The Power of Belief

Did you ever stop to think about just how much control the Churches of God ministry has attempted to exert upon your life? 

Have you ever stopped to ponder the extent of their will upon your lives? 

How did this happen? How is it that we could have allowed men to convince us that they had that kind of authority over us? What was it that allowed us to lower our guard, to lay down on the floor, assume the fetal position, and allow these men to trample on us, to kick us, to beat us, to rob us, and to dictate to us - and take it for year after year after year? 

What was it that made us believe that they were our adult parental units - who told us exactly what to do, when to do it, how to do it, where to do it, and why we should do it? How is it that we rationalized such thinking as actually the right way to live? 

It is a hard thought to really invest time in thinking about without some degree of self-deprecation. One of the things that is stressed in cult deprogramming is to avoid the trap of negative thinking that cults - and abusers - trap you in. So, let's just jot down many of the things that convinced us that they had authority over our lives.  

1) We believed they were who they said they were. 

2) We believed what they said would happen, will happen. 

3) We believed that Herbert Armstrong was divinely inspired and appointed. 

4) We believed that because Herbert Armstrong was divinely inspired and appointed, then those who he ordained were also divinely inspired and appointed. 

5) We believed that because those who were ordained were also divinely inspired and appointed, then their words were as good as from God Himself. 

6) We believed that the judgements that the ministry handed down were bound in Heaven, therefore, they had to be right, even if we knew they were not. 

7) We believed they knew what they were talking about - in bible knowledge, in counseling, in marriage, in child rearing, in life. 

8) We believed in the reality they wrote for us. 

It all came down to one word - belief. We believed what they said. We believed what they taught. We believed in the power they told us they had. We believed their explanations, we believed their arguments, we believed everything they handed down to us - the how's, the why's - and the authority behind every decision they made. We believed it all. 

There is a lot to be said concerning the power of belief. Belief affects every single part of your life - your mood, your hopes, your dreams, your aspirations, your abilities, your successes, and your failures. Belief affects your fears, your anxieties, your insecurities, your doubts, and your thinking in every way. When we were convinced that what they were saying was true, we believed. 

We believed every prophecy, speculation, prediction, and fantasy they ever said or published. We believed in the method of biblical understanding - bible reading - that they handed down. We believed in the master plan of salvation they taught us. We believed their dilution of the Gospel of Christ. And we believed in how they magnified the power of Satan. We believed what they said about what defines the world, what defines idolatry, what defines paganism, evil, worship, and churches. We believed that we had to give up the rights of adulthood - our political, marital, relationship, family, financial, social, and employment decisions - to the total control of our minister parents. And because we believed this - this belief became real. What was once just the vision of Herbert Armstrong and a few other men turned into an alternate reality of - for those affected - gigantic, life-changing proportions - and for those not affected, an invisible part of the world we all live in with absolutely no power or authority. We believed. 

This power of belief - this power of delusion, which is what it was - was a chain of bondage that wrapped tightly around us, tightening it's grip with every sermon, with every counsel, with every interaction, with every bound friendship, relationship, doctrine and dogma. What they said for us, is what it was. And because of this, we gave up who we were for their lies, for their scams, for their pocketbooks, and for their lives of luxury. 

We know for an absolute fact now that our belief was wholly and absolutely incorrect. British Israelism has been thoroughly and scientifically refuted in irrefutable analysis. Herbert's "world tomorrow" which was guaranteed to come in the 20th century did not. The church that "no man could shut down" was shut down by one man. The Worldwide Church of God as it was is no more. None of us were supposed to be here right now. Right now, we were supposed to be with Christ on this earth, cleaning up the tribulation, well into the first 40 years of "The World Tomorrow". We would have 30-40 year-olds who only knew life in this Millennium, with tame tigers and lions, spirit beings judging and disciplining, and lots of fountains and floral gardens everywhere under crystal clear skies - all singing "Praise Ye The Lordo" and "Holy Mighty Majesty". This is what we believed. 

And yet the one thing we were supposed to BELIEVE, we did not. 

That God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that WHOSOEVER believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For everything we believed, the one thing we did not, could not, and would not believe was the Gospel of Jesus Christ - who He was, what He did, and what He accomplished. And everything the Gospels said was true, which we as a church denied, denied, and denied again. 

Because if we had believed that - we would never have believed anything else that has been proven to be lies. 

There is much truth to the words of the old song:

On Christ the Solid Rock I stand, 

all other ground is sinking sand. 

And because we didn't believe the one thing we should have believed - it all sank.

submitted by SHT

The perfect solution for COG's to keep members in check.

BAN THE BIBLE

The COGs keep having problems with members reading the Bible and coming up with questions they do not want to answer.

Instead of being so negative, I would like to help them out.

