations.

It just amazes me to watch the white privileged COG leaders in the Untied State sitting in the homes surrounded by all the luxuries of life as they cry over censorship.  These little men are not being censored or picked upon by governments around the world.  These self-serving, privileged men could care less about Iraqi/Syrain/Egyptians being slaughtered for being Christians.  That's the ultimate censorship. Instead, they sit in the nice offices after feeding their faces with abundant food, using their expensive computers to write about persecution.  It just does not compute.

Gerald Flurry: Descending Into Madness

From Exit and Support, regarding Gerald Flurry's descent into madness:

June 26, 2017
I have a friend who has left PCG. This person became skeptical back in November when Flurry spoke about Trump being the Jeroboam and then his mentioning about buying a plane. Then in January he gave the sermon about HWA's prayer stone replacing the stone of destiny (a.k.a. Jacob's pillar stone) and Flurry saying HWA was a type of Jacob or Israel. And how he, Flurry, is the chosen man on this whole earth privileged to bring the prayer stone to the Place of Safety where Christ will meet up with them and take his rightful place on the throne after Flurry, who is representing the house of David for 2 l/2 years, since he says he is a descendant of David through his genealogy. And finally, once this person got the letter about pledging funds to purchase a plane and then finding out they bought it in April during Feast of Unleavened Bread, this was the final straw. I am not sure what this person will do next. They are looking at other offshoots that follow the Sabbath, but feel that all of them try to control peoples' purse strings to suit their own agenda by using end time events and the Place of Safety to control them. --[name withheld]  

Another posting had this about the Philadelphia Church of God:

June 29, 2017
I don't even know where to begin. It's so difficult to summarize my experience and sort out how I'm feeling about everything that this so called "church" has put me, my family, and countless others through. The abuses that we undergo are covered up kept hush-hush and resolved through gossip started by who knows. I started becoming very skeptical when my own family began to be ripped apart by the ministry, who were not to be questioned ever! Every problem was pushed back on us not having it all together, or not praying and studying. No biblical proof was offered, just the opinion of a man who thought he spoke with God's authority--although certainly not with God's LOVE. It's so clear to me now why no one was ever allowed to compare stories or talk about counseling sessions. They did not want us comparing notes on our interactions with the ministry. 

But my last service was when our local minister aired all my family's dirty laundry in front of the congregation, blaming everything on my father's inability to lead. Taking no responsibility for his own interference and meddling. FURIOUS. I left knowing I'd never be back. I told no one and refused to talk to anyone after. A clean cut was the best resolve for me. I was so sick of being dragged into everyone's drama when I had no part in it. And I was certainly tired of feeling beaten down--not good enough and chastised every week at services. Also, if I missed a week, I felt like a child being scolded. I wish I'd left sooner. No, I wish I never would have attended at all.

Since I've been out, I've been happier than I thought possible. I'm happy to let God judge me. At least it will be true justice. If anyone is considering leaving, do it now. I waited years and regret it deeply. I will mourn family left in and pray they leave. --Raised in WCG; joined PCG as adult 

COG Prophet Upset LCG Members Read and Post Here

Ever since this blog started I have had various COG members in various groups as readers.  As time goes by, more and more share information about the abusive ministers and leaders of their churches.

The Internet has been a major thorn in the side of many COG groups.  No longer can they sweep under the rug the abusive things they do and say.  People talk, people leak information.  From the Ambassador Report, the Good News Grapevine, the Painful Truth, Ambassador Watch, Silenced, and many other sites, the Church of God has had to continually do damage control.  Members no longer trust their leaders to tell the truth or to do what is right.  When abuses happen, people quickly spill the beans.  This infuriates ministers so much that they stand in front of their congregation and tell members to NOT read things on the internet.  The moment they do that, their members start reading blogs and websites with a fervor.  This what happened when Rod Meredith stood in front of his congregation and told them to not read this blog.  Within hours the readership here increased dramatically and has remained so ever since.

People share things because they are disgusted by what is happening.  They share things because they care about their church and want things to change. They share things about the abusive ministers of other groups because they see how their family members and friends lives are being ripped apart.  They share things when they see self-appointed pissants proclaiming themselves as God ordained leaders when they know for a fact that these men are outright liars and don't have a godly bone in their bodies.

LCG members and members of other groups share here because they have a platform that allows them to comment. All of the deluded COG leaders out there do not allow members to question or criticize things on their web sites or blogs.  If these men were really preaching the truth, then they would be secure in what they teach, but none of them are.  They cannot handle anyone questioning them.  They all seem to think they are immune to criticism because they are "God's" ministers.

Many in the Living Church of God know lots of things about self-appointed Bob Thiel and what a hypocrite he is and they feel free to comment.  This has not made the doubly-blessed prophet and future second witless witness happy.

The world renown Mayan and Fatima authority has this to say about LCG members who read and comment here, particularly against those that mock him.  Elijah Thiel cannot wrap his head around the fact that LCG members do not like him and have no problem stating so here.

