Exposing the underbelly of Armstrongism in all of its wacky glory! Nothing you read here is made up. What you read here is the up to date face of Herbert W Armstrong's legacy. It's the gritty and dirty behind the scenes look at Armstrongism as you have never seen it before!
With all the new crazy self-appointed Chief Overseers, Apostles, Prophets, Pharisees, legalists, and outright liars leading various Churches of God today, it is important to hold these agents of deception accountable.
Herbert Armstrong's Tangled Web of Corrupt Leaders
Gerald Weston dares to criticize Christians who keep Christmas claiming they all "give presents to everyone except the One they think they are honoring." Well if that is not calling the kettle black I don't know what is!
Here is a church that ignores almost everything about Christ and yet dares to question others. Here is a church that worships the law more than the Christ they have forgotten.
Weston makes it clear where the money being spent on presents should be going...into LCG's pockets.
Is it not interesting that at this time of year, people will give presents to just about everyone except the One they think they are honoring? Christ is forgotten! We should not give to Christ for the purpose of celebrating Christmas, but neither should we neglect Him. Because many are deceived and still observe Christmas customs, their donations drop off at this time of year.
Dear Brethren and Co-workers, we still have a great Work to do. God is not calling everyone today (John 6:44; Matthew 13:10-17), and I often ask the question, “If God is not calling everyone, why is He calling anyone?” The clear answer is He has called us to do a Work! We must preach the good news of the Kingdom of God and warn our peoples of the consequence for rejecting God and His commandments. We must do what we can do, but in the end, it will be God doing it through us. As our predecessor Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong used to tell us, “We must work as though it all depended on us, but pray as though it all depends on God.” In the end, God will do through us far more than we can ever imagine, and He will reward us far more than we can imagine.
Thank you again for your faithfulness. May God truly bless you!
Sincerely, in Christ’s service,
Gerald E. Weston
P.S. Please remember that any contributions dated in December that are postmarked on or before 12/31/2017 will be counted as 2017 donations, and may be tax-deductible in 2017, even if we receive them in January 2018. So be sure any December donation is dated and postmarked no later than December 31. If you prefer to use our online donation system found at www.lcg.org/donations.shtml, the cutoff for 2017 donations will be 11:59 p.m., December 31.
Give us a single Bible verse where the weekly Sabbath commandment is quoted in the New Testament. (Almost all the 10 commandments are listed in the New Testament, find the 4th commandment quoted in the New Testament.)
Give us a single Bible verse after the resurrection of Christ, that says Christians should keep the Sabbath day. (Heb 4:9 is not the weekly Sabbath, but the eternal Sabbath rest in heaven. Looking carefully at the text, you will see four rests in Hebrews 4: 1. Eternal rest in heaven. 2. The creation rest of God in Gen 2:2. 3. Canaan rest in the promised land for the Jews that Joshua gave: Deut. 12:9-10. 4. 7th day Sabbath rest. Hebrews 4 shows that the weekly Sabbath was merely one of three anti-types of our eternal Sabbath rest in heaven! It certainly cannot be a command to keep the weekly Sabbath!)
Give us a single Bible verse where exclusively Christians came together on the Sabbath day as a church or prayer meeting after the resurrection of Christ. (We have an example of a church meeting with exclusively Christians were in the audience who came together for the purpose of partaking of the Lord's supper and preaching on the first day of the week, Sunday, in Acts 20:7. Paul preaching to Jews on the Sabbath to convert them, is not an example of the church meeting on the Sabbath day, but is an example of Paul going into a Jewish worship service.)
Give us a single Bible verse where the Hebrew word for the weekly Sabbath found in the ten commandments, is found in the book of Genesis. (Sabbatarian preachers always say that Adam and Abraham kept the Sabbath, yet offer no proof! Sabbatarians will find the common word for "rest" in Genesis, but never the special word for the weekly Sabbath!)
Collect your money here. Imagine how great your next Feast vacation will be with this!
A former follower of Not Almost-arrested and Not Bitter Bob Theil sent me Thiel's list of "proofs" he is a martyr because this blog, Ambassador Watch, The Painful Truth and other blogs and websites have been picking on him.
It is actually quit funny reading his list while realizing that REAL prophets, apostles, church leaders, etc., could care less what people thought about them, nor have they ever found the need to publish detailed lists defending themselves from vicious attacks by perceived persecutors.
Here is the detailed list of "profs" that Improperly Named But Actually True Almost-arrested Not Bitter Bob Thiel writes about himself:
I am not now, nor have I ever been, a chiropractor.
I did not attend, nor graduate from, the old Ambassador College.
