Narcissists Ruin Everything: Part 3 Narcissists, Sycophants and Victims: The First Pyramid Scheme

Jesus was well aware of narcissists and psychopaths. He knew there were conniving liars who would play act their ways into positions of power and control over others. He argued with them regularly, calling them vipers and white-washed tombs. A large portion of Paul's warnings have to do with religious leaders whoring for money. The surest way to get into someone's pockets is to first convince them that they are beneath the leader and they need the leader for salvation. The trap is the ancient hierarchy, the first pyramid scheme.

So Jesus actually meant what He said in Matthew 20:20-28. Let's take a closer look.

A few years ago, Rod McNair gave a masterful example of eisegesis in a sermon titled, "Peter and the Key-Man Principle". It was a truly embarrassing attempt to try to prove Peter was the Chief Apostle who had 'final say' in decision-making for the church. I may post my evisceration of the whole sermon at another time. For our purpose here, I will just address what he said concerning Matthew 20:25-27. Here is the exact quote from his sermon:

“This is about attitude, not structure. (pause...confused look...furrowed brow) Actually, it does confirm the fact that there is structure because He is saying that the chief shall act like a servant. Those who are greatest among you shall serve. Sometimes, this is used to negate any structure of top-down and it’s just not there.”

I literally think he tripped himself up as he read it and tried to understand it the way he was trained to but the obvious nature and intent of the scripture dumbfounded him. Rod almost forgot to defend the structure, then he caught himself. So the teaching is that the structure is not in question, only the attitude of those in the structure. The church redefines servitude and slavery to mean the burden of feeding the flock and preaching the gospel as an authoritative duty over the people of God (Glad to articulate your doctrine for you, Rod). He was using the NKJV so I will quote it:

"You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them."

I don't see where 'attitude' comes into play. What I do see is Jesus describing a multi-tiered power structure. The "rulers" make up the bureaucrats that administer government policies at the local levels among the citizens. They "lord" their power over the masses. Then you have those who are "great". This must be the senators and the Caesar, himself. These are the lawmakers and they exercise authority over the bureaucrats.

This is exactly how the churches of God function. "You know the pastors of the church oversee the laity and those who are at HQ exercise authority over the pastors."

Here are two more translations we can tease more meaning out of:

"You know that the rulers of the unbelievers lord it over them and their superiors act like tyrants over them." (ISV)

This is interesting when you plug in the church's governments. HQ acts like tyrants over the ministry. I already know from my own research that many minister's lives were ruined by the heavy hand of Pasadena. These were often young kids coming out of AC at the age of 22 and expected to do much of the boots-on-the-ground dirty work of what headquarters wanted. How embarrassing it must have been for a kind-hearted minister to be told to show up at people's homes unannounced and raid their kitchens and medicine cabinets. Examples could get long here and much worse but I digress.

"You know that the rulers of the heathen have power over them and the leaders have complete authority." (GNT)

Again, there's no question the structure is exact. There is power in the ministry over members but "complete authority" resides at headquarters.

This has nothing to do with attitude because that wasn't the original question asked of Jesus. The concern was being 2nd in rank under Christ. They were assuming a hierarchical structure and Jesus responded by admitting that indeed, among the Gentiles, hierarchy is how things are governed but Jesus had a "however".

“Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave.”

Jesus juxtaposes two opposing ideas against one another to make his point very clear and He does so by doing it twice. He compares exercising lordship to being a servant and exercising authority to being a slave. These opposing concepts cannot exist as one in the same. A lord cannot be a servant and an authoritarian cannot be a slave. Servants and slaves take orders, they never give orders. What Jesus is showing is that there is no place to be a lord in the body and there is no position of chief in the body. The only chief or head that exists in the body is Jesus. Hierarchical control over men does not exist in the governance of the church.

Jesus offers Himself as an example in verse 28. He truly did not come to be served. He was not there as King of kings and Lord of lords. That will be at His second coming. He was there among them in the flesh as a teacher. Yes, He chose his students but none of them followed him out of compulsion. Many disciples stopped following after him when he spoke hard sayings that offended them. Anyone that followed Him was free to abandon Him without repercussions. He could have killed Judas but then that wouldn't have been acting as a servant.

So what is Jesus saying? He didn't say there was no way to be great or to be first. He said if you do want to be great or to be first, you must abide by the formula. What is the formula? The answer is timing.

“And whoever exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” -Matt. 23:12

You have to go back to the beginning of the exchange. It all started when two among them were seeking high rank in the Kingdom of God. Jesus answer to them in a nutshell was if you want to rank high in the Kingdom of God (in the future), you must BE servants and slaves in the church body now! The warning above is clear: if you choose to exalt yourself among God's people now, you will be humbled. And how would one exalt himself among God's people now? It's right in the context. Follow the pattern of Rome!

Matthew 23 is a scathing chapter excoriating the existing religious authority among the people. As you read through the behaviors and actions of the religious leaders described by Jesus, it is clear they are a class set above the laity in Jewish society. They have a top-down structure with the high priest. The Sanhedrin was a mutated and illegitimate continuation of their distant past. This chapter is a laundry list of horrible fruits that result from an oppression and compulsory control mechanism—a top-down government reliant on fear to maintain its relevance and existence.

“You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.” -I Corinth. 7:23

Jesus had already told them you are not to expect to be organized and function like the gentile world. He now gives them an ecclesiastical example with the same Roman model that they are not to seek as a template for the church in Matthew 23. It is clear Jesus is specifically dealing with governance because He turns His attention to His disciples in the middle of this attack on Rabbinical Judaism.

Christ tells His disciples that they are not to take on titles of Rabbi, Father and Master because they have One Rabbi, One Father and One Master in heaven.

Clarke’s Commentary says this about being called Father:

“Call no man your Father - Our Lord probably alludes to the Ab, or father of the Sanhedrin, who was the next after the nasi, or president. See on Matthew 20:21 (note). By which he gives his disciples to understand that he would have no Second, after himself, established in his Church, of which he alone was the head; and that perfect equality must subsist among them.”

Notice Clarke directs the reader back to Matthew 20:21 where James and John sought 2nd rank under Christ. Clarke goes on to say that these three titles are likely taken from the Hebrew titles of “Abbi, Rabbi and Mori” meaning “Father, Rabbi, Master.” They may very well have a relation to what we call, “Bachelor, Master and Doctor” in titled degrees or ranks today.

Clarke continues:

"...no man is implicitly to receive the sayings, doctrines, and decisions of any man, or number of men, in the things which concern the interests of his immortal soul. Christ, his Spirit, and his word, are the only infallible teachers. Every man who wishes to save his soul must search the Scriptures, by prayer and faith. Reader, take counsel with the pious; hear the discourses of the wise and holy: but let the book of God ultimately fix thy creed”

Jesus links what He is saying here right back to Matthew 20:20-28 when He concludes His comments directed to His disciples with,

“And whoever exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

The Scriptures below are probably the most powerful witness to the fact that hierarchy and tithing are not any part of the New Testament church.

"For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings. We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world right up to this moment.” --I Corinthians 4:9-13

Now I ask you: Would anyone in authority over others with a right to their money say this and not be laughed to scorn? Here is another question: would a narcissist or a psychopath, in a million years, ever be inspired to seek such a lowly state? To be honest, the average Christian would not want Paul's role. That was the point. Congregational government led by the Holy Spirit and not a man or a group of elites is the safest and growth-inspiring environment for brethren. If people truly understood what it meant to serve Christ as a servant and slave to His people, there would be very few indeed. In fact, it makes you wonder if you ever knew one in your life at all.

Stoned Stephen Society

Fake COG Prophet Claims Coronavirus Is Tool Leading Up To Rise Of 666

Always eager to milk a good natural disaster, earthquake, locust infestation, hurricane, tornado or the current coronapocalypse,  self-appointed Church of God wannabe prophets start their hysterical rants about the end times being at our doorstep.

The disappointing publicly rebuked and utterly embarrassing "son" of Rod Meredith is milking the current situation for all its worth.

He claims the fact that people are submitting to local, state or national government quarantine rules is a sure sign that people will allow the beast to control their lives and thus inhibit the one true chruch from proclaiming its message to Africa. The governments will soon stop access to all cash, censors will close down his Youtube and websites and much more.  Woe is me! Life is soooooo tough for COG prophets anymore.

Some snippets of his hysterics:

This is essentially unprecedented for the USA. And the ease that much of the population is accepting totalitarian controls is demonstrating that the biblically prophesied 666 control in Europe will not be as difficult as some have suggested.

Of course, not all are accepting such quarantines in the USA or Europe.

So, governments are having police and military officials ‘persuade’ people to do what they want.

Furthermore, in France a form must be filled out to travel and various travel limitations are to be enforced by 100,000 police and other officials...

Though the above likely will not last too long, please understand that more and more totalitarian controls will be put in place.

Plus, we are seeing societal changes reminiscent of George Orwell’s 1984 as well as Adolf Hitler’s reign.

As far as a ‘surveillance police state’ goes, this is something that Church of God writers have expected for some time.

The fake prophet then has to drag out an old article from the Plan Truth, a magazine that made a name for itself for getting hysterical over everything.

Decades ago, an article titled ENTERING THE AGE OF TERROR in the old Plain Truth magazine in June 1977 said that as a response to terrorism we may see “that the inevitable result would be a repressive, authoritarian police state and the loss of civil liberties.” This has been occurring. 

So what is this all leading to? The rise of Baron Karl-Theodore zu Guttenberg, the ultimate wet dream of prophet Thiel. Thiel has been obsessing over Guttenberg for years now as the soon-coming Beast to unite Germany and destroy America.

COVID-19 Leading to 666?

The novel coronavirus of Wuhan, China fame, is now called COVID-19. It has also been called the ‘Coronapocalypse.’ Does COVID-19 have any prophetic ramifications? What did Jesus teach about pestilences and sorrows in the Olivet prophecy in Matthew 24? Could COVID-19 be the ride of the fourth horseman of the Apocalypse? Why was this type of disease expected according to the Old Testament prophecies in Deuteronomy and Leviticus? What has the US Centers for Disease Control warned about? What has the CDC reported about the flu? Were there lessons about fear and infections in the 2011 movie ‘Contagion’? Because of COVID-19, the World Health Organization (WHO), nation of Iran, and certain French locations are telling people not to use cash, but instead electronic forms of payment. The US Federal Reserve is now quarantining money repatriated from Asia to reduce the potential spread of the coronavirus on US currency bills. Is COVID-19 worse than we have been told or could this all be a ‘false flag’ event to encourage people to move towards a cashless society? If the thousands of deaths associated with COVID-19 are pushing parts of the world towards cashlessness, how much more likely will the ride of the fourth horseman and over a billion human deaths motivate people to move to making electronic payments that can be monitored? The Bible tells of a soon coming society that controls buying and selling to force allegiance to a coming European Beast power, known as 666 (Revelation 13:16-18). Does the ‘great tribulation’ begin before ride of the fourth horseman or with the opening of the fifth seal of Revelation 6? Do the words of Jesus helps us better understand the sequence of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse and the start of the Great Tribulation? Will the ride of the fourth horseman help lead to the rise of 666? Is that ride very close? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues and more.

Dave, Bob and Gerry's Secret Unveiled At Last!

"Ok...ok..now.a little to the left...more...more...stop! Now up a bit...more....got it! Is it him? Yay!  Am I on the air? Yes?

OK!

 Ahem...Thus saith the Lord...."

Tonto and the Lone Ranger Tick Off Self Appointed False Prophet of Arroyo Grande

The eternally butt-hurt self-appointed false prophet of Arroyo Grande and Rod Meredith's disappointing "son" is not happy with a reader here.

In the (Improperly named) "continuing" Church of God, we have always advised that people have several days to several weeks supply of food, water, and other items that they may need in an emergency.

That is consistent with scripture. 

The 1966 Radio Church of God article mentioned prophets. 

Several weeks ago, an accuser of the brethren, who calls himself “Tonto” posted the following related to me and the coronavirus at the anti-COG site Banned by HWA :

 Tonto said…

If Thiel was such a great prophet, then why didn’t he specifically and directly warn the world about this coronavirus several weeks ago?

One or more others at that website also made similar comments since then. Yet, I specifically warned about risks associated with the coronavirus in 2013 (see Coronavirus: A new risk for humans? and Saudi Arabia warning visitors to Mecca about coronavirus risk) and 2014 (see Saudi Arabia, MERS, and Missiles and Infection-gate: A dangerous scandal hitting the USA?). Additionally, I have also warned also about human engineered pathogens without mentioning the coronavirus in 2018 (see DARPA to weaponize insects to spread viruses across the population… sinister plans exposed by team of scientists) and 2019 (see DARPA: ‘Militarized Microbes’ To Spread GMO Bacteria). Humans messing around with viruses, like what was being officially done in Wuhan, poses risks. And I have warned about those risks, including research involving the coronavirus for years.

Furthermore, we have produced two videos related to prophecies and the novel coronavirus (watch COVID-19 Leading to 666? and Biological Warfare and Prophecy). 

Now, it may be that God is using COVID-19 to send a message to all, but especially end time Christians not to be complacent but to wake up and properly support the work.

Like any good fake prophet of the Church of God, it is always important to use any world disaster or human event to make money off of COG members.  Thielism is not a "work" that any real Christian would ever support.

With love from Tonto and The Lone Ranger

Dave Pack Ready To Deliver New Astounding Message To The Church As The End Time Is Here, Finally...Well. Maybe

The following letter was reportedly sent out to the membership of the Restored Church of God today. Jesus Christ has been in direct conversation with The Holy One and has a message for things to come in the next few days...or three years.  

There's that easy out again. Another wimpy prophet.

Dear brethren,

You all see there’s disaster on the horizon EVERYWHERE and as far as the eye can see. The headlines scream this: “ITALY: Victims over 80 could be ‘left to die’ in drastic measures”—“San Francisco orders residents to stay inside”—“It’s not just toilet paper: People line up to buy guns, ammo over coronavirus concerns.”

These are all part of the extreme “labor pains” Mr. Pack has been talking about!!!

In addition, the stock market lost another 3,000 points today—the biggest drop since the Black Monday crash of 1987. Many trillions in wealth have been wiped out over the last few days! Yet we are only just seeing the beginning of more economic woes to come. Vast numbers cannot travel and are losing their jobs as the coronavirus continues to bring a terrified planet to its knees.

How could we come this far, see all that we are seeing, and somehow think we have much more time. Impossible!  


Mr. Pack is tentatively planning to deliver a 90-minute message on Wednesday of fascinating things still being learned. Tomorrow, we are going to give you a document explaining why we either have a few days left—or three years. You will want to study it! 

All the tumultuous events occurring bring to life Christ’s question in Luke 18:8 as never before: “When the Son of man comes, shall He find faith on the earth?”

If we stay strong, brethren, we can ensure He finds this faith in all of us!

In Christ’s service,

The Headquarters Ministry 

LCG: Thank's gays. It's your fault, again.

Sobering Signs of the Times: When we look at events and trends in our world today, it is sobering to see the parallels between conditions mentioned in the Scriptures and the times in which we are living. During the days of Noah, God intervened dramatically to destroy a global society that had become filled with violence, wickedness, and evil (Genesis 6). Just about 400 years later, God poured out punishments that destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, because they perverted their ways with depraved behaviors (Genesis 19; Ezekiel 16:49–50). While Lot and his family enjoyed the abundance of the area (Genesis 13:10–13), they had grown so accustomed to and tolerant of what was going on around them that they were reluctant to leave. Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of salt because she looked back longingly at what she was leaving behind. As we see our modern societies going the way of Sodom again—approving and promoting homosexuality, same-sex marriage, abortion, and other behaviors that God condemns—we need to remember that these Old Testament examples were recorded for our admonition today (1 Corinthians 10:1–13). The Apostle Paul urged Christians to “come out” of this world and its perverted ways (2 Corinthians 6:17–18) because God’s judgment will come on our societies—just as it did on Sodom and Gomorrah. We need to wake up and recognize the real significance of what is happening around us today, and earnestly pray, “Thy kingdom come.”

Have a profitable Sabbath,

Douglas S. Winnail 

The gays, the gays, the gays! Its never the corrupt, lascivious, and perverted Church of God's leadership who destroys members' lives.  Nope. Never! Blame the other instead of your own dirty church headquarters and morally bankrupt leaders.

Truly, "thy kingdom come" when the Church of God is delivered from its own leaders!

Church of God International: The Obsession Continues

The Obsession Continues

Those who are familiar with Armstrong Church of God culture will remember the late Roderick Meredith’s obsession with the subject of homosexuality. If, however, you thought that part of the ACOG’s legacy would die with him, you thought wrong! And the obsession with all things LGBTQ continues in the most unlikely of places – the “moderate” and “sane” Church of God International! In the latest edition of their International News(Spring 2020), there are three articles that prominently address the topic.

The lead article by CGI Chief Executive Officer Vance Stinson warns church members to “Beware of False Gospels.” He writes: “These false apostles who proclaim this particular false gospel would have us believe that Old Testament laws forbidding and condemning homosexual behavior are not for Christians under the New Covenant. They claim they hold the moral high ground , and they tend to see themselves as spiritually, morally, and intellectually superior to those of us who cling to the old biblical/traditional standards regarding sex, marriage, family, and gender roles. To them, we’re bigoted holdovers from the dark Ages—closed-minded, Bible-thumping fundamentalists who are a danger to society. Their false gospel is just a modern version of a very old heresy, but today’s mutated form of this ancient virus has infected virtually all mainstream churches and has spread all over the Western world.” He goes on to bemoan the awful treatment Franklin Graham received at the hands of the United Kingdom because of his anti-homosexual rhetoric.

Mr. Stinson concludes his treatise with the following statement: “The media—from mainstream “news” organizations to the entertainment industry to social media—are fully on board with the LGBTQ+ agenda and are bombarding our minds and the minds of our children with their ungodly message. If we’re not on guard, we, too, can fall in step and begin calling evil good and good evil (Isaiah 5:20)!

In keeping with the theme, Pastor Bill Watson offers his own commentary on the subject in “Isaiah Defines Leaven for Our Day.” He writes: “The world impacts all of us differently. The effect it has on some of us is often determined by just how close we are to God and our awareness of His terms of right and wrong. There are many Christian churches today that have become very ‘liberal’ in their approach to the gospel of Jesus Christ. They will ordain active homosexual men and women ministers. They will endorse and marry homosexuals, claiming these are approved marriages in the sight of God. Regardless of what the Bible might say about certain habits of eating, dress, worship, or other lifestyle matters, they will ignore the plain commandments and insist on having it their way. And, unfortunately, due to the vast majority and legalized legislation of the land, they adopt the inappropriate and wrong way for being right and good.”

Mr. Watson continues: ““How do we wrap our minds around affording practicing homosexuals—men romantically (sexually) involved with men, women romantically (sexually) involved with women—the right to legalize their relationships? Or perhaps a future President of the USA kissing his husband on stage as candidate Buttigieg did at a campaign stop? How do we wrap our minds around transgenders reading to 5-, 6-, and 7-year-olds in libraries as a public reading with the parent’s approval? Or how about a mother that encourages her 6-year-old son to dress like a girl, or visa versa, with the father’s approval that ultimately results in biological ‘gender reassignment’?”

And, just to make sure their readers got the message, Mr. Stinson takes another stab at the subject in the “Questions and Answers” section of their paper. His answer to the question “Did Jesus condemn homosexuality?” was as follows: “Today, it is not unusual to hear arguments such as this one: ‘Jesus did not say anything about homosexuality. He taught much on love, forgiveness, mercy, justice, and refraining from judging and condemning others, but said nothing about homosexuality. Since the matter was not an issue for Jesus, shouldn’t it be a non-issue for those who claim to be His followers?’ It may be true that Jesus never specifically mentioned homosexual practice in any New Testament account, but why should we assume that Jesus approved of every practice He did not specifically name? Many sinful practices may be grouped as a specific type of sin; so when Jesus condemns the type, He condemns all sinful practices included in the type.”

Pastor Stinson then proceeds to give a short treatise on how the Greek word “porneia” includes homosexual behavior. Without citing any evidence for this assertion, he says that its inclusion is implied in the “sexual immorality” to which the word clearly refers. He goes on to cite the apostolic decree referenced in the fifteenth chapter of Acts as evidence that homosexuality was included among the things prohibited to Christians because Leviticus 17 and 18 “almost certainly forms the underpinning of the apostolic decree.” He concludes his answer with the following assertion: “It is true that the Gospels supply no record of Jesus specifically condemning homosexual practice. But then, there is no specific mention of bestiality in the Gospels or, for that matter, anywhere in the New Testament. The lack of specificity says nothing about whether the unnamed act is sinful. Had the push to legitimize homosexual practice been a reality in Jesus’ day, as it is in ours, you can rest assured that Jesus would have openly opposed it through sound teaching and a call for repentance. His followers today must do no less.”

Whatever one believes about the immorality/morality of homosexual behavior, we are left with the distinct impression that The Church of God International is obsessed with the topic. Indeed, the only other topic that comes close to competing with this one for attention in their newspaper is leavening (Thank God for the Spring Holy Days!) As CGI continues its slide into oblivion (it is NOT unique in this regard among the Armstrong Churches of God), they may want to rethink their priorities and reorder their focus and attention. I may be wrong, but I’m thinking that this obsession is only going to succeed in getting them stuck with the label of being homophobic!

Miller Jones