PCG Forced To Sell Edstone England Campus Due To Dwindling Funds And Poor Health Of Gerald Flurry

 

After dumping millions of dollars into Edstone Hall in Edstone, Warwickshire, England, the financially hit Philadelphia Church of God has left the property, and it is currently for sale. This is a stunning blow to the egos of PCG leadership who imagine themselves as never making a bad decision.

Their path to Edstone Hall took a trip by the old Ambassador Campus in Bricket Wood, where they planned on buying the old estate on the property.

The PCG had hoped to purchase the old Ambassador College Campus in Bricket Wood, Hertfordshire, England. Thankfully, the lessees refused to sell to them, so the PCG had to start looking elsewhere for a new property. 

They were looking at England because of its close proximity to Ireland, where they dreamed they were going to dig up the Hill of Tara and uncover the Ark of the Covenant that Jeremiah supposedly buried there—a myth partially spun by Herman Hoeh and Raymond F. McNair. The idiotic British Israelism myths these two guys dreamed up and sold to the church as "gospel truth" are appalling in their poor scholarship. 

In 2014 they wrote:

Edstone Hall, a 24,000-square-foot mansion in the Warwickshire countryside, contains more than 30 rooms. Built in 1939 in the art deco style, the building has an oak double-door entrance into a stained glass vestibule, stone mullion windows, stone fireplaces, balconies, a 5,500-square-foot Georgian cellar, a Cotswold stone roof and a detached garage. The 22-acre campus sits among the meadows about 4 miles north of Stratford-upon-Avon.

The parkland surrounding the hall includes meadows, pastures and woodland including mature oak and beech trees, as well as walking paths, gardens and a cedar of Lebanon; it also overlooks a large pond. The property also includes planning permissions for a 10,000-square-foot additional building, and an indoor swimming pool and a leisure complex. 

 

“I believe God has long been preparing Edstone for His Church,” Mr. Macdonald said. “Edstone is ideal for the pcg—a perfect combination of majesty and functionality. It’s dignified and impressive, yet practical and sensible.” 

 

Receiving the key to Edstone Hall capped off a two-year quest for a new campus in England. In December 2012, pcg Pastor General Gerald Flurry asked Mr. Macdonald to search the London area for estates that could fulfill the needs of an expanded work in Britain and Europe. Mr. Macdonald soon discovered that the former Ambassador College campus in Bricket Wood was for sale. The college there closed 40 years ago, in 1974. 

 

In March 2013, the Church placed an offer on a portion of the Bricket Wood estate, including its mansion, Hanstead House, and a cottage where Ambassador College founder Herbert W. Armstrong stayed during his visits to the campus. Mr. Flurry announced the offer in July during a sermon at Philadelphia Youth Camp in Edmond. But over the next nine months, the sale decelerated. The owner of the Bricket Wood estate, a London real estate development company, was denied planning permission for its residential neighborhood by the St. Albans Council. This prevented an expedient sale to the pcg.

The local residents were not keen on another American cult moving into their neighborhood. So, the PCG decided to take their money elsewhere...

This April, Evangelist Stephen Flurry and his family flew to Britain, and he and Mr. Macdonald spent several days attempting to reconcile with the developer and the town council. On the final evening of their time together in Britain, the Flurry and Macdonald families gathered to discuss the happenings of the trip. During the course of the evening, Mr. Macdonald searched online to see what the £4.5 million the Church had offered could buy elsewhere, and found several estates of similar grandeur and a lower asking price. 

 

“There was a kind of epiphany,” Mr. Macdonald said. “Why not look elsewhere? we thought. We did a quick Internet search, and within minutes we were oohing and aaahing over at least a dozen other magnificent homes, all of which were less expensive and came with greater acreage and more features.” 

 

Later that week, Mr. Gerald Flurry determined that the door to Bricket Wood was closed and directed Mr. Macdonald to search for other estates. Along with regional office manager David Howard and editorial department writer Richard Palmer, Mr. Macdonald spent two weeks parsing dozens of possibilities and visiting more than 20, the last of which was Edstone on May 5. On May 8, Mr. Flurry and his son flew to England and viewed six estates over the next two days. On May 14, the pcg submitted an offer on the estate in Warwickshire, which was quickly accepted and became official in early June. 