P.S. In my 06/29/17 a.m. post on this page, I accidentally omitted that according to the Banned by HWA site, the first three sets of comments I reported about from that site were supposedly "From an LCG source." In other words, an unnamed coward who claims to be a Church of God Christian. That person should consider the following:

16 "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. (Exodus 20:16)
18 Whoever hides hatred has lying lips, And whoever spreads slander is a fool. (Proverbs 10:18)
8 ... all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. (Revelation 21:8)

This is not the first time someone who claims to have been in the Living Church of God has sent the Banned by HWA site false information about me (see the 6/15/17 a.m. post on this page). Anyway, presuming it was someone in LCG, it is distressing that any who claim to be a Church of God Christian would make up such falsehoods. Such a person needs repentance. 

Furthermore, why would anyone in LCG actually want to help the Banned by HWA site?  

The site is not only anti-COG, it seems to relish being anti-CCOG and anti-LCG. Although I do not know LCG's top evangelist, Gerald Weston, well, it is not likely that he would want his members to encourage the Banned by HWA site at all, let alone want his members to post falsehoods. 

But it is distressing when any who claim to be in the COG spreads falsehoods to get the way of truth blasphemed (2 Peter 2:2). But in this age we keep seeing it. Many do not have the proper love of the truth.

PS Brother Bob

I am NOT anti-COG.  What I am against is abusive liars and self-appointed false prophets who preach abusive bullshit and wreck people's lives, like you are doing.  If a COG member is grounded in their faith and have a relationship with Christ, then there is not one single thing I can say here that will cause them harm.  It is abusers of the brethren like you, Flurry, Pack, Weston, Kubik, and others that are the issue.  I am an issue because deep down you know you are a fraud and cannot handle the criticism.

Jim O'Brien, COG Cincinnati Demands Respect

It is amazing to read the tripe that COG ministers write about all of the time. With people struggling to make ends meet, to people dealing with drugs, homelessness, continued racism, outright hatred, and the myriad of other life issues, the ministry of the COG, being the privileged elite and spiritually lazy ministers of the Church of God that they are, write about useless crap that has no relevance to anyone's life.

Jim O'Brien of the Church of God Cincinnati, writes about one of the Church of God's major pet doctrines, how people dress.  Jesus never worried about the dress of those he touched but COG ministers do. They are more worried about wrinkles or the type of clothing that people wear rather than they are about lying fools that have self-appointed themselves as COG prophets and leaders. The length of a skirt or a pair of blue jeans is more offensive than abusive leaders like Flurry who have driven members to suicide and ripped generations of families apart.  They don't care that Dave Pack is bleeding his members dry, both financially and spiritually with his endless consciousness-streaming of utter bullshit.  Nope, it is more important that members be admonished over some wrinkled clothing.

O'Brien also talks about "lack of respect" in society today but failed to talk about the lack of respect that many Church of God ministers have towards their members.  The ground is literally littered with abused and disrespected Church of God members and ex-members who have suffered because of these fools for 80 some years.

Culture of Disrespect

Laura Ingalls Wilder is famous for her series of books, "Little House on the Prairie," depicting her childhood in pioneer America. One of the memorable experiences of life is being snuggled between our kids-and later grandkids-reading bedtime stories of Laura's adventures as the tiny tots hung on each colorful word.

She described moving to Missouri in a covered wagon to homestead their new land. Alone on the prairie they were running low on food so Pa had to leave Ma and the kids alone for a couple of days to forage for meat. Laura described living in the covered wagon away from any other humans. One morning Ma took their freshly washed petticoats and put them on the step of the wagon to be ironed.

There was no other explanation, but I was left wondering why little girls on the prairie needed to dress in petticoats and I could only imagine what it must take to iron them when there was no electricity.

The kids asked, "Why would they iron their clothes when no one else was around?" Donna, always the font of wisdom, responded, "They were not trying to impress anyone, respect is the culture of civilized people."

O'Brien then uses this as an example of why people need to dress well in church.  Because Jesus (supposedly) neatly folded up his body wrappings before leaving the tomb, COG members need to dress properly and keep the wrinkles away.

An often-overlooked act of Jesus occurred during the minutes after He was resurrected. When the stone was rolled away the Gospel account records that the blanket was neatly folded. It's remarkable that Jesus would take the time to fold the blanket during such a momentous event.

At times I wonder what God thinks of the way some Christians dress when coming to worship Him.

In ancient Israel when the Ark of the Covenant was returned after having been lost to the gentiles for a period of time a tragic event took place. When the Ark arrived men allowed curiosity to overcome respect for the sacred. "But God struck down some of the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh, putting seventy of them to death because they looked into the ark of the Lord. (1 Samuel 6:19) These were Israelites who knew that the Ark was holy to God. You don't open the doors of the Ark anymore than you allow a man to walk into the women's restroom-but then America has forgotten that the body is sacred.

Later when the Ark was being transferred to Jerusalem, "Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. Then the anger of the Lord was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his error; and he died there by the ark of God. (2 Samuel 6:6-7)

How can a person read these accounts without concluding that respect for sacred things is a core part of Christianity?

When have most of the COG leaders ever respected members?  How can COG leaders talk about respect for "sacred things" when they know nothing about the man they claim to follow or to even act like him.  It is more important to talk about Moses and the law than it is to talk about Jesus, grace, and mercy.

