Adult Sabbath School for Passover: "And Many Bodies of the Saints Which Slept Arose...

"Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?... And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many."
 (Matthew 27:45-53)

What might this tale be all about?  Never mind that no one.in the New Testament Church ever mentions this event again. The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, writing during the second half of the first century AD, produced two major works: History of the Jewish War and Antiquities of the Jews. He says nothing about this most extraordinary occurrence. This one missed his attention so he reports nothing of this, and misses an opportunity to interview any of the "many" who must have been around for years after just itching to be asked about how it felt to be resurrected at the time of Jesus death. 

Peter never mentions it in all his attempts to convince the masses that Jesus did rise, in fact, from the dead. Paul never mentions this event as proof of Jesus resurrection either. Of course, the Gospels were written long after Paul lived, wrote and died so he never heard the tale in the first place.  Paul made a great deal out of the man he knew who was caught up to the third heaven seeing and hearing things that no man was allowed to see or know. You'd think if he knew that, he'd mention risen Saints at Jesus death but he knows nothing of it.  

Anyway...

 The fact that these risen saints must have lived on and been members of the  early Church never seems to come up. You'd think they at least would get to be deacons and elders!  Pretty impressive to have you Elder being one of the dead raised when Jesus was on the cross. Perhaps they died, rose and died again the same day when whatever the point that was being made was made but that seems a lotta work for a little benefit since it didn't seem to leave much of an impression on anyone but Matthew. 

But there was a problem in the text...

So here we have Jesus on the cross, still alive and distressed that God has forsaken him. At this time it appears, or perhaps by implication, at the moment of his death, the graves of many of the "saints" open and they rise from the dead. Well not quite yet because it appears someone spotted a problem with this verse and added just a bit to make it doctrinally acceptable for future reads.

But first, how can these newly dead, I assume newly because  if they had died any further back than one to three years, depending on which Gospel you read as to the length of Jesus ministry, they never would have even heard of Jesus in their first life. (John has Jesus around for three Passovers. The Synoptics only one.) They would not be qualified as "Saints" or even disciples if they had never heard of Jesus. 

 Aren't saints members in good standing of the Church and converted Christians? Jesus is not even dead yet, or just died! There is no church and certainly no saints unless just following Jesus around as a curious follower the past one or three years qualified one as a "saint." The use of the word "Saints" is an indicator that the story was written by one author many years later when there actually were Christian Saints. It certainly is not an eyewitness account of anything.  All four Gospels are not eyewitness accounts of the events they report. 

Secondly, it says that it was a resurrection of "many bodies of the saints." Many? What happened to "all." There could not have been too many to leave some behind! Can you imagine the conversations that must have followed in the weeks following this event?

"Hey, Shlomo is back! So, where is your Benjamin? Oh, really? Not one of the many huh? Sorry." 

Anyway, it seems that only the many but not the all got raised. I wonder what criteria were used to choose some over others?  

 Next we have the problem of the graves being opened, but no one being allowed to come out of them until after Jesus personal resurrection. This is where being doctrinally correct comes in.

A later editor spotted a doctrinal problem where the story could not have Jesus being preceded in resurrection, by any, much less, many of the "saints." This would be putting the cart before the horse. Jesus could not be the "first born of many brethren," (Romans 8:29),  if many of the brethren had already been up and running from the dead while Jesus was either on the cross wondering why God had forsaken him, or newly dead and not yet resurrected himself. One might also view Lazarus as "the first born of many brethren" but that issue doesn't seem to come up.  So the phrase, "after his resurrection" was inserted to make this a doctrinally correct event. Had that phrase, "after his resurrection," not been added, the story would be an unending source of doctrinal problems and a recognition that Jesus was not the first born of many brethren. The many brethren would have been first born before him. 

Back to the story...

So here we have these graves opened, but the bodies just lying there, open to view evidently.  Then, after Jesus rose, the bodies stood up and went home to see the family and friends. You'd think someone would have mentioned this later, but it didn't make much of an impression on anyone but Matthew it seems.  I say Matthew but the original Gospels were anonymous books and the well known names were added much later for credibility reasons.  We also have to realize that none of the disciples were witnesses to any of this since they had all fled just prior to the Crucifixion. Perhaps "Matthew" had forgotten this fact, although he mentions it himself in 26:56. 

If the graves were opened for three days, would not word get out and the town get about the business of filling them in again? If they were fresh bodies, what a stink and if they were alive, fresh bodies laying low for now, what a scare!  No doubt, word would have gotten out in the three days after Jesus death that graves around Jerusalem were open with exposed bodies or living people not yet able to get up. Crowds would have gathered around the graves perhaps encouraging the now risen but not yet raised to be patient for a few days?  

Well, it's a great story that no one but Matthew seems to be aware of or use to further the Gospel. Knowing the writer of Matthew, it never happened. Matthew was great at over reaching and searching the scriptures to make a point about Jesus. Matthew could make an Old Testament story mean what it was never meant to mean. All of Matthew's "and thus it was fulfilled" accounts in the birth narratives of Jesus, where he goes back into the Old Testament, "searching the scriptures",  to prove everything from Jesus virgin birth to it being predicted that he would be from Nazareth or return out of Egypt after Herod dies, are examples of this over reaching. No one else quite had this way of proving the birth circumstances and drama down pat as well as Matthew. . It would be a bit like me using portions of Lord of the Rings to show how Tolkien prophecied the war in Iraq.

Eventually the Saints rise and able to leave the graves.  Off to visit friends in Jerusalem these saints went. But we have no names and no further accounts. We have no stories of happy reunions of the dead with the living. No one seems to write about this in any public records and no one ever after uses this event to further the proof of Jesus resurrection or the power of God. Actually, it never happened in time, space or history.  Perhaps the story had meaning to "Matthew." It had no meaning to anyone else in the NT. Perhaps it was someone's "type" of the General Resurrection but creating the story created a future doctrinal problem as shown by a simple insertion of the words "after his resurrection" by a genuine Saint many years later before he died and as far as we know is still dead. 

An Open Letter to the Board Members of CEM

An Open Letter to the Board Members of CEM: Willie Oxendine, John Beasley, C. Roderick Martin, Jon Garnant, John H. Currier, Richard Crow and Larry Watkins at 312 W. Main St. Whitehouse, Texas 75791, and to other concerned Brethren,

We, Gary and Dianne McDonnell, both Church of God members, recently received a phone call from a CEM board member that we would soon be receiving a legal summons regarding a home which Allie Dart willed to us. 

This summons is directly related to Christian Educational Ministries wanting half of Allie Dart’s Estate and not settling with an offer made by Cathy Gibbons and the two remaining Dart relatives on October 18, 2018.  Mrs. Gibbons offered to give CEM 100% of a home willed to her by Allie Dart, a home valued at more than our house, if CEM would take Philip Hufton and us out of the Family Settlement Agreement. Her generous offer would have excluded us as dedicated church members from the litigation. 

It read in part, “I (Cathy Gibbons) and the surviving Dart/Driver families are requesting that CEM allow these three parties to fully have what has been willed to them….I believe that the selling of these properties will create a hardship specifically on the McDonnell’s and Philip Hufton who are members of the Church of God faith… Please consider this request as an act of Christian love…”  

But on December 5, 2018, one of CEM’s lawyers replied, “The CEM board declined the offer. I apologize that was not clear from our prior communications.”

It is a great disappointment to us as contributing, long-time members of Christian Educational Ministries that you, CEM board, did not first reach out to us regarding this matter. We have considered many of you our friends and we called out to you by your first name at Holy Days, Sabbaths, and in personal fellowship. We, Gary and Dianne McDonnell, together have been in the Church of God for a total of over 86 years! We are your brethren. Mr. Dart was a great teacher and we are fortunate to have known him. He was fond of 1 Corinthians 6:1-6.

“If any of you has a dispute with another, do you dare to take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the Lord’s people? Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life? Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, do you ask for a ruling from those whose way of life is scorned in the church? I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers? But instead, one brother takes another to court and this in front of unbelievers!”

We know that you are aware of this scripture and the many other ones that warn about bringing your brethren to court. We believe that the Bible instructs us to sit down together and talk about our differences and try to settle this as Paul wrote. No lawyers. No recordings. No secret legal angling. Just Brethren together working out an important issue. We understand that many of you are scattered across the country and for your convenience we offer to meet with Larry Watkins or whoever else from our faith you feel will represent your side. Meeting in Tyler will entail us driving and flying many hours to meet you in this manner. We are willing to make this effort and discuss this face to face. We hope you share our commitment. Peace to you.

Dianne McDonnell

Gary McDonnell

Kennon McDonnell

The Ark of the Covenant: Soon to be discovered by a Church God Group?

For many decades now the Armstrong Churches of God have been rife with conspiracies and soon to be revelations that certain people claim their god has told them. From declaring themselves Elijah's and Joshua's, to being the two witless witnesses, to apostles and prophets and the lunatic fringe who dream dreams and claim double anointing.  Every one of them has been abject failures.

But that has not stopped certain deluded men in the ACOG from self-appointing themselves and making all kinds of fantastical predictions.  Besides the lunacy of Bob Thiel, no one has been more out there than Gerald Flurry.  This guy has truly jumped off the deep end and hit his head on the pool bottom.

After traipsing through the woods of Oregon and digging up a dirty old rock, Flurry has now declared it as the very stone Jesus will return to and sit upon!  But before that happens certain major world discoveries need to happen in order for Flurry to be proved RIGHT in the eyes of the world.  Discovering that stone was just the first step in a bigger discovery to soon take place in Ireland. Gerald Flurry claims his group will soon discover the Ark of the Covenant.  He knows exactly where it is, but dangnabbit, those pesky Jesuit scum won't let him dig up Hill Tara.

Pretty soon though, he and his little group will dig it up and it will be tourist attraction until all hell breaks loose and Armageddon

On the Philadelphia Church of God's Watch Jerusalem site they have this article up:

Finding the Ark of the Covenant

Gerald Flurry writes:

The Ark of the Covenant has inspired a lot of curiosity over the years. The Ark was a holy chest that God instructed the Israelites to build. It represented the throne of God. In the past, it has been the subject of documentaries and movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark.  

Few people are talking about that artifact today. Yet a fascinating verse in the Bible says that in this modern era, many people will be talking about it. The implication is that very soon, the Ark of the Covenant is going to be found!  

That verse is found in Jeremiah, a book of prophecy that was written for this end time (Jeremiah 30:1-9). So this prophecy about the Ark is for us today. 

If the Ark were found, it would electrify many people around the world!  

People don’t know where the Ark is, but I believe that the Bible—and a certain nation’s history—tell us in which country it is located today.

Gerald then goes on to proclaim that the Ark of the Covenant will soon be a tourist attraction.

Examine Jeremiah 3:16 carefully. It says that once the Messiah comes, “they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the Lord.” They won’t say it anymore—which means they were saying it at some point. People are not saying it now, but according to this prophecy, there is coming a time when they will be saying it! “[N]either shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done anymore.”  

Notice that shocking statement: God says people won’t visit the Ark anymore! Do you know any place today where people visit the Ark? There isn’t any such place, but God here describes a time when people will visit the Ark of the Covenant.  

Remember, the time frame is leading up to the Tribulation and the coming of the Messiah. These scriptures refer to the time we are living in now. Just before the Tribulation, many people will be visiting the ark like a tourist attraction, according to this prophecy. It sounds like it has created a world sensation! I don’t see how you can understand this prophecy any other way.

So just how does Gerald Flurry KNOW that the ark is there?  Because none other thanHerbert Armstrong said so!   If he said it, it HAS TO BE TRUE! There can be no other explanation!

The ancient nation of Judah fell to the Babylonians in 585 b.c.e.In the siege, the king of Babylon killed all the sons of Judah’s King Zedekiah. Most people believe that the royal line of King David ended at that point. But if you study 2 Samuel 7:12-16, you see that God had promised to establish David’s lineage on that throne forever! If David never had another royal descendant—if the throne of David ceased with Zedekiah—then God’s promise would have been broken.  

However, as Herbert W. Armstrong proved in his book The United States and Britain in Prophecy, that throne did not cease. God kept His promise by keeping a royal descendant of David—not a son of Zedekiah but a daughter—alive. He preserved her with the help of the Prophet Jeremiah, whom God allowed to escape Babylonian captivity.  

“The real ancient history of Ireland is very extensive, though colored with some legend. But with the facts of biblical history and prophecy in mind, one can easily sift out the legend from the true history in studying ancient Irish annals,” Mr. Armstrong wrote.
[I]n 569 b.c. (date of Jeremiah’s transplanting), an elderly, white-haired patriarch, sometimes referred to as a ‘saint,’ came to Ireland. With him was the princess daughter of an eastern king and a companion called ‘Simon Brach,’ spelled in different histories as Breck, Berech, Brach or Berach.” This is Jeremiah’s scribe, Baruch. “The princess had a Hebrew name Tephi—a pet name—her full name being Tea-Tephi. … This royal party included the son of the king of Ireland who had been in Jerusalem at the time of the siege. There he had become acquainted with Tea-Tephi. He married her shortly after 585—when the city fell. Their young son, now about 12 years of age, accompanied them to Ireland. 

As Mr. Armstrong proved in his book, this royal line was thus preserved in the British Isles. It can be traced directly to the British throne. 

Irish annals show that when Jeremiah migrated to Ireland, he brought with him more than just the princess of Judah who carried on David’s throne. “Besides the royal family, Jeremiah brought with them some remarkable things,” Mr. Armstrong continued, “including a harp, an ark, and a wonderful stone called ‘lia-fail,’ or ‘stone of destiny’” (op. cit., emphasis mine).  

The “stone of destiny” is also called “Jacob’s pillar stone.” It is the stone the patriarch Jacob set up to memorialize the promise God made to him in Genesis 28—that his descendants would become as numerous as “the dust of the earth.” This stone remained with the nation of Israel throughout its history. And when Jeremiah fled Jerusalem, he took this stone with him.  

We know where this stone is today: It is in Scotland, in Edinburgh Castle. In recent years, faithless critics have tried to discredit the origins of this stone—but for hundreds of years its true origins were widely accepted and understood. Queen Elizabeth was crowned over it, as was Tea-Tephi’s royal son anciently. 

Notice that along with that stone, Jeremiah brought the Ark of the Covenant on his journey to Ireland!

Not only is the Ark in Hill Tara, but Flurry claims that the 10 commandments are there as well.

In Volume i of The Journal of the British Archeological Association, published in 1895, an essay called “The Hill of Tara” by R. H. McDonald referred to the work of the Irish archaeologist Dr. Denis Hanan: “‘Tara,’ says Dr. Hanan, is almost pure Hebrew for Torah, which means ‘law,’ and the original tables of the law were in the Ark which, curiously enough, Irish history says is buried with Tea.”  

Note that! Tara comes from torah—God’s law! There is a well-known connection between the famous Tara Hill and the law of God!  

This is amazing history. The tablets of the Ten Commandments were written by the very finger of God! (Exodus 31:18; 34:1, 28). God personally gave them to Moses, and they were placed within the Ark of the Covenant (Deuteronomy 10:5; 1 Kings 8:9).  

According to these archaeologists and historians, these tablets were buried with Tea-Tephi in Tara Hill! Why don’t we hear more about this history? It is clearly recorded in Ireland’s history books. This simply cannot be chalked up as a “legend” or “myth” of Irish history!

Flurry and the rest of the splinter cult leaders in the Armstrong Churches of God just cannot get past all of these "physical" things they claim we will all be worshipping or looking towards.  It is just like many who claim the temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem and all of humanity will go there.

The problem in all of that is that if one is truly following the one claiming to be Jesus, there is no need for any of these artifacts or physical things pointing to something in a kingfom where the One is already there.  That "something" will already be here.  People will be rejoicing in that instead of standing in line to look at some rocks or other objects of desire.

Has the Armstrong Churches of God Harbored Rapists and Pedophiles?

It has been well known over the decades that there have been some ministers, elders, deacons, ministers sons, department heads, TV studio employees, and others who have been sexual predators in the Armstrong Churches of God.  It has been reported upon by Ambassador Reports and numerous blogs and web sites.  Many cases have went to trial with leading ministers and church leaders being sent to prison for their heinous crimes.  But far too often, church members were/are embarrassed or afraid to confront their abusers and they keep it secret. leading to horrendous pshycological problems with the victims, so much so that some have committed suicide.

Who can they turn to when the person that was supposed to be "Christ's representative" is the one abusing them?

Are they to wait and let God take care of it later, as some have been told?  

I say they should immediately bypass all church leaders and go directly to the police! 

On a previous thread about Kevin Dean, the following was posted: 

Kevin Owen Dean: New Arrest Warrant Issue

Lisa Ann Davis said...

I AM the girl who escaped from KD when his daughters came back from swimming at SEP. I was working in the kitchen that session. He sent for me and under the pretense of giving me a back adjustment (he went down the front) proceeded to touch me in all the private areas. I was FREAKED out and told no one. Do you know why? Because somehow I knew I would be blamed for it. Took me 9 years before I was brave enough to tell my parents. All of the stuff listed above is true.

March 25, 2019 at 3:20 PM 

Anonymous said...

My kid sister was 15 when she was raped by a married member of the Armstrong family. (NOT GTA) When it came to light, my mother, a member of over 40 years at the time, and my sister were brought in front of the "council of elders" in the Administration building to stand on the charges of my virgin 15 year old sister seducing this pedophile. My mother sat, very submissive and never stood up for her. My sister, asking to go to the bathroom, left the grounds. I was never told of this story until about 5 years ago. Incredulously, my mother still ashamed and embarrassed, I looked her in the eye and told her that her daughter was RAPED! Until that moment, she had never considered this, as the elders made my sister out to be the guilty person. Did Pasadena harbor rapists and pedophiles? You bet they did.

March 27, 2019 at 11:06 AM 

Anonymous said...

Just to clarify... when he was with the girl at Imperial, she was at least a Jr, as she was a year younger than me, which means it was going on for at least two years, and started before she was 18. (This is my first time commenting, so many kids at school knew about this affair. We just had no idea what to do about it. Who do you tell when the person in charge is the one breaking the rules?)

March 27, 2019 at 1:27 PM 

Dave Pack Gets Schooled

Note:  I am not posting this to convince anyone on the truth of Evolution. I am not concerned with what anyone believes. I have satisfied myself over the years, through study and observation that Evolution is true. That fascinates me and should not irritate you. Religious beliefs have their own set of needs and reasons for existence. Over the years I have accepted the fact that I am personally evidence based and not faith based. If you can't show it, you really can't know it nor should we trust that one does.  They are opposites and while the cause for much debate and argument, I do not personally believe that Science and the Bible are or ever can be made compatible.

The Western world of Bible literalism has gotten stuck in Bronze and Iron Age perspectives in a world that has moved on to the Space Age. There is a price to pay for that. Dave Pack uses the same mistaken notions, scriptures taken out of context and need to believe that which is unbelievable in his theological ramblings. While going to great lengths to appear wise and , as I have been told, incredibly intelligent, he is not. Like HWA and GTA before him, he uses his supposed authority,  bluster and a literal view of scripture to not see what others clearly see through studied observation.

I post this to show just ignorant David C Pack is on the topic and how incredibly unqualified and out of date he is to think that he can explain the modern evidence for Evolution away with bombastic and horribly out of date information and speculations as to how religious statements and science fit together. Just as Aron has logically, patiently and accurately taken Dave Pack apart on this topic, any well trained theologian could take him apart piece by piece for his theological ramblings that we all know will simply fall into the same wastebasket those of the Armstrongs have.

Dave has always needed a bit of peer review and accountability for making the statements he does about science and of course theology. He gets his grade card here for not doing his homework in what we now know about Evolution vs what he thinks he has always known.

 I know what Dave considers to be his expertise in the topic of Creationism. He claims to have studied it 50 years ago as if 50 years ago was the peak time of knowledge on the topic. We have learned more in the last 5 years about human evolution and that of all life on the planet including the planet itself than in the previous 5000.

Dave thinks that his one class called Second Year Bible where we all simply had to read and outline The Genesis Flood by Whitcomb and Morris and that WAS the class that  settled the question once and for all.  That book has been debunked decades ago and wasn't fit to comment on the topic to begin with. No one taught Dave anything about Creationism at AC or why evolution was not true EXCEPT for Church Booklets , A Whale of a Tale, and A Theory for the Birds.  Interestingly enough , the clear evolution of both Whales and Birds is clearly and wonderfully understood today making a fool out of Garner Ted Armstrong, who like Dave, used sarcasm and ignorance to not prove a point. We now know that even feathers preceded flying and were not "created" for flight. They were decoration and insulation at first and only later did the aid in flight.

I guarantee you Dave Pack, nor any Church of God minister has read an up to date explanation of the science behind the Theory of Evolution. (And please do your homework on what a scientific theory is before thinking it means "opinion." or "guess".)

And no bullshit about Aron's hair or look please. You simply prove yourself most shallow and divert yourself from the content. . Aron knows more about the real science of evolution and paleontology than ALL the ministry of ALL the Churches of God put together...even Bob Thiel.  (That's a joke).  I know Aron personally. He has a heart of gold and knows whereof he speaks. A church member or minister would be a fool to try and pull a Dave Pack explanation of why evolution is wrong on him, or just about any science student at a real University.

If the posting does not appeal to you, seems foolish, anti-God, atheistic or just more of my old ministerial self rising up again to tell everyone how it all is because once a Ministurd always a Ministrud, just hang out a couple days and I'm sure you'll have something come up you like more like how your minister in the past agonized over could the air in your car tires be considered leaven because they were puffed up or was baking soda leavening.   Important and life enriching stuff like that. It's the time of year for all that foolishness as we all are no doubt aware so there will be plenty of straining at gnats and swallowing camels ahead as The Days of Unleavened Bread descend upon them.

For those few of us here who might find the take down of Dave Pack a sight to behold, I simply offer this one segment for your enjoyment. Aron took the time to do 19 sessions to refute Dave Pack's shallow and incredibly outdated explanations and he put Dave more than in his place. Any young person would benefit from watching the whole series to understand what Dave Pack never has and evidently never could understand about good science done well.

For those who might like more time in the topic of Creationism vs Evolution I would recommend Aron's latest book.

Overview

Religious fundamentalists and biblical literalists present any number of arguments that attempt to disprove evolution. Those with a sympathetic ear often fail to critically examine these creationist claims, leading to an ill-informed public and, perhaps more troubling, ill-advised public policy. As Aron Ra makes clear, however, every single argument deployed by creationists in their attacks on evolution is founded on fundamental scientific, religious, and historical falsehoods–all of them. Among their most popular claims is that evolution is a religion, that there are no transitional species, that there are no beneficial mutations, and that supposedly sacred scripture is the infallible word of God. Yet, as the evidence and data plainly show, each of these claims is demonstrably and unequivocally false. There is simply no truth to creationism whatsoever, and the entire enterprise rests on a foundation of falsehoods. This book explains and exposes the worst of these lies, and should be read by all who honestly care about following the evidence no matter where it might lead in pursuit of the truth.

Or for the more in the know in the Churches of God perhaps Ken Ham's Book will suffice.

The Great United Church of God Wikipedia Whitewash

Take a look at the United Church of God Wikipedia page if you want to see one of he biggest whitewashes in Church of God history. You will be hard pressed to find ANY connection to Herbert W Armstrong, Armstrongism, the Worldwide Church of God or its connection to any of the hundreds and hundreds of harlot daughter split offs littering the Armstrong Church of God landscape.

Why is it that all of these splinter groups all claim to follow the truth delivered by Herbert Armstrong and yet in their public persona's they scramble as fast as they can to distance themselves from the the man and his teachings.

Talk about hypocrisy!

UCG Feast of Tabernacles observance in Branson, Missouri, 2015

The UCG follows and believes in many of the basic doctrinal principles shared by other Christian churches such as the inspiration of the scriptures, Christ's bodily resurrection, and the three ordinances of baptism,^[4] and agrees with Protestant theology regarding the tenets of sola scriptura and that Justification is a gift given freely by God. Like many Christian churches, it also believes in the resurrection of the dead, Millennialism, baptism by immersion, Gap creationism, and is strongly Adventist, believing that the return of Christ is imminent, interpreting current events in the light of Bible prophecy.^[4] However, its teachings differ from mainstream Catholic and Protestant theology in a number of key areas:

• Belief in Restorationism. Like many churches in the Restorationist movement, UCG believes that a number of today's mainstream Christian teachings resulted from doctrinal corruption under the influence of Greco-Roman philosophy, Gnosticism, Anti-Semitism, and mistranslation which occurred early in the history of the church. Much of UCG doctrine that is distinct from mainstream Christianity is the outgrowth of an effort to separate these influences and traditions from what is believed to be the beliefs and practices of Jesus Christ and the original Apostolic church.^[5][6][7] UCG holds that the Roman Catholic church and most Protestant denominations today have mistakenly syncretized various pagan doctrines and practices. For example, UCG teaches that the ancient pagan origins of traditional Christian celebrations (especially Christmas, Halloween, Easter, and Valentine's Day) render them inappropriate for true Christians.^{[8][9][10][11][12][13]}
• Nontrinitarian belief, i.e., that the Holy Spirit is the spirit/power of God and of Christ Jesus rather than a separate person in the Godhead. God 'the Father' and Jesus Christ are viewed as two distinct beings in the 'God family,' united in purpose only.^[14]
• Belief that Christians are begotten as children in the Family of God and will at their resurrection become "spirit-born divine beings who are part of Elohim, the universe-ruling family of God."^[15]
• Belief that the core of Jesus Christ's message was the coming of a literal earthly Kingdom and that people who are 'saved' will not go to heaven, but will live and rule eternally with Jesus Christ on earth after his second coming, and will subsequently share rulership over the entire universe as part of the 'God Family'. UCG also asserts that the final destination of the unrepentant wicked is not everlasting torture, but annihilation or permanent destruction.^[16]
• Belief that people of Western European descent, primarily the original British colonies and the United States, are direct physical descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes of the northern kingdom of ancient Israel, whereas the historical Jews (and modern-day Israel) are descendants of the ancient southern kingdom of Judah. This belief is not used to assert racial or ethnic superiority, but solely to interpret End Time prophecies which are believed to be directed at the United States and Europe.^[17]
• Belief that the basic Old Testament law is not "done away with" and is carried over into the "New Covenant" such that certain commandments apply to Christians today, including the Ten Commandments and teachings such as clean and unclean meats, literal observance of Holy Day festivals such as eating unleavened bread during the 'Days of Unleavened Bread', and living in 'temporary habitations' during the 'Feast of Tabernacles'. These beliefs exclude civil and sacrificial temple laws,^[18] but includes the literal observance of the seventh-day Sabbath (from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset) and the Holy Days of the Old Testament Hebrew calendar,^[19] dietary restrictions,^[20] and the condemnation of practicing any and all sexual sin as identified by God in the Holy Scriptures.^[21]
• Belief that people who do not know or understand the truth of the Bible during their lifetimes will be given time to learn these teachings after the "Second Resurrection" to a new physical life. After living again in the Millennial world under God's Kingdom, those who continue to reject God's Holy Spirit and way of life will be annihilated after the "Third Resurrection" along with unrepentant former believers who had turned away from God. They are destroyed in the third resurrection (the "resurrection of fire") in the Lake of Fire, along with Satan and his demons.^[22]
• Belief in biblical tithing, a donation of 10 percent of a member's income to the church to fund the organization's gospel mission.^[23] Members are also taught to set aside a Second tithe, an additional 10 percent for their own personal use in observing the church's annual religious festivals, particularly the Feast of Tabernacles.^[24]
• Alcohol consumption in moderation is permitted but the UCG does teach against the misuse of alcohol. ^[25]

Kevin Owen Dean: One of his victims speaks out

Please see the comment  entry in the article listed below:

Kevin Owen Dean: New Arrest Warrant Issued

Dave Pack's "If you are thinking of leaving"

In the Church of God, Respect was never earned, nor built as trust is.

I can remember very clearly the adoration and respect I, at one time had for ministers of the Worldwide Church of God. 

When Raymond F. McNair - the very one who began the generations of Worldwiders in my Family Tree on a baptism tour - walked into the Arena while I was setting up the floor on Set-Up Day - I was in awe. It could have been, in today's references to teenagers of today - Miley Cyrus, Beyonce, or J-Lo walking in for all I knew. I didn't dare approach him - but my day was made when he made eye contact, nodded his head in a polite "hello", and - in suit and tie, carrying a leather portfolio - and moved on to what I'm sure was a Department Head or Ministerial Meeting of some sort. After all, to me - this man was an Evangelist of Jesus Christ - right under the Pastor General. It was as if an air of holiness had entered the room in my perception. 

Certainly, I was not the only one who was impressed with this sort of idolization of Worldwide Ministers during its heyday. Of course, because I was involved in an extreme-fundamentalist family within Armstrongism, my emotions were imbalanced to a higher level of idolatry then if I was in a more balanced family (and there were many more balanced families within Armstrongism then mine). It wasn't just Raymond F. McNair, though. It was a mandated order of respect for any and all individuals who had ecclesiastical authority over me. Starting with the Deacons and Deaconesses, to the Local Church Elders and Local Elders, to the Associate Pastors/Assistant Pastors/Preaching Elders or Pastors, then of course, to the Evangelists, and finally, to the Pastor General. Each one having a little more respect because of my belief they each had a little bit higher of a portion of the Holy Spirit because of their position. 

In the Church of God, Respect was never earned, nor built as trust is. Respect was treated as commiserate with rank - not because of your character and spirituality - but because or rank, position, and authority. Respect was not based on who you were as a person, but what you were in the government. 

You could have been the most asinine, misogynist, arrogant, rude, caustic, pompous, cold-hearted authority figure of any position and rank within the Church - but still have gained respect based only on their role in government. Add the title "Deacon" to such a person and you have an asinine, misogynist, arrogant, rude, caustic, pompous, cold-hearted Man of God who God will eventually straighten out but still must be respected and obeyed because of his rank and government position within the Church. Add the title "Elder" to such a person and your level of respect multiplies ten-fold, and so-on down the government line. I'm not saying everyone held to such a yes-man way of thinking - there were plenty of independent-minded members (and youth) within the Church who could see through the bull and flush it in their heads to clear thinking. But I, and others, did think this way, admittedly detrimentally. Yet, that does not change the fact that even for those types, respect was still demanded - even if not always returned on that demand. 

But was that even respect that was demanded? I would say that it was not respect in its true form. 

According to Google, respect is "a feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements.". 

In most cases, what qualities did ministers possess? Let me rephrase this. What good and excellent qualities did most of the ministers possess? What achievements did most of the ministers possess? What abilities did most of the ministers possess? 

Were ministers respected for their abilities, their qualities, or their achievements - or were they respected for their position, rank, and prestige? Is there a difference between what real respect is - and what we defined respect as? 

While looking at "respect" I came across an article on respect from - of all things - a real estate writing (and Herb was in the Real Estate business, was he not?) and in it was this:(bolding not mine, and no, I'm not calling people in the Church shallow or pretentious, though it could apply to some, we all know that.)

Work On Earning Real Respect Versus False Respect.
We all want to be respected. There is even a famous Aretha Fanklin song R-E-S-P-E-C-T. It is earned by people watching and admiring your deemed honorable actions. In real estate it is your competence, your helpfulness, your great communication skills. In the world there is your sense of service, duty, honor, integrity, and values. For both real estate respect and general life respect I would say they have in common this trait
              CHARACTER.
The false respect I see in real estate and the world has to do with adulation and being impressed by your "status." Top agent or teams in an office that are top producers with money or recognition. In the world celebrity status due to fame or money and in the athlete world some kind of superstar athlete who can crush the baseball or score 40 points in a single basketball game. You know, Hollywood stars types.
This type of false respect comes about by shallow, pretentious people who are in awe of the status rather than one's character. FALSE RESPECT.
They are sycophants as followers who want to profit by association. Hangers on. Groupies if you will. They are seeking "opportunity" for themselves and in the friend world are called false friends. Kind of goes along with false respect.  Times get tough, situation of the superstar or celebrity or dream team REALTOR team changes, opportunities not there anymore, guess who is the first out the door? The sycophants.
Work on honorable character in yourself to get respected by others. In those YOU respect look for CHARACTER, good character, not an illusion that once you dig down a layer or two into a person's being there is nothing there. Fluff.

Let me just substitute "Religion" or "Ministry" for Real Estate - or "COG Ministers". I think that this makes my point clear concerning respect - that what I had for these people - and many other had for the ministry - was, and is, false respect - given by people who were in awe of the ministry's status. And the "character" of the Ministry was ignored in favor of the "status" of the ministry. In fact, in my opinion, those who ended up as ministers sometimes had the worst character of any people in the Church - but- they could speak, with a silver tongue and lying lips. What the ministry had, and has - is status. And in a rank-conscious, hierarchy which places extreme importance on status and rank in conjunction with reward - it is those who had the least character who were able to claw their way to the top. 

What I had - and many of us had - and many still in the Church still have - is false respect. A respect that ignores character in favor of status. A respect that focuses on what their position is instead of the fruits of who they are. A respect that looks down on honorable character, deception, dishonesty, and lies in favor of rank, authority, power, and title. It is this false respect that is craved by some of the most "senior" COG splinter leaders out there, who completely lack good character for the illusion that replaces the fluff and lack of substance that truly defines who they are. It is this "respect" that many members have been taught to believe is true respect. And it is this false respect that binds people in a certain level of fear that blinds them to the powerless humans that these COG splinter leader deceivers really are. 

When you come down to it, what is truly important isn't the rank, level, title, or position of some COG leader, self-appointed or not, or the adulation of such. What's truly important is their character - the only thing that can truly earn true respect from someone. That character that is in line with the Fruits of the Spirit. 

What's the final thought on this? Simply this.

Saying "God will take care of it", and enabling false respect to those who disrespect respect through their carnal and world based, status-oriented, greed-centered, authority-based individuals masquerading as servants of God isn't doing anyone any good, whether it's you or the minister. Paying people (through tithes) for their self-professed status only purports the evil within that they exude. You're an accessory to their evil. The power they claim is only enabled by those who support them. Without those who continually feed their narcissistic, self-centered, greedy, filthy lives - what do they have left? The question has to be - do they have good, decent character and qualities and achievements to fall back on? Have they really built true respect - or are you simply supporting a lying, narcissistic bully who has commandeered your paycheck in dishonest gain for their own petty and pathetic lives of dishonest gain and false respect?

by SHT

PCG: As Income Plummets, Flurry Declares Fast To Force His "god" Into Making PCG Members Give More Money

Gerald Flurry is scrambling to browbeat his declining membership into sending in more money to keep the Flurry family empire and jet functioning.  With is concert series in the Herbert W Armstrong Auditorium is costing him a mint, he then decided to imitate HWA and open a "college" campus in England.  He then dumped millions on a historic mansion after being rebuked with the current owners of the former Ambassador Campus in Bricket Wood St Albans, England. As that money flew out the window, Flurry decided he needed his own Gulfstream jet. He justified that purchased by proclaiming he should not be travelling on public jets where he might have to sit by sick or unwashed people. Plus, he needed private transportation so his grandkids could travel the country to participate in Irish Dance competitions.

Gerald Flurry has declared a church wide fast for April 13, 2019 for church finances (low cash flow) being the reason. First time a fast has been declared on the sabbath, hence breaking the holy day and it’s also just 5 days before Passover. Where is their focus, not on Christ but on money. What hypocrites. 

Gerald Weston Says We Push As Far As We Can...But...

Living Church of God, serving Wimpy Burgers daily.

One thing that Herbert Armstrong taught his loyal evangelists was that God's word was all-powerful and necessary to get out to the world as a witness of the soon coming kingdom of God.  At least for a few years, he did.  HWA started out powerful and bombastic with his message and then wimped out as he travelled the world talking about a "strong hand from someplace". Embarrassed to proclaim the God he claimed to follow, he travelled under the auspices of the Ambassador International Cultural Foundation instead of the Worldwide Church of God.

Fast forward to 2019, and the same wimpiness is still prevalent in the Church of God as many of the "ministries" who claim they are God's ONLY true church still are all too embarrassed by their message to do any great witness. They skirt issues they claim they want to speak boldly about and find ways around getting their videos and articles from being censored.

Gerald Weston is now making excuses as to why he won't stand up for the "word of God" he claims is essential for all humanity.

Greetings from Charlotte, 

We held a Council of Elders teleconference this past Wednesday and heard reports from around the world, as well as from departments here in Charlotte. Mr. Peter Nathan brought out how all-consuming Brexit is at this time for the U.K. and Europe. We are seeing a significant increase in GOTOs from French-speaking Africa. Mr. Rob Tyler reported that a Muslim backlash is the result of the recent attacks on Muslims in New Zealand. Weather has been the talk of members in California, Nevada, and the Midwest, where there has been significant snowfall followed by rain and flooding. Interstate 29 between Kansas City and Omaha is closed and 70 percent of the counties in Nebraska are declared natural disaster areas. Mr. Brian Pomicter sent this update from Nebraska: “Many brethren may be concerned about the flooding that has recently occurred in Iowa and in Nebraska. All of our brethren are safe and have been spared injury. The same cannot be said of some of the brethren’s property.” Mr. Smith’s upcoming telecast, “What Happened to Right and Wrong?” is being rejected by television stations in Australia and New Zealand. Some members ask why we don’t get stronger on the telecasts and this is the reason. We push it as far as we can and occasionally cross the bounds of what stations will accept, especially outside of North America. Dr. Douglas Winnail reported, following his recent around-the-world trip, that he felt a real family atmosphere among the members.—Gerald Weston Weekly Update