 

Mr. Gerald Flurry announced the offer during a Bible study in Edmond on May 16 at the beginning of the AC graduation weekend. After nearly five months of routine inspections, legal paperwork and negotiations, contracts were exchanged and the sale was formalized on September 24. At the Feast of Tabernacles on October 8, pcg members at 16 sites around the globe learned the location, name and details of the estate in a taped opening night presentation by Mr. Stephen Flurry. 

 

Millions were dumped into renovating it for the students to move into it. A farm was started with sheep and other animals. Large gardens raised the produce that the students ate. It was a symbol of God's kingdom on earth. Plus, it left easy access for Lil' Stevie to fly to Jerusalem, where they ended up buying property to start an office so that when the crap hits the fan, they will be onsite as the two witless witnesses.

The estate ad is here:  £6,000,000 18 bedroom country house for sale

You will notice several portraits of Herbert adorn the walls as a sad reminder of how his empire is dwindling down to nothing.

Brad McDonald has moved into the property to facilitate its sale. Lil' Steve and the rest of the family who were onsite are now back in Edmond, Oklahoma. Flurry has not been well and the PCG is working behind the scenes for his successor, which naturally will be Lil' Stevie. When that happens we will see the PCG implode.

Getting the New Testament Straight

 

"Matthew-Mark-Luke-John-Acts-Romans..." Nope     The very FIRST book of the NT is I Thessalonians with Galatians and I Corinthians to follow.    One of the "ah ha" moments of my understanding of the NT came when it dawned on me, through much study, that the majority of the NT is about the Apostle Paul and not Jesus.    Epistle Approx. Date Authorship 1 Thessalonians 49-51 C.E. Traditionally Paul; Generally Accepted Galatians 50-52 C.E. Traditionally Paul; Generally Accepted 1 Corinthians 54-56 C.E. Traditionally Paul; Generally Accepted Philemon Mid-50s or 63-64 C.E. Traditionally Paul; Generally Accepted Philippians 56-63 C.E. Traditionally Paul; Generally Accepted Romans 56-57 C.E. Traditionally Paul; Generally Accepted 2 Corinthians 57 C.E. Traditionally Paul; Generally Accepted Ephesians 70-90 C.E. Traditionally Paul, Disputed by Many Scholars Colossians 70-90 C.E. Traditionally Paul; Disputed by Many Scholars 2 Thessalonians 70-90 C.E. Traditionally Paul; Widely Disputed 1 Timothy 80-120 C.E. Traditionally Paul; Widely Disputed 2 Timothy 80-120 C.E. Traditionally Paul; Widely Disputed Titus 80-120 C.E. Traditionally Paul; Widely Disputed It is the story of Paul for the most part and his interpretation of Jesus, who for him was more hallucinatory and cosmic in nature than the Jesus brought down to Earth by the Gospels which came later after Paul died.  Galatians makes the dispute between the Jerusalem Apostles and Paul very clear.  They were not on the same page and did not preach the same Jesus. Paul notes that he learned nothing from them and that anyone that did not preach his version was to be accursed.  The traditional order of the NT books is deceptive and does not reflect historical realities. The impression that the Gospels were first then Acts leads to Paul is exactly reversed from reality. Simply put, Paul lived, wrote and died before any of the Gospels were ever written, including Acts. All his authentic, and only 7 are considered actually written by Paul, were written before the Fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Paul died around 65 to 68 depending.  Acts ends with Paul under arrest but not dead. Perhaps because the author did not know when Paul died or the circumstances were too embarrassing to put into the story.  Ephesians and Colossians are Pauline like but written after Paul died. It was not uncommon for a follower to write in the name of and in the style of Paul to convey what Paul may have said or taught if he were still alive, which he wasn't. 2 Thessalonians, I and 2 Timothy and Titus are considered by few to be written by Paul due to their late date. (See below) Hebrews, James, 1,2 3 John, Jude and Revelation came much later and were not Pauline.  James, with a theme of "show me your faith without works and I will show you my faith by my works" may have been a rebuttal of Paul's views in Romans. James and Paul were not birds of a feather and did not flock together.  Many do place Revelation as a failed prophecy written in the Summer of 69 CE , and not into the 90's CE, to encourage those under siege to Rome in Jerusalem to hang in and that Messiah would defeat Rome in 3 1/2 years. As it turned out, the Romans defeated the Militant Jews and Zealot Christians in 3 1/2 years from 70 CE to 73/74 CE ending with the fall of Masada.  Revelation can also bee seen as presenting Paul, hated by the Jewish Christians, as the False Prophet and Apostle of Ephesus, which they are commended for rejecting by Jesus.   and Vespasian as the Beast of the Day destroying Jerusalem.  Big topic but fascinating and more reasonable a view.  ====================== So of the 13 books attributed to Paul, only 7 are authentically Paul.  The dating of Acts, which appears to tie the Gospels to Paul is in dispute.  https://zondervanacademic.com/blog/when-was-acts-written This article concludes Acts to have been written between 60 and not later than 70 CE The Gospels dating is widely disputed but placed generally between 66 and 110 CE, with Mark just before the Fall of Jerusalem and the rest after.  The earliest date Acts could have been written would be within a few years of the last recorded event in Acts, which takes place probably in CE 62. The latest date Acts could have been written would have been immediately prior to the first references to the book from other literature. Irenaeus (Haer. 3.13.3; 3.15.1) contains some indisputable citations, as does Justin Martyr in Dial. 103.19. They were writing around AD 160, so that the latest possible date is around AD 160. That gives us a range of possible dates between AD 60 and AD 160. ================= All this to point out that Paul comes first and his Christ was not earthly as portrayed in the Gospels yet to be written after his death. He knew no earthly Jesus, tells no stories about him and never quotes him because all that had yet to be written in the Gospels.  The Gospels are placed first in the NT to give the impression that Jesus came to Earth, lived, died and rose again. AFTER this comes Paul, real and forged in his name books,  and the Church writings. This is simply not so in the timeline of Paul.  In reality and after Paul, Jerusalem Falls and the Gospels and a pacified Messiah Jesus and Orthodox Judaism emerges from the rubble evolving into the Pauline/Gentile version rooted in Roman Catholicism, with the Reformation included,  to this day.  The Jewish Christian Church, under Peter, James and John falls into oblivion.

Crackpot Prophet Has Given His Permission To Teach Your Children About Dinosaurs! What a relief!

 

Where would we all be if we did not have crackpot COG leaders telling us what to believe and what not to believe? Why do they even think anyone cares what they think? 

This brings us to our favorite crackpot prophet, the Great Bwana Bob Mzungu Thiel, the world's greatest storehouse of knowledge. 

Yesterday, he had to weigh in on dinosaurs and whether children should be taught about them. Who cares what he thinks? 

...yes there were dinosaurs before Adam and Eve. 

God had dinosaurs go extinct before He created humans in Genesis 1:27.
One should not be afraid to teach children the truth about God’s creation, including dinosaurs.
The Bible is true and is not unscientific.
Yes, you can believe the Bible and teach your children from it, as well as answer questions about dinosaurs.


Were Dinosaurs Prior to Adam & Eve?
When did dinosaurs live? The ‘National Catholic Register’ had an article by Stacy Trasancos titled ‘What Do You Say When Kids Ask About Dinosaurs?’ She brought up some dangers with the ‘young earth creationists’ and stated that dinosaurs were prior to Adam and Eve. Yet, she basically said that the first few verses of Genesis 1 should not be trusted. Yet, that is not the case. Does the Bible support any type of time gap between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2? Is there a gap symbol shown in the Masoretic text? Did the KJV and NKJV translator err in translating a disjunctive as a conjunctive? Must the earth only be about 6,000 years old? Is billions of years possible? Getting to dinosaurs themselves, do the fossil records support them being prior to a time of replenishment? Could dinosaurs have been destroyed by a ‘dark ice age’ or does the Great Flood of Noah’s time make the most sense? Did the old Worldwide Church of God bring up several facts that ‘young earth fundamentalists’ misunderstand and discount? Is the Bible scientifically reliable? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues and more.

Celtic Throne: God's Final Warning To The World?

What if Celtic Throne really was Gerald Flurry’s final warning to the world? 

In this parody of the Philadelphia Church of God’s Irish dance production, 

the apocalypse has arrived — and the only way to survive is to dance and sing. 

Featuring AI-generated “Gerald Flurry” audio, satirical jabs at PCG prophecy culture, and clips from the Celtic Throne stage show, this short film pokes fun at how tithes and time are poured into “commissioned works” presented as spiritual messages.

This is the brilliant work of The Dispel on X.

Also, with more in-depth articles: The Dispel