The solution is obvious – ban the Bible.

It worked so well for the Roman Catholic Church for over 1,500 years, so try it out. Look at all the trouble the RCC had when people started reading the Bible for themselves.

The council of elders in each group have so much experience they can use to help and instruct the members.

Why confuse them by letting them read the scriptures for themselves.

When they read that Christ is the head of man, they really think that applies to them. It is obvious with our overwhelming knowledge and wisdom is that the head of the members is the local pastor, and the head of the local pastors is the COG president / presiding evangelist / apostle / prophet.

Even worse, when they read Timothy and see that Paul tells Timothy to rightly divide the word of truth – this only applies to the very top ministers, not the sheep.

The solution is clear.

Ban the Bible.

Provide the members instead with your well-written booklets, magazines, and sermons. Tell them this their bible study instead of the confusing Bible.

Excommunicate anyone caught reading the Bible.

If COGs will just do this, they can hang on to their members until death.

Submitted by TLA

No Moonies Allowed

Leave it to Armstrongites to be caught up in all kinds of silly conspiracy theories.  One of them has always been that Amercian astronauts never landed on the moon.  Various employees in Pasadena were really wrapped up in this one.

The Kitchen clan has now settled that controversy!  In between the slobberfest of bowing down at their Herbert Armstrong altar, fighting with the Scarborough's, and stealing copyrighted works to put on their site as if they owned them they, they get all giddy over chemtrails, germ spraying, and all kinds of early morning AM radio silliness.

The Winter Family Weekend Song

It is rapidly approaching that time of year when several of the larger Church of God's conduct their annual Christmas Family Weekend.

All of the groups have selected sites that are brimming at the seams with Christmas cheer and joyous music, but not a single COG member will ever hear the music, see the decorations and imbibe in the joy of the season.  Yucky-poo on those Christmas cookies!

In honor of that miraculous event, which is on par with the immaculate conception, SHT has composed a new song for United Church of God to sing on their weekend.

Have a holly, jolly weekend

It's the best time of the year

I don't know if there'll be snow

But ignore all the cheer.

Have a holly, jolly weekend

And when you walk down the hall

ignore people you don't know

You're better then them all

Oh, ho, the mistletoe

Is hung where you can see

Listen to ho, ho, ho

Lights surround that tree

Have a holly jolly weekend

And in case you didn't hear

Oh United, have a holly jolly weekend this year

Oh, ho, the mistletoe

Is hung where you can see

Listen to ho, ho, ho

Lights surround that tree

Have a holly jolly weekend

And in case you didn't hear

Oh United, have a holly jolly weekend this year

God #1 and God #2 debated in heaven over who would come to earth as Jesus and who would stay in heaven as the Father.

God #1 and God #2 debate over who will be the father and who will be the son

Anyone with the slightest bit of Christian understanding has been taught that God the Father and Jesus both eternally existed. Armstrongism has many different versions of these two, including Jesus being a created being who attained godhood after his death...like the Mormons believe.  But, leave it to the Chief Pharisee and bastardizer of the law to come up with a new belief of the eternal beings.  Mormonism and the Jehovah's Witnesses have nothing on the complete lunacy of James Malm.

The Chief Pharisee made the following comments:

Greetings James,

Could you please explain from which scripture you derive the doctrine that at some point the two members of the Elohim family decided that one of them would become the Father and the other the Son. This belief implies that the one who became the Son gave up his equality and authority to the one who became the Father! I find this concept as confusing and illogical as the concept that God is a Trinity. And we know that ur eternal God is not a god of confusion!

Regards,

Didier

It is obvious that they had to be in agreement for the plan to succeed and that a decision had to be made as to which one would give up his Godhood to be made flesh and die for sin; and as to which one would be trusted to raise the other up. The decision placed one as dependent on the other.

Jesus said very clearly that he was subject to the Father: John 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. John 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son. . . Now if a person have a son then he is a father; and the God Being who became the Father was the one who placed the other Being in the womb of Mary as must have been predetermined: since otherwise who would fulfill each role?

I suggest that you study the word “father” in the New Testament to see the relationship between Jesus Christ and the Father, is one as of father and son. James

In Honor of LCG's New Gospel Outreach: The Cowboy Channel

Ma! Pa! Git Out Here! Them Weston Boys Comin to Git Us!

courtesy of SHT

George Warner Adds Another Chapter To His Fascinating Life

There is more to the story about the UCG member looking for his grandfather, George Warner of Paradise, CA.  See this story:  A desperate search and an impossible Camp Fire escape: One family's fight to reunite

George was a former employee in Pasadena years ago and wrote a book about his life that was published in 2013.  It is a fascinating read on the adventuresome life of George.

