Harry Potter vs the Bible--Whats the Difference???

Exodus 4:1-5
And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The Lord hath not appeared unto thee.
And the Lord said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.
And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it.
And the Lord said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand:
That they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared...

Exodus 7: 7-16
And Moses was fourscore years old, and Aaron fourscore and three years old, when they spake unto Pharaoh.
And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying Shew a miracle for you: then thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent.
And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the Lord had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent.
Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments.
For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods.
And he hardened Pharaoh's heart, that he hearkened not unto them: as the Lord had said.
And the Lord said unto Moses, Pharaoh's hear is hardened, he refuseth to let the people go.
Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning; lo, he goeth out unto the water; and thou shalt stand by the river's brink against he come; and the rod which was turned to a serpent shalt thou take in thine hand.
And thou shalt say unto him, The Lord God of the Hebrews hath sent me unto thee, saying, Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness: and, behold, hitherto thou wouldest not hear."

With the debut Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, and the condemnation of such by the new Pope, perhaps we can ask a simple question that any child would ask if they are raised on the many fantastic stories of the Bible. What's the difference between the Wizardry of Harry Potter and that of Moses, Elijah, Jesus, the Apostles and Paul? It's a short answer for a kid... none.


As with hearing voices in the head, if it is in the Bible, it is the voice of God. If it is from a religious person, it may be the voice of God or it may be the voice of a mental condition that needs to be addressed. If it is from a nonbeliever, it is the voice of Satan or definitely mental illness.


But it is a legitimate question and one that any modern child or teen has every right to ask adult fundamentalists and evangelically smitten Christians.


From the account of Moses turning his staff into a serpent, to Aaron matching the tricks of Egyptian Sorcerers, we have what appears to be for all intent and purposes a war between the Wizards. Of course Moses wins and his serpent/staff eats up their serpent/staffs. Next we go on to Moses turning the waters of Egypt into "blood" to be matched by the Wizards of Egypt. Obviously Moses left a little for them to play with as well but for the life of me the best trick would have seemed to be the Wizards turning Moses "blood" BACK into water! Guess they weren't thinking!


From here we, of course go on to, frogs, gnats, flies, diseases, boils, hail, locusts, darkness and killing of innocent children.

Say unto Aaron, Stretch forth thine hand with thy rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt. 6 And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt. 7 And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt.
 Ex. 8:5-6

Frogs are a nice touch, and add eye of newt to the mix and we are back with Harry.


I suppose we would have to get a good mental picture of this "stretching forth" of hands over the rivers etc to get the same picture of Harry Potter doing much the same, with his wand, in his exploits, but what is the difference? In practical fact, none or certainly not much.


The Wizards of Egypt, like a bad movie script, duplicate the trick rather than undo it. Come on boys, wake up use the force for the good of Egypt! Of course, it would seem that duplicating an act that has already occurred is much easier, in some way, than undoing it. We never really hear just how the water turned blood, eventually turned back to pure drinkable water again. I guess it just cleared up.


One of the more questionable results of animal disease, hail, fire and destruction of animal feed by locusts etc, is that all the cattle and all the beasts and horses die at least three times from what I can tell. They are either diseased, beaten into pulp or starved by the Wizardry of Moses through Aaron. The Wizards of Egypt simply can't compete. They finally wake up and don't kill more animals at least, but can't get the dead ones back either...but wait...maybe they do!

Behold, the hand of the LORD is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain. 4 And the LORD shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt: and there shall nothing die of all that is the children's of Israel. 5 And the LORD appointed a set time, saying, To morrow the LORD shall do this thing in the land. 6 And the LORD did that thing on the morrow, and all the cattle of Egypt died: but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one
Exodus 9:3-6

It does appear all the horses died as well along with the cattle. But.....

"And he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him: 7 And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them. 8 And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out with an high hand. 9 But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea"
Exodus 14:6-9

Miracle of miracles, or perhaps wizardry of wizardry...the Egyptian horses are resurrected for perhaps the second time at least and maybe the third, and strike out to attack the Israelites, but die in the Wizardry of Moses who parts the Red Sea with his serpent/rod and drowns the lot of them.....again. I could be wrong, but I don't think left over dogs or goats from the previous plagues could pull a chariot.


In all the events of the Exodus, what is the difference between Harry Potter and Moses? Nothing...


What's the difference...

* Exodus 14: Moses parts the Red Sea -with a serpent/staff. Joshua 3:16: Joshua parts the Jordan -when feet of Priests touched water
* 2 Kings 2:8: Elijah parts the Jordan -with his mantle
* 2 Kings 2:14: Elisha parts the Jordan -with magic mantle of Elijah
* Kings 18: Elijah calls fire to consume sacrifice
* 2 Kings 1: Elijah calls fire upon 2 army units
* 2 Kings 13:21: dead man resurrects when he touches Elisha's bones
* 2 Kings 2-6: ELISHA: healed waters; she-bears; multiplying oil; unpoisoning food; multiplying food; strikes men blind, not to mention floating axes made to swim "because it was borrowed."

What's the difference between Moses, Elijah, Elisha and Harry Potter? One is in the Bible and one is in a popular book of fiction and adventure, is all.


What's the difference...

* 1 Kings 17:1; 18:45: Elijah commands rain (see also James 5:17) - pretty much a Wizardry thing
* Matthew 8:26: Jesus calmed the storm
* Matthew 14:25, 32: Jesus walks on water; calms a storm
* Matthew 21:19: Jesus withers the fig tree - for having no figs when it was not the season for figs!
* Luke 5:6: miraculous draught of fishes - a calling forth of fish.
* John 2:9: Jesus turns water to wine - Like Dionysus , god of Wine before him, and celebrated by "the Church" on the same day that Dionysus did it.

To a child, all of these are weather and nature related wizardry by any standard, as are the following foolings with Mother Nature and the Heavens in the Bible.

* Joshua 10:13: Joshua stopped the sun, well actually the earth had to stop rotating which went unrecorded anywhere on the planet and no one died elsewhere in the tsunamis.
* Isaiah 38:8: sun went backwards 10 degrees - earth rotated backwards.
* Matthew 2: star in the east brings wise men to Jesus. Wizards show up to honor Jesus. Where was the Rabbi?
* Matthew 27: darkness for 3 hours at crucifixion. Sun drops out of picture or heavy clouds obscure. Could not be a solar eclipse as a full moon during Passover does not permit that phenomenon. No one else on earth notices this either.
A few more..
* Matthew 14:20: Jesus multiplies loaves and fishes - manifesting things that aren't into things that now are.
* Matthew 15:37: Jesus multiplies loaves and fishes again
* Matthew 17:27: Peter gets coin from mouth of fish to pay tax - no one had change?
* Acts 2: tongues
* Acts 5:5,10: Ananias & Sapphira struck dead by Peter's word - nice way to treat the brethren for not handing over the money to the Church. But what does "struck dead" mean? If he struck them, it's murder, if he mentally zapped them, it's murder.
* Acts 9: light from heaven: Saul's conversion - manifesting light being
* Acts 12: angel releases Peter from prison - where was the Angel before I got arrested?
* Acts 13:11: Paul strikes sorcerer blind - hey Jesus struck Paul blind too!
* Acts 16: earthquake releases Paul & Silas from jail - now that is one very vibrationally focused earthquake!

