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
David C. Pack of The Restored Church of God created a doctrinal minefield when he delivered "The Greatest Untold Story! (Part 617)" on January 17, 2026. Part 618 was given on January 24, and the Pastor General completely decimated the relevance of the entire previous message. The substance of Part 617 was gutted, creating very uncomfortable moments and regrettable statements when watched in the context of what came after. The Regret-O-Meter counts some of those examples, all taken from a single message.
One week after Part 617, David C. Pack reversed or erased his teachings, including which day the Kingdom comes, the arrangement and timing of Daniel's 1335/1290 days, the relevance of the Hebrew month Shevat, crediting God with what he taught, and how the Mystery of God was ending with his "big" revelations. Part 617 became a worthless hole of doctrinal errors, and the Regret-O-Meter tallies them.
RCG/Dave Pack News Flash: The Kingdom Will NOT Come on February 1 or 2, 2026
Proving how often the prophetic picture changes in The Restored Church of God, even David C. Pack cannot remember what he taught the week before. During “The Greatest Untold Story! (Part 618)” on January 24, 2026, the Pastor General boldly announced that the Kingdom and the 1335 of Daniel would NOT begin on Shevat 16, which is February 2, 2026.
This is theological comedy since he changed the date anticipated for God's plan to kick into motion to Shevat 15 on February 1 during Part 617. This is what happens when you have to keep throwing out your notes. But it looks especially bad when even the guy who teaches this malarkey forgets what he just said.
Maybe Dave is not getting enough sleep because studying the Bible until 2 AM is so effective.
Either way, Part 618 is loaded with “proofs” why nothing will happen until Abib (March). Even after presenting all the evidence why things will NOT happen in February, he refused to formally announce a new date. He typically does this when he is stalling.
The Kingdom Will NOT Come on February 1 or 2, 2026!
Many do not like watching these videos because they cannot stand Dave. I get it. But it illustrates the worsening theological conditions inside The Restored Church of God and Dave's mental deterioration. The Pastor General cannot keep track of what he teaches, embarrassing himself throughout the message, and renouncing the wrong date.
The fact that he never realized this proves that exrcg.org keeps a better track of Dave than Dave does.
Because of the drastic changes in Part 618, Dave’s apostolic fist pump in Part 617 aged as well as expected and is funnier today than it was then, ready to achieve viral meme status.
Flashback Part 617 – January 17, 2026 @ 01:32:00 We got it. We got it!
Um. Not so much.
Part 618 is chock full of regrettable statements and embarrassing moments when compared what he said the week before. Dave spent the first 30 minutes telling grossly distorted stories about members who just left, and he formally marked former RCG minister Ken Orel and his wife for reasons he refused to make fully clear. Ken's status being upgraded to "evil," and the inaccurate stories of the people who left recently will be covered later.
Part 618 – January 24, 2026 @ 55:37 Watch how simple this is. It's gonna shock you. You're gonna know, you understand. You you're gonna know and know that you know, in about two minutes, when the date we're waiting for.
@ 58:02 Now, if the other two ends are a civil year in the middle and Abib at the end, then the Kingdom has to begin on Abib. If you knew nothing else, it's impossible to read it any other way.
David C. Pack from last week disagreed. The Kingdom table blocks were shuffled and reshuffled for the third week in a row, adding a confusing visual component to a confusing explanation.
@ 59:37 It’s impossible. Oh, and there's so much more to learn. It's impossible that's not the length of the Kingdom [1290/1290].
@ 1:00:10 There are two ways that God can show me whether the 1335 is in the Kingdom. He can prove it's impossible, that it's outside. That would do it. But He could also do it by showing certain new things that proves it's inside. …So I just proved to you, it cannot be in front of the Kingdom. We cannot be waiting for the middle of Shevat. It's impossible.
Multiple Commandments broken in 3…2…1…
@ 1:01:08 But could the 1335 be in the [7-Year] Kingdom? …I've learned, it has to be. It has to be.
Flashback 616 – January 10, 2026 @ 51:53 The 1335, on God's authority, I'm telling you, is not in the in the Seven Years [Kingdom].
Once again, David C. Pack shows no fear of God while he blasphemes, swears falsely, and takes the Lord’s name in vain. This will not be the last time. May God have mercy on him.
Part 618 – January 24, 2026 @ 1:12:45The Kingdom cannot come ‘til March 18th.
@ 1:20:50 But I been wrong on timing, so it's not Esther's Fast. Seven years ago. I wonder. Wow, seven years ago. We fast in 2019. …A case for Shevat 16. So let me just tell you, nothing is gonna happen on Shevat 16 or Esther's Fast.But there's there was at this enormous and ever-growing, constantly growing case for Abib developing in the background.
