Philadelphia Church of God's Racist and Social Profiling In The Caribbean

Of all the various splinter cults of Armstrongism, PCG has clung more staunchly to the British Israelism malarkey than any other COG.  With BI's inherent racist qualities, it is no wonder that PCG is a lily white splinter cult.  It grits it's teeth that there are people of color in other nations around the world only because they are an income flow.

The Caribbean PCG churches have always suffered under the weight of the racist attitudes of PCG ministers sent there.  It continues to this day profiling members according to race and their social status.  Those with money get the most attention, those on the lower end of the financial spectrum are tolerated.

Members Beginning to Speak Out Against Racial and Social Profiling:

July 17, 2013
Samuel Seebran has viciously and maliciously suspended a member in Grenada for speaking out against racial issues existing for a long while in the Caribbean congregations .For years now, these racial issues were never fully addressed and dealt with. Racial discrimination and prejudice have always existed in the PCG, inherited from it's parent church, WCG. Seebran cowardly suspends members who disagree with PCG doctrines and Government (so he won't have to deal with the members concerns and issues). Then, he whines and complains that members don't like him and speak ill of his wife and daughter in a hopeless, vain attempt, for sympathy and compassion. Most members are not so easily fooled by his childish, immature antics and are speaking out against racial and social profiling. One is treated differently according to one's social/ financial class (bigger tithes and offerings) and are given favorable, special treatment, and are considered "a friend of the minister " --Resigned member (Trinidad)

Is The Philadelphia Church of God South Africa Stealing Money From Members?

Silenced has up news today about the PCG ministry in South Africa and how there is documented cases of the PCG stealing money from its members.  This is nothing really new in Armstrongism, it has been going on for the last 70 some years.  Most of the time it was covertly done and most never knew about it.

A former PCG member is spilling the beans about it all.  It occurred at last years Feast of Tabernacles.  Church members were told to use the Church "discount" price that the hotel had given them for their hotel rooms.  This has been common practice by the COG over the decades in regards to Feast site accommodations.  Supposedly the church negotiates with the hotels for lower rates for guaranteed  room occupancy.  This was all fine and dandy till a SA member found out that the PCG was actually charging the SA members a higher price than the hotel was offering.
 
In one of his letters the man writes:

Should I keep quiet when I know with all my being that foul play is afoot? We have not been taught to keep quiet. What I have put my faith and energy in for the last 17 years seems to be vanity. The vision of this world being filled with the colleges of God seems to falter with the knowledge and reality of ministers deceiving and robbing God’s people. 

What these COG leaders fail to remember is that many members no longer sit back and let the Church get away with things they normally have over the decades.  With the Internet, people have ways of checking up on the church. 

HWA always claimed the printing press was created for the express purpose of the COG publishing its materials.  In that same vein, the Internet must have been created in order to expose the lies of Armstrongism.

Silenced writes:

We’ve been hosting a couple letters by former PCG member Alex Foster on behalf of ESN for several weeks, but haven’t gotten around to wading into them. Essentially, PCG ministers stole money from members in South Africa over last year’s Feast of Tabernacles, a practice that is apparently rampant across its international operations.

We have insisted since this blog launched that COG cults do this regularly. We have long claimed these churches add markups to their “discounted” event deals, which would never be discovered since members most often book through ministers and other ordained members (or their wives). COG members have jumped up and down angrily telling us that we’re wrong about that. This is documented proof that it’s true and likely common – if it’s happening in Australia, Fiji and South Africa, it’s likely happening elsewhere — at least within PCG. And to us, there’s no way other COG groups aren’t doing this. Why wouldn’t they? As Foster points out, it’s the “perfect money laundering plan.”

Make sure to click on the "letter" links.  It will open a pdf of the letter and documentation.

The first letter describes Foster’s attempts to book a cabana for the FOT at a hotel called the Seabreeze. PCG tried to get members to book through the church at “discounted rates” but Foster discovered — through clerical screwups on PCG’s part — that the cult was charging members more than its agreement with the Seabreeze. Members directly booking with the Seabreeze were paying less under its agreement with PCG than members booking directly through officials. PCG was adding a secret markup to the price.