To a child, the only real difference between the events in Harry Potter and the events in the Bible is that each is confined to their own book. The wizardry appears to be the same and thus Papal disapproval or Pastoral condemnation to anyone with even a Sunday School education does not wash. Of course, since it is the Bible, that makes it somehow different, yet it is not. Appeals to heavenly authority fall on deaf ears when one sees that wizardry is wizardry no matter where it occurs.


From the raising of the bronze serpent in the wilderness by Moses to save the snake bitten brethren, to it's worship by the people, storage in the ark and finally it's destruction by Hezekiah, who didn't like it, it's all wizardry. What's with the snake for healing routine? Back then it was "If any is sick among you, let him look upon the bronze serpent, and the look of faith will save the sick." I guess it was homeopathic. Like cures like.
To a child and perhaps even a thinking adult, the book of Revelation also with its signs and wonders, wars, plagues and heavenly hosts attacking the powers of evil and the powers of evil blasting back, is no different from the wizardry of Harry Potter. The symbolism and characters certainly can seem so. Make a movie on Revelation and what's the difference with Harry Potter? Different evils overcome by different powers in the same way it seems.


This is a biblically literate audience. We know the stories and even many profoundly religious types would swear they never read it in the Bible. I had a client who denied tooth and toenail that there is a story in the NT about Mary and Jesus' brothers coming to get Jesus because he was "out of his mind." It's there nevertheless, as we know. (Mark 3:20-35).


With Harry Potter coming again into the public forum with its magic, wizardry and sorcery and now the Pope even lending his disapproval (that no doubt made Ms. Rowling another gabillion bucks), the attacks by fundamentalists against that which seems to threaten the Church and the Bible will intensify. But beware! Sometimes we just have to ask ourselves, what really IS the difference between the Wizardry of Harry and that of Moses and the prophets, priests, and kings of the Bible? I am sure there are excellent apologetics, some of which this may set off, but in truth, the answer is not much.

Dennis C. Diehl
DenniscDiehl@aol.com

The True Story of the Passover

Endtime Apostle Makes Another Prediction

Apostle Malm is on a roll again today. Did you know that the Abomination of Desolation will be set up this September 28th?  Apostle Malm thinks so.  Well, maybe he does or maybe he doesn't. In the grand style of all Armstrongite false prophets, he qualifies his statement with a "This IS NOT a prediction; it is merely an example."

The resurrection will take place late on the sixth day of Unleavened Bread: The proof of this will be clear if the abomination is set up 1,290 days Dan 12, counting back from a future sixth day of unleavened Bread!

For example: if the sixth day of Unleavened Bread were to be counted back from 2015; and if my count is accurate; and if the sixth day [April 10, 2015]  is accurate with an accurate calculation of the new moon: Then the abomination would be set up on 28 Sep of this year.  If the new moon calculation or my count is not correct then the abomination shouid be set up within a few days of 28 Sep.

Realizing he is a liar he had to add the following qualifier concerning his prediction:

This IS NOT a prediction; it is merely an example. ALL the biblical signs must be present before the tribulation begins!  We do know that the year is now imminent, but we do not know for sure the precise year.

But lest ye think that Apostle Malm is the only fool out there making such predictions check out this Armstrongite moron:  The Abomination That Makes Desolate

This nut job predicted that the abomination of desolation would be happening in the Ambassador Auditorium (God's True House on earth) on August 31, 2010.  Oops, missed THAT one dude!

Have You Thrown Out Your Baking Soda Toothpaste Yet?

 Time is short, the end is near.  Only a few hours till all that leavening needs to be dumped in the garbage!!!!!

Have you cleaned your toaster, checked your suit pockets and pants cuffs for those stray pieces of sinful life that hides in you?

Have you moved the refrigerator from the wall, cleaned out your cupboards in the kitchen and scrubbed the refrigerator?

Have you vacuumed the car for those stray bread crumbs from your morning donut or sandwich on the run?

Have you cleaned your children's toy box for that cookie they lost the other day?

Have you looked at the labels on your vitamins and thrown out the brewers yeast tablets, just to be safe?

What about the baking soda pack in the fridge that is used exclusively to clean out odors?

What about your tube of baking soda toothpaste?

And there's the sodium bicarb that you use in the pool to regulate alkalinity, has it been dumped yet?

What about that box of frozen egg whites that you keep on hand to use in your baking to make your cakes light and flurry, or for that delicious fudge.  Have you dumped it yet?

Have you deleavened your home all by your self or brought in other church members to help you clean?  That is what many of your illustrious ministers and evangelists did and still do to this day.

HWA never cleaned any leavening out of his home or offices, neither did his two cook/housekeepers.  Instead they made employee's come in and clean HWA's home and offices for him.

Students used to have to scrub all the dining room chairs in the Student Center with toothbrushes to get the leavening out.  They also at one point in time had to hand scrub the teak wood floor in the Student Center for all those pesky pieces of bread and cake.  They had to use toothbrushes and toothpicks to get inteh cracks and crevices in the wood. Meredith, McNair, LaRavia and others made custodians come in and clean their homes for them.  Silly sheeple!  Here you could have had others cleaning your houses all along!

The same magical belief system still controls members to this day.  They think they are required to do it, that their salvation is dependent on it and that their works have redeemed them.

Its COG Passover Time!

It is time for Armstrongism's yearly ritual of it's continual crucifixion of someone they call Jesus.  Armstrongism has left its Jesus broken and beaten in college/high school gyms and Masonic Lodges around the country for the last 70 some years.  For most in Armstrongism this is about the only service in the Church of God that really has anything to do with its Jesus. Other than closing a church service with "In Jesus Name..." it is all about Moses, David, Elijah, Jeremiah and the Prophets of Old and every minuscule thing you can attach to the law.

For decades it was also one of the most secretive services of the church.  Only  baptized members who were approved by the ministry were allowed to participate.  Guards were placed at the doors to keep out any public and for those who had been disfellowshipped.

This is also a night that Armstrongism picks and chooses on how it will observe it.  There are some in the COG that call this a 'bastardization of the true Jewish Passover.'  The COG keeps the parts it wants while rejecting other parts of it. The COG tries to get as close as it can to Jewish law and traditions without ever really doing anything that pertains to Jewish law or tradition.  Like it's interpretation of Scripture the COG picks and chooses what it wants for this night.