He starts off rather quickly in his book describing his days in The Cult: The Worldwide Church of God and Ambassador College.

You can read parts of his story about life in the Worldwide Church of God at this link:

George Who?  The Life of a Common Man

Dear Church members: we realize you may be too stupid to realize this, but...........

submitted by SHT

Worldwide News, 9/1/75

Could the church be more condescending? The church never trusted members to do the right thing and had to spell everything out in articles and booklets. The problem with the above statement is that it was not the members "over doing" things, it was the higher up's, the church elite and their children. excess was never something that crossed the minds of some of these people.

UCG Members Never Stopped Searching For Grandparents In Paradise CA Fire

A desperate search and an impossible Camp Fire escape: 

One family's fight to reunite

JOHN WARNER NEVER STOPPED HOPING HE'D FIND HIS FAMILY MEMBERS WHO WERE MISSING AFTER THE CAMP FIRE DESTROYED PARADISE, CALIFORNIA.

John was working Thursday when he heard: Another California fire.

He stopped what he was doing. He listened. An evacuation had been ordered. People were trying to make it out of Paradise.

Paradise. No.

The scenic town of about 26,000 in the Sacramento Valley is about four hours from John’s home in Mi-Wuk Village, a scenic spot in California’s Gold Country east of Stockton

John calmed his frantic thoughts. He’d call his uncle and aunt. They also lived in Paradise and routinely checked in on his 96-year-old grandpa and his grandma, who didn’t like telling people her age. They would tell him not to worry. They would say: Everything is OK.

John had no idea what was about to happen. Soon the photos shot by trapped evacuees on their own cellphones would start flooding social media and news sites. People escaping in cars would post video of whole neighborhoods engulfed in a wall of flames.

The Camp Fire was the blaze everyone had always feared. It swallowed the canyon, moving through the North Central Sierra hills like a tsunami.

Read the entire story, with more pictures in the link above.

LCG: Our 15 Top men have been in the ministry for decades and have '"sound biblical understanding"

Gerald Weston is once again perturbed by the lowly members who send in papers concerning scripture translations and doctrine.  One must never forget that lay members are too stupid and not theologically trained like the LCG ministry...as if any of them have a sound theological training!  When one's theology comes from booklets, sermons, member letters, a few classes at the now-defunct Living University and/or the defunct Ambassador College/University,  or claiming to have been trained at the feet of Herbert Armstrong, how can they claim to be able to come to "sound biblical understanding?"

November 08, 2018

By Gerald Weston

Greetings from Charlotte, We finished a very inspiring series of meetings this week with the Council of Elders. The genuine dedication, unity, and friendship among the members is greatly appreciated. Over the years, I have come to value the advice given to us in Scripture regarding receiving a multitude of counsel (Proverbs 15:22). There truly is safety in doing so, as Proverbs 11:14 reveals. We so often hear of members coming up with different doctrines, fancying themselves as Bible scholars. By the time they come to the ministry, they are so convinced of their own rightness that nothing will persuade them otherwise. The issues raised are almost always peripheral, or doctrines contrary to our longstanding understanding. The Church’s Council of Elders often discusses subjects that may appear simple on the surface, but are frequently more complex than first thought. It is through thoughtful and prayerful discussion with the Bible as the foundation that 15 or more men, who have been in the ministry for decades, are able to come to a sound biblical understanding. Telecast responses are up the last two weeks, and we are adding a few new stations.  One is WNAB Nashville, which should begin airing on Sunday, January 6, at 8:00 a.m. Your prayers are requested for Mr. Martin Fannin, who is in hospital with pneumonia, and Mr. Ed Breaux’ wife Connie, who is hospitalized with blood clots in her lungs.—Gerald Weston

Schism In The Church of God

The Fragmentation of a Sect – Schism in the Worldwide Church of God by David V. Barrett: Book Review(available on Amazon) 

This book is based on his PhD thesis and is an independent look at what happened, what is happening, and how WCG is similar to other founder churches. 

Part one discusses the doctrines (Sabbatarianism and Observance of the Law, millenarianism, the ten lost tribes and British Israelism, Church governance, and a comparison between Worldwide and Mormonism. Then continues with how WCG got started. Next it covers failure in prophecy, major doctrine changes (Pentecost, divorce and remarriage, and liberalism), sex scandals, ousting of GTA, and other problems.

Next a chapter on Tkach doctrinal changes, membership of WCG then and today.

The final chapter in Part one covers the schism, the schism of the schisms, smaller groups, and special focus groups.

Part two – Analysis 

First chapter – authority and governance in HWA and Tkach eras, and in the offshoots.

Second chapter – after the founder dies – examines other organizations as well as the WCG splits, plus looks at what happens when the split founder dies.

Third chapeter – who went where and why.

