Rod Meredith Speaks Out Against China

Documented failed prophet Roderick C Meredith has declared that China will not be a superpower in his latest article in the LCG copycat Tomorrow's World magazine.  Of course you can guess who will be.  Wait for it!  It's Lichtenstein!

Oh sorry, wrong Germans.  It's these Germans:

Germany is gearing up to dominate the world once again.  Spanky wants so much to see jackbooted Germans invading this country to spank all the pagans, gays, pig eaters, atheists, agnostics, anti-COGers, etc., etc.  He really gets off on the blood, guts and gore he daydreams about continually.

I hope he realizes that by moving his HQ to North Carolina he has placed his office workers and HQ hanger-on's in the first wave of German U-Boats as they invade the East Coast.  That is, IF,  any of his staff and church members have survived the deadly plagues and famine that will weaken the nation so much that no one will be able to fight the invading Germans.

Of course this also has end-time authority/prophet and world's most distinguished scientist, Dr. Bob Thiel salivating over Spanky's words. While he is off traveling the world and enjoying gastronomic delights during this feast (probably the last one REAL COG members will be able to attend) he is eagerly awaiting his vengeful god to return and wreck havoc on the world he is enjoying so much.

Thiel quotes Spanky:

China will not be the great power of the 21st century. Beset by increasing financial and social problems, Chinese influence will wane and a German-led “European Empire” will surge to the fore in world affairs. (Meredith RC. What is Just Ahead for You? Tomorrow’s World magazine, Sept-Oct 2011, p. 5)

So how does Prophet Thiel know this is true? Because Spanky wrote about this FOUR years ago!  It is prophecy coming alive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Many publications have suggested that the 21st century will be “China’s century.” Even though the Chinese are fiercely moving forward, and their progress in developing their industries is obvious, these publications are dead wrong for two reasons. First, the inspired word of God describes specifically how a coming European Union will be the dominant force in this world—obviously within the next several years. Therefore, brethren, I would like to focus your mind on this matter so you can more intelligently “watch” world events along this line as they unfold before your very eyes. In the coming years, you will perhaps even see a revolt of the peasants in the outlying Chinese cities, who have lagged far behind the standard of living afforded those who have moved to Beijing and Shanghai. Plus, the tremendous pollution of the water, air and foodstuffs may bring about massive disease epidemics and other problems for the Chinese.

In addition, distracting wars and other events may— as God chooses to guide it—greatly undermine the material progress now being made by the Chinese. Meanwhile, you will soon see the European Union evolve into an absolutely powerful and dynamic force in the world— ultimately to become the “Beast” as revealed in Revelation 17 in your own Bible!

So the 21st century will not be the “Chinese century!” Rather it will appear to become the European century for a few years, until the magnificent return of Jesus Christ as King of kings and Lord of lords. From then on, the 21st century will be, indeed, “Christ’s century!” And all of us who are able to understand the “Big Picture” of world events from God’s point of view should be preparing to help straighten out the appalling degree of suffering, starvation and misconduct we find on this earth today in virtually every nation (Meredith R.C. An Inspiring and Successful Trip. Living Church News. May-June 2007, p. 21).

Prophet Thiel ends his blog entry with this firm, authoritative conclusion that is the FINAL word in the matter! Scoffers beware!

The Bible supports what Dr. Meredith has written about China and Europe.  And while China will have some influence this century, it will not truly be its leader.

The Clergy Project

People change as well the information, stories, understandings, so called facts, ideas and truths we all were given from others in our youth.
  

Every wedding I ever performed, whether I thought the couple had much of a chance or not, was an exercise in forcing them to promise they would never change in their views towards life or each other, and then I failed to inform them everything all around them, from this moment on will start to change .  The reason I didn't tell them that was that I did not understand that myself at the time.  You know, "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and tomorrow," along with the church and it's story kind of thing.

Ministry is a somewhat unique calling.  From experience, the membership totally expects the minister to never change and always tell the same old old story they all think they love so well.  They all too often expect him/her to be and do everything they have no personal intention of ever being or doing as well.  I know churches from both sides of the altar so to speak and people are just plain people.  In fact, one lesson from all this myself is that people change very little in life no matter what the story.  