Sadly though, this is not a night that brings most members into any kind of relationship with Jesus.  It is the ultimate in power control of the Church over the membership.

For weeks ahead of time the minister stands up preaching that the church members are unworthy worms who will NEVER be able to do what God says.  The members are portrayed as disgusting vile sinners just teetering on the edge of annihilation. Sermons and sermonettes, week after week, will dwell on the unworthiness of members while the enlightened one is up in front of them preaching.  Members are told to examine, reexamine and  otherwise prove themselves worthy to even share the same room as the enlightened humble minister as he prepares to be Jesus' instrument of torture..

This is also the one night of the year that all true members know they cannot miss.  God forbid if they have done something and the minister has told them to not come.  If they miss this night then their sins for the past year will not be forgiven.  Two full years of being an unredeemed filthy sinner will weigh heavily on the members mind.  Because of this, members will do anything the minister tells them.  They will do it through the year when the minister, evangelist, or Apostle tells them to do something that they may not even like.  If they refuse they know their eternal salvation is at risk.  In other words, keep the brethren fearful, ashamed, browbeaten with unworthiness, never being able to measure up and they will be compliant unquestioning sheeple.

Working in Pasadena for the many years I was there I got to see much of  this kind of attitude first hand.  Ministers threatening Church members or employees with being barred from Passover services scared the hell out of people.  People came to this service many times totally distraught and nauseated.  They would get physically sick having to listen to the the minister making sure that you heard the sound of the breaking of the matzo's.  In Pasadena they used to turn the sound up higher as the minister broke the matzo's so that you got to hear the crunching and breaking sound to remind you that you are a filthy piece of human garbage that continues to crucify Jesus - oops, sorry, CHRIST- day in and day out. Some would also get sick when the wine trays were passed with the dry red wine that had such a strong stomach turning odor..

And how would a COG Passover be complete without foot washing?  We had ministers and department heads in Pasadena who would hand pick the  people who would wash their feet.  God forbid if any of them had to touch a lowly ordinary member!  Those people got pulled into special areas where the  ministry washed feet away from the wandering eyes of the clods that were Church members.  In heated  rooms with hot water and fresh fluffy towels you were treated to the Holy feet of God's true ministers. You knew you had reached good standing with God if you got to wash a ministers feet.

It got so that I never participated in the Passover services in the last few years that I attended WCG.  I would help people set things up and prepare for it but it no longer had any meaning to me.  Watching the hypocrites in the ministry day in and day out ruining peoples lives made it a disgusting display of arrogance to sit there as they pretended to be humble servants of God.

Dennis On "Questions About The Crucifixion"

Questions Your Pastor Might Hate Around Easter and Passover

Having asked a few questions about the birth narratives of Jesus (Part 2), it is as good a time as ever to ask some about the last days of Jesus and his resurrection.


Question. Pastor...Hebrews 9:22 says that just about everything is purified with blood and that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. Ewww...What's with all the blood and why can't God just say, "Ok, that sounds very sincere, I forgive you?"


Question. Pastor...Why don't Christians keep Passover instead of Easter? Doesn't the New Testament make Jesus death a Passover event, like the Lamb of God? (I Corinthians 5:6-8), or was he the Bunny of God? I don't understand how separating Passover by an Equinox, one full moon and the next sunday after as being what was going on there. I mean Christ is our Passover, not our Easter Bunny right?


Question. Pastor...When Jesus needed a donkey to ride on into Jerusalem, Mark 11:2-7 and Luke 19:30-35 say that Jesus intructed the disciples to bring one animal. In Matthew 21:2-6, they are told to bring two, And in John 12:14 Jesus doesn't tell anyone to go get one, he does it himself. Which is it?


Question. Pastor... Mark 11:7, Luke 19:35 and John 12:14 have Jesus riding one animal which is to be expected but Matthew 21:7 has Jesus riding two at the same time! I think Matthew read his Old Testament prophecy wrong about how this would work when he mistook the wording of Zechariah 9:9 for a description of two animals when it was just one to begin with. Wasn't the Donkey a colt, the foal of an ass so to speak and not a donkey and a colt as Matthew thinks? Seems like a pretty big mistake to me. Of course, Matthew is prone to these overreachings as we have already talked about and this one seems to catch up with him. Or am I wrong?


Question. Pastor...Jesus is said to have turned over the tables of the moneychangers in the temple. First of all, why? The money was required to be changed from dirty pagan money to temple money to preserve the purity of the place. What's wrong with that? And wasn't that a rather suicidal stunt to begin with, I mean at Passover with tensions aready pretty high over other issues of the Roman occupation?  Also,
Question. Pastor...Mark 11:15-17, Matthew 21:12-13 and Luke 19:45-46 say that this event occurred at the end of Jesus ministry, just before he was arrested. But John 2: 13-16 says it happened much earlier in at the very beginning of Jesus ministry. That's not a minor mistake is it? Which is it? Was on a practice run to see what would happen?


Question. Pastor...About this same time, Jesus went looking for some figs to eat and finding none, Jesus curses the tree and it withers. John and Luke don't mention it, but Mark 11:20-21 says that the disciples didn't notice the tree withered until the next day on a return trip. But Matthew 21:19-20 says that they saw it wither right then and were amazed. Well I would be to! But they can't both be right. On top of that, it even admits that the reason for no figs was that it wasn't fig season. Isn't that like me getting angry at a watermelon field in the winter? I do know that maybe the point was that just as fig trees without figs deserve to wither, so Temples without good fruit do too, but still it not being fig time and two different stories mean it either didn't happen at all and is just a way to make a point, or if it did happen, someone goofed. Of course, one could argue that fig trees that don't have figs due to it not being time for figs don't deserve to be withered . What happened to dunging and digging around it for three years to give a chance?


Question. Pastor...Next Jesus has his feet anointed, or his head depending on the story. Mark 14:3 and Matthew 26:6-13 say that it was at house of a leper named Simon in Bethany. Luke 7:36-38 says it was in the home of a Pharisee in Galilee. That's a long way from Bethany. Was this a leperous Pharisee named Simon who had a summer home in Galilee? They can't both be right unless he got anointed twice in different places. Also, Mark and Matthew say Jesus was anointed with oil poured over his head, but Luke and John say his feet. Which was it and please don't tell me it was both and these men are like four people seeing an accident!


Question. Pastor...Why do Mark, Matthew and Luke not know who the woman was, but John 12:3 says it was Mary? And the reactions! Mark says that some got angry at the unnamed woman who anoints Jesus and Matthew 26:8 says it was the disciples who get angry at the woman. Luke 7:3-9 says some Pharisee get's upset because the woman is a sinner, like they weren't. John 12:4-5 is the only one who says it is Judas who gets angry, and then imputes his motive as being the thieving treasurer of the group. I know, all of the above right? It's Judas we remember the most I guess.


A few questions about the Last Supper


Question. Pastor...In Mark 14:17-21, Matthew 26:20-25 and John 13:21-30 Jesus predicts for the disciples that he will be betrayed before they actually take communion. But in Luke 22:21-23 Jesus predicts this after communion. Can't both be right, right?


Question. Pastor...Mark 14:30 tells us that Peter would deny Jesus before the cock crowed twice. Why then does Matthew 26:34, Luke 22:34 and John 13:38 tell us that Peter would deny Jesus before the cock crowed at all? Since Jesus is the one doing the prediction, just what did he predict? When it finally happened, Mark 14:72 says the cock crowed twice. Matthew 26:74 said it was once, and both Luke and John don't mention any cock crowing. What happened?


Question. Pastor...I have a few questions about this notorious Judas whose name has become a synonym for betrayal in our culture. If Jesus had to die to be our Savior, why do we care who and how Jesus was betrayed to be crucified? It had to be so wasn't Judas just helping things along?


Question. Pastor...Why does Matthew 19:28 say that all Twelve Disciples would sit on Thrones in the Kingdom of God and Judas was surely among this number. I mean by the time Matthew wrote the book, he would know about how Judas messed up and didn't make it wouldn't he?


Question. Pastor...Why did Paul write in I Corinthians 15:5 that Jesus appeared to "the Twelve" after his resurrection when Judas was said to have already have committed suicide by then. If Jesus had appeared to him too, why would Jesus not thank him for playing his part and forgive him? Did Paul know of the story told in the newly discovered "Book of Judas," which says that Jesus had Judas betray him according to plan and that Judas was one the best disciples?


Question. Pastor...When did Satan enter into Judas to betray Judas. Was it before the Last Supper as Luke 22:3-6 says? Was it during the Supper, as John 13:27 says, or was it not at all, or at least nothing worth mentioning in Matthew and Mark? And if Satan finally got a hold of him, then could he even help it?


Question. Pastor...Concerning these thirty pieces of silver as the payment to Judas for betraying Jesus. Did Judas throw it down at the Priests as Matthew 27:6-8 says, and walks away, or did he buy some land as we read in Acts 1:18? And why did Mark, Luke and John not know this story? I could ask why Matthew's "thus it was fulfilled" in Matthew 27:9-10 was attributed to Jeremiah but is really from Zechariah 11:12-13, but we all know how Matthew thinks by now about rummaging around in the Old Testament to find quotes that make up his story.


Question. Pastor...Why does Mark 14:44-46 and Matthew 26:49-50 say that Jesus was betrayed with the kiss and arrested, but John 18:2-9 Jesus volunteers to indentify himself and no kiss is mentioned? And as long as we're on it...why on earth did the Romans have no clue which guy was Jesus in the first place? I thought he had ridden into Jerusalem in Triumph just a few days earlier and been teaching in Jerusalem to thousands doing amazing things for one year or three, depending? How can you not know which one was Jesus? Was it too dark?


Question. Pastor...Why does Matthew 27:6-8 say that the Priests bought the land and it gets it name "field of blood" because it was purchased with Judas blood money, which I assume is for the blood of Jesus, when Acts 1:18 says it is called that because Judas fell down and his blood and guts spilled out on that piece of property? Would that not be the "field of guts"....just kidding Pastor! How come Matthew is the only one to mention all this? Oh and how does Judas die anyway? Of course he hangs himself according to Matthew 27:5, but according to Acts 1:18 he fall down and splits open. Mark, Luke and John don't mention this either. I don't think they would leave him hanging until the rope broke do you? I mean weren't Jewish people sensitive about that kind of thing?


Question. Pastor...Why if Judas betrayed Jesus once, and Peter denied Jesus three times, does Peter get forgiven, reinstated and made Pope, or whatever and Judas goes to hell for all eternity or whatever? Is it just because Peter did not hang himself too, or fall down so that his guts burst out?


Question. Pastor...Ok, enough about Judas. I'd like to ask about Peter taking a swing with a sword at the servant of the High Priest who also was there at Jesus arrest and taking his ear off. Did Peter intend to kill the poor guy and why not take a swing at the High Priest or the Romans? I guess it was safer to chop off the ear of a nobody than a somebody?


Question. Pastor...Mark 14:47, Matthew 36:51 and John 18:10 say the ear stayed chopped off, which would be normal. . But Luke 22:50-51 says that Jesus put it back on. You'd think that the other three would have noted this miracle. I can see watching an accident and debating who came from what direction or how fast, but I think all the witnesses would notice Peter trying to cleave someone's head who ducked and Jesus replacing the smitten ear. Or did the three that didn't say anything about this just feel they would leave this to John to report? I don't think it would work that way.


Question. Pastor..Speaking of swords. Did Jesus, in Matthew 26:52 tell them that "he who lives by the sword shall die by the sword" and get rid of the things, or did Jesus tell them, as in Luke 22:36-38 to buy swords? And of course, Mark and John don't seem to be into weapons at all.


Question. Pastor...We all know the famous "Give us Barabbas" story. (Mark 15:11) Don't you think it is such a coincidence that Jesus is called the "King of the Jews" by the Romans. Or at least that is what is going to be put on the sign over his head on the cross. And this "Barabbas" name means "Son of the Father? Bar means "son" and "Abba" means "father," so see what I mean? Is it possible that Barabbas and Jesus were the same person and Pilate was asking the crowd, "do we crucify the King and political threat to Rome and thus to you, or the religious guy and not much of a threat to Rome, it's up to you? Could not Pilate be saying, "Choose carefully because your answer depends on whether I crucify all of you too?" I don't see the wishy washy Pilate of this account in history. He was pretty darn ruthless according to others besides Mark. Anyway, the crowd wants the "Bar Abbas," the Son of God or Son of the Father released, and that seems not to be a problem with Pilate. Bu t Jesus, "King of the Jews," since they have no King but Caesar, is to be crucified which is fine with them. Isn't it more a tale of the people defining the Jesus they want killed so Pilate doesn't kill them for insurrection? What do you think? Pretty cool huh? Did you know that in early copies of Mark, Barabbas is called Jesus Barabbas? But maybe that was too obvious, so we don't see it in later copies. That would make Barabbas, "Jesus Son of the Father." Whoa!


Question. Pastor...See, my other problem with the Barabbas story would be then just who was really crucified and who was let go? If it was someone called Jesus, the son of the Father was let go, and another Jesus, the King of the Jews died, then did the right savior die? Oh well. I can't imagine this being two separate men can you? Or big time coincidence for sure!


Question:  Pastor...have you ever heard of Astro-Theology and the common story, just like Jesus, of the Sun Gods?  You want me to leave your office now?   Well..ok...just asking....

Dennis C. Diehl
DenniscDiehl@aol.com

The End is Nigh

Here is a great little resource on hundreds of failed end time predictions throughout history.  The listings are from creation to 4990 BCE and on out to 4,500,000,000 years from now.  Will Meredith and Flurry's little groups still be spitting out warnings by then?

THE END pick a year

A Knock At The Door

This story reminds me so much of the mindset that is prevalent in Armstrongism.  

Particularly in Flurryism, Meredithism, Packism and Malmism.

____________

This morning there was a knock at my door. When I answered the door I found a well groomed, nicely dressed couple.

The man spoke first: "Hi! I'm John, and this is Mary."
 
Mary: "Hi! We're here to invite you to come kiss Hank's ass with us."
Me: "Pardon me?! What are you talking about? Who's Hank, and why would I want to kiss his ass?"
John: "If you kiss Hank's ass, he'll give you a million dollars; and if you don't, he'll kick the shit out of you."
Me: "What? Is this some sort of bizarre mob shake-down?"
John: "Hank is a billionaire philanthropist. Hank built this town. Hank owns this town. He can do what ever he wants, and what he wants is to give you a million dollars, but he can't until you kiss his ass."
Me: "That doesn't make any sense. Why..."
Mary: "Who are you to question Hank's gift? Don't you want a million dollars? Isn't it worth a little kiss on the ass?"
Me: "Well maybe, if it's legit, but..."
John: "Then come kiss Hank's ass with us."
Me: "Do you kiss Hank's ass often?"
Mary: "Oh yes, all the time..."
Me: "And has he given you a million dollars?"
John: "Well no, you don't actually get the money until you leave town."
Me: "So why don't you just leave town now?"
Mary: "You can't leave until Hank tells you to, or you don't get the money, and he kicks the shit out of you."
Me: "Do you know anyone who kissed Hank's ass, left town, and got the million dollars?"
John: "My mother kissed Hank's ass for years. She left town last year, and I'm sure she got the money."
Me: "Haven't you talked to her since then?"
John: "Of course not, Hank doesn't allow it."
Me: "So what makes you think he'll actually give you the money if you've never talked to anyone who got the money?"
Mary: "Well, he gives you a little bit before you leave. Maybe you'll get a raise; maybe you'll win a small lotto; maybe you'll just find a twenty dollar bill on the street."
Me: "What's that got to do with Hank?"
John: "Hank has certain connections."
Me: "I'm sorry, but this sounds like some sort of bizarre con game."
John: "But it's a million dollars, can you really take the chance? And remember, if you don't kiss Hank's ass he'll kick the shit of you."
Me: "Maybe if I could see Hank, talk to him, get the details straight from him..."
Mary: "No one sees Hank, no one talks to Hank."
Me: "Then how do you kiss his ass?"
John: "Sometimes we just blow him a kiss, and think of his ass. Other times we kiss Karl's ass, and he passes it on."
Me: "Who's Karl?"
Mary: "A friend of ours. He's the one who taught us all about kissing Hank's ass. All we had to do was take him out to dinner a few times."
Me: "And you just took his word for it when he said there was a Hank, that Hank wanted you to kiss his ass, and that Hank would reward you?"
John: "Oh no! Karl's got a letter Hank sent him years ago explaining the whole thing. Here's a copy; see for yourself."

John handed me a photocopy of a handwritten memo on "From the desk of Karl" letterhead. There were eleven items listed:

1. Kiss Hank's ass and he'll give you a million dollars when you leave town.
2. Use alcohol in moderation.
3. Kick the shit out of people who aren't like you.
4. Eat right.
5. Hank dictated this list himself.
6. The moon is made of green cheese.
7. Everything Hank says is right.
8. Wash your hands after going to the bathroom.
9. Don't drink.
10. Eat your wieners on buns, no condiments.
11. Kiss Hank's ass or he'll kick the shit out of you.

Me: "This would appear to be written on Karl's letterhead."
Mary: "Hank didn't have any paper."
Me: "I have a hunch that if we checked we'd find this is Karl's handwriting."
John: "Of course, Hank dictated it."
Me: "I thought you said no one gets to see Hank?"
Mary: "Not now, but years ago he would talk to some people."
Me: "I thought you said he was a philanthropist. What sort of philanthropist kicks the shit out of people just because they're different?"
Mary: "It's what Hank wants, and Hank's always right."
Me: "How do you figure that?"
Mary: "Item 7 says Everything Hanks says is right.' That's good enough for me!"
Me: "Maybe your friend Karl just made the whole thing up."
John: "No way! Item 5 says 'Hank dictated this list himself.' Besides, item 2 says 'Use alcohol in moderation,' item 4 says 'Eat right,' and item 8 says 'Wash your hands after going to the bathroom.' Everyone knows those things are right, so the rest must be true, too."
Me: "But #9 says 'Don't Drink,' which doesn't quite go with #2. And #6 says 'The moon is made of green cheese,' which is just plain wrong."
John: "There's no contradiction between 9 and 2; 9 just clarifies 2. As to 6, you've never been to the moon, so you can't say for sure."
Me: "Scientists have pretty firmly established that the moon is made of rock..."
Mary: "But they don't know if the rock came from the Earth, or from out of space, so it could just as easily be green cheese."
Me: "I'm not really an expert, but I think the theory that the Moon came from the Earth has  been discounted. Besides, not knowing where the rock came from doesn't make it cheese."
John: "Aha! You just admitted that scientists make mistakes, but we know Hank is always right!"
Me: "We do?"
Mary: "Of course we do, Item 5 says so."
Me: "You're saying Hank's always right because the list says so, the list is right because Hank dictated it, and we know that Hank dictated it because the list says so. That's circular logic, no different than saying 'Hank's right because he says he's right.'"
John: "Now you're getting it! It's so rewarding to see someone come around to Hank's way of thinking."
Me: "But...oh, never mind. What's the deal with wieners?"
 
Mary blushes.  


John says: "Wieners, in buns, no condiments. It's Hank's way. Anything else is wrong."
Me: "What if I don't have a bun?"
John: "No bun, no wiener. A wiener without a bun is wrong."
Me: "No relish? No Mustard?"

Mary looks positively stricken.  


John shouts: "There's no need for such language! Condiments of any kind are wrong!"
Me: "So a big pile of sauerkraut with some wieners chopped up in it would be out of the question?"

Mary sticks her fingers in her ears: "I am not listening to this. La la la, la la, la la la."

John: "That's disgusting. Only some sort of evil deviant would eat that..."
Me: "It's good! I eat it all the time."

Mary faints. John catches her: "Well, if I'd known you where one of those I wouldn't have wasted my time. When Hank kicks the shit out of you I'll be there, counting my money and laughing. I'll kiss Hank's ass for you, you bunless cut-wienered kraut-eater."

With this, John dragged Mary to their waiting car, and sped off.


Shamelessly filched from The Christian Heretic Blog

Only Aphrodite Worshippers Put Honey In Their Homemade Matzo's

The lunacy continues with God's appointed end time prophet/apostle, Pastor Malm:

PASSOVER ULB:  It has been brought to my attention that there are some recipes put out by COG Groups which actually call for honey in Unleavened Bread.  The Scriptures absolutely forbid the use of honey in any baked offering [made by fire] to be eaten, or grain [meat] offering to be burned [consumed by God in the fire; the fire symbolic of God's spirit]  in the fire.

This is because of the heavy connection of bees and honey with pagan religions and witchcraft.  The pagan deities are strongly associated with bees and honey – Aphrodite, Vishnu, Pan, Cybele, and Ra, just to name a few.

That does NOT mean that bees and honey are bad; they are creations of God and are good.  It does mean that these good things are being used as symbols of perversion by the heathan.  NEVER use honey in any Passover or ULB unleavened bread.  Please simply google paganism bees for more.

And what about those sinful eggs???

 No, I am not talking about THOSE eggs, Apostle Malm is upset about these eggs:

How dare you cooks out there beat your eggs to put in your UB baked products!  Everyone knows you are trying to get as close to Satan as possible when you do that! Heathen, perverse generation of laodicean sinners!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It should also be remembered that recipes calling for an artificial leavening by the addition of beaten eggs is symbolic of getting as close to sin as possible while actually breaking the letter of the law.  This is breaking the spirit of the law and it is SIN; in the same way that hate is murder, or that lust is adultery.

Born Right the First Time?

Born Right the First Time?

The purpose of most religion is to make us "better" than we currently are. The Biblical premise is that all human beings are fatally flawed, not good enough and in need of vast improvements and control of their "human nature." Without this ongoing overcoming of the evil self, growing towards a better kind of person and change, one runs the risk of being so not good enough that they will spend eternity, for their inability to change over a rather short lifetime, in a punishing hell. Scripture goes out of its way to remind us all that our fundamental human qualities are deceit, wickedness, jealousy, anger, lust and greed. I find that personally to be one of the most unhelpful and controlling lies ever foisted upon human beings by religion. Of course that is how we can act, but that is not who we are by any real means when given the freedom to be authentic and feel safe in being so.


We are called "worms" and less than nothing in this great book of encouragement. Even the early leaders, prophets and apostle types knew that they had to degrade themselves as less than human in order to show they understood they were not worth anything as an unregenerate human being. Only when one realized they were a piece of poop, could they lead the people who were really poopy people. If you could not utter the words, "I am not worthy," you would never be a Bible CEO. The Apostle Paul noted that he was "the least of the Apostles" and that "the things that I don't want to do, I do and the things I should, I don't." He made his problems everyone's. He concluded he was simply a wretched human being, and so should everyone else. He reminded others that they were blind, miserable, poor and naked of heart and spirit. He even said he had to beat himself into submission, lest after preaching to others, he should flub up himself and be a castaway. Seems he didn't have the confidence "in the blood," to make up the differences in what he was and what he felt he needed to be.


Jesus is also said to have said that humans are to become "perfect, even (in the same way) as your Father in heaven is perfect." No challenge there to be better than one is at any one moment! Of course this is not possible and it is not possible or plausible in any "now I'm converted and full of the Holy Spirit" way. You have never met any Christian who has reached this goal in life. I have met some who act like they have and I have met some who agonize of not being able, but I have never met one that did in fact, whatever that means. Actually they would be one freaky human being I would think.


How did we get this way? Well, of course it was due to the "fall" where Adam and Eve, our really true and actual first human parents, created by God out of mud and ribs, flubbed up and ate the forbidden fruit. We have all been blamed for this event and must spend our lives coming under a blood sacrifice of a more perfect human/god being and then continuing the struggle to be "better" until we die. Its then we find out we understood being bad enough to be good enough to live forever. Redemption of humans by blood sacrifice and execution have always been the preferred solution to the depravity of man. Membership in the club usually cost ten or more percent of your material income and membership in the one true of many churches. I am not being disrespectful to the life and teachings of Jesus but few understand how that has been woven into a tale that Jesus himself would have cringed at.


I remember as a teen when it was "time you were baptised" being told I was all these miserable things and in need of deep and heartfelt repentance and, of course, a savior. The minister took me through all the Ten Commandments and asked me if I understood that I had broken EVERY ONE of them all my short life and thus, was condemned to death. I was a mere 18 year old, nice kid, good home, pretty compliant, a bit guilt and shame ridden by upbringing, but not a really big nasty sinner on drugs with three illegitimate kids. And yet, here I sat being convinced I worshiped other gods, (money, success, human hopes and dreams), somehow always took God's name in vain, (mom and dad would have washed my mouth out with soap...I only learned to cuss and such after being in the ministry) and worshiped on the wrong day of the week along with having to repent of keeping the wrong Holy Days all my short life.


I was in some deep evil way a killer, adulterer, thief, liar and coveter of all men's goods and women. When I said I hadn't really killed anyone, I was told that I hated and that's the same thing. I admitted I had not had sex with anyone to that point, but my lust covered that one too. I wanted to say, "well no, I really hadn't done that either", but that would have been ill advised if I ever wanted to get baptized and have a future with the group. He told me to come back another day and more deeply repent of my nasty, evil and wicked 18 year old self. Of course I did in time and joined the "you still aren't good enough" club for the next three decades as a pastor who then passed the good news of human depravity on to thousands and reminding them that while they might think they are nice people, they are under the eternal death penalty those stinkers Adam and Eve brought upon us all no matter. However, I did a bit of growing myself and concluded the story of my guilt by association to Adam and Eve wasn't literally true. Human beings have evolved for the most part as good science has noted. I've had my own genome mapped back 60,000 years to all our African origins. I don't believe that it would be a very fair thing for humans to pay a literal and eternal death penalty based on a mythical and not literally true story.


Have you ever considered the fact that you and I may have been born right the first time? What if the most simple and spiritual goal a human being has is to become your own genuine, authentic and self? What if our purpose in life is neither to jump through the hoops set out by others, who think they know, nor to struggle and strive to improve yourself dramatically over what you are? People don't change much over a life time no matter what their religious affiliations, and while it's an improvement to stop killing one's self with sugar, caffeine, alcohol and nicotine along with other assorted body killing habits, it's ok to just be yourself.


Is it easy to be yourself? No, not in our culture and certainly not in many others where not being a mere cog in the tribal wheel can get you killed in really bad ways. One of life's simple truths that most humans have long since forgotten or never knew is that all of us are one and the same and all smaller parts of the one single thing. I don't pretend to know what that is, but let's just say we are all one in the same conscious awareness stuck in a limited five sensed carbon based wet suit for now. As Mike Adams said in a recent article on The discovery of DNA variability, holographic blueprints and the symphony of life...

"We are, in fact, an expression of the very phenomena we are attempting to understand, and if we read the poetry of DNA correctly, we will realize that life itself is not about the accumulation of wealth, or stuff, or power over others, but rather the discovery of self. And "self" does not exist in isolation. We are, in every way imaginable, intertwined. We are all made of the same stuff, wrought from the same patterns of nature, and in fact, formulated from the same musical notes played out in five billion unique but compatible tunes. With this discovery, Western science has concluded we are all more different from each other than previously thought, but I believe it is evidence that we are all just unique verses of the same universal poem."

That's a far cry from humans being merely wretched, miserable, poor blind and naked worms that need major rehab at the hands of prophets, priests and pastors. Saying we are born right the first time and not in need of being born again or reborn goes against the meme, which is the mind virus we all got taught as kids. Our parents had it taught to them and their parents before that. It is the idea that we are all flawed a birth by a non-event in the lives of our first not literally so parents Adam and Eve. It's the idea that even if you are a pretty ok person, you are filled with vanity, jealousy, lust and greed that unless paid for by a perfect blood sacrifice, demands you spend eternity in hell burning forever, cut off from God, or permanently dead. It's also not true and is not what a genuine human being, in reality needs to become the monkey on their back over.


What liberation it is to simply recognize that we are all one and the same smaller parts of the one big thing. It is every bit as difficult to live an authentic life as it is to live a life of false compliance to the will of others. It is easy or not easy depending on the need to please everyone or appear to agree when you don't, to be true to your self and by self, I do not mean ego. I mean true to the conscious awareness that abides in the container we all too often mistake for the self. You are not your body. That is merely transportation and a container for a short time. You are not your brain. That is a receiver of information and memories that may, in fact, arise from outside of a bigger you and I than we can imagine. You are not your mind, which is that thinking brain that spins in the angry past or projects itself into the anxiety filled future when it has nothing better to do in the present.  A spinning mind can be a terrible thing...waste it!


How much misery and struggle to be all that one can never really be religion has heaped upon the faithful. Not many will leave the warmth and comfort of the boxes they were born in by happenstance and explore ideas that are not acceptable to the tribe or the church. But some will. They might be labeled "heretics" or perhaps more benevolently, "ahead of their times." In the past, those ahead of their times tended to be burned at the stake. Leaving the box of religious dogma is difficult and often one leaves it alone and on their own. Those in the last box don't often follow. You can be your authentic self as it comes to you and risk a lot but gain a lot, or you can put on your mask and be more comfortable but scarfing down antidepressants the rest of your life. That seems to be the way the road to the fact that being oneself is the most simple spiritual truth there is for a genuine human being.


Politics, fear, guilt and shame are some of the reasons human beings behave badly. Feeling unsafe can do a lot of damage. All of Iraq is coming unglued because of fear and self preservation, not some inherent evil that is the true, ongoing and daily nature of man. When people feel safe, appreciated, respected and listened to, you'd be surprised how much good can be accomplished. If Chicago was Baghdad, these same fears and survival skills would rear their ugly heads in the neighborhood.


What is the most simple spiritual truth a human can come to recognize? While there may be many, the simple recognition that being your authentic self in thought, word and deed is ok, is near the top. If my even saying that to you makes you uncomfortable, then you can know that it is not far from a truth you, as a conscious being, needs to consider in the time you have left to live in your limited five sensed, carbon based wet suit.

Dennis C. Diehl
DenniscDiehl@aol.com

Have No Fear, Malm Is Here!

Have no fear ye followers of the one and only TRUE god.  James Malm, your humble end time prophet, apostle, 1/2 of the two witlesses (sorry Mr. and Mrs. Weinerdude) and future martyr  has firsthand revealed knowledge on just how things are going to start happening as the end times rolls in.  Isn't this exciting!  Wow!  Time to start my Petra pack........

1  A Middle East war is expected to set the conditions for a peace agreement.
2  The Abomination, which IS the false prophet; will be set up (this is the first seal of Revelation). 
3  A peace deal will be reached; allowing for a declaration of peace and safety very near the time that the abomination goes to the Holy Place, 1 Thes 5:3.  There may or may not be a seven year treaty with the Jews, Palestinians and Vatican.  There will NOT be 3 1/2 years of peace (this is a non biblical tradition of Protesant origin). War will begin AS SOON AS peace is declared.
4  He (the abomination; false prophet) will call for and bring about a revival of the Holy Roman Empire during a 75 day period.
5  The two prophets of God will begin their work.
6  Jerusalem will be surrounded by armies; probably peacekeepers to enforce the agreement.
7  The Church will flee into the wilderness; arriving at the time that the abomination visits the Holy Place.
8  The false prophet will travel to the Holy Place.
9  This will trigger violence which results in the occupation of the city  by these European peace keepers.
10  Israel will not give up Jerusalem without a fight and all Judea will be subjugated.
11  The US will enter the conflict in support of Israel and will be nuked and defeated but not totally destroyed and probably not occupied; just brought to her knees.
12  Europe will be supreme for about 2-3 years.
13  Europe will attack the Asian nations of Russia China ect.
14  Asia will absorb the attack and move into Europe destroying it.
15  The beast and false prophet (abomination) will move to Jerusalem to make their last stand.
16  The two prophets will be killed 3 1/2 days later the resurrection will take place
.17  The Asian armies will move south toward Jerusalem and camp at Miggedo, the Wedding Feast of the Lamb will take place in heaven; and the seven last plagues will be poured out; during the 45 days between the resurrection and the end of the 1,335 days.  See the Wedding Feast article at the link provided above; and also the article on the 1,290 and the 1,335 days.
18  The Asian armies will attack Jerusalem and take half of the city.
19  Christ will come WITH his saints and put down all factions.
20  The beast and false prophet will be killed at the end of the 1,335 days of Dan 12. 
21  God's spirit will be poured out on all flesh, establishing his kingdom on a Feast of Pentecost.
22  There will be 1,000 years of peace; completing a 7,000 year plan for the firstfruits.
23  Satan will be released for a short time and then removed forever.
24  Then the 7,000 year plan for the main harvest will begin; and the Feast of the Ingathering of Nations or the Feast of Tabernacles will bring all repentant humanity into the family of God.
25  After the seven thousand years of the Feast of Tabernacles, the surface of the earth and all wickedness will be destroyed and cleansed by fire.
26  The New Jerusalem will come down from heaven, the Father will come to be with his Christ and his saints; and an eternal future of peace and harmony will bring an endless increase of God's Kingdom throughout the universe. 

Levirate Marriage and Armstrongites

Reading COG related message groups on Yahoo is never dull.  Some of the things you read just boggle your mind.  Yahoo is filled with a lot of COG members who have taken legalism to the extreme.  Not content with the myriad of laws, rules and regulations that Armstrongism lays down upon them, they have also incorporated the 613 laws of orthodox Judaism into the lives.  They are constantly harping about one law after another that Christians are 'required' to keep.  There is never a discussion about Jesus, but hundreds and hundreds about the law.  If Jesus is brought up it is only to say, "Christ would not approve."  Saying the word Jesus is too effeminate or Protestant for most of them.

Anyway, one of the topics today was on levirate marriage.  What's a poor woman to do if her young husband is sterile?  Take sperm from a brother or the mans father and artificially inseminate?  Since the man is not dead  the woman cannot marry his brother, so sperm collection seems to be their best choice.

I was thinking about a young friend whose husband became sterile from cancer treatments and it got me thinking that he is "dead" to having the ability to raise up his own house (ben=house or sons)
For his brother to father him a child would fit in the spirit of levirate.
There was no "marriage" at all at first. Just creating a child. Marriage was added on much later to satisfy some people's problems with it, I suppose.
But I think this would be entirely right while the couple is young since we now have artificial insemination.
Again as I said before this service was only to be performed for the sake of "heaven" and no other reason.

Responses:

"In this day & age, your friend could surely put some of the brother-in-law's stuff in a turkey baster & avoid the actual sexual relations... And if her husband helped out... well, just sayin' there is more than one way to skin a cat."


"I would think the church would not approve, however."

"I donno why not. Anyway, if it were me, I would not tell the church--why would the church need to know such personal business!"

And to end the discussion the uber-legalist on the board always has this response:

"Christ is the head of the Church and He would certainly know, and He is the only important One!!"

.

David Ben Ariel RIP

Anyone who has been online in the past several years has surely run into David as he preached and promoted all things HWA.  His articles, blog posts, and book promotions (Beyond Babylon, God and the Gays)would turn up in some of the most unexpected places.  He spent huge amounts of time flooding every imaginable bulletin board, COG related blog, military blogs, Jewish groups/newspapers and COG boards with his writings.  He put Chiropractor Bob  Thiel and end time self-appointed prophet James Malm  to shame. He was a stanch support of Israel, even though the country expelled him several years ago and never permitted him to return.

Love him or hate him, he certainly left an impression!

David (Hoover) BEN-ARIEL

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BEN-ARIEL David (Hoover) Passed away peacefully March 27, 2011, surrounded by his family at Hospice of Northwest Ohio. David was born to David and Wanda Hoover on January 10, 1960. David loved to travel and has been to several states and countries. He had lived in Israel for 5 years. David was also the author of two books including "Beyond Babylon". David was preceded in death by his father David; grandparents, Arthur and Vivian Hoover, Edward and Isabella King and younger brother, Bobby. He is survived by his mother, Wanda Shaffer of Toledo; sisters, Sue Chandler (John) of Rising Sun, Kim Garza (Rick) and Lisa Shaffer of Toledo; nieces, Diane Chandler and Shannon Givens; great nieces, Kiera Barnum and Ava Moreau; nephews, Shane Tibbits and Raymond Martinez; great-nephews, Dylan Chandler and Noah Schottley; many aunts and uncles and future father in-law, Douglas Hall. Special thanks to Hospice of Northwest Ohio in Perrysburg, great-niece Kiera for the love and attention she gave him and to Doug Hall for his care and support. Services will be private. Anyone wanting to make a donation please consider Hospice of Northwest Ohio.

The End Times Are Here! Or, So Says Church of Malm

End time guru of wanton death and destruction is blasting his trumpet that the "end times are here!"  No, I am not talking about Flurry, Meredith, Pack or Cox.  There is another voice that is God's end time mouthpiece. God only has ONE true end time mouthpiece that is TRULY warning the true remnant COG. James Malm has been in high gear in the last few weeks promoting that message.

Bedsides demanding that TRUE Church of God members should be worshiping the moon, Malm is giddy with delight that Israel and Gaza are now engaged in battling each other.

Malm writes:

This is the first in a series of posts that will show how very close the end time events are getting.  These posts are NOT designed to set any specific date or year; they are intended to make it very clear that we are now in the end time... (i.e. 2011)

Here is how Malm comes up with his convoluted date:

...it is interesting that the first permanent English colony in America was assured with the first harvest and a thanksgiving  in 1621. Add 390 in light of the prophecy.  Again this shows the closeness of the end times and may NOT be exactly accurate as to a year; since we do not know for certain that this period started at that time. 

2011.  Yep, the end times are here!  Death and destruction will be pounding on the doors of the Untied States, Britain and Israel.  Death, famine, destruction, Germans, rampaging Muslims and DC 10 plane trips to Petra are in our forecast this year.  Forget Meredith's2012 prophecies.  Malm is the TRUE end time date calculator!

Where does Malm come up with the 390 figure?

These things were all prophesied thousands of years ago. Ez 4 Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem: ²And lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, and set battering rams against it round about.
Ezekiel is told to portray the city of Jerusalem under siege by setting up a model of the city under siege as an instruction and sign for the people.
³Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.
Yet, during the days of the siege, an iron plate or wall is to be placed between the city and the besiegers.  At this point Ezekiel is told to bear the sins of Israel for 390 days [190 LXX] and to bare the sins of Judah for 40 days; this being symbolic of a day for a year in fulfillment.

The same thing will happen to Joseph-Israel  [Ephraim- Manassah] as God bears their sins and blesses them for 390 years; after which he stops bearing their sins and stops their blessings as well.

This developing war is setting the conditions for a peace deal 1 Thess 5; exactly how long it will take for this war to run its course and for a peace deal to be finalized remains to be seen.  We can KNOW that the tribulation is now very close.

COG  false prophets have been spitting this kind of nonsense for close to 70 years now.  Not ONCE in this entire time span have ANY of them been right about ANY of their utterances!

HWA's prophecies failed, GTA's have failed, Flurry's have failed, Meredith's have been a laughing stock for the church. Waterhouse has been proven to be a complete imbecile.  Blackwell's have all failed, Hoeh's have all failed. Weinland has published books listing in dated detail the exact moments of the end time...FAILURE!  Neville Stevens has been posting his stupidity for several years now and has proven himself to be another Armstrongite fool.

When will COG ministers stop lying to their members?  When will members stop letting themselves think they are so incredibly special that billions of other people are going to die so their sorry asses can be saved?  A few thousand gloating in the desert of Petra are more special than 6 Billion other souls?  Isn't Armstrongism grand!