Compare that with the recent news story of a comedienne holding an image of the severed head of the President of the United States. Is tolerance for such barbaric antics the mark of a civilized people?

Nothing has done more to civilize mankind than the values of the Bible. Few things have done more to undermine civilization than the disrespect encouraged by the popular media.

Until next time,

Jim O'Brien

Why Did The Race Admission Polices at Ambassador College Change So Rapidly In 1970?

1962 Plain Truth

The following is from the Ambassador College Pasadena Alumni site and is reposted here with Greg Doudna's permission.  It deals with the sudden change in the Ambassador College policy on admitting African Americans to the Pasadena campus.

Greg Dounda is the author of the fascinating book, Showdown at Big Sandy: Youthful Creativity Confronts Bureaucratic Inertia at an Unconventional Bible College in East Texas

Gavin Rumney had an excellent review of the book here.   Gavin writes:  

Well, I didn't, and I'm indebted to Greg for plugging a number of gaps from the WCG's past. More specifically, the way the world looked from Big Sandy in the Seventies.

The WCG can probably be grateful that Greg wised up and found better things to do, for it's just plain scary to imagine what he would have got up to if he'd stayed and risen through the ranks. Just reading through his doctrinal papers from that time – positions he has long since moved beyond – indicate that this guy would have raised more than a little hell along the way.

The subtitle says it all: “Youthful Creativity Confronts Bureaucratic Inertia...” Doudna provides insight on a number of characters from the times: Dean of Students Ronald Kelly, for example, who is described as a hard working “company man”... one of many “yellow pencils” cut from the same mold... [who] did not try to disguise his lack of interest in things intellectual.

There are also anecdotes involving Herman Hoeh, Kenneth Herrmann, GTA, Charles Dorothy and other characters. The chapters on tithing and creationism are excellent, the treatment of healing and medicine is downright sobering, and the discussion of the old God Family doctrine is simply fascinating. (Let's all not tell Bob Thiel about that chapter, as he'd probably misunderstand it and gloat insufferably.) 

Race admissions policies at AC--why changed?

One of the dark sides of WCG/AC was race: at beautiful, oasis-like AC, foretaste of the world tomorrow, prior to [1970] 1971 , unmarried African-American church members were by policy not admitted as students to any of the AC campuses, excluded on the basis of the color of their skin, on ideological grounds citing the Bible. This changed in [1970] 1971 (single black students began to be admitted).

Why did that change in [1970] 1971?

Here is the true story on that--a story so little known among us that even Ambassador Report and Trechak missed this one ... a story I too missed in "Showdown" because I also did not then know ... a story of AC history that to my knowledge to the present day remains unpublished in print. (Therefore it is necessary for this post to be longer than normal, to tell this information.)

A first mystery is that although the change in AC admissions policies in 1971 was open and well-known, there was no official explanation from headquarters as to why. They just did it, without saying why. Why the lack of explanation? 

A second mystery was that the change was not done at all AC campuses, only the two US-based ones. Bricket Wood AC continued exclusion of unmarried black applicants from being students until that campus's closure in 1974. Whatever the reason for the 1971 change at Pasadena and Big Sandy, why did it not extend to UK's AC?

Those taking care of legal affairs for HWA and AC at headquarters would have known, even if most at the student level and the church membership did not. It was because the US govt was threatening to remove tax exemptions for charitable institution status from church-related educational institutions which were practicing racial discrimination. This story is told (without mention of AC) in Randall Balmer, "The Real Origins of the Religious Right" (Politico May 27, 2014), here.

Bob Jones University of North Carolina had similar policies to AC: segregation was divinely ordained, interracial marriage was sin, blacks excluded from admissions. "The IRS had sent its first letter to Bob Jones University in November 1970 to ascertain whether or not it discriminated on the basis of race. The school responded defiantly: it did not admit African Americans." Note the timing: November 1970. Spring 1971: admissions offices for AC Pasadena and AC Big Sandy for the first time, and coordinated, admit single black men and women students for the 1971-1972 academic year. AC Bricket Wood, safely beyond the evil clutches of the IRS, unchanged.

Bob Jones University resisted the intrusion of a godless federal government interfering with their God-given right to be racist on biblical grounds. All across America, evangelical churches rallied to defend Bob Jones University. The IRS pulled Bob Jones U's tax exemption, costing BJU millions. Still BJU did not cave. BJU appealed all the way to the Supreme Court where they lost there, going down fighting, cause celebre for the newly-organized evangelical right across America.

Unlike Bob Jones University, WCG headquarters in Pasadena, which would have received the same IRS inquiry at the same time as and in practically the identical situation as Bob Jones University on this issue, did cave and got in compliance. This is why the timing, and why this true reason was never told to the membership. It never was about growing in the truth of God or acknowledging and repenting of harm done to the souls of God's creation by racism. It was about the legal threat, and a choice at some level in the upper echelons of headquarters (however it was explained to HWA), a cost-benefit financial calculation, to obey the mandate of a godless state demanding an end to racism, over the law of "God", quote unquote, understood to divinely ordain exclusion of unmarried blacks out of a deep, primal fear in some quarters at headquarters that such would inevitably lead to the existential horrors of interracial dating and marriage, aka contamination of the white race.