As far as being repeatedly called 'almost arrested Thiel' by a
critic online who seemingly wants to imply I was some type of criminal,
it is true I faced possible arrest for keeping the Day of Atonement when
I was still part of the US military. I was told by the military leaders
that I had no legal ground to stand on, and I knew would be arrested
after I failed to show up at on the Day of Atonement. However, after I
prayed, got an answer to prayer, and gave that answer (cf. Luke
21:14-15; Nehemiah 2:1-6) the military backed down, and I was not
arrested, but was able to properly keep the Day of Atonement that year
(1979). I also left the military with an honorable discharge when my
enlistment ended 6 months later (I was not part of the COG when I
initially enlisted).
My Ph.D. degree is real and the Union Institute and University is
not a diploma mill. (FWIW, former UCG, and now COGWA minister, Dr. Ralph
Levy attended Union Institute & University when I did and that is
also where he got his doctorate.)
My M.S. degree is real and I really did attend, and graduate from, the University of Southern California.
The fact that I have pursued other education beyond my M.S. and
Ph.D. degrees should not be considered a negative as some of my critics
imply. As I already had an accredited doctorate, an international school
that would allow me to study aspects of church history was later chosen
for cost, convenience, and the fact that I would not be forced to
accept doctrines I disagreed with, but instead could rebut them was a
logical choice, irrespective of what others may think of it. The fact
that a foreign school I studied theology from changed its name (and some
people online have tended to make a big deal about this), does not
change the fact that I wrote a 589 page, single-spaced, doctoral
dissertation with 1302 end-note references plus hundreds and hundreds of
scriptures for my Th.D. which may or may not have 'accreditation.' The
work done there and in my doctoral dissertation helped restore much
that many have lost related to the true history of the Church of God.
Information from that work is included in the booklet.
Perhaps I should mention that when I was in the Living Church of God,
after reviewing my degree, I was told I would be given the title of
'Adjunct Professor for Theology' at Living University--shortly before I
left that church.
I have never knowingly posted incorrect information about anyone
in any of my articles, etc. And I do correct factual errors that are
properly brought to my attention. Those who claim I am a liar and do not
fix factual errors are bearing false witness as I have always corrected
factual errors and do so after such errors are learned.
Most of my articles are documented with references to news
articles, books, and the Bible. Yet, for some reason, many critics seem
to overlook the facts when they make a variety of odd (and sometimes
false) statements about me and/or my writings.
The overall cost of production, distribution, and promotion of
theological books that I have written exceeds the revenues and royalties
that they generate, hence I have no overall net profit from the sale of
theological books--so no, I am not making a living off of them.
In order to try to separate aspects of my life from my COGwriter
site, as well as to minimize certain potential criticisms, I do not list
every possible piece of information about myself, my education, or my
job. I suspect that if I did, I would also receive additional false
criticism that I do COGwriter/CCOG to make money for a business I own,
etc. I believe that there is enough factual information here and at COGwriter.com and CCOG.org that those interested in the truth should be able to recognize it.
I took no salary from the Living Church of God
despite the articles and work I did for it for over a decade (and
turned down two offers from its then presiding evangelist to pay me). I
am not, no ever have been, a 'hireling' like some liars have posted. A
'hireling' is a minister who is in the ministry for a paycheck, and I
have never taken a paycheck from the Global, Living, or Continuing Church of God.
I still take no salary from the Continuing Church of God nor does my wife. Nor was the Continuing Church of God began as some type of personal revenue generator like several have falsely indicated on the internet.
I am not a religious 'profit.' Critics who falsely call me a 'profit' to imply that I run CCOG and/or am working on the final phase of the work
as some type of a personal fund raiser are extremely wrong. Doing the
work I have done associated with COGwriter/LCG/CCOG these past two
decades has cost my business and family more money than they would
believe. This fact alone should get any who see this false accusation to
realize that I am serious about doing the work that I believe God wants
done.
Despite insults and other names, I am not bitter, but am
disappointed that certain COG leaders I worked with for years broke
their words and espouse improper doctrines. It seems mainly to be bitter
people who falsely ascribe that 'bitter' word to me. And yes, I do
regularly, "pray for those who spitefully use ... and persecute"
(Matthew 5:44) me.
Although mainly because of lighting, the late Herbert W. Armstrong
did wear makeup when being filmed, I do not. Nor have I ever had a
spray-on tan like some critics have alleged online. The fact that I have
worked in the hot sun doing church videos/research in some parts of the
world, and have gotten tanned sometimes through the process, is not a
negative.
As a Church of God leader I have never 'destroyed peoples lives'
nor attempted to profit from their tithes & offerings as some who
libel/slander me on the internet have asserted without proof. I have
repeatedly worked to keep marriages and families intact.