The world of theology is huge. Most in ministry attend the school of their 
denominational choice and, of course, get the spin on the Bible and the "truth" plainly visible to them in their perspectives.  Others outside that experience are less than true.  In most fundamentalist schools it truly becomes a case of "we are right and you are of your father the Devil."  Most liberal seminaries are called liberal because they actually study the bigger picture of theology and admit to it's messy nature. 

But life unfolds. None of us get the truth of anything from birth into it.  It truly is "the glory of a king to search out a matter."  The problem is that as a man or women given to teaching theological truth as they understand it also accumulates more and more knowledge, experience, disasters, pain and life realities along the way. Most of life unfolding will eventually challenge anyone's beliefs so dearly gotten in their youth.  
One reads more and listens to more and eventually comes to hold different conclusions about those once cherished beliefs.  Remember, beliefs are not truth.  There truly are mere beliefs.

And so along with members of churches, ministers realize they need to move on and perhaps either regret the choice in the first place, or at least realize they can't teach what they no longer believe and need out.

Let me be blunt.  On this site and with the experience most here have had, the reactions to or the advice given to such men and women in this life situation are usually along the lines of:

"The bastards should quit now and stop stealing their paychecks"

"The liars deserve what they get."

"The moment you stop believing, you should move out of your house, stop eating the food "they" provide for you by giving you a paycheck, tell your family they can go swim for it and get your job at Walmart you son of a bitch."

I can't help you if that's the best you can come up with in your mind on how a man or woman who probably made a lot of personal sacrifices and has a story on how they came to ministry themselves, should handle this dilemma in their maturing lives.  However, I do expect these kinds of comments and will attribute them to painbodies trying to get even  :)  I know many CURRENT COG minister and member types who struggle with this dilemma and stay.  I know many COG members who "keep the Feast," by going to nice places each Fall but never to any services.  Yet they painly tell their friends and bosses, "I have to keep the Feast."

For decades, ministers have told me, "You are ahead of your time and you say what I only think!"   I can't help that but do know the conflict of it all.  I imagine most critical thinking Christians of all denominations understand this concept. 

The Clergy project, sponsored by the Freedom From Religion is an organization that helps clergy, most highly educated at the best schools and not booklet educated Apostles, Watchers and Witnesses, is the work of Dan Barker, former Evangelical Pastor and Author of Losing Faith in Faith.    Most of these pastors could tie the average person up in knots of the history of the Bible and the contradictory messages it contains.  The Clergy Project is a compassionate and balanced way for men and women of former faith to move on with as little collateral damage as possible.  Many times the damage is unavoidable and the lives of mates, children and extended are forever changed as well.  

I serve in the capacity of "one who knows'' to this project and find it all very familiar with only the names and organizations changing.  

Life is a journey and the Clergy Project is a way station along the way for men and women of former faith who finally had to face the facts and stop not seeing what they do see.  It's a painful journey and like a church member who can just not choose to show up the next week while their lives keep in full step, liberating sometime after the "No one told me this when I was in Seminary" hits the fan. 

The Clergy project is a very compassionate, balanced and extremely helpful endeavor and I honor them in this. I am pleased to be a small part of it. I wish I had had something like this in my own transitions instead of just getting thrown under the bus by my own studies and denomination and left in the gutter with, "just call the business office and they can help you with your questions about severance," or as the head of the WCG "Reconciliation Dept" said,  "We wish you the best of luck and will pray for you."   Or did they say "be warmed and be filled,"   I forget...

The Clergy Project

The Clergy Project is a confidential online community for active and former clergy who do not hold the supernatural beliefs of their religious traditions. The Clergy Project launched on March 21st, 2011. 