In 2000 Bob Jones III, president of Bob Jones University, explained on the Larry King show that the policy against interracial dating had ended the very day of that interview, never had been a big deal to anyone, and had been misrepresented in the press. Read that amazing interview here (so many parallels to AC): http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0003/03/lkl.00.html

Certainly one of the admirable features of the GCI transformation, other issues aside, was coming to terms directly with and repudiation of this past history of racism at AC. Perhaps one day the vision of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech will come true worldwide in reality: a world in which all people of all colors are part of our common human family.

The Chicago Southside congregation recently celebrated its 50th anniversary.  The Chicago church was predominantly African American and this is the video referred to in the rest of Greg's post below.

AC and race

Thank you very much Ken (4904). Based on the "Chicago South Side Congregation Documentary" the start of admissions of African American unmarried students began at AC Pasadena in 1970-1971, a year earlier than I had thought. But it was caused by the IRS ruling of 1970 removing tax-exempt status from church-related schools which had racist admissions policies.

At 12:56f in the documentary Ron Washington recalls, "In 1970, the summer, late July, I was at work in Albany, and I got a phone call from Mr. Jackson, and he said 'Ron,' he said, 'they've just opened Ambassador College for African Americans, single.' He said, 'I'd like to have you apply...'"

Note the timing: only ca. 4-5 weeks before the beginning of that academic year! A decision was suddenly made at headquarters--for the first time ever in the church's history--to allow unmarried African Americans to AC Pasadena to apply for an academic year just about to begin. And phone calls were being made to get some African Americans in, fast. In the documentary Willard High, part of the same entering freshman class as Ron Washington according to the 1971 Envoy, recounts that five unmarried African-American men and five African-American women were admitted that year (1970-71). 

Why the last-minute timing and the rush? Had years of pangs of conscience reached a tipping point in humble, spirit-led deliberations at headquarters, and after heartfelt prayer the headquarters ministry had come to see that a shameful policy should be ended, because it was the right thing to do? 

No, it was the godless IRS ruling. Note the timing: "in July 1970, the I.R.S. concluded that it could 'no longer legally justify allowing tax-exempt status to private schools which practice racial discrimination'" (http://www.nytimes.com/1983/05/25/us/excerpts-from-opinion-and-dissent-on-tax-status-of-schools.html).

Evidently, AC officialdom at Pasadena did not wait for the IRS to come calling directly before reacting with a hurried attempt to get in compliance at the last minute at Pasadena. The next year, 1971-72, the same policy was up and running at Big Sandy in a more orderly and timely manner. At Bricket Wood I continue to believe it is accurate that unmarried African-Americans/Africans were refused admission throughout the entire history of that campus from start to finish in 1974, notwithstanding 4902. I checked the 1969 Envoy and I see no black faces in the 1968-69 senior class or in any other class at Bricket Wood. I do see a senior woman that year identified as from India who looks Indian, Grace Clements. So technically Bricket Wood was not 100% white. But in the old South African tripartite division of white, colored, and black, Ms. Clements would not be regarded as black, simply because she was not white. 

Until ca. 2005, all those years, I had just assumed that the racist admissions policy at AC had ended because church officials had come to see that it was wrong and ended it for that reason. I did not realize all those years, until I accidentally read about the Bob Jones University case, that the true reason was far less noble: it was the IRS ruling. I did not even realize until ca. 2005 that the changes in the US Ambassador campus policies never even happened at Bricket Wood. What does it feel like to be excluded, not included? Here is an email exchange of ca. 2005 with fellow student Murdock Gibbs (today a GCI elder) that brought this home to me:

Me: When I looked at the Envoy for 1974 a few months back I was surprised to notice 100% white faces in all four classes of Bricket Wood shown (unlike Pasadena and Big Sandy). How come I didn't remember that? Or did I know it and forget it? Did you know that?

MG: Because you're white. And it really wasn't an issue that affected you. If you saw a Bricket Wood photo of only women, you probably would have questioned what was going on--you being a male, this would directly affect you and your perceptions. I guarantee you, every time a black WCG family or person looks at a photo of AC--paging through the Envoy or some other idyllic portrayal of life at AC, we're thinking, "Where are the black people?"

The "Chicago South Side Congregation Documentary" (25 mins.) is really worth viewing.  

Sabbath Musings for Adults: Why does Mark have NO good ending and John has TWO?

One of the most interesting realities found in the Gospels is that the Gospel of Mark has no good ending to the story of Jesus crucifixion, while the Gospel of John has TWO.

The true ending of Mark is found at Mark 16:8 which says...

1 And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. 2 And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulcher at the rising of the sun. 3 And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulcher? 4 And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great. 5 And entering into the sepulcher, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted. 6 And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him. 7 But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, (FOR THE FIRST TIME) as he said unto you. 8 And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulcher; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid."