Finally, he covers his research behind the book.

For an unbiased look at what happened and how we compare to other groups, this is a book well worth reading regardless on whether or not you are a believer in the original WCG doctrines.

Submitted by TLA

My comments

David Barrett was given almost unfettered access to Worldwide Church of God historical archives and Herbert Armstrong's writings.  Of all the hundreds of books written about the WCG over the decades, this one has been deemed the fairest and most balanced.

Barrett also goes into depth the doctrine of British Israelism.

Living Church of God even quoted his book in their The Incredible History of God's True Church by Ivor C Fletcher, as did the United Church of God's Michael Snyder..

James Tabor had this to say:

Prof James D Tabor, Chair, Dept. of Religious Studies, UNC Charlotte, wrote:

“Millions around the world listened by radio or watched on television 'The World Tomorrow' program with Herbert W Armstrong or his son Garner Ted Armstrong, or subscribed to The Plain Truth magazine in the 1960s through the 1990s. Both were sponsored by Ambassador College and the Worldwide Church of God. The Armstrongs believed they had been raised up by God to warn the world before the final Apocalypse. In many ways they were the most successful such movement of our times. David V Barrett, a sociologist of religion with no connection to the Church, has provided us with the most thorough and objective history to date. From its inception in the 1930s to its schisms and transformations, Barrett weaves the fascinating story of faith, corruption, disappointment, and hope. His careful research and skillful analysis has not only advanced our understanding of the Worldwide Church of God and its history, but clarified the dynamics of such modern apocalyptic groups more generally.”

Oxford University Press had this to say about the book:

The Worldwide Church of God was a largely American 20th century Christian sect (or new religious movement: NRM) with heterodox beliefs and practices. It was Sabbatarian, millenarian, British Israelite and legalistic. After the death of its charismatic founder Herbert W. Armstrong in 1986 his successor changed the Church’s distinctive doctrines, leading it towards an increasing convergence with mainstream Evangelical Christianity. Ministers and members faced massive cognitive dissonance: whether to accept or reject the authority of the Church leadership which had abandoned the authority of the founder’s teachings. Groups of ministers left to form new Churches, taking thousands of members with them. These schismatic Churches in the “Worldwide family” in turn faced continuing schism, resulting in over 400 offshoot Churches by 2009. This sociological study examines some of the processes involved in schism, including the legitimation of authority, within both Worldwide and its range of offshoots, from hardline to comparatively liberal. Religions frequently face a period of turmoil and readjustment following their founder’s death. This book offers a new typological model for categorising various outcomes, including schism, and explores the usefulness of this model by applying it to both the Worldwide Church of God and a wide variety of other religions. It also extends Stark and Finke’s rational choice concepts of “social capital” and “religious capital” when people make religious choices, specifically reaffiliation between movements; it introduces a third factor, “moral capital”, covering for example past problems with leaders, and tests the relative strengths of these factors.

Will the Churches of God Unite Together For A Fast For California?

CA Deadliest Fire

I too have a dream - a dream that the COG groups will get together and have a joint fast. 

A fast for the people in California who in 1 week have suffered 2 huge wildfires and a mass shooting. A fast to beseech God for mercy, comfort, healing, and rescue for our fellow human beings. 

A fast for our divided nation that they will be more tolerant of our internal differences and stop attacking one another. 

A fast for the end of division in the COG groups. 

An immediate end to division internally and joint church services for COGWA, LCG, and UCG, plus all other groups who want to join. 

Because of the belief in servant leadership, an end to calling ministers Mr. - whoever heard of calling servants Mr. anyway?

TLA

Satan Attacks Petra In Order To Scare COG Members

According to the Church of God, a sure sign of the end times is when Satan rises up and attacks the Philadelphian church and the Laodiceans.  The Philadelphians are lucky though, they et to flee to Petra where they will live in millenial bliss for 3 1/2 years, making the deseret bloom like a rose. Satan is angry that the true church will possibly be taking shelter in Petra and somewhere else in Jordan that he will do all he can to thwart their journey there.

The BBC had this story today about how 4,000 tourists had to be evacuated from Petra and several Jordanians had died in flash floods:

Jordan flash floods: Eleven killed and tourists evacuated from Petra

Rescue teams and helicopters are searching for five people whose car was swept away in Madaba, south-west of the capital, Amman.

Downpours also triggered a state of emergency in the port city of Aqaba.

It comes two weeks after 21 people, mostly children, drowned in a flash flood in the Dead Sea area.

A civil defence spokeswoman told AFP news agency on Friday that a child was among those killed by floods in the Dabaa region, south of Amman.

A main road connecting the capital with the south of the country was also cut off, she added.

In Petra, floodwaters in some areas rose up to 4m (13ft), state TV reported. Footage showed people on the city's main road trying to stay clear of the water. 