In the second letter, Foster writes:

He explained to me that because the costs of the hall etc., in George for the Feast, is normally more than the funds received from the tithe of the tithe monies, he instructed Mrs. Wakelin to add R50 per day to the cost of each cabana for the South African brethren. He told me that they do the same in Australia and in Fiji. He said that the international brethren which attend the feast in George are charged an extra R100 per day for their cabana because the exchange rate for dollars is pretty good, he also said that if a room in the booked cabana is not occupied an additional R100 would be charged per room per day, the reason being that brethren must not think that they can book a cabana only for themselves. This additional money was imposed on each and every one of those attending the Feast without their knowledge or consent.

Wow!!!!!!!!! Why not just rent a hall which is affordable? This is a just a “wonderful” money making scheme which cannot fail. The perfect money laundering plan. Doesn’t have to be declared etc, etc. Next year he will probably load the rates by R200.00 per day – gullible, gullible sheeple, or so he thinks. Well I wouldn’t have known about the blatant theft of God’s peoples 2nd tithe monies if MR Meaker hadn’t, by mistake, put the original cabana cost document on the information desk instead of the fraudulently altered one.

David Nix: One Truly Crazy Armstrongite Who Claims God Spoke to Him About Hedges and Light Blasts

Here is a former Armstrongite that has went off the deep end.  Sadly, like so many of the false prophets and liars of Armstrongite mythology, this guy was able to dupe a group of followers.

God speaks directly through him and reveals all kinds of important things, like praying hedges around the unconverted and getting blasts of light from God.

Here is what he says about praying down hedges:

· A hedge of thorns prevents and works to lead a lost one home.

· Is the power to hedge up the way and make a wall around someone who leaves the path of the Lord.

· The hedge of thorns is rooted in love and it is the power to change hearts and lives.

· The power of the hedge of thorns is power only available to Christians.

· There are five steps to seeking the power of the hedge of thorns. 1. You must be in right standing and you must walk the clear paths of the Lord, so only one walking in the light has the standing to pray this prayer. 2. The person seeking the Lord to place a hedge of thorns around someone must be connected unto one of the people you pray the hedge for; this will not work on someone who is a stranger. 3. Your request must be rooted in love. 4. The power of the hedge of thorns is that it will change a person’s path and their desires will be frustrated so that they will turn their heart back to the Lord, so you can not bind that which is against the Lord’s will, so you must seek the Lord’s will before seeking the hedge of thorns. 5. The request must be spoken in prayer and must be ongoing; this is not a single prayer but something that you must pray through.

· With this prayer you are seeking God to cause the person to lose their way, their direction so that they will seek God once more.

· Involves relationships, and the person or persons who are influencing the person you are praying for will lose interest.

· The hedge of thorns will not be placed upon Christians who are walking in the light of heaven. You cannot hedge in two people or multiple people who walk in the light of the Lord. Is only unto those who have left the desire of the Lord to walk a path of their own choosing.

Now if that makes absolutely no sense to you, the following is even weireder:

A blast of  light and mercy can only be sent by the Lord God or the Lord Jesus. The blast is their thoughts that are placed within someone and is sent as a light of yearning and it is a desire to believe and to hear.

· God opens a person’s mind to believe that which God desires them to believe. He opens their mind to receive, and in his blast of yearning he can make men believe truth or rumor, and the person will do as God’s blast of yearning desires.

· With his blast of light and mercy God does not remove free choice, but a blast of light opens the mind of men to believe that which he desires them to believe.

· The blast of light and mercy influences both thought and behavior so it is a tool of very great power.

· As with the hedge of thorns, you must be in right standing, "To have us move when you seek a blast of light, you must be righteous,” so we must be people of truth and purity to use the great power of the blast of light and mercy.