@ 1:22:44 And I no longer see any Kingdom case before Abib. So it's over. And you just only know a fraction of what I'm gonna yet go on to tell you.
David C. Pack loves toying with the brethren, leading them on, teasing them, and manipulating them. It is bad enough when some few still earnestly try to understand his malarkey. Even though the All-Believing Zealots are still in his corner, the Pastor General likes to spit in their faces because he can.
@ 1:31:31 But are we also looking for something before Abib that no one anticipates? Before Abib? I'm not saying we are, but I'm way, way, way beyond suspiciousabout how to reconcile about 35 to 40 verses with the current picture. And as as the picture sits, it won't fit. But Abib 1, March 18th, the fifth day of the week, cannot bend.And if that's what we have to wait to, fine. I'm very suspicious of something else, and we now know it's not a First Kingdom, so.
Part 618 exemplifies the Series's blaring contradictions and why nobody in RCG, except for Dave’s inner circle, has any clue what he is talking about or what is considered the present truth. It is no wonder that field mollusks Ernesto Velarde and Richard Lee cannot explain the Series to concerned brethren. One man who just left RCG told me Ernesto said, "I have the same questions," and he tried to defer him to Jaco Viljoen at Headquarters. The member decided to bail out instead, despite Andrew Holcombe’s best efforts. Wise man.
With three additional Parts given in just the last four days, rest assured, there will be more changes, more bungles, and more confusion. I am curious to see if David C. Pack will remember what he just said.
The River of Golden Oil flowing back to the Apostle
Another day in the delightfully unhinged universe of Armstrongism—because apparently, not a single 24-hour period can pass without some fresh batch of certified nuttiness being uttered or enacted. You'd think these folks, being the One True Church of God and all, faithfully reenacting pristine 1st-century Christianity while serving as the world's last shining beacons in the darkness, might manage to get through a day without descending into pure farce. Yet here we are, once again.
The letter below, from none other than Samuel Kitchen to Aaron Dean, is a masterclass in whack-a-doodle delirium. It's practically overflowing with it.
In Samuel's fevered vision, there's this glorious river of golden oil flowing straight back to the ever-preserved Herbert W. Armstrong (because of course Samuel has him safely on ice, spiritually speaking). Aaron Dean's sacred duty, naturally, is to round up all those wayward, straying Church of God members and gently nudge them back into the divine stream so they can float home to Daddy Herb and help restore the church to its mythical glory days. Ah, yes—the good old days when everything was perfect and the "strong hand from someplace" was just around the corner. Powerful stuff.
Of course, much like his fellow self-appointed prophet Bob Thiel, Herbert is now conveniently the resurrected Zerubbabel, patiently sitting there (wherever that is) waiting for the Worldwide Church of God to rise phoenix-like from the ashes of decades of irrelevance. Any day now, surely.
But for this grand restoration to actually happen, Aaron Dean simply must repent of his tragic errors, kick the United Church of God to the curb like yesterday's bad theology, and return to the one true faith—the version meticulously safeguarded by Samuel himself. The only minor hiccup? Aaron's spiritual garden hose is apparently kinked, blocking the proper flow of that holy golden oil. How inconvenient.
After wading through several paragraphs of gobbledygook, Samuel helpfully tries to wow us with his impeccable credentials: he's related to Herbert Armstrong through some distant family branch. While Herb's famous crest featured a strong arm rising triumphantly out of a cloud (very on-brand), Samuel's own crest ups the ante with a strong arm clutching a sword emerging from the very same cloud—presumably poised to gleefully slaughter any recalcitrant COG stragglers who refuse to hop aboard his particular bandwagon.
Truly inspiring. One can only imagine the family reunions.
"Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth.
I did not come to bring peace but a sword and a mallet."
A letter I wrote today to Aaron Dean
January 28,2026
Hello Mr Dean,
I hope you are doing well and keeping in good health.
I was reading Zechariah 4 again, about the flow of the golden oil.
When you mention Mr Armstrong, and reconnect people back to the apostle, do you realize you are reconnecting the flow of the golden oil?
Ever since 2010, online I have been pointing people back to Herbert W Armstrong.
He is the apostle of Jesus Christ.
He has a function, of “feeding the flock”.
John 17 shows that Jesus Christ is very faithful in His job of giving to the apostle what the Father has given Him!
In John 6:63, we see the Words Christ gives is “Spirit and life”.
We see the candlestick in Zechariah 4, is “the words of the Lord unto Zerubbabel”.
In verse 14, we see two anointed ones of God.
Zerubbabel and Joshua. They are involved with the flow of the golden oil, or Holy Spirit. They “feed” the candlestick.
Now what candlestick? Which Church