Evacuated tourists were taken to safe areas, government spokeswoman Jumana Ghunaimat said.

She said more heavy rain was expected on Saturday and residents in affected areas were being urged to evacuate their homes. 

Jordan has suffered weeks of heavy rain. There was a public outcry last month after 18 children on a school trip were swept away, leading to the resignation of the country's education and tourism ministers. 

This immediately set the official false prophet of the Church of God into meltdown.  Bob Thiel writes today:

Petra is considered by many in and out of the Church of God as being the place or near the place that God will provide protection during the Great Tribulation/Day of the Lord. 

The late Pastor General of the old Worldwide Church of God, Herbert W. Armstrong thought it may be, but he was not definitive, as he wrote:

Petra may very well be the site for God’s protection of HIS PEOPLE—those who are counted WORTHY TO ESCAPE the terrifying GREAT TRIBULATION that is soon to strike an unsuspecting Israel! PETRA, an ancient Arab stronghold deep in the rugged mountains, is accessible only by traveling through narrow, twisting gorges on horseback! (Letter, April 15, 1956). 

Apparently many are carelessly supposing they are now SURE of being protected through the Great Tribulation (now ALMOST READY TO STRIKE!). Whether it will be Petra or another place, many feel carelessly secure, and, after that, entering God’s Kingdom with ETERNAL LIFE! But YOU DON’T HAVE IT “MADE.” You are still being TRIED — to determine whether you shall have this protection — whether you shall enter the Kingdom of God! It is those who are LED BY the Spirit of God — NOT those who are led by desire for more and more physical and material things!…SO, hundreds of you are SLACKING OFF in your RESPONSIBILITIES in GOD’S WORK!…SO, hundreds of you are SLACKING OFF in your RESPONSIBILITIES in GOD’S WORK! (Letter, September 1, 1968). 

Incidentally, I know many of you seem to have your hearts set on going very soon to Petra as “the place of safety” during the soon-coming Great Tribulation. Well, GET YOUR MINDS OFF PETRA. Brethren, I HAVE NEVER said that Petra definitely is the place of protection where God will take us. I HOPE IT IS NOT! One reason it could be the place is that it is a place NOBODY ELSE WOULD WANT TO GO. It would be the most UNpleasant, UNcomfortable, miserable place you could go! There is nothing to be desired there. But, just in case, God HAS miraculously given me very gracious favor in the eyes of King Hussein and also his brother, the Crown Prince. They are very friendly to me personally (Letter, July 16, 1982).

Philadelphian Bob loves to trot out Herbert's nonsense on this as PROOF that Philadelphian COG members will be the only ones going to Petra while the Laodiceans get left behind to serve as servants of the Germans or killed in concentration camps, which is what Thiel believes will happen to all LCG members for not following him into the one final true church.

(all hyperlinks have been removed to prevent exposure to further heresy)   

Thus, Herbert Armstrong thought Petra could be the place, but felt that those who slacked off in their responsibilities in doing God’s work, would probably not go. 

Here is a prophecy concerning some Christians being protected and others not so being protected:

13 Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. 14 But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. 15 So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. 16 But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. (Revelation 12:13-17) 

Notice that there are two groups of end-time Christians according to Revelation 12:14-17–one group that is protected, and the other that is not. 

It is to the Philadelphian Christians Jesus promised protection from the hour of trial:

7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, ‘These things says He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens”: 8 “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name. 9 Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie — indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. 10 Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. (Revelation 3:7-10)

I will give you one guess as to who the true Philadelphians are.  It is doubly cursed Bob's improperly named "continuing" Church of God.  No shocker there.  The prophet of paganism goes on to claim that the recent flood in Petra has already been written about in one of his previous articles.  It is all in Jeremiah...

Not what about the flooding? 

Does that eliminate Petra or some other Jordanian location? 

No. 

I have written about the floodplains of Jordan and the place of safety in the past. Here is something posted here over five years ago:

Interestingly, Jeremiah wrote:

You who dwell in Moab, Leave the cities and dwell in the rock, And be like the dove which makes her nest in the sides of the cave’s mouth (Jeremiah 48:28).
For thus says the LORD: “Behold, one shall fly like an eagle, And spread his wings over Moab…” (Jeremiah 48:40). 

It should also be noted that Petra is south, south-east of Jerusalem, which, as we saw earlier, is a possible direction for the place to be. Other than the aspect of caves (which does not mention the amount of caves), it should be noted, that many other areas in Jordan also are in the right direction and fit the description of the place–so it is possible that the Church may flee into Jordan and not stay in Petra, but somewhere else in Jordan or a neighboring area. 

It may be of interest to note that although Moab (somewhat associated with modern Jordan) is likely to somewhat support the upcoming King of the South (Daniel 11:40), Moab ends up escaping the punishment by the final King of the North (Daniel 11:40-43)–and possibly God allows this escape because the place of protection may be in their land (though the King of the North would likely believe that there are other reasons, including political ones). 

There is another passage of scripture that may be alluding to a Jordanian location for the place, which states,

5 If you have run with footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, in which you trusted, they have wearied you, then how will you do in the floodplain of Jordan? 6 For even you brothers, the house of your father, even they have dealt treacherously with you; Yes they have called a multitude after you. Do not believe them, even though they speak smooth words to you” (Jeremiah 12:5-6). 

The implication to God’s people is if you are having a difficult time living in a relatively peaceful land, what will happen to you when you are being pursued by ‘a multitude’ in the ‘floodplain of Jordan’? 

Remember, the serpent spews out a flood to try to destroy those who flee to the wilderness (Revelation 12:14-15). Thus it is possible that this is why Jeremiah is warning God’s people about how they will do in the ‘floodplain of Jordan’ (most any map suggests this floodplain looks like it is east of Jerusalem, God’s people would probably need to cross it if they arrive in Jerusalem and head towards Petra).  They will also have lessons to learn. (Thiel B. Philadelphian Christians may wander to get to the place of safety. COGwriter.com, September 17, 2013) 

Thus, a flood could be in Petra or on the way there, consistent with Revelation 12 and Jeremiah 12. 

Although most of the world does not consider a place in Jordan or that basic area as a place to flee to for protection, scripturally, the place in the wilderness God promised looks to be in that region.

I just can't what for Thiel to enter Petra and find Pack, Weinland, Flurry, UCG, COGWA, and the rest of the COG leaders already there arguing over who is going to be in charge.  It is not going to a pretty sight when Bobbie finds out that none of them will let him be in charge as none of them will pay him any attention.

Does receiving a "double portion" automatically make one a prophet?

There is a long-running blog (since 2008) that has been run by a COG member that has taken another hit against our resident self-appointed false prophet, Bob Thiel of the improperly named "continuing" Church of God.

Almost everyone in and out of the Church of God totally understands why Thiel's outlandish claims are without merit and ultimately a dangerous road for any Christian to follow.  Everyone that is except for the diploma-mill "dr." Thiel. Almost as soon as Rod Meredith kicked Theil to the curb because of his outlandish claims and outright lies, the self-appointed prophet began dreaming up claims that he tried to legitimize himself in the eyes of the leadership and members of LCG who have spent decades laughing at him behind his back.

That ultimate rejection by his spiritual daddy, Rod Meredith, was like a knife in his back.  He needed to come up with new ideas to prove himself worthy of being followed.  He immediately began blaming Meredith and LCG for being lax in their ways and teachings and soon resorted to "interpreting" his dreams in order to make himself look worthy to be followed.  Finally after too many bad meals that resulted in lots of restless dreams, Thiel miraculous became the ONLY true COG leader on earth today.

Anyway, back to the blog:

2 Kings 2:9-15 tells of the time when the prophet Elijah was carried by a whirlwind into heaven. At the same time, his office and responsibilities were transferred to Elisha who was to be prophet in his place (1 Kings 19:15-16).

Elisha asked Elijah for a "double portion of your spirit" (2 Kings 2:9). What did that refer to? Did it mean becoming a prophet? Was a prophetic office indicated by the term "double portion"?

No. That is impossible.

The Bible does not specify exactly what was meant by that term and everything it indicated. Perhaps it referred to the power to work signs and miracles. But it did not indicate the office of prophet.

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I bring this up because some think that if a minister anoints someone and asks God to give that person a double portion of God's Spirit, that is the same thing as ordaining that person as a prophet. Nothing could be further from the truth.

In previous posts I have made the point that making the request for a double portion does not mean God grants the request. Even Elijah did not know if God would give Elisha what he asked. Even today, when a member is anointed for healing, which is promised, God does not always heal even in this lifetime, and a double portion of God's Spirit is not even promised.

But now I am showing that the "double portion" does not even refer to being a prophet.

It can't. Elijah knew Elisha would be prophet from what God had told him in 1 Kings 19:16. He would not have answered Elisha as he did if "double portion" meant the office of prophet. The matter of Elisha being a prophet was not a question at this point. It was already settled. Not so the "double portion". That was something else. Elijah did not know if God would grant that request.

So the "double portion" Elisha requested and the office of prophet were two different things.

How do we know if a man in the Church of God is a prophet? Only God can make someone a prophet. But how do we know if He has done so?

The next part is my favorite. I can feel the butthurt all the way from Arroyo Grande when the self-appointed one read this:

God gives criteria.

One is, he must be faithful, overall, to God's way of life. He must be faithful to strive to believe and live by every word of God (Matthew 4:4). That does not mean he is perfect. But overall, he must be faithful to teach the truth. In particular, he must not try to turn the people to false gods. "If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, 'Let us go after other gods'—which you have not known—'and let us serve them,' you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul" (Deuteronomy 13:1-3).

This includes not pointing the people to demon-inspired messages about the future. "For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the Lord your God has not appointed such for you" (Deuteronomy 18:14).

A man who quotes and publishes and spreads pagan and demon-inspired prophecies about the future, trying to learn and teach from demons details of the future that God does not choose to reveal, disqualifies himself from being a true prophet. 

The self-appointed prophet has yet to make any prophecy concerning the future or uttered anything over the last few years that came to pass.  The problem with the doubly-deceived prophet is that he cannot differentiate between his personal ideas,  hopes, and desires from letting his god speak to him.  Thiel's visions are nothing more than wishful thinking and are not a communication from God.  Everyone sees that except for him.

But also, a true prophet of God is given prophecy by God. God gives prophecy - sure prophetic messages by direct revelation from God - to His true prophets. And a sign of a prophet is accurate predictions in those messages of future events. When a prediction in a prophetic message comes true in a way that is unlikely by chance, that is a sign that the man is a true prophet.  

"And if you say in your heart, 'How shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?'—when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him" (Deuteronomy 18:21-22).

I find no example in the Bible of a prophet without prophecy. Any man who claims to be a prophet but who has never received a direct prophetic message from God is practicing wishful thinking.

Those are two qualifications for being a prophet - not turning the people to false gods, false doctrines, or messages from demons, and actually receiving prophetic messages from God - messages about the future that can be verified when the future event comes to pass.

Both are needed.

So what happens if,  by chance, the doubly blessed one actually does make some kind of prophecy that might come to pass?  More butthurt is to ensured:

What if someone who claims to be a prophet of God makes a prediction that comes to pass, but also turns people to demon-inspired pagan prophecies? Is that person a true prophet?

No.

God may allow a false teacher to make a true prediction as a way of testing His people to know if they will believe His word, the Bible, or not. See Deuteronomy 13:1-3 which I quoted above.

So even if a man can make true predictions about the future, if he points people to pagan and demon-inspired messages, he cannot be a true prophet of God.

How much less a man who claims to be a prophet, points people to pagan prophecies, and cannot even make his own prophetic predictions.

Check out Preaching the Gospel here.

Disaster in California and the COG Reaction

Disaster in California: This is Not the time to Judge. This is the Time to Help.

In Southern California, especially in Butte County, as well as in the suburban areas of Los Angeles, a storm of hellish proportions is engulfing properties and threatening lives clear down to Malibu. Many celebrities - such as Alyssa Milano, Caitlyn Jenner, and Kim Kardashian have been affected.

I can just see the scowl on the faces of fundamentalist Church of God members to the news. I can just read their thoughts. I can almost predict the posts that are due to come out, if they have not come out already. The hatred, the judgements, the "warnings" - they come out like roaring lions every time a disaster hits. They always roar out with snarls and hisses about what they believe the reason for the fire really was, and what they believe caused it. They do not hesitate to call it a judgement of God against those who blaspheme against His ways and His will. They show no empathy, no care, no concern, no heart, and most of all, no love toward anybody who thinks or acts differently than they do. To them, they've brought it all on themselves because of their rebellion and obstinate behavior towards God's Law. "Burn, Burn, you haters of God and his ways", they'll say, nearly drooling over the prospect of the wicked being subject to punishment - wishing for fire and brimstone, like with Sodom and Gomorrah. You can almost hear them say "Get 'em" to the fire. "That'll teach 'em", you can nearly see them say as they hunch forward in glee, as in watching their favorite runner with the football heading towards the End Zone. (Well, most of them. We know one who doesn't meet that comparison!)

What is wrong with this picture?

Everything is wrong with this picture.

First of all, and importantly - EVERYONE - you, me, your neighbor, your son, your daughter, your parents - have issues. EVERYONE deals with their own personal situations. EVERYONE goes through their own struggles and their own pain. It is not our place to judge someone else's pain and suffering when we all have our own issues to deal with. Speck vs. Beam!!

Church of God Members are vicious and quick to cast judgement on what they see as immorality and perversion among "the world" and are quick to condemn and cast judgement, using events as wildfires, tornadoes, hurricanes, and other natural events as proof of the judgement of God. Yet they refuse to see the blatant idolatry, the immorality within their own ranks, the hypocrisy, the abuse, the oppression, the extortion, and the financial theft happening within their own ranks. Who are them to cast judgement when they don't look in the mirror? The hypocrisy is beyond wretched and reason.