There are three steps or requirements for seeking a blast of light and mercy from the Lord. 1. You must be in right standing to even request a blast of light; your words must be pure and your motives must be pure. 2. You must be a person that the Lord delights in, and the Lord delights in the just and upright. 3. You must be pure, and you must only seek a change in someone that is of the light, and your request must be of the Lord’s will. This does not mean that the person you want the blast  · of light to be sent unto has to be of the light, it means that the change you seek must be one of light and of the will of the Lord. This is important, the person that you seek the blast of light to come upon does not have to be a Christian, but the change you seek must be of the light and of the will of the Lord.

· A blast of light will never be sent to lead someone upon a path of evil or to sin.

· Our position in the light affects the power of our prayers, and for the blast of light we must be nigh unto the Lord. "There is great power in prayers that move us, and to send a blast of light and mercy you must be nigh and you must have righteous desires.”

· The blast of light and mercy are to be requested in prayer.

· Whispered words are not the same as a blast of light; evil whispers place thoughts within  but do not affect conduct; all sin is a choice, and a blast affects thought and conduct, and a blast of light never leads to sin.

· A blast is sent by God and will be sent if he desires and will be sent when he desires, but once sent a blast of light and mercy will result in immediate action or action within a short period of time for his blast is great power.

· The blast of light and mercy is of God’s breath and spirit, it is his thoughts placed within men to move them. Job 4:9  "By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed.” The word ‘perish’ in this verse means, ‘to wander away, to lose oneself, to be undone.’ His blast influences thought and behavior. The word ‘consumed’ means, ‘to bring to pass, to end, complete, prepare, to accomplish. Therefore this verse can be rendered in this way, "By the blast of God they lose themselves and become undone, and by the breath of his nostrils are they prepared, and his will is accomplished and brought to pass.”

· A blast dries up the root of resolve and causes men to think the desires that the blast of the Lord gives unto them and his blast removes the root. The Lord explained that  the root may be a philosophy, a set course, or location.

· A blast from heavenly light and mercy can cause men to seek a new course and it can literally cause them to move to a new place.

· The purpose of the blast of light and mercy is to cause change in thought and behavior, so this needs to be considered in our prayers.

· We must seek their will. "It is the blast of light and mercy, but it is the blast of my will for I or my Son only send a blast from heaven when what is sought by my people is of our will and desire.”

 Both God and Jesus speak directly to Nix:

"I am the Great and Mighty God above all things, I am before all and I am above all and I speak unto you Meionickie from the place of my most excellent glory. You are called and chosen and unto you I reveal mysteries and the mysteries of heaven shall unfold for much shall be given in the days ahead. You shall come to know great truth and mysteries shall be made known. My blast of light and mercy is great power but my truth must be accepted and obeyed. The hearts of my people are pure but they are as children playing with a sword. I shall give you words tomorrow and Wednesday as shall my Son and you are to go to Woodruff on Wednesday to teach and guide my people. I give you verses to guide you. "

"I am the Lord Jesus, your Messiah and most tender shepherd. I bless you this day with words of revealing and words of power. My Father told you that this day and tomorrow you will be blessed with words to better understand the blast of light and mercy. More will be given but before you learn more of the power of our blast of light, you must learn more of our hedge for the hedge and blast of light can be joined. Your mind is open David and you see the three aspects of the hedge but there is actually a fourth purpose that shall be explained unto you. Of this you will speak on our Sabbath day.
 

Daniel Cohran: Make Up Is NOT A Minor Doctrine!

The self serving hypocritical men of Armstrongism have always sought to beat women down to be submissive baby producers or house cleaners. Make up was one way of stopping women from being attractive.  It was OK for men to wear wigs and toupees, but a little paint on a woman's face was the ultimate sign of vanity.

Danile Cohran from the Hold Fast To All Things splinter cult has this to say about makeup.

Is MAKEUP really just a “minor” doctrine?  Do we not realize that there are NO “minor” doctrines in the Church of God?  Indeed ALL the doctrines placed into God’s Church are MAJOR, and ALL equally important, and are placed there for a reason!