(END OF ORIGINAL MARK)

Scholars agree that the rest of Mark was added later to correct this obvious problem of no real good ending that reflects the events in the Gospel of Mark. There is no real account of the resurrection, women telling anyone and certainly no story that has the disciples meeting Jesus for the very first time after the resurrection in Galilee. It also seems a story concerning Peter is missing, but it is interesting that the Angel makes a point of telling the women to tell the disciples AND PETER to be there. Since Peter was a disciple, it is obvious that Mark has a need for Peter specifically to be there. Why and why does the Gospel of Mark have no story ending this way with Peter specifically needing to be in Galilee to meet Jesus? There is none.

Mark 14:27 notes...

27 And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. 28 But after that I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee. 29 But Peter said unto him, Although all shall be offended, yet will not I. 30 And Jesus saith unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice."

So here we have, in Mark, Jesus telling them that they will all be scattered but he will meet them for the FIRST time in Galilee after he is risen. Peter is told that, inspite of his bravado, he will deny knowing Jesus three times before the rooster crows twice.

What's going on here? A story that promises the disciples that after he rises, Jesus will meet them in Galilee, not in Jerusalem, for the first time, and yet, does not include such an ending having the women come to the tomb, not find Jesus body, panic and flee telling NO ONE. Not much inspiration of resurrection here! Mark plainly has a missing ending. Where is it?

First of all the idea that Jesus would meet the disciples for the first time after his resurrection is not unique to Mark. Matthew also has this tradition but also has an ending that includes it.

Matthew 28 says...

8 "And they departed quickly from the sepulcher with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word. 9 And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshiped him. 10 Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me."

So as in Mark, there is not sighting in Jerusalem, but the women here at least afraid, did tell the disciples that Jesus said they were to go to Galilee to meet him the first time, minus Judas. Remember Mark said to be sure to bring Peter.

Matthew goes on to say...

16 "Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. 17 And when they saw him, they worshiped him: but some doubted."

So, in fact, Matthew has a story of all these things happening as Mark said too, but Mark did not tell how it ended as Matthew did. Mark had no positive ending to his Gospel.

Luke edits the story a bit because he wants his story to take place immediately in Jerusalem after the resurrection and not in Galilee as Mark and Matthew said...

Luke 24 says...

5 "And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee.  7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” 8 Then they remembered his words."

(Notice how Luke changes the message of Jesus meeting them in Galilee for the first time to the message of verse 7.  Luke then reminds us that they "remembered his words" to cement in his bait and switch of topics for his own writings.

 Here we see how Luke cleverly said in effect, not that Jesus said he'd meet them in Galilee after he was risen, but that the disciples should remember that Jesus told them in Galilee that they would see him risen in Jerusalem. Luke had stories in Jerusalem the others did not have that needed to be told evidently and going right to Galilee would not help him do that.

Now the interesting part. Mark has no ending to his Gospel, but the Gospel of John has TWO.

The first ending of John is in chapter 20.

24 "This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true. 25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen."

The "Amen" signifies the first end as does the wrap-up topic that more could be said but would take too many books.

But then we start again in John 21 with...

"After these things Jesus shewed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and on this wise shewed he himself. 2 There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples. 3 Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee."

Here we have a story, a second ending of John that starts "after these things." After what things? Certainly not the things of John 20 as they don't fit. The "again" in verse 1, I believe to have been added to make this look like a second or third appearing when in fact it is the real first meeting but not in John as John doesn't need it. I believe that the 21st chapter of John is the original missing ending of Mark. "After these things" is really the women leaving the tomb perplexed and fearful, telling no one about Jesus rising. John 21 shows a disheartened group of men who simply went back to fishing not having seen Jesus at all! How soon they forgot the events and sightings of Jesus in John 20! The reason is that this ending is the second nonsensical ending of John that is really the missing ending of Mark!

John has no fishing motif until this last chapter, where Mark is nothing but a fishing motif. John had an ending already and doesn't need this second one. Mark needs this chapter to make sense of his whole Gospel non-ending!

Remember how the Angel made a point of telling the women to tell the disciples AND PETER to show up in Galilee? Well of all things, this second end of John has a story about Peter being restored by Jesus to the fold. Three times he denied Jesus and now three times, PETER, is sent to feed the sheep, meaning the Church and followers of Jesus. This also fits very well as an ending of Mark story as Mark made of point of being sure Peter was in Galilee where John doesn't need it.

John 21 says...

15 "So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs." In other words, Peter is forgiven and restored. It was important for Peter to be here in Galilee as Mark said, but never reported.

Let's just see how it fits.

Mark ends...

16:2 And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulcher at the rising of the sun. 3 And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulcher? 4 And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great. 5 And entering into the sepulcher, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted. 6 And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him. 7 But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you. 8 And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulcher; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid."

Now add John 21 and continue...

1 "After these things Jesus shewed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and on this wise shewed he himself. 2 There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples. 3 Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee....15 So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.

John, the editor makes this an event that happens "again" or "the third time," but these are added to make it solve the problems it's being appended to John causes as it shows the disciples disheartened, dejected, depressed and just going back to fishing as if Jesus didn't rise and they forgot the sightings of John 20.

In all probability, the 21st Chapter of the Gospel of John is the missing ending of Mark! Now Mark, as Gospel with no good ending, has one that fits and John that needs only one ending and not two is restored to normal. 

