Should YouTrust The Words Of Your Leadership Just As Much As You Trust God? UCG Thinks You Should.

Nathan Albright has posted another letter addressing an issue in the United Church of God. UCG recently sent out a letter to its members telling them that they need to trust God, but also to trust the authority figures of the church, regarding them as reliable sources of information, while mistrusting unreliable sources such as AI.

A church-wide message was distributed across all congregations, framed around the theme of trusting God. While the primary message appeared routine and uncontroversial, the inclusion of offhand remarks about trusting authority figures, regarding them as reliable sources of information, and mistrusting artificial intelligence (AI) has puzzled many members. This paper examines the likely purposes behind such a coordinated message, the possible institutional concerns it signals, and the range of congregational responses to its delivery.

It is all well and good that UCG tells its followers to trust in God. As a church, that should be its mission. The problem is, and this is not unique just to UCG, they also ask members to trust authority figures as if they can do no wrong, after all, ministers are the earthly appointed spokespersons for God here on earth and can make no mistakes. Even if they did, on the rare occasion, make a "mistake," you are bound to heed what they say because you are under church government. Even if they are grossly wrong, you must do what they say, and God will bless you later for doing so. That perverse reasoning was preached too long in the COG movement.

Albright continues:

The subtle encouragement to “trust authority” suggests an institutional aim beyond spiritual exhortation. Such phrasing may be an attempt to counteract growing skepticism of leadership or outside information sources. In a time when many members receive news and perspectives from digital media—including AI-generated material—church leaders may feel the need to reestablish themselves as the authoritative interpreters of truth.

UCG's fear of AI is also interesting:

The warning about AI indicates institutional anxiety about its influence. AI tools can produce sermons, generate theological interpretations, and aggregate information more quickly and diversely than traditional church channels. By framing AI as untrustworthy, leadership may be attempting to limit competing sources of authority, guarding against members substituting algorithmic outputs for pastoral or organizational guidance. 

 

It is pretty telling that members can search AI for all kinds of religious perspectives, and it generally lays out a lot of good information that many times refutes the Old Covenant ways of UCG—and THAT is something they cannot stand.

Albright also questions if this might be a preemptive strike about upcoming issues the church may be facing.

A preemptive, broad message might also be designed to manage potential crises. If there are internal disputes, rumors, or controversies circulating—perhaps amplified online—the uniform call to “trust” leadership and dismiss external information channels functions as a stabilizing signal. It tells members where loyalty and interpretive reliance should lie.

 Albright lists these congregational responses:

3. Likely Range of Congregational Responses 

3.1 Acceptance
Some members will take the message at face value, finding it a harmless or helpful reminder about trust in God. The comments on authority may blend seamlessly into their preexisting trust in church leadership. 

 

3.2 Confusion
A significant group, as you noted, is puzzled. They may interpret the authority and AI comments as tangential, odd, or unnecessary, and question why this was considered important enough to broadcast universally. 

 

3.3 Suspicion
Some may interpret the message as a defensive maneuver—signaling insecurity within leadership or anticipating a challenge to authority. To them, the remarks may seem like a subtle attempt at conditioning or controlling interpretation. 

 

3.4 Resistance
A minority may respond critically, resisting what they perceive as overreach. They may reject the implied directive to mistrust AI or may bristle at the suggestion that leadership should be automatically trusted without accountability.

These four responses are how the Church of God members have reacted to all kinds of things over the decades—from procedural matters, doctrines, church leadership, and more. Members continue to react this way.

Albright ends with this:

4. Implications for Institutional-Individual Dynamics 

 

The message highlights a tension common in religious organizations:
Institutional need: Leaders seek loyalty, cohesion, and protection against external interpretive rivals. Individual perception: Members expect clear spiritual nourishment and may resist or resent what feels like manipulation or unnecessary control. 

 

When side comments appear to carry hidden motives, trust can be undermined rather than strengthened. Ironically, a message about trust risks producing doubt if its purpose seems less about God and more about protecting institutional authority. 

 

5. Conclusion 

 

The coordinated message serves as both a spiritual exhortation and an institutional signal. While its declared theme—trusting God—is broadly accepted, its subtext—trusting authority and mistrusting AI—reveals leadership concerns about maintaining interpretive control in a rapidly shifting information environment. Congregational responses range from acceptance to suspicion, with puzzlement being the most common. For long-term stability, leadership must balance the need to reinforce authority with transparency and genuine spiritual teaching, lest attempts at message control backfire and erode the very trust they seek to build.

Read the entire article here:  White Paper: Institutional Messaging, Trust, and Congregational Response

 

ht: Lee Walker 

Dave Pack Threatens Young People Into Baptism

 

During "The Greatest Untold Story! (Part 590)," on August 16, 2025, David C. Pack of The Restored Church of God applied pressure with threats to "young people" to get baptized before his new deadline for the arrival of the Kingdom to Israel on the Feast of Trumpets (Septemper 23, 2025). David C. Pack lacked the faith to believe God knew how to move His little ones toward baptism in a timely manner and took it upon himself to threaten the loss of eternal life if they did not act quickly. All credit to former member Marc Cebrian for this clip and description: exrcg.org

A Simple Solution for Bob Thiel's Fears

 

Crackpot Prophet On How Crosses, Tattoo's, And Good Luck Charms Equal Witchcraft And Lead To The Fall Of Civilizations

Crackpot Prophet On How Crosses, Tattoo's, And Good Luck Charms Equal Witchcraft And Lead To The Fall Of Civilizations

Nothing pops the corks of our resident crackpot false prophet and Church of God leaders more than the cross does. They search high and low to find whatever pagan connotations they can connect to it. The more vile it is, the better. It's pretty much how many of them react to the New Covenant over the required law-keeping they bow down to.

It should come as no shock that our resident crackpot false prophet is getting his holistic knickers in a sacred knot right now over lucky rabbit's feet and crosses. People who have either of these two are wallowing in witchcraft.

Those of you who have a lucky rabbit's foot on a key chain had better get on your knees and REPENT, fast for a week, and donate all of your money to the true church.

Our Chief crackpot searched long and hard until he found a 2018 article by Voice of America—not known for their hard-hitting journalism—that goes on to quote Elle magazine, another bottom-of-the-barrel "news" source, on how certain actors and musicians have lucky necklaces they wear (as if anyone really cares).

Voice of America (VOA) ran the following: 

 

Nearly Quarter of Americans Carry Lucky Charms 

 

Nearly one in four Americans carries a good luck charm at least occasionally, according to a new survey. 

 

According to a YouGov poll, seven percent of Americans carry a lucky charm every day, four percent said they carry one frequently, and 13 percent said they carry one occasionally. 

 

Seventy percent said they don’t carry a charm. 

 

A lucky charm could be a shirt, a pair of shoes, a coin, a bracelet or a piece of ribbon. In fact, at the World Cup, star Lionel Messi tied a ribbon given to him by a fan around his ankle.

According to Elle magazine, actress Cameron Diaz wears a lucky necklace, as does Lindsay Lohan. Actor Benicio Del Toro is reported to have a lucky ring. 

 

Women are slightly more likely to carry a charm, with 26 percent saying they carry one at least occasionally, compared to 20 percent of men who say they do. 07/13/18 

The crackpot false prophet then goes on to say this about crosses:

However, if you include religious icons like crosses, the amount of Americans who carry ‘good luck charms’ is much higher. Plus, various tattoos are considered to be ‘good luck.’

Armstrongism has had a long history of despising the cross, which stands to reason since it is a works-based performance belief system. It shouldn't surprise us that the same goes for the Mormons and the Jehovah's Witnesses, two groups Herbert borrowed beliefs from..

A Facebook group on Christian Doctrine and Cults had this to say:

All cults and false religions have one thing in common they make the cross of Christ of no effect. 

 

When a cult or a religious group tells you what you have to do to earn salvation they make Jesus' sacrifice on the cross of no effect. Hebrews 10:12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;, Titus 3:5 "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us.

Besides leading to witchcraft (Crackpot Bob should be well-versed in this since he has followers in Africa who practice it), these kinds of things lead to the downfall of civilizations. Crackpot Bob includes this little tibit by Lester Grabbe:

One of the major causes for the collapse of Rome was the decay of religion from the status of moral judge and champion to a hollow shell of ritual and liturgy. In desperation, people turned to astrology, sorcery, and divination, the natural refuge in a time of confusion and collapse. (Grabbe LL. The New Fad: MYSTICISM and the OCCULT. Plain Truth, November 1971)

Crackpot Bob then adds this:

The amount of superstitious Americans has seemingly increased over the decades. 

 

Good luck charms are a form of idolatry. 

 

They bring to mind something that the prophet Jeremiah wrote: 

 

5 Like scarecrows in a cucumber patch, their idols cannot speak. They must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them for they can do no harm–and they cannot do any good. (Jeremiah 10:5, CSB)

Look at how Crackpot Bob and other COG leaders have created their own magic spells and idols to make people feel safe. Bribing God with good works is foundational to Armstrongism.

You must belong to the one true church to be saved.

You must follow me to understand prophecy.

You must keep the Sabbath as a prerequisite for salvation.

Celebrating Christmas and Easter is paganism and is a salvational issue.

You must drag out Herbert Armstrong's books and booklets whenever you study the Bible. Without his magical interpretations, you cannot understand the Bible..

Your child must be blessed at the Blessing of the Little Children to set them apart for God's protection.

Your salvation revolves around not eating pork and shrimp, or a big, luscious ham sandwich.

Then there is this to consider:

Modern day Christian "tithing" is an abomination. This practice assumes that God can be bribed. It assumes that God is a transactional accountant. It assumes that the Old Testament economy of truth was never replaced by the New. It assumes, in effect, and blasphemously so, that the cross of Christ either never happened or has no meaning. God forbid! 

 

Groups which tithe have in common that they put money over everything else – the leadership by preferring a non-biblical means of getting more money over the truth; the congregants by showing that they will do anything to become prosperous – but we know that no one can serve both God and Mammon (Matt.6:24; Lk.16:13). 

 

Church of God leaders and crackpot false prophets need to keep their self-righteous mouths shut before they start condemning others, especially when their own groups are cesspools of filth and false doctrines. 

2nd John 1:10-11 tells us not to pretend that individuals who pretend to be servants of Christ really are – just because they say so – and therefore not to support them in their efforts because their efforts are not of God. 

Jesus taught that His yoke is easy and that unless we come to Him like a child, we will not enter the kingdom. Being under the law, however, is not an easy yoke and does not reflect the simple faith of a child, so it contradicts what Jesus taught. Even Jesus performed work on the Sabbath, declaring that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. The issue with reverting to being yoked under the law is that it often makes people so obsessed with following rules that they neglect two essential things: loving God and loving their neighbors. Jesus identified these as the greatest commandments. Notice He didn't list keeping the Sabbath as the most important—or even the second most important? If you truly love God and your neighbor, it naturally fulfills the other commandments. That's why Jesus is so perfect and why God's gift in Him is so profound.

Understanding that then sets you free from crackpot false prophets and the other agents of deception that seek to control members' lives.