Hands were laid upon me as I was privately anointed with oil and
prayed over to receive a 'double-portion of God's Spirit' on December
15, 2011. Since King David ended up getting anointed in private and in
public, I, too, was also publicly anointed--that was on February 9, 2017
by Evangelist Evans Ochieng (formerly of GCG) and Overseer/Pastor
Samuel Ofosu Gyeabour (formerly of CG7). I am not a self-anointed nor
false prophet, but do meet the New Testament criteria (see also How To Determine If Someone is a True Prophet of God). Sadly, most people have their own prejudices and will not believe what the Bible teaches on that subject (see, for example, Bob Thiel addresses some false statements from ‘accusers of the brethren’).
The Apostle Paul warned to not to "despise prophecies" (1 Thessalonians
5:20) and explained that there would be prophets in the church
(Ephesians 4:11), yet people do not accept the criteria he was inspired
to lay out (e.g. 1 Corinthians 14:29-32).
Despite the FACT that God says He speaks to prophets through
dreams per Numbers 12:6, some scoff and make fun of how God has said He
reveals Himself to prophets. I did have two dreams that were confirmed,
and others had dreams related to the CCOG that were also confirmed (see Dreams, the Bible, the Radio Church of God, and the Continuing Church of God).
Not almost-arrested, but really almost arrested, but not bitter Bob also writes:
Notice something that Jesus said:
11 Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all
kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be
exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they
persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:11-12)
And many have reviled me and said all kinds of evil against me falsely (to see some false accusations and responses, check out the article Banned by HWA and Ambassador Watch.).
So when you read (I think it's Act 10) when finally Peter had this vision that he had of this cloth
descending three different times with everything that was unclean and so forth and there are
those in the world that try to say, "Well, see, God was showing him that everything is clean to
eat." You think, "You moron! Just read a little bit farther. It doesn't say that at all. It tells you
exactly what it was all about.” But they don't want to read farther. They don't want to read the
rest. It was about the gentiles – incredible – not about clean and unclean foods.
They already have an attitude. You know, sometimes people just have an attitude about what
they believe and what they think and certain things they don't agree with anyway and so they use
something like that as an "opportunity," if you want to call it that, for them to twist and distort
something into something that isn't there. Going on:
These few simply did not agree and chose to believe instead that “their” God would not require
such a thing, and thereby concluded that this must not be of God.
All I can do is shake my head at that through time. So quickly they forgot how they learned the
truth in the first place, through whom they learned it, different ones who had battles here within
the Church. Going on:
This is also like some in the Church after 2009 who rejected the truth of God’s removal of the “curse” from women that has existed since the beginning, or not believing that a woman should ever be ordained into the ministry.
That tried and tested people. It was progressive revelation that God was giving, and had no intention of revealing this or giving any indication of this until the very end of an age before His Son was going to return. Incredible to understand the timing that God chose to reveal certain things as He has. So it puts people to the test. It reveals attitudes. It reveals thinking that's hidden deep down inside of us sometimes. God uses trials and tests to bring things to the surface, like the gold or the silver that's heated up and the dross rises to the surface. It does in our minds so often when God reveals something, and it will reveal things that aren't in agreement with God. That's the dross. That's what has to be removed because it's not in agreement with God!
It is interesting to see the various news articles and comments by the public in regard to Ian Boyne's untimely death. Ian touched far more lives that just the COGI culture. The Jamaican public and other leaders of faith have had many words of praise for Ian's willingness to talk across the many divides in Christianity and society in general. Two things that you will not see in any other Church of God leader, especially the self-appointed ones.
It was only a matter of time before the self-anointed One made a declaration about God being really pissed at the citizens of California, so much so he sent the fires that have destroyed homes and claimed lives. After all, God is a pyromaniac that takes great pleasure in seeing people suffer. That is the God of Armstrongism and he likes that kind of stuff.
God has never had a human instrument on earth in 6,000 years who is as knowledgeable on how God speaks and acts as our own illustrious Almost-arrested, self-ordained, doubly-cursed, Elijah, Elisha, Amos, Joshua, Habbakuk, bitter Bob Theil, the marked and disfellowshipped and highly disappointing "son" of Roderick C Meredith.
Fires have hit many places, Significant wildfires have hit California. Shortly after the start of the Thomas Fire, California Governor Jerry Brown warned that US President did not have “the fear of the wrath of God.” Does God use fire to encourage people to change? What are some of the scriptures associated with fire in the Bible? What is sin? What are some of the scriptures associated with the wrath of God in the New Testament? Is Governor Brown being hypocritical here? What happened to Sodom and Gomorrah? Is this relevant now? What did Jesus teach about the time of Sodom and the coming time of troubles? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues and more.
You too can watch this astounding God-breathed message from the anointed One here:
