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
This was August Landmesser, a worker at the Blohm+Voss shipyard in Hamburg, Germany. He is the lone man refusing to salute Adolph Hitler understanding how crazy his rhetoric was. Landmesser had run afoul of the Nazi Party over his unlawful relationship with Irma Eckler, a Jewish woman.
Did you know we had our own version of August Landmesser in the Church of God?
Notice the guy in the circle in the background who covers his eyes
as the rest of the people stand in awe of the Great Herb.
(well, there is also the guy looking like he is ready to vomit...)
Bacon is a special gift from God — one of the tasty ways by which he tells us, “I love you.”
I don't have a Bible verse for that, but I'm convinced.
In my case, bacon has been a healthful “diet food.” With its optimal fat-to-protein ratio, it played a role in my losing 40 pounds in three months. It was part of my dietary strategy — along with intermittent fasting — to reverse my type 2 diabetes. My hemoglobin A1C score plummeted from 8.5 to 5.2.
Of course, I didn't always believe bacon was a health food. I thought it was unfit for human consumption. In fact, I believed eating it was sinful — and not merely because it's “sinfully delicious.”
Bacon Bandits
Growing up in the Armstrongs' Worldwide Church of God, I was deprived of bacon and all other foods considered “unclean” according to the Levitical laws they observed.
But I didn’t feel deprived. I was content. I never coveted the pepperoni or sausage on my classmates’ school cafeteria pizzas, because as pork products they were “unclean” toppings. Why would I want to eat something God forbids?
It’s right there in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14. The God who says, “I change not” (Malachi 3:6) clearly delineates between “the living creature that may be eaten and the living creature that may not be eaten” (Leviticus 11:46).
By promoting this simplistic understanding, the Armstrongs and their associates acted as “bacon bandits.” In the name of God, they stole from our menu this perfect health food, along with shrimp (the fruit of the sea), crab, catfish, and any other edible flesh proscribed by the Law of Moses.
They taught that these dietary restrictions were health laws. God knows what’s good and what’s not good for us to eat. So, like a Toyota owner's manual, his Book tells us what fuel to use and what not to use for our body’s best performance.
Spriritual explanations
When I was older, however, I began hearing spiritual explanations, which sounded more rational. (I didn't think I knew anyone who chronically battled trichinosis due to rebelliously eating undercooked, parasitic pork flesh.)
It was said that these dietary laws were daily reminders that we are called out of this world, and that choosing to eat “clean” meats and choosing not to eat “unclean” meats served as a living metaphor for how we must choose between good and evil in our everyday life.
Just as we choose God in our thoughts, in our speech, and in what we watch, we also choose God in what we eat.
Then a few years after I began working at the home office of Garner Ted Armstrong’s Church of God International in Tyler, Texas, I was challenged by a couple friends on this issue of clean and unclean meats. One of them offered mostly secular arguments, which I rejected entirely, while the other posed deeper theological arguments.
Back to the Word
That challenge was a call to arms, so to speak. It was time to “sharpen my sword” and yet again “prove” to myself — and to my friends — what I thought I already knew: the Christian mandate to abstain from “unclean meats.”
So I blew a day’s worth of dust off my Bible and again reviewed the relevant passages. (I had not yet taken Catholicism seriously, and instead had a very Protestant “Bible only” mentality.)
This time, as I sought to contradict my friend's point of view, my new study was leading me in an unexpected direction. While I didn’t want to jump to premature conclusions, I felt I might have to revise my understanding.
I had already gotten past the Fundamentalist, bumper-sticker mentality of “The Bible says it — I believe it — that settles it.” Sure enough, the Bible has to be believed, but first it must be correctly understood, which is what I sincerely endeavored to do.
What I found
I don’t want to oversimplify the issue, but for brevity's sake I can say that one passage of Scripture encapsulates the core of what eventually changed my mind (and later practice). It's a passage that perfectly summarizes and explains the purpose of the clean and unclean distinctions with regard to food. And that is Leviticus 20:24-26:
But I have said to you, ‘You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.’ I am the Lord your God, who has separated you from the peoples. You shall thereforeseparate the clean beast from the unclean, and the unclean bird from the clean. You shall not make yourselves detestable by beast or by bird or by anything with which the ground crawls, which I have set apart for you to hold unclean. You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.
It seemed clear from this verse alone that the primary reason God made these dietary laws was to reflect or illustrate that God had chosen the people of Israel out of all the other nations. It was “therefore” — because of that — that they were to distinguish between the clean and unclean. Just as God set apart Israel from the nations, so he set apart for them unclean animals.
I didn’t want to flip-flop my position based on one verse alone, in case I read too much into it, but this same concept popped up everywhere else, including our go-to chapters of Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14:
In Leviticus 11, after its listing of which animals are clean and unclean, we come to verse 45:
For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.
In Deuteronomy 14, in the same context as these and other laws of distinction, we encounter verse 2:
For you are a people holy to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
Peter's vision
I realized that this explicit Old Testament reason for the dietary laws fits perfectly with the account of Saint Peter’s vision in Acts 10.
Peter didn’t want to eat all the animals, reptiles, and birds he was told to eat, because he knew they were unclean. He objected, saying, “I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean,” but the voice from heaven replied, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” This happened three times in the vision, underscoring its importance.
But they don’t grasp the implications of this connection between the Levitical dietary laws and God's covenant people.
The obvious question...and answer
To me, there was no way around the logical question that demanded a logical answer:
If we believe…
that God gave Israel the dietary laws of clean and unclean as a reminder that God separated them from all the nations to be his people,
that the Gentiles are “grafted in” to God’s people (Romans 11), and
that the apostle to the Gentiles wrote, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:27-28),
…then why on earth are we observing a dietary practice that symbolizes something that is no longer the case?
By insisting we abstain from “unclean” meats, we are acting out and illustrating a false reality — one in which the nation of Israel is still being called to be separate and spiritually distinct from the Gentiles.
The fact is that Jesus, for the past 2000 years, has been calling all peoples — Jew and Gentile — to be united in the one universal Church he continues to build.
It therefore makes no sense to continue observing these laws today. The religious symbol no longer matches the reality. As foretold to the patriarchs, the Church does not make a distinction between Jew and Gentile; rather, all are equally “in Christ.”
It's safe to say it was God himself who generously saw fit to add Gentile bacon to the Church's cheeseburger, making it an ever more glorious burger.
Ken's Pizza
It wasn't until I was completely convinced by the Christian understanding of clean and unclean laws that I told my friend one weekend, “Let's go out for a pizza.”
We went to Ken's Pizza on Broadway Avenue in Tyler. I was in my upper 20s, and for the first time ever I enjoyed multiple slices of pepperoni pizza.
Since I was still employed by a church that taught against eating unclean meats, I looked over my shoulder as I ate, but I saw no one I needed to worry about.
There was only one former fellow church employee a few tables over, but she was eating the same things I was.
Conclusion
I realize that in telling how I arrived at this point, I have not addressed the objections often raised by those who abstain from “unclean” animals (e.g., Isaiah's reference to mice, Noah's knowledge of clean and unclean animals, etc.), but that's not the point of this post. It's not a polemic. It's me sharing a slice of my story.
I do find it tragic and even humorous these days looking back on people's reactions when they learned I had left the religion of my youth. It was not uncommon to hear them ask with incredulity, “You mean, you eat pork now?” As if that is the surest sign of going off the rails into apostasy.
It's sobering to consider that there are Bible readers — good people (I was one of them!) — who think that Christianity is centered around worshiping on the correct day of the week, or is based on a particular fanciful prophetic scenario, or is fortified in the Faith by checking the label on a can of beans to make sure it doesn't contain pork — even checking a bag of marshmallows or a box of gelatin to make sure it doesn't contain “animal shortening,” lest it include any pork byproducts (yes, that is a thing).
Obedience to God in all things is necessary, but not misdirected obedience.
When I read the lives and writings of the holy Christian saints of old, their concern was not food and drink — that which comes into the mouth. Their concern was with what comes out of the mouth (cf. Matthew 15:11) — that is, what's in the heart.
Eating animals without cloven hooves or that don't chew the cud isn't what defiles us or makes us unclean. It's our own sinfulness.
In the words of Jesus,
What comes out of a man is what defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a man. (Mark 7:20-23)
Our job is to let God graciously cleanse our spiritual wounds (we all have them) and shape us perfectly into his image.
Sobering Surprises Ahead: Jesus came into this world preaching the Gospel of the coming Kingdom of God (Mark 1:14–15). He also said He will return (John 14:1–3) at a time when the future of human civilization is threatened (Matthew 24:21–22). However, today the world has forgotten God and rejected His ways (Jeremiah 3:21), and His word—the Bible—is viewed as a strange thing (Hosea 8:12). As a result, the return of Jesus Christ will come as a sudden surprise to most people because they will not be expecting this sobering event (Matthew 24:42–44). The Feast of Trumpets is an annual reminder that Jesus Christ is going to return and dramatically intervene in human affairs to save mankind from destruction. When He comes back the world will be shocked at the power of His intervention, but at that time “they shall know that I am the Lord,” as mentioned more than 60 times in the book of Ezekiel (6:7, 10, 13–14 are just a few examples). Will you be ready for that historic event, or will you be surprised?
It is "Feast" time in COGland and the Living Church of God is laying down the law again on proper dress at the feast for church services and for the beach. LCG members apparently are still too stupid after close to 20 years of hearing this crap that they need to be reminded of every year.
Does LCG have real men who are leaders of their families? I guess that's why they have to have yearly retreats for men on how to be masculine and leaders.
What About at the Beach? Appropriate beach attire for women and men at the Feast of Tabernacles is swimwear that is modest and in good taste. We should be guided by the two great commandments—to love God and love neighbor (Matthew 22:37–39; Mark 12:29–31)—so as not to offend God or neighbor in our dress at the Feast. Accordingly, following our Living Youth Programs policy, beachwear at the Feast for ladies should be a modest one-piece or a modest tankini (covering the mid-section), and for the men, no Speedo-type suits (unless pool facility rules require them, as is the case in some countries). Fathers and husbands have a responsibility to be leaders in their families to teach and guide regarding what is appropriate and what is not (Ezekiel 22:26).
I think I once heard you say something like, “At the council of (something), they concluded that Revelations should not be used for determining theology. It was to be used for worship, etc.” Where can find resources to back up that statement?
RESPONSE:
Not exactly, but something like that. The idea was the dogma (non-negotiable doctrine) of the ancient church was finalized before Revelation was formally included in the canon of the New Testament. In other words, since Revelation wasn’t officially included as Scripture, it wasn’t a building block of our creedal theology.
That’s not to say Revelation shouldn’t be in the Bible or that previous authors hadn’t included it in their suggested lists. For example, Athanasius of Alexandria had included it in his 39th Festal Letter). But if we’re referring to formal affirmations, it’s just a chronological fact that the councils established Christianity’s non-negotiable dogma before later councils formalized our New Testament canon.
Why was that? There was hesitation about the book of Revelation by some key people for some important reasons. For example, circa 350 AD, Cyril of Jerusalem was unhappy about how the Montanist cult had latched onto it to spread false teachings (https://www.bible-researcher.com/cyril.html). Gregory of Nazianzus, the first eminent chair of the second council (381 AD in Constantinople), which finalized the Nicene Creed, did not include it in his list.
It was only 12 years later that the Council of Hippo canonized Revelation (393 AD), confirmed by the Council of Carthage (397) and the Council of Carthage (419).
So the basic math is that Revelation couldn’t be used to establish creedal dogma if it wasn’t canonized until after the creed was ratified.
But once canonized, the church recognized its use as a call to faithfulness to Christ and to patient endurance through persecution. It also generated beautiful hymnography around Christ our Passover Lamb, who has conquered death and is making all things new. So, I regard Revelation as canonical but would not derive any doctrine from it that we don’t already have in the four Gospels, Acts, and the NT epistles.
But so what? It matters to us for the same reason it mattered to dear old Cyril. We’ve seen the rotten fruit of generations of self-proclaimed prophets and teachers who have perverted this beautiful book into apocalyptic cults that prey on their credulous flocks. The Book of Revelation has been misused to terrorize anxious believers and then exploit them by offering solutions with alleged insider information that you pay dearly for in order to escape what’s coming.
Instead, let us read this book just as it was intended. NOT an End Times Code but as a retelling of the gospel in cosmic imagery, where the Lamb on the Cross in John’s Gospel is one and the same Lamb on the Throne, seen from heaven’s perspective. DOCTRINE & REVELATION (THE BOOK) – BRAD JERSAK
CGI’s Adrian Davis Is Experiencing Déjà Vu, and I Am TOO!
Lonnie Hendrix
In a message that lasted about one hour and twenty minutes, Church of God International’s Pastor Adrian Davis of the Burlington, Ontario congregation delivered yet another broadside against those nasty Globalists! Apparently, since the next election cycle is rapidly approaching, he felt that he should warn God’s people to be on their guard against the wiles of these power-hungry, malicious folks!
According to Mr. Davis, last time around, some of God’s people were duped by the wicked Globalists into following public health guidelines! The good pastor can hardly contain his disdain for those who would have the audacity to practice social distancing, wear a mask, or receive a vaccination! Surely, this time around, God’s people won’t fall for such nonsensical policies! Hopefully, they’ve learned their lesson, and this time will be different!
Indeed, to hear Pastor Davis tell it, the Globalists can’t wait to try to exert their power over all of us once again. He says that they are all motivated by a thirst for more power and love to manipulate all of us like puppets on a string. According to Pastor Davis, these folks don’t care about us, and they can’t wait to crush and control us! He went on to say that it is an ABOMINATION for any minister to persuade his flock to support the Globalist’s agenda and/or policies.
He said that God’s people must not allow themselves to be filled with anxiety over their health and absorb the fearfulness of the people around them. Moreover, Pastor Davis went on to suggest that anyone who adheres to public health measures is exhibiting an evil heart of unbelief. In other words, if we truly have confidence in the immune systems which God has given us and faith in his ability to preserve and protect us, we won’t be getting any injections or participating in any of the practices that the world employs to try to mitigate the spread of disease!
According to Adrian Davis, anyone who accedes to the demands of these Globalists has departed from the Living God! Indeed, he suggests that anyone who would embrace their measures is a “Judas” – a betrayer of the brethren! He asks: Are we going to comply? OR Are we going to exhibit a little backbone? He went on to say that we shouldn’t be censoring each other or trying to persuade anyone to get one of those nasty injections! Indeed, the good pastor suggests that anyone who did anything like that the last time around needs to repent and make sure that they don’t do it again! In other words, everyone in God’s Church needs to be on the same page with Mr. Davis!
Finally, just to be clear, Mr. Davis informed his audience that he isn’t here to make friends! He said that he was going to go right on telling the “truth,” and that he wouldn’t support the lies of those nasty Globalists – no matter the consequences (that must be why his messages appear on Rumble instead of YouTube). He went on to suggest that the science behind the Covid vaccines is sorcery, and that they are slowly killing the folks who have received them! Davis went on to say that the current administration in Washington (Biden) is destroying America, and that public health measures are a form of idolatry! Clearly, Mr. Davis believes that those pantywaists in CGI leadership and those snowflakes within the local congregations need to get with the program and stop dividing the brethren! Are you listening, Vance Stinson and Jeff Reed?
The application of James 5:14 in the Churches of God to divine healing with or without, most without, medical interventions, was always controversial. Some, of course, will claim Well, I..." or some family member was miraculously healed by just being anointed, as per James 5:14. Others, such as myself, after having anointed hundreds for various maladies, most rather harmless but many lethal if not healed, did not experience seeing anyone, and I mean, anyone, dramatically and unquestionably healed by the practice of anointing with oil and the expression of simple faith that it would occur. That is my experience. Your experience may vary.
I have watched many die in their faith refusing all medical interventions because of the clear mandate in James 5. The problem is with the scripture and the promise, not the ministry who applies it or the person who receives it.
At times, I endeavored to get the member to seek medical attention in addition to "the prayer of faith." Some were relieved thinking, as I knew they would, they weren't "allowed" to seek medical attention and be a "good and faithful Christian". Privately they felt they needed to, but that "going along to get along" kept them from taking full charge of their health as they sought fit. I know there were a few who wanted to turn me in for encouraging them to violate their "faith" by suggesting they consider medical attention. I never cared if they did. But it never happened to my knowledge. I did get turned in once for not wanting to attend the happy slappy million man march with Promise Keepers, but that's another tale.
Others understood and practiced as a matter of course, both anointing for their maladies and medical attention. I and my family fell into this category. It was how I grew up and frankly never could see the topic as being either/or.
I had a ministerial assistant once who announced to the church in one of his first sermonettes that he would either anoint them for healing or visiting them in the hospital, but not both. I asked him to retract that the next week. I don't recall if he did or not but the congregation knew that I was not going to put up with that approach.
It is and always will be an emotional topic in the COGs and in the lives who passed through them. Regrets abound in many lives with the unchangeable decisions and naivete of the past haunting many. There are many tragic stories in church history, and I suspect going all the way back to when James wrote his formula for divine healing with the seeming absolute, "and the sick shall be made well". It does not say, "maybe". James was sadly mistaken in this simplistic view.
There are a myriad of arguments on and about this topic, but how it was applied in WCG and yet in a number of WCG debris is still in the classic sense. Some have matured and I suspect as the ministry got older, "God revealed to them that it was ok to seek medical attention as well as be anointed for healing. Herbert Armstrong came to this realization for himself in his final years.
Personally, the application of James 5:14 never was a safe or even a common sense way to address the afflictions common to man, "even" church members. It was lesson learned the hard way, but I suspect that, like the lesson in the NT that Jesus is coming soon, yet didn't and wasn't, one that hindsight would prove to be less than the only way to go when actually and seriously ill in an effort to exhibit and prove one's faith.
Perhaps this was only James' opinion. Paul had Luke, whatever kind of physician he was. And it is obvious in NT scripture those two never saw eye to eye on much of anything.
So if some here are still befuddled by this scripture, it's ok if you don't see eye to eye with your faith only for healing splinter. Take care of yourself and your family and always be willing to remind anyone who thinks they know how you "must be" and how you must practice your faith there are those three classic places they can stay for free.
In your own lane...
Out of our business...
and
Over there...
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Cochlear Implants - 1
Faith Only - 0
I also realize that there are apologetics for James 5:14 that relate it to a spiritual weakness but that does not actually seem to be what was meant by James and physical healing was what he did have in mind.
Verse 14 and 15 have been the source of controversy among Christians. The question James is asking is how should believers respond when we are "sick," and what result should we expect when we take action. Most translations render the Greek word asthenei here as "sick," and many Bible scholars agree that James has in mind a physical illness. Some scholars, however, suggest that James is referring to a spiritual weakness or lack of faith. The Greek word is sometimes translated in that or a similar sense (e.g., Romans 5:6). The word carries mostly a sense of weakness, or being feeble.
If James has spiritual weakness in mind, his instruction is directed at someone who does not feel firm in his faith. This might be because of ongoing suffering or some other cause. Such a person should to call for the elders—the spiritual leaders—of the church to pray for him. This instruction comes with the promise that the Lord will reestablish his faith. And, that any sin responsible for his spiritual weakness will be forgiven.
The other possibility is that James simply means for someone with a physical illness to do the same, with the promise of eventual physical healing and the assurance of forgiveness of sins. Whatever the case, the elders are called to anoint this unwell person with oil in the name of the Lord.
To anoint someone with oil in the culture of the time meant to pour oil over them for one of four possible purposes. Oil was sometimes used in the ancient world as a general medicinal cure. At other times, it was used to express concern, as a physical demonstration of emotional care for a person. Or it's possible that James meant for the oil to be part of a sacrament of healing or a physical symbol that someone was being set apart for God's purposes.
Whatever the specific answers are to these questions, we can all agree on several things from this verse: First, God doesn't intend for Christians to suffer alone. Nor does He want them to pray for themselves in private without ever revealing their problems. Second, God does intend for the spiritual leaders of local churches to be ready and willing to pray together for the struggling people in their congregations.