Currently, the community's nearly 100 members use it to network and discuss what it's like being an unbelieving leader in a religious community. The Clergy Project’s goal is to support members as they move beyond faith. Members freely discuss issues related to their transition from believer to unbeliever including:

• Wrestling with intellectual, ethical, philosophical and theological issues
• Coping with cognitive dissonance
• Addressing feelings of being stuck and fearing the future
• Looking for new careers
• Telling their families
• Sharing useful resources
• Living as a nonbeliever with religious spouses and family
• Using humor to soften the pain
• Finding a way out of the ministry
• Adjusting to life after the ministry

“We know there must be thousands of clergy out there who have secretly abandoned their faith but have nowhere to turn,” says Dan Barker, a former evangelical preacher who “lost faith in faith” after 19 years of preaching the gospel. “Now they do have a place to meet, a true sanctuary, a congregation of those of us who have replaced faith and dogma with reason and human well-being.” 

Dennis C. Diehl

DenniscDiehl@aol.com

Apostle Malm Predicts War With Iran

While Prophet Thiel and Spanky are worried about China and Germany, Apostle Malm is worried about Iran and has predicted that the United States and Europe will soon wage war with Iran.  Here is the scenario that Apostle Malm laid out today. The war mentally has permeated Armstrongism from it's very start to this day.

THE FIGHT FOR IRAN
The battle for Iran could unfold in the following manner.  This is what the US forces have trained for, the enemy may have somewhat to say.

1)   A mass bombing by heavy bombers from the US, Europe and Diego Garcia take out most of the missile fields,  main Revolutionary Guards bases and air force.

2)   Continued air attacks from the new bases surrounding Iran and by sea; support ground operations and keep up the pressure by destroying the munitions and military strength of the nation.

3)   US Marine’s move to take key coastal areas in a bid to prevent the closure of the Persian Gulf to shipping and to safeguard naval vessels.



4) Most of  the US army now being rushed to the region will end up in Kuwait where they will access their prepositioned weapons and prepare to move into Khuzestan province.  The CIA has been working hard to destabilize that province for years now and the army will be backing an Arab revolutionary movement already in place. The main Iranian force in the province is the Revolutionary Guard, as many of Iran’s Military leaders are US educated and not really trusted with this vital area.
The First Armored Brigade activated 7 March 1951 at Fort Hood, Texas is the unit to spearhead the attack on Khuzetstan and Iran along with the 173rd Airborne based in Vincensa Italy.

5)   Once the Revolutionary Guard has been demolished, the army may move to establish order and sue for peace; the “Green Path” party can then make its move with mass demonstrations, free from molestation by the Revolutionary Guard security forces.  Presently elections are scheduled for March in Iran.

Which Philosopher Do You Identify With?

Which Philosopher Do You Identify With?
(Herbert Armstrong does not count)

Most COG members have no idea who the great philosophers of the world are/were or what they thought.  Their way of interpreting things in the world around them have an impact on how we think today, in spite of the baloney the COG has denigrate them with over the years.

Take this test and see which philosopher you most identify with:

Which famous philosopher do you most agree with? SelectSmart.com Selector Quiz

These are my results:

Excerpts from the blog of Alexis Orger, the blog poetic a poet's daily on Group Think

Maybe my disdain for GroupThink is a result of growing up in The Worldwide Church of God  (lovingly referred to as the world wide web by my college friends), when it was still fashionable and lucrative to be cultish. Our edict was to stay away from “the world.” We thought of ourselves as God’s One True Chosen People and the rest of the world as “the world.” We were encouraged to have no friends in the world. Dating in the world was frowned upon. Dating in general was frowned upon. I had lots of sleepovers with church girls.

There were times as a congregant of the WWCG that I’d walk into our ramshackle church building–sometimes a rented mint green bingo hall, sometimes a Woodmen of the World Insurance building–and the GroupThink energy would almost literally blind me. I’d spend half of a church service sitting out in the car, fending off an impending migraine.

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Or maybe it’s being a writer that made me hate GroupThink. Or maybe my hatred of GroupThink made me a writer. Writing is the same as swimming. You do it. You have friends who do it. You admire many of your friends’ skill and passion. You get together a few times a year to get drunk with congratulations (literally drunk and congratulating each other). You go back to your life, which generally consists of many hours of solitary sitting and thinking. Phone calls here and there. You go to coffee shops to write where there are plenty of strangers, many of whom you like to talk to. You love city streets and parks where packs of dogs play. You love the chance encounter. But then you really love that when it’s time to part ways, nobody’s asking you to mobilize anything, or to congregate, or to create a supportive network of such-and-such.

And yet, GroupThinkers have been known to accomplish great things. Aside from killing Jews, raising Inquisitions, championing unchecked capitalism, and plotting the deaths of every citizen of the West, GroupThink also saves baby seals, bans shark fin soup, organizes revolts and protests, gives people purpose, makes people feel less alone…

It's Still "Us vs. Them" At COG Feast Sites

It is that time of year again when families in the COG travel all over the world for family reunions at different Festival sites.  New friends are made and old acquaintances rekindled.  That is of course unless you are part of these two COG splinter groups who carry on with their same old exclusivity on determining who is in and who is out.

The first is from Dennis in a comment on another thread concerning Living Church of God's treatment of people:

Just sharing a current FOT family experience: Sister, whose husband now deceased, was full time WCG minister, and nephew were going to spend half a feast this year with LCG in Cobbleskill NY. My nephew, formerly of UCG was sent a message that he could not attend until he talked to the Minister in charge of the site Mr.______ _______. Sooooo he and my widowed COG sister decided to screw it and go see family. Nice going LCG!!! Go ye therefore.....

Ans this one is from a report by person who visited Glendora on their way up to another COG site here in CA.  WCG?GCI has allowed for a regular Feast site to be held in Monrovia this year. 

We stopped by to visit with some old friends before heading up to Monterrey for the COGWA Feast.  We also wanted to see what WCG was up to these days.  The WCG site had around 40-50 in attendance.  I was shocked at how small the attendance was.  As far as I know the WCG no longer even does the cruises because I could not find anything online about their sites this year.  The Monrovia site is headed up by Carlton Smith.  Most of the people in attendance believe the Feast still should be kept on the regular days.

Smith was railing against adulterers, gays, abortionists, fornicators and other types of people that obviously irritate him. The godless people are destroying this world.  Smith also said that the Holy Spirit was present only for those people in the room.  I guess all other COG members not there are without hope. 

We had a sermon by the former Auditorium manager talking about pure religion and how a local industry made up of ex-gang members exemplifies that.   Kind of weird considering how Smith thinks no one outside the COG has God working through them.

What I found disturbing was the same old exclusive attitude that has always permeated Armstrongism was still present in the "new and improved" WCG.   It was "us vs them." Those that were in the know and those who were not.  Those called of God and those who are not. Those in and those out.  I would have thought WCG had progressed a little farther than this tired worn out mentality!  That exclusivity that Herbert Armstrong taught still has not been eradicated.  Both LCG and WCG have practiced this past week. 

Why doesn't Smith to the right thing and take all 50 members out for a work day and serve in a homeless shelter during the Feast.  That might actually be something considered Christian for once!

  I am sure there are other horror stories from the groups.  Lets see how many are reported.

If Your _____Church of God Sounds Like an Interstate Trucking Company Beware

I don't know why but this picture just cannot be taken seriously!  There is something really wrong with it!

But I digress -

There is a great Facebook page that takes on Armstrongism.  It is by Mark Lax, a person I have not heard from in a while.  He has some great article son Armstrongism in the past.

His favorite target in the article is David Pack.  Lax does not leave many stones unturned concerning Pack.

Check out his page here:  David Pack Internet Cult Guru

I consider cults to be a confidence game. This is not my general stance on religion, organized or otherwise. The single aspect that distinguishes a cult from a religion is that cults exist purely to make money. It is a no inventory money making scheme.

Most cults represent themselves as Christian congregations, often hiding behind names with the words ‘ecumenical’, ‘whole bible’, ‘community’, ‘congregational’ or ‘Baptist’ in their titles. These words can signify that the church is a one man show with no oversight as to doctrine or finances.

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It’s a death cult. It’s an end of the world sect. Outside of the United Church of God (*1), all of these groups are sole proprietorships, accountable to no one but their operators. There are over 400 of these churches, all with some internet presence. With probably fifty paying members, David Pack’s Restored Church of God is a middleweight in this rather crowded field.

Most of these churches, including Pack’s and the United Church of God are split offs from Herbert W. Armstrong’s Worldwide Church of God (previously known as the Radio Church of God.) Pack’s choice of the word ‘Restored’ has little to do with his activities and more to do with making the initials of his church RCoG, which is what the original Radio Church of God was known by. Initials are weirdly important in the Church of God movement.

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My rule of thumb is that the more whatever is before or after the words ‘Church of God’ sounds like the name of an interstate trucking firm, the more certain you can be that it is Armstrongist. Although using many Christian terms and co-opting a generic Baptist name, Armstrongism is neither Christian nor Baptist. The teachings of Jesus are entirely irrelevant to the faith and the character of Jesus has been replaced by Lovecraft’s Cthulhu—although not literally. It seems both Lovecraft and Armstrong had the same ideas about powerful entities.

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Herbert W. Armstrong preached that the end of the world was immediately at hand for over fifty years. That was his drawing card, but only the tip of the iceberg when it came to his teachings. Most Churches of God recycle Armstrong’s teachings while avoiding reiteration of his specific prophesies.

With good reason. Armstrong's predictions were comically wrong.

Armstrong has been dead for a very long time at this point. There is no longer any real governing body to the Churches of God anymore. The current crop of Churches of God make eclectic use of Armstrong’s works.

Armstrong himself was very much a cult leader and the other Churches of God are set up to follow his floor-plan. It’s had a fairly nice long run, as is. Pack’s innovations on the basic design are more a matter of his own circumstances than any real desire to change the religion. Since few of you are likely to be familiar with either the basic design or Pack’s variations, I will lightly touch on both.

1. The leader of the church (called Pastor General or Apostle or Witness) has earned his position through the possession of amazing magic powers. Powers typically claimed include:

A. The ability to predict the future.

B. The ability to detect signs within current events as they relate to a timeline in bible prophesy. The timeline is done in terms of church eras, leading to the current Philadelphia era. Most sects will have to come up with their own timeline. Armstrong’s first timeline ended with WWII being the start of the Great Tribulation. His other timeline ended in the early 1970s, after which he abandoned the entire timeline idea altogether. It is a big draw, however and every cult leader needs his own.


C. The ability to project an aura of protection from disease and misfortune. All continued good health of the flock is dependent upon this aura radiating from the leader. All increased fortune is attributed to this aura and should be paid for through first fruit offerings.

D. The ability to cast out demons. Demons consider the proto-elect (flock members) very special bon bons and are always trying to fill their minds with bad attitudes. Demons are also the cause of disease and misfortune. If disease or misfortune or a bad attitude persist after having been cast out by the leader, it is a sign that the follower is defective (not actually a proto-elect after all, but perhaps a fringer.)(*2)

E. Uncommon wisdom comprehensively covering all social and consumer transactions. Primarily this means having an opinion on everything. A firm answer is often more inspired than a sound one. (Avoid math and tax law questions.) Be glib, if you can. Be smug, if you can’t. Any question can be answered by rebuking the follower for their carnal. worldly minds. If you do not have the answer, the question must be wrong.

F. Additive powers may include claiming a special relationship with Herbert W. Armstrong, claiming that you are the reincarnation of a biblical figure or claiming to have inside information from Jesus himself. Go easy on the Jesus thing. In Armstrongism, Jesus and the Holy Ghost are the same thing--and only a dotted line management level between Armstrong and the Great God.

David Pack does all of the above, although he is a little light on A and B. Like many leaders in it for the long haul, he reiterates those teachings that Armstrong didn’t contradict by both example and edict (Armstrong contradicted all of his own teachings by either example or edict.) Pack is one of the youngest cult leaders to have actually been ordained by Herbert W. Armstrong directly. His first wife worked as Herbert W. Armstrong’s secretary for a time, so Pack can claim some knowledge of his master’s inner workings. To hear Pack tell it, he had many phone conversations with Armstrong over the years. Pack main magic powers are C and E. (He actually is very glib.) As a unique but unspecified additive, Pack claims to be a ‘God-called’ preacher. He is the spiritual advisor of the two witnesses of Revelation, who are (unnamed) members of his flock. And he’s an Apostle.

There is a whole lot more here to read:   David Pack Internet Cult Guru