Who are they to sit there and cast judgement on those who are not meeting their standards when they are blind to their own nest of sin and evil - as they define it? Who made them holier than thou? Who gave them the gift of spiritual discernment when their own nest has been scorched by the fires of wickedness? Who are they to laugh and scorn at the loss and pain of others, when they oppress the poor, abuse the weak, and take gain for themselves for their own comfort and security? What gave them the right to be such arrogant and hurtful pricks? They cast judgement in the name of God while their own hair burns and they don't even know it.

Just as bad, they feel they don't have to do a thing to help them, or to "show them Jesus", to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

Which COG Leader do you know of who will drop everything to go to California to help them? Anyone?

Which COG Leader will invite Caitlyn Jenner into their home? Which COG Leader will invite Allysa Milano into their home - or ANY person of different opinion into their property? Anyone? Hello!

Will a COG Leader open his property to the victims of the wildfires? Will he allow them to sleep on his rug in his palace? Will he allow them to worship God with un-laced shoes? Or non-white shirts? Will he bring in the unwashed into his closed gates? Will he permit the smell of scorched and burned clothes into his palaces? Will he comfort the hurting? Would he? Could he?

Will a COG Leader open up his headquarters to the wounded? Or would he make the excuse it's too far? Would he pay airfare for the displaced in California who lost everything, who aren't financially fortunate? Or would he only care about his own members - who were somehow supernaturally protected - or give those who were hurt "thoughts and prayers"?

Will local ministers in California do anything?

Will our self-appointed non-ordained minister open up his house or his vitamin house for any of the wounded or displaced? Will he use any of his money or proceeds to feed the firefighters of the police who are working day and night to protect and to serve? Will our crooked bookcase man give a sermon of hope and peace in Jesus to the victims - or will he do another horrible message on 50 topics while ignoring the state burning all around him? Or will he do a web post on how everything happening is God's punishment on a world that won't keep the Sabbath at Bob's butt-numbing church services - or go to his Feast of Tabernacles?

What COG minister will be moved to be there in this disaster? Anyone? What COG minister will tell people to keep their hands off of this tragedy because you can't interfere with God's judgement? Shall we name names?

What if we reversed the thinking?

What if this wasn't a judgement on the world - but a test of action of faith to people who profess Jesus?

What if these things were a test of love? Of how much those who profess Jesus would take action? Would help and serve? Who take in and show the love of God to those who think differently? Who act differently? Did not Jesus say to feed the sick? Or the homeless? Or the jailed? Or the widowed? Did he not say to do these things? Of course, the COG will just say "Well, that didn't mean THEM. He was talking about the Church."

God have mercy on those who spew such bull and vomit on the grace of Jesus Christ. God have mercy on them. Because these are the ones that Jesus would have ran to to help and to serve. Because God's love and God's grace and mercy know no boundaries. God's sacrifice knows no bounds. God is a God who is looking for those who give of themselves for the sake of others - ALL others - regardless of race, religion, disability, or mindset. God is a God of love. And his expectation is that his people put their faith into action, show Jesus, and love others. ALL others. Without prejudice, and with great compassion and healing hands.

California is burning tonight. But so are the hearts and compassionate care of hundreds of thousands who do not cast self-righteous judgement and Pharisaical condemnation against those who are not as righteous as their holier than thou saintly vessels of perfection and righteousness - whitewashed with soap and gleaming with sparkles in their oh, so magnificent splendor - are. There are thousands who are going without sleep, without eating, driving thousands of miles, taking care of displaced people, pets, horses, who have lost everything - to do the work of the Lord Jesus to all peoples - regardless of what they believe or who they are. These are the people who are showing the love of God. These are the angels showing mercy and love and compassion.

As far as the COG leaders - whoever may do what I'm describing here - you know,  the ones who sit on their asses in their white shirts and pressed pants mocking those who have lost everything? Who sit there in self-righteous sneers as to how great they are and how wicked the world is? Who relish at the thought of the embers of fire and whipping destruction against those who despise and mock God's Law with drooling fervor, wishing the fire on - or worse, turning a blind eye?

Don't look at the specks in their eyes when a beam shoots out of yours. You make a mockery of Jesus, and spit, stomp, and reduce to ashes the word of God and the ministry of Jesus Christ. May God have as much mercy on YOU, as he shows on the world through the sacrifice and love of His Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ - so that you, too, may see how great and how deep and how wide is the love of God, who so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son for everyone. And once you open your eyes to THAT. May God's spirit convict you and WAKE YOU UP to the pathetic attitudes that have come from the false Gospel you've embraced through the false apostle Herbert Armstrong.

But God is not going to force you to change your stubborn and hard headed minds. That's going to be up to you.