This taking of the ending of Mark which contained a restoration and forgiveness of Peter for denying Jesus is added to John, which all through its pages compares Peter to Judas as in "Judas betrayed Jesus.  Peter denied him... Don't follow Peter!"  Later and evidently, someone thought it good to add this "Feed my sheep" ending to John to fix the problem of dissension in the ranks over Peter and John, smoothing it over, and making them look like the friendly to each other Apostles they evidently were not in life. This was done just as Acts was written to make the Apostle Paul more in tune with the Jewish Christian apostles than he actually was, by his own admission, in Galatians 1-2.   

Thus, today,  we have Mark with no good ending of faith in Jesus resurrection and instead,ending with fearful women telling no one anything (except the author of the Gospel evidently) and John with two endings the second one of which does not fit the context but restores Peter from his denials of Jesus so the later Church can get on with business all speaking the same thing that there be division between them as there really from the start. 

....and now back to the drama brought to us by the Splits, Splinters, and Slivers (Bob Thiel and Dave Pack) of  COGdom.

United Church of God: Trouble in Paradise With Mark Mickelson

Updated 6/30/17

God's most unified church is struggling to maintain control of its ministry and its ability to change doctrinal teachings.

Recently the big boys in Cincinnati tried to work through by vote a policy where 2/3rds of those present members at the conference voting could vote in a new rule that 3/4ths voting members PRESENT could change rules and doctrines instead of 3/4's off ALL the ministry. It failed miserably.

UCG has also been having to do damage control over one of its ministers, Mark Michelson. He has been preaching a lot recently that the God of the Old Testament (YHVH) was known exclusively as God the Father. The name YHVH cannot, according to Mickelson, refer to Jesus His sermons have been circulating around UCG like wildfire. Some agree with him and many do not. What brought it all to light was the fact that his sermons were being posted to the Spokane website which allowed all UCG members access.

The boys in UCG were none too happy.  One of the excuses that UCG has used for two decades was that the nature of God doctrine was their reason to leave the Worldwide Church of God.  While WCG was moving to a trinitarian position, which many present-day UCG ministers supported while still receiving a WCG paycheck, they could not stand the fact that the Holy Spirit might also be God.  Entrenched in Herbert Armstrong's understanding after his 6-month study in the Portland library, the men quickly abandoned the trinitarian position once they started getting paid by UCG.

Now the UCG is having to defend its self once again over the nature of God with Mark Mickelson's stance that there is only one God, God the Father (YHVH).  Jesus is not YHVH, contrary to what Herbert Armstrong had always taught.  Many of the things Michelson teaches is similar to  Ken Westby and The One God Seminars.

Vic Kubik and Don Ward came out with a letter, signed by them both, about the present confusion of many UCG members on doctrines that they are expected to believe.

Do you understand what we teach regarding God the Father and Jesus Christ?

Some sermons have recently created confusion about the nature of God the Father and Jesus Christ. Do all of us fully understand what we believe and preach on this subject? How long has it been since you reviewed the study papers and other Church publications on the topic in question? In many cases it’s been too long. The nature of God and Christ was one of the topics of controversy that led to the formation of the United Church of God.

The questions surrounding the nature of God have been debated for centuries. The only valid source we have is the Bible. We must use sound principles of exegesis in reaching our conclusions. Below are resources that we encourage you to read and study deeply regarding the nature of God and Christ. 

Can they seriously believe what they wrote in the paragraph above?  They seriously believe they use "sound principles of exegesis?   Seriously?  When has the COG EVER used sound exegesis?

Kubik and Ward both feel that members continue to be swayed to and fro by doctrinal issues due to not being grounded in what they are expected to believe. Part of the problem with UCG members is that summer is here. Seriously! Summer! The summer is now warming up and church members are becoming lazy in their Bible Study and reading. Once again the members are too stupid to know what they are supposed to believe.

The purpose of this letter is to encourage all of us to continue to fight the good fight of faith and be settled in the faith. Here in the Northern Hemisphere we are now entering the long, hot summer, and it’s a time when there can be a let-down in our spiritual lives—as there are so many distractions in the world today. It is a time in which people travel, go on vacation and young people go to camp. All this is coupled with the perilous times in which are living.

It is also a time in which we can easily become lax in renewing the inward man on a daily basis. We often need to be reminded of the exhortation that the apostle Paul gave the Hebrews: “Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away” (Hebrews 2:1). We are committed to guarding those precious truths that God has revealed to us. And at the same time, we are admonished by the apostle Peter to grow in grace and in knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We should always keep in mind that the Church of God is the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Timothy 3:15).

From time to time some brethren have become troubled by sermons or conversations in which they get the idea that the Church is going to change doctrine. So let’s be reminded of the process necessary for changing the official doctrine of the United Church of God (UCG). Even though there is a rigorous review process in place for sermons and articles that appear on our website or in our Church’s publications, some few sermons may not properly represent the official doctrine of the Church.

It seems the fine folk in Spokane have been very negligent in posting Mark Mickelson's sermons. The Boys in Cincinnati are not happy. The veiled comment below is directed at Mark Mickelson, even though they do not mention him directly. While the Spokane UCG has removed Mark's sermons from their website, Mark still has not stopped preaching his understanding.

Some congregations are not as vigilant as they could be in monitoring sermons placed on their local church website. And some few sermons do not properly reflect the official doctrines of the Church. So let’s be reminded of the process necessary for changing the official doctrines of the Church.

Kubik then makes a hypocritical statement below on how all UCG ministers must tow the line and teach only what UCG wants to be taught. He seems to forget he failed to do this exact same thing while still employed by WCG as he sat in 360 South Orange Grove plotting and scheming to started UCG. While doing this he paid lip service to WCG's new doctrinal stances, even disfellowshipping those that did not agree with WCG's new direction. Kubik does not want any of his ministers doing likewise now that he is in charge. 

Our ministry, and all who speak for UCG, should remember the teaching of the apostle Paul when he said an elder must “[hold] fast the faithful word as he has been taught” (Titus 1:9). Paul also said we are to “hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 1:13). We have been entrusted with a sound doctrinal heritage. Our messages to God’s people should always be grounded in the truth of Scripture and the doctrinal teachings we hold.

How long will we have to wait till Mickelson is fired as a minister and removed from the Council of Elders and he starts his own splinter group? What would the Church of God be without yet one more splinter group?


See: Letter from the Chairman and President, June 28, 2017

Rod Meredith FORCE Me, FORCED Me I Say, Into Holding Him Accountable..Oh, Did I Say FORCED Me?

The other day an LCG source sent me a little blurb on Almost-arrested Elisha, Elijah, Amos, Habakkuk, Joshua, doubly cursed Bob Thiel.  As usual, God's most righteous end time prophet has suffered major butt-hurt.  I have to admit I have never seen such an insecure COG leader in my life.  Is it because deep down he knows he is a fraud?

This morning, apostate Bob had a meltdown and said some really fun things and as usual had to take a slam aginst his "dad and mentor" Rod Meredith.

The LCG source sent this:

Rod Meredith spent many years having to listen to his self-important "son" wax prolific on hundreds of prophecies his "son" claimed to know more about than he did. Every time Meredith turned around his narcissistic "son" had had a new revelation and was demanding that the LCG change its "understanding."

The apostate one took great exception to the statement and went on to claim that Rod Meredith FORCED him to say and do the things he did.

That is not the case. Dr. Meredith is the one who forced me, over my objections, to promise to tell him if I felt he was 'pulling punches.' The fact that I strove to live up to that promise is not a negative. Furthermore, years after Dr. Meredith made me promise that, he appointed me as an advisor to he and the Charlotte-based evangelists on doctrine and prophecy. That was also his idea. It should further be pointed out that I did not "demand" that LCG change its understanding on matters. I pointed out issues and the LCG the evangelists often agreed. The closest thing to a demand I ever made while there was reminding them to keep their word and make the corrections they promised to do. LCG leaders, like Richard Ames, have known what I have written is true, but have sadly been unwilling to publicly rebuke those that slander me.

Rod Meredith expected his men to be manly men.  Men with fortitude and cajones.  Apparently delicate Thiel had neither.  No man who claims to be a follower of Jesus would ever let another man bully him like that.  Apparently, we now see that he is not a follower of that inconvenient dude, but rather kowtows to men, thus he submitted to being FORCED to tell Meredith he was going astray.

Readers will also note that doubly-cursed Thiel is still suffering butthurt because various COG leaders will not defend him in any manner anymore.  Richard Ames takes the heat this time from Elisha Thiel.  Even worse, Gaylyn Bonjour said that he did not in any manner doubly bless the self-appointed false propeht so that he could go out and start another church.  Apostate Thiel's "double blessing" is a major doctrine of belief for his splinter cult along with the demand that people recognize he dreamed about himself.   It is no wonder that LCG leaders will not back apostate Thiel up in any manner. Why would any of them want to be associated with someone so unsound?

You can read the rest of Thiel's's spiel here.

Job Opening At Greatest Church of God On Earth In This End Times!

Here is your chance to get in on the ground floor of the greatest Church of God ever in human history!  No church has ever been this awesome nor lead by a prophet who is as great as this one.  Being doubly blessed does has its perks! Even Dave Pack is trembling at the magnificence of this global enterprise.

Not only will you get to be handling materials for the improperly named "continuing" Church of God, you will also get to handle the books for the holistic pill-peddling enterprise of the holy end time prophet himself!  These pills are so miraculous because they have been touched by the doubly blessed prophet!  Awesome!

Just think how much fun this will be.  Decades from now you can say you were in on the ground floor of the greatest work ever imaginable.  Can you imagine how great it will be to see the end time witness correcting nations with homeopathic pills!  Super awesome!  Even Herbert Armstrong will shake your hand in the millennium in awe.

Act quickly on this major never before seen opportunity before the job is offered to the public.

Mind you though, this job is "more complicated" than other office jobs due to the fact you will be working for a fake Doctor who got his diploma from a diploma mill in India, who is not licensed to practice in California and who is also a prophet of his god.  Nope, not complicated at all!

Office Worker 

We have a need for someone who wants a job handling a variety of tasks in an office. This job is located in Grover Beach, California and the employing company would be Doctors’ Research, Inc. 

Before looking at local people outside of the Continuing Church of God, I thought that perhaps someone in the Church may have interest. 

The ideal candidate would have office and computer skills (QuickBooks, Microsoft Word), and at least some interest in computer graphics and natural health. The job would include church and non-church work, telephones, lifting, packaging, mailing, and editing, etc. and is more complicated than many office positions. If you are interested, please email me your resume. My email address is cogwriter@aol.com 

LCG Is Expected To Correct "Errors" That Self-appointed False Prophet Says Are Wrong

From an LCG source:

Rod Meredith spent many years having to listen to his self-important "son" wax prolific on hundreds of prophecies his "son" claimed to know more about than he did.  Every  time Meredith turned around his narcissistic "son" had had a new revelation and was demanding that the LCG change its "understanding."  Eventually, Meredith got tired of the self-serving nature of his "son" whom he had stroked and petted for many years, much to his chagrin.

Various Charlotte employees went to Meredith over and over and told him to get rid of Bob Thiel because he was creating dissension in the church.  Meredith soon started ignoring Thiel which forced Thiel to start planning his escape into his own church where his word would be heard and he would have the final rule.  Before his departure, Thiel deliberately conned Gaylyn Bonjour into giving him a blessing.  Thiel had already started thinking he was a prophet, thanks to Meredith's stroking.

As time went on Thiel got weirder and weirder in the things he was professing.  HQ staff started getting really perturbed at the constant stream of things coming from Thiel and they essentially shut down his channels to the church. If HQ ministers thought Thiel was weird, the church members found him offensive and off-putting.  Thiel became to be intensely disliked by members.

Thiel continued to stick his head in the sand and kept going to Meredith with things he thought needed to be changed.  As usual, Meredith ignored him and finally had to publicly denounce Thiel.

Now that Gerald Weston has taken over LCG after Meredith's death, Thiel thinks he can influence Weston into making changes that Meredith ignored.

Thiel writes:

06/23/17 a.m. This morning, LCG sent out its TW News & Prophecy, which had the following statement:

To better understand what is happening in Europe, be sure to watch our insightful telecast “Four Prophecies for Germany.” 

The reason to bring that up here is that there is an error in that telecast that I pointed out a little while ago. That error is now number 45 from the list of "Doctrinal Differences between LCG and the Continuing Church of God" in the article What About the Living Church of God? Are there Doctrinal Differences with the Continuing Church of God? and it reads as follows:

WWIII is not related to the battles between Europe and Eurasia as LCG asserted in its Tomorrow's World telecast Four Prophecies for Germany in March 2017, but has to do with the destruction and takeover of the USA and its Anglo-Saxon allies by a European-led force who will then conquer the Middle East (see also World War III: Steps in Progress).

Perhaps, under Gerald Weston, LCG will correct some of its errors. He and others in LCG remain in my prayers.

There is no way Weston is going to listen to Thiel.  Thiel has burned his bridges and will be ignored, as he should be.

LCG: Oh Noes! Are Britain and France Getting Ready To Persecute The Living Church of God?

Things just keep getting worse for the Living Church of God.  Persecution seems to be hitting them from every corner these days.  Satan is angry brethren!  Now LCG staff is bewailing Britain and France attempting to stop "...any content promoting hatred and terrorism in any way"

So what could really be wrong with that?

According to our buddies in Charlotte, this will prevent them from speaking forcefully the message they have to deliver to the world.  Considering 99.99% of the world has no idea who LCG is or what they stand for, how could this be considered persecution?  Especially considering the fact that LCG has never been forceful or spoken out in a strong manner about anything, well maybe except for sex. Sex seems to be their favorite topic.  Not much Jesus, but lots of sex.  When you read their blurb below you will see that sex is exactly what they want to talk about.

Now that Meredith is out of the way, why are LCG and Weston still so sex-obsessed?  Now is the perfect time for Weston to talk about grace, justification, rest, and peace that comes from following that inconvenient dude, instead of focusing on the sex.  It just goes to show how displaced LCG's loyalties are.

A COMING FAMINE OF THE WORD

26th June 2017

News and Prophecy Staff

Comment on this article

Last week French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Theresa May met to discuss a new, joint counter-terrorism effort aimed at online hate speech and encrypted messaging. A key focus of the effort will be to “make sure internet operators ‘delete any content promoting hatred and terrorism in any way’” (EU Observer, June 14, 2017). Their project will also target tech companies (primarily social media sites) that allow “unacceptable content” to remain on their websites.

In recent years, content that was once considered free speech has increasingly been categorized as unacceptable hate speech—including traditional Bible-based speech related to behaviors that God calls sin! How might such coming legislation impact Christians and the preaching of the Gospel of God’s coming Kingdom? God warned, “‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘That I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the LORD, but shall not find it’” (Amos 8:11-12). The Church of God has long understood that a famine of the word will come one day. As world events move forward and societies increasingly curtail civil liberties and free speech, actions taken in the name of protecting against terrorism and hate, we are beginning to see one way a famine of the word could come about! Will even the Bible be banned one day as a book of hate speech?