Guest Writer: Van Robison: "The Collapse of Armstrongism"

The Collapse of Armstrongism

Strong arm Herbert was a master deceiver.  Throughout history there have been many charismatic personalities that have masqueraded as the source of "light" and "truth."  The world has never lacked for sheep like human beings who have demonstrated an inability to think or reason for themselves.  The world is overrun with human beings snared by a religious fish hook.  It is not that God Almighty has come down and presented Himself to anyone on earth, at least in our current day and age, but you would think that these "spiritual" gurus who stand in pulpits are personal pals with God, in a form that no one else is.  It is pure nonsense, but the gullible overwhelm the world.  If it were not for the gullible and the naive, there would be no religious organizations or institutions.

Every religious organization is headed by some man or woman who thinks of themselves in terms of "Godhood", but who in reality are only human as are all other human beings on earth.  They are NOT God, and not even close.  That so many would give their lives, time, energies and money to such false religious leaders is astonishing.  Herbert W. Armstrong was NOT God.  He was NOT even an "apostle" of Jesus Christ.  He was a self-appointed, self-deceived human being with an enormous ego.  Words that come from the mouths of persuasive public speakers is often magnetic and attracts the listener.  In the world of religion and the world of politics, there is not really much difference.  The goal is persuasion!  If the speaker can persuade you to follow them, then you have been hooked.

The greatest defense against being deceived by anyone is to QUESTION.  Question everything and assume nothing is true just because someone in a pulpit says it is true.  Fear, is a tool of those who want to control
the minds and thinking of their naive followers.  What gave Herbert W. Armstrong the "right" to know "truth" as an exclusion from others, unless they learned it from him?  This is such a common type of situation in the world of religion that it is ludicrous (totally ridiculous).  Who can enter the mind and thinking of Herbert W. Armstrong and understand what made him tick?  How did he arrive at all his pretended and supposed religious convictions? No matter, he was off the deep end, as are many others, such as those in Scientology, Mormonism, Jehovah Witnesses and countless others, including the splinter groups of the Worldwide Church of God.

The many people involved in the Worldwide Church of God splinter groups have no concept of Jesus Christ and that He came to SET THE CAPTIVES FREE (from all man-made religious bondage).  Life itself is NOT about keeping the Saturday Sabbath, "Feasts" of the "Old" Testament, or legalistic religious ideas, but about LOVE towards others, which is also by its expression love towards God.  The simplicity in Jesus Christ is that He taught LOVE, COMPASSION, MERCY, EMPATHY and HUMILITY and NOT rituals, like keeping the Saturday Sabbath.  The Sabbath has not one iota of anything to do with righteousness.  The Sabbath will NOT garner favor to anyone because they observe it.  In reality no one keeps the Sabbath, because it is NOT possible, based upon the conditions of what one reads in the Old Testament ( and I suggest the website of Robert K. Sanders an ex-Seventh Day Adventist who penned "Renouncing the Sabbath after 47 years as of 2002" and although directed toward Seventh Day Adventists, it applies to anyone who thinks they keep the Sabbath (THEY DON'T), see www.truthorfables.com/Renouncing_the_Sabbath.htm.

Under the weight of TRUTH, Armstrongism collapses into the dust and dirt of the earth, as do all other false religious beliefs the world over.  Those who follow leaders of the Worldwide Church of God splinter groups need to get a real life.  Wake up people!  These self-appointed religious nuts are NOT God.  Neither was Herbert or Garner Ted.  Can't you think for yourselves???


Van Robison

The Manure Pile

Best comment ever on leaving Armstrongism.  Found on Facebook "Worldwide Church of God I Can't Wait For Sundown! And Other WCG Musings"

"I was born on the pile of barn manure and found the pitchfork and wheel barrow to get out in 1995"

For me it started with the infamous Christmas sermon by Joe Tkach Sr. in the Auditorium.  Understood it completely.  Knew exactly where he was coming from. Though the process of implementing it was flawed and poorly thought out.  Attended off and on and then took a clean break in 1999 and have no intention of ever setting foot in one again!

When was your wake up call and ow long did it take to leave?  Or, are you still part of a group?

Messianic Kabbalist Armstrongites? Who Knew!

LOPE COLUMNA

Kabbalist PASTOR GENERAL

The BRIDE OF CHRIST Ministry of LIFE

Messianic Kabbalah 

If you think people tied into Armstrongism can't get any crazier then check this guy out.  His name is Lope Columna from the Philippines. Was this guy a follower or just influenced by HWA's writings? In going thorough his incredibly SILLY web site there are a lot of things that Armstrongism promoted. HWA quotes abound.

One thing that has particular pissed off this guy is women and make up! Three guesses on who he uses as a standard for the evils of painted women?  Our pal HWA!

He starts out with Kabbalahist mumbo-jumbo about the Nephillim coming to earth and copulating with women. These fallen angels once impregnating women with their evil seed then produced generations of rebellious women who rebel against their husbands by their use of make-up.

Do you know that the use of make-up or cosmetics by women has a major connection to their rebellion to their own husbands? Today, in this world, the beautification of women results in the rebellion of the wives to their husbands, or to their usurpation of the authority of their husbands. These women's beautification are in direct contradiction to the BEAUTY STANDARDS OF GOD ALMIGHTY! This means that those worldly women using the modern beauty products are actually VERY UGLY IN GOD'S SIGHT!

WOMEN'S USE OF MAKE-UP AND COSMETICS VS SUBMISSION OF WOMEN TO THEIR OWN HUSBANDS

Mr. Herbert Amrstrong said that the issue of makeup is "may be somewhat of a minor question, yet it was used by Satan to help derail the Church!" Yes, the issue of the use of make-up by women may be a minor issue, but if allowed to enter, it will create major problems!

So all of you hussy's out there had better wake up to the fact that you are the cause of all the evils in this church and the world, particularly in the matter of GOVERNMENT!

Did you know that HWA's failure to eradicate make-up from all the rebellious women in the COG is what caused the ultimate downfall and disintegration of the WCG and the legacy of HWA?  Uh, women destroyed the Church of God? That's a new one......

And these do not spare the members of God's true Churches, such that they even influence their husbands-pastors to produce doctrines that allow make-up use in their Churches. This is what happened to the Worldwide Church of God (WCG) as mourned by its Pastor General, Herbert W. Armstrong (HWA)! Mr. Armstrong failed to eradicate the use of make-up by women in the WCG, which he knew is Satanic! So the WCG he founded, and everything that he taught and strove for, were all destroyed, including himself! This is a grave warning to all the Churches, and their religious leaders and members!

So who really was the mastermind behind all these copulating fallen angels that set out to destroy the Church of God? Azazel.  Not the goat, but the angel!

According to the Holy Zohar, it was the fallen angel named AZAZEL, that introduced and taught women the use of make-up and other beauty products. 

Who is this AZAZEL? This AZAZEL is a high-ranking Angel that formerly resided in Heaven with God. But because of his rebellious attitude toward God, especially about God's Plan about Man, God threw him down to planet Earth. So, this Azazel, together with the other fallen angels and demonic forces, are now residing here on Earth. AZAZEL is the chief of those fallen angels called "sons of God" in Genesis 6:2.

 The Sons of God saw that the daughters of man were beautiful, and they took any they chose as wives for themselves. (Gen 6:2)

The Nephilim were on the earth both in those days and afterwards, when the sons of God came to the daughters of man, who bore children to them. They were the powerful men of old, the famous men. (Gen 6:4)

With the above brief explanation, we can have the idea that whoever uses make-up will be rejected from Heaven, unless they repent of it now, before it's too late! 

It's always you rebellious women causing problems!  When will you ever stop?  First it was your sister Eve and that damn apple, then it was haughty Sarah laughing at God, then it was Jezebel and on to whiny Martha.  If you would only learn your place in the scheme of things and stay in the kitchen then the men of this world could do great things.

In his comments section, he says the following,

"...Yes, you can have women's liberty now. But in the afterlife, all liberty and Free Choice are forfeited"  

Wow, doesn't that want to make you jump on the Kingdom Train right now!  Especially to the world/planets that will be governed by COG members wielding rods of iron as they beat people into submission!  They will get the painted women down and scrub that make-up off with scouring pads.  I can see the gleam already in their eyes of many COG men and women at the prospect of doing this.  They would be just like the "morality police" in Iran that harass and beat women and young men into submission. 


More articles from this imbecile include these wonderful highlights:

"The impure humanistic understanding of Ephesians 5:22-24 is carried and adopted by the hundreds of the daughter churches that came out of WCG after HWA's death.This is the very reason why the marriage problem is the number 1 problem in the Churches. The Churches allowed the polluted marriage doctrines from the world to mix with Ephesians 5:22-24."

"The WCG then, even today, believed that the husband and wife are of equal footing in the marriage and family relationship, the same belief as in the world. The world calls it 50-50, or "Give and Take." But this is NOT what the Bible describes it."

"Because of the Jews' low morality, and their inability to comply with the strictness of the original law, Moses, with the permission of God, allowed a relaxation of the strictness of the marriage bond -- not as approving of it, but to prevent greater evils."

"There, in the Garden of Eden started man's woes and problems. Here, Satan got to the man-husband through the woman-wife. How and why did Satan succeed in getting to the husband through the wife?

The situation that happened in the issue of makeup use by women in the Worldwide Church of God (WCG) is exactly the same as that of what happened to the first couple in the Garden of Eden.

God showed here in the Garden the root-cause of the problem of mankind, and the proper way on how to deal with such a problem. God wanted Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong (HWA) and all pastors, all marriage counselors, and all lawmakers to do the same. "  

"Here, in the Garden of Eden, is the recorded method of how God deal with a marriage problem. This primordial marriage problem resulted in the eating of the forbidden fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, that resulted in the first human sin, that resulted in the forced ejection of man from the blessed Garden to the harsh and cursed world outside.

If man will learn the reason or cause of the first marriage problem here, then man can solve ALL the marriage problems in the world, that will solve ALL the problems of the world and ALL the created universe! "

More From the Darkside of Restored Church of God

William Behrer has a warning tonight for all COG members in ALL the various splinter cults.  You have been warned!  You are deceived!  You are being lead astray by "evil men and seducers..." who are out to steal your crown!  These "serpents and vipers" are out to deceive all.

This task is increasingly important today. A list of end-time conditions in II Timothy 3 begins with, “in the last days perilous times shall come” (vs. 1). Verse 13 summarizes one of these trends: “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.” Put simply, the Bible warns of a massive increase of false teachers and deception—today! Look around in the WCG offshoots to confirm this reality is upon us.

When we warn of doctrinal error, sometimes we use strong language intended to stir readers to action—which can, again, make some feel we are “attacking” others. Recall, however, Jesus Christ’s sharp words to the scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 23, where He called them “hypocrites,” “fools and blind,” “full of hypocrisy and iniquity,” “blind guides,” “serpents” and a “generation of vipers.” How many would accuse CHRIST of being “too harsh” or “unloving” in these verses? Yet God’s Church is blasted for using language that hardly approaches His choice of words. Combating False Doctrine

Reading the above it sounds like a perfect description of the putrid mess that is Packism and the Restored Church of God. Vile vermin out to destroy the lives of over 2,000 members.

Behrer also has a warning to me and all the others that mock this absurd little cult called Restored Church of God:

Internet critics continue to ridicule and mock the clear command of Jesus Christ to “anoint your eyes” (Rev. 3:18). They do so at their peril.

At what peril?  It is certainly not from RCG's little impotent god that was so weak he lost his message for 1,900 years and had to wait for Davie to find it after HWA dug it up.   I have no need to fear Behrer's god or the Baals that Pack bows down to.  Nor should anyone else!

Apostle Malm: It's All Norman Smith's Fault!

The Apostle is still on his tirade against United Church of God and it's new focus on "love."  Love obviously is a four letter word in the field of right wing Armstrongism.

UCG has recently come out with several points in leading the church into a new direction.  Two of them are:

1)   A godly environment that promotes Christ-like service, spiritual growth, humility, love and unity.
2)    Open communication channels and administrative policies and practices that enhance effectiveness, unity and godly relationships among the employees and elders.

I know, aren't those the most appalling things you have ever read!  Imagine having that kind of love in a Church of God!  Disgusting!

Apostle Malm feels that when people have "love" towards one another they tend to cover up a multitude of sins.  The Apostle cannot stand sinners in his midst!  So be forewarned...when you attend his Feast this coming you you had better NOT be a sinner!


Apostle Malm lays the blame at this at Norman Smith's feet:

The truth is that way back in the sixties a man, Norman Smith fell for the pop psychology approach of justifying sin, by teaching  that we are not responsible for our own actions; “it is your upbringing”;  “you have an issue because of what your father did”  or “what someone else did”;  “Its in your genes”;  “its your formative environment”.

I am all about personal responsibility before God, these folks are all about justifying sin by blaming others, and tolerance for that sin in the name of a false “love”.

I know that there are still some good elders in UCG who do not buy into this  apostasy.  These things will become clear over the summer after this New Strategic Plan is approved.

This man and his two disciples, Denny Luker and John Elliot, caused enormous harm to the brethren by this attitude of tolerance for sin and encouraging brethren to blame others for our own conduct, avoidingh personal responsibility; and eventually HWA heard about it and went off on a rant about pop psychology and acted to correct this situation.

In their personal friendships and especially after the death of HWA; with the very similar changes made by Joe T; this pop psychology took deep root in many.

Today the New UCG is filled with this very attitude which is so close to the evangelical persuasion that it is almost indistinguishable.

What perturbs the Apostle even more is that UCG does not have a 100 point list on things you are NOT allowed to do on the "sabbath."  According to the Apostle, the more rules and regulations in place for the "sabbath" observance the better!

Today the New UCG is filled with this very attitude which is so close to the evangelical persuasion that it is almost indistinguishable.

Oh, they may say that the seventh day is Holy and in that way be different, but they will then wink at whatever people want to do on that Holy Day; being the same towards Sabbath as others are in their Sunday observance.

Here are some of the "goals" that UCG is claiming to strive for which have upset the Apostle so grievously. Most of these do not sound all that bad for an Armstrongite group. It will be interesting to see if they actually can implement these without getting heavy handed again with more rules and regulations down the line.

.

• Goal: A godly environment that promotes Christ-like service, spiritual growth, humility, love and unity.

• Objectives:

o Improve the quality and effectiveness of pastoral care in congregations.

o Increase positive member involvement in their congregations and the larger work of God.

o Promote members spiritual growth through educational programs.

o Increase percentage of youth retained in the church.

o Improve the Feast of Tabernacles experience for all participants.

• Goal: Open communication channels and administrative policies and practices that enhance effectiveness, unity and godly relationships among the employees and elders.

• Objectives:

o Increase satisfaction levels among home office employees and elders.

o Improve internal communications.

o Improve teamwork.

o Improve efficiency among employees and administration.