Mr. Armstrong felt it was important enough to preach on it frequently when God was using him to put the Church back on track doctrinally in the early 1980’s.  In the article posted below, Mr. Armstrong shows how Satan used this doctrine to get the Church OFF TRACK!  So it must be more than just a “minor” or insignificant doctrine.  And it’s evident that God Himself feels that it is important because He inspired His apostle to set the doctrine straight once and for all.  Remember only God’s apostles have the AUTHORITY to change or place doctrine into God’s Church. And God BINDS that decision in heaven! THEN it is up to us as members of God’s Church to remain faithful to that doctrine, or not.

So a bunch of women wearing makeup got the church off track instead of the whoring, lying, money grubbing, power hungry church leaders?   These spiritual deviates ran the church in the ground with excess and greed, but that was OK because they were God's anointed.  Yet some paint on a woman's face was a grievous sin?  What is wrong with this picture?????????????

Part of the problem that this "doctrine" is still in force today in many of the splinter cults is because the Church of God taught that Herbert had the authority to bind and and loose any doctrine on earth as in heaven.  If he said it, God did it.

Christ teaches us through His Word, and Mr. Armstrong taught us through his writings and sermons, that only APOSTLES have the authority to bind and loosen doctrine within God's Church.  More is covered on this subject elsewhere in this website.

...there IS NO EXCUSE! God Almighty placed this doctrine, ALL the doctrines into His Church through His apostles, and they are STILL BINDING TODAY!

Cohran quotes Herbert's silly logic:

Again look at HOW SIN BEGAN--with LUCIFER. God had created him perfect, and he was in all his ways, TILL he SINNED. HOW? His heart was lifted up IN VANITY because of his BEAUTY (Ezek. 28:15- 17). Being BEAUTIFUL or the desire for it led to VANITY. SELF- glorification! His mind went to his BEAUTY, in VANITY. Of course he would have denied having vanity just as mortals today.

Satan introduced SIN into humanity through a woman, mother EVE. She was MISLED, deceived. She didn't deliberately WILL to do wrong--to lead her husband into the first SIN! She was deceived, as our women have been today. Go back and read the beginning paragraphs of this article. It is precisely the way Satan has been getting to our women today.

Because sin entered humans through Eve, sin entered the COG through its women with makeup on their faces!  Talk about proof-texting!  Talk about asinine stupidity!

Madman? or Prophet? Another COG Mind Destroyed By Armstrongism

J.W. Brakebill of Francisco stands with the trailer he lives in when he goes on teaching trips. Brakebill said after a long winter trip, he realized that God would bring people to him instead. He plans to use the trailer for upcoming trips in the area. He’ll sit inside it and if someone wants to come and talk to him, they can, he said. But the message is always the same—in essence, “repent or burn,” he said.

The head line is, "...Madman? or Prophet?"

No, they are not talking about Dave Pack or Gerald Flurry.  They are talking about another normal COG member who claims to have secret knowledge that God has revealed to him through Herbert Armstrong.  This guys actions are reminiscent of Jules Dervaes, the crazy COG member who parked his van by the Pasadena campus with signs plastered all over it for a year or so.  He forced his wife and kids to stand there picketing with him.  People thought he was crazy as hell, just as the public thinks this guy is off his rocker.

Brakebill’s question: Madman? or Prophet?

Curious folks in Francisco gawk at his trailer covered in Bible verses. It sits near an RV next to the blue house on Green Street. The front of his camper reads “Madman? or Prophet?”


“I don’t know a whole lot of people,” he said. “I don’t bother people and they don’t bother me. Even my kids, they know better than to bother me,” he laughed. “Most people don’t want to hear what I have to say.” He said he’s found a few kindred spirits even though they may not agree on every single thing.

Later in the article ther eis this:

When Brakebill was in his 20s he pondered what he knew about Christianity and returned to the faith, eventually was baptized as a Pentecostal and later left that denomination to become involved with the Worldwide Church of God.

It was in this time that Brakebill experienced what he calls  the “most inspiring” spiritual moment of his life.  During a special meeting time, the church worshiped with fellow members in other countries via video communication.  “I thought that was extremely inspiring.”

Brakebill said he found things in denominational churches that conflicted with what he read in the Bible, such as whether the church should worship on Sunday or Saturday, the same day as the Jewish Sabbath Day—and he found he believed that the Sabbath should still be kept.

But after the Worldwide Church of God “fell apart” he said he couldn’t find an anchored, “true” church. “So I gave up looking for the true church,” he said.

It is sad to see the minds of people who let Armstrongism take over their lives and lead them down these sad, sick paths.  I feel more sorry for this guy, who seems to be genuinely wanting to follow God compared to these people at PCG that knowingly follow a deviate who has made their lives miserable yet will not leave.

Gerald Flurry Humiliates Dave Pack By Purchasing Property At Former Bricket Wood England Campus (UPDATED)

UPDATE AT BOTTOM OF PAGE


Poor Davey Pack. Imagine the humiliation going through Davey's mind this week when Gerald Six Pack Flurry announced he plans on buying the Bricket Wood Campus.

Gerald already has a bigger campus property, a bigger auditorium and genuine HWA artifacts, while Davey has nothing.  Davey's campus property is smaller, it has smaller buildings and his proposed auditorium is half the size of Flurry's.

This is from Exit and Support Network.  While some stories there are at times less than credible, this one has been coming in from different sources today.

GF Plans to Buy Bricket Wood for a College:

July 15, 2013
Did you hear about how GF is planning on buying Bricket Wood in the UK? It was home of the WCG Bricket Wood college campus [sold in 1976]. An announcement was made in the UK congregation. They indicated that they want to build a college there. They may have already purchased some portions and are in negotiations for more parcels. They are interested in purchasing the old WCG head house also. Looks like they have plenty money to invest in this. --UK

Gerald Flurry Announces That PCG Plans on Purchasing Bricket Wood:

July 16, 2013
"Yes" it is true. Last Sabbath, Gerald Flurry announced that the Bricket Wood property [in  Hertfordshire, England] was up for sale again, and PCG plans on purchasing it. At the PCG Youth Camp at Headquarters, this was announced to staff and campers. GF said the land would be used for a college. We have not heard yet what property has actually been purchased. --Anonymous

UPDATE:

Several readers here have contacted me  with more information concerning Bricket Wood.

It is no rumor that Flurry is doing this. PCG has already purchased several lots on the campus, including the main building and a cottage that HWA used. 

Six Pack plans on starting classes there this January.  That remains to be seen though.  Certification needs to be obtained from the government in England.  Given Gerald's "cult" status this may prove to be little hard for him.

There also may be backlash from neighboring residents and businesses when they find out another Armstrongite cult is moving back in, particularly an American cult.

Since HWA originally wanted this campus to be for all black students, is this the racist policy that Six Pack will emulate here too? This idolatry of Herbert Armstrong seems to know no end.

Gerald was not able to buy everything on the old property at this point in time.  He is in negotiations for other parcels, including the former natatorium and track area.  Local residents fought to keep control of the woodlands and they prevailed.  They are listed here:  Hanstead Wood

More on Hanstead Park here

Flurry is also buying into an area well know for its naturists groups and Wiccan groups. Gerald Gardner, considered the father of modern Wicca started his first coven here.  Fun times will be ahead for those "innocent" American "students" of Six Pack's.  Naked pagans running through the woods on Samhain should be delightful!  Paganism and Armstrongism, what a perfect fit!

E W King: Sickness and Death Are The Result of Sin

“There is nothing wrong with finding out chemical deficiencies in man and trying to help but God's moral standard must never be rejected. Rejecting God's morals is what got this planet into all the trouble that it is in. There is also the false idea of so called “Christian Psychology”. Did Jesus teach this? I think not. There is a place for medical doctors but not a place for fake philosophy and so called, “Psycho-therapy”. Many have left the true teachings of the Church of God to follow the 500 plus psychotherapeutic myths. Can true Christian teachers [counselors] help people who need direction in life? Absolutely! If these people who need help have some chemical imbalance then science can indeed help. But to dismiss God's perfect moral law and the influence of the true Holy Spirit is blasphemy!

King also still believes that demons cause many physical health issues.  Armstrongism was a mixed bag when it came tot his kind of stupidity.  Some in the church thought it was demons that caused epilepsy. Many still do today in the more right wing nut-job splinter groups.

King also feels that "demonology coexists with scientific medicine."

The Bible often condemns ancient practitioners who relied on pagan gods, amulets, incantations and other forms of magic. The true Church of God continues to reject these superstitious practices. The Church of God does not deny physical principles of healing but this does not mean that there is no such thing as true demonology and that it coexists with modern scientific medicine. In other words, there are evil spiritual forces that can affect physical health. In biblical times the medical arts were indeed primitive by today's standards. The true Church of God teaches that sickness and death are the result of sin. Sin has infected this world. Sickness is both the direct and indirect result of sin. God never intended that man become sick and die. God has included this reality as part of His master plan. This is somewhat of a paradox which involves the Christian doctrine of freewill. 

If you are a Christian and go to a chiropractor, an acupuncturist, or other holistic therapy, then you are cavorting with demons.  Then a few paragraphs players says some of it is OK to use.

The Church of God condemns a Christian who seeks what might be called the “New Age Healing” processes. There are examples of people going to pagan healers in the Bible, a practice that God condemns.

God does not deny true medical practices. The Bible respects true doctors who use the natural laws which God has placed in static reality. There are a number of references to true physicians, healing and medicine. Exodus 21:19 talks of the beneficial, fully accepted use of "healing arts" within Israel; Isaiah 38:21 gives an example remedy for boils which Isaiah himself prescribed.  "Medical" help (within the medical technology of the time) was not condemned but was actually a fundamental component of the healing process.

In New Testament times we find the women using oils and herbs to assist in the healing process of basic ills. In Matthew 9:12, Jesus states that: "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick." This saying is used in a metaphorical sense, but it and other similar sayings give no harsh condemnation to physicians.

True Church of God members will not use drugs, plain and simple.  You are expected to follow the example of Mr. King.  Why do these idiots refer to themselves as Mister all the time?  Davey Pack and King are the two worst offenders.

Having said this please understand, the true Church of God demands that one stay away from all drugs as much as possible and to not rely on pills as the “cure all” answer to medical problems. We suggest getting a complete physical check up to see if you might have a vitamin deficiency in regards to medical issues before anything else. Mr. E.W.King has set an example of this. Mr. E.W.King was at one time receiving chest pains. He went to get a thorough medical exam and found that he was lacking certain vitamins which were effecting is pancreas. By supplementing his food intake with vitamin supplements his illness was cured.  Mr. E.W.King has also, on the other hand, received man made medication in certain circumstances to assist with other issues. The point is, we must try natural resources first.

True Church of God members are to trust Mr. King with their lives as he is able to channel "true understanding."  Mr. King is also a humorous foodologist.

So we see that Mr. E.W.King has a very good and moderate understanding of diet with a bit of humor as far as food is concerned. The true Church of God does not promote vegetarianism. At the same time we do not condemn members who wish to practice it. But please understand, to strictly promote vegetarianism is a sin in the eyes of the true Church. Here is another article written by Mr. E.W.King which talks about the problems of a strict vegetarian diet from a biblical perspective.

Mr. King also dieresis vegetarianism.  He says that vegetarians have been infused with the pagan virus of paganism.

Now, as I proceed in this article many may begin to get upset. Why? Because Satan has began to infuse his pagan virus of paganism into those who are not awake. Please understand, true Christians do not believe in being “vegetarian”. Meat has certain protiens in it that a vegtable diet cannot offer. Humans need certain amino acids that a pure vegtable diet cannot provide.

You will be happy to know that "probiotics" are fit for Christians to use.

Probiotics are a healthy bacteria found in yogurt and other slightly fermented foods. COGSR teaches that probiotics contain altering microbes that could be used to help treat depression and anxiety. The Science of Christian Thought offers this diet supplement to aid depression rather than taking all the psycho-babel drugs offered by psychologists and psychiatrists.