The Churches of God: Truth In Advertising?

There is a great post on another blog that has an entry today about "Truth in Advertising for Churches.

We all know it.
It’s a fact we all live with.
The food that we see on all of the fast food advertisements never look like what’s lurking inside that cardboard box.
The following images present them side-by-side, thus showing the contrast between advertising and reality.
Let’s make sure our Church websites and media doesn’t do the same thing.

The posting ends with the comment below which describes most of the Churches of God.  The outward appearance in many cases is sharp and impressive, but once you are inculcated into the experience it's another story.  Appearances are deceiving.

There’s a fine-line between putting your best foot forward, and bearing false witness.

How many of  the COG's are bearing false witness?

Mormons Excited About UCG's Drift Towards LDS Teachings

World News Daily (red flags should go up immediately) has an article up about Jerold Aust interviewing Joe Kovacs for UCG's their Good News magazine on humans becoming god's.

Mormon Dialogue

Christian Author: God Is Having Offspring (For entire article click on link)

The author of the No. 1 inspirational book in America, “The Divine Secret,” claims God is having literal offspring, and the phrase “children of God” that fills the New Testament means exactly what it says.

Joe Kovacs, a Bible-believing Christian, was just interviewed by the Good News magazine, and was asked by reporter Jerold Aust, “Who are the children of God? What makes them so, or is this simply in-house religious talk?”

Kovacs responded, “If you just look at the natural world around us, you realize that everything reproduces. They have children or offspring after their own kind. I mean, the children of giraffes are giraffes. The children of cats are cats. And what are the children of God? You know people have to come to that conclusion: we’re not here for no good reason. The Bible calls us ‘the OFFSPRING of God.’ (Acts 17:29) It uses the word offspring.

“God is having offspring. And countless times, you will see the phrase ‘children of God’ or ‘sons of God’ in the Bible. In fact, in the famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.’ Paul says in Romans 8:14, ‘For as many are as led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.’ I show you many more verses in ‘The Divine Secret’ but over and over again, the Bible calls us ‘sons of God,’ ‘children of God.’ He (God) says ‘I will be your Father and you will be my sons and daughters,’ (2 Corinthians 6:18), so Jesus is not the only son of God. He’s the only begotten Son of God from the way He came into the Earth, but God wants all of us to be sons of God and children of God.”
Aust noted, “The thing that struck me when I read that again, this could seem a rather bold statement for your readers to consider: How can infallible, puny human beings who need nourishment, who need sleep, how can they even be considered to be equal with angels eventually, or be angels, let alone to be born into the divinity of God, to be divine?”

Where the Worldwide Church of God abandoned this teaching years ago, UCG seems to be moving closer and closer to LDS doctrine. Mormons are happy that UCG is moving towards "the truth."  Ah, there it is, that favorite catch word that disenfranchises most of humanity.  Only certain people  have the "truth" and the rest of the dumb schmucks in the world are lost.

LDS responses to the article include:

Sounds almost straight from an LDS manual.  

A lot of Evangelicals are coming around to understanding the TRUTH. 

I increasingly find evangelicals behavior towards the LDS like the French do towards Americans.  They continue to ask "How can we be more like them without being them?"  

One wise person noted:

It appears that the author, Joe Kovac has been influenced by Herbert W. Armstrong or the teachings of the Church of God, which would make since given his statements. Not an evangelical.

Then another person obliviously chimes in

It's always good to hear of other Christians making progress on Biblical interpretation whatever their faults may be. 

Flurry Cult Archeology Dig

Gerald Flurry has sent several of his "college" student over to Israel to work in an archeological dig.  Flurry is doing this because HWA did this and because he cannot come up with an original idea on how to run a chruch. college or foundation.  Imitating and plagerizing others is his only method of operation.

A popular blog about the Holy Land arcehology digs has brought to the public's attention the cult atributes of Flurry's group and it's ties to Armstrognism.

Against Jebel al-Lawz

Herbert W. Armstrong’s Influence Stretched Deep in Israel (1967-1986)

12 Wednesday Sep 2012

Posted by pithom in Biblical Geography

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benjamin mazar, cult leader, herbert w armstrong 

A little-known fact about Benjamin Mazar’s Ophel excavations is that they were partially funded by cult leader* Herbert W. Armstrong. A less known fact is how deep Armstrong’s influence, financial and otherwise, extended in Israel, or how deep it even into Israel today, over two decades after Armstrong’s death.

*The group he founded fits at least twelve of this list’s fifteen characteristics of a cult.

Ex-COG Street Musician Says: “The paradigm stopped working for me.”

Accordion player Terri Conti performs on Church Street. / JOHN BRIGGS/FREE PRESS

Her travels have been extensive. She was born on Long Island, moved early to Succasunna, N.J., 

and went to college in California at the Worldwide Church of God’s Ambassador College. 

(She has long since left that group: “The paradigm stopped working for me.”)

Here is an interesting story about an ex-WCG member who left the church and is now a street musician who is in the process of memorizing 1,000 songs for the accordion.

Imagine living a life doing the things you want to do without a minister telling you what you SHOULD be doing.  That is a truly unique concept missing from Armstrongism.

A Street Performer's Life

Van Robison on "Does Any Splinter Group of the WCG Have Truth?

"Does Any Splinter Group of the WCG Have Truth?

Of course they all proclaim they have truth, but the reality is that NONE of them do.  Those who lead all these groups are either self-deceived or else they are in it for the $cash.  The song and dance is that you must
"keep the Sabbath" and annual "Holy" days, along with tithing or else you are among the deceived.  Well, if you are snared by one of these groups, do you live in fear?  Do you really think that God is out to "get you" if
you do not sacrifice your life to one of these groups and whoever pretends he represents God?

Oh what a fraud!  FEAR is the great reason so many are taken captive.  Strange indeed since Jesus came to set the captives free.  Every splinter group of the WCG takes captives and makes those captive think and believe that they speak for God.  Pure hogwash!  NO splinter group  leader or group of leaders speaks for God.  It is exasperating to try to convince childish adult minds that they are being used and abused for no other reason than $money.

How do I know that NO splinter group of the WCG has truth?  Simple:  because Jesus Christ IS NOT the founder of man-made churches that feign that they represent Christ.  No physical church group on earth, among the many thousands of groups speak for Jesus Christ or for truth;  they speak for themselves---pure and simple.  Money, money, money, that is what church is all about.  Think it is not true?  If you feel compelled, why not meet for free at the local park, down by the river, at the flower garden or at the farm?  And while you are at it, why not allow EVERYONE to share what they think and want to say, instead of the "pastor", who thinks he has the only "right" to speak?

Don't we all have a song in our heart?  In the churches, whatever is in your heart is never heard, because the extremely vain and selfish preacher, only wants to hear his own voice, not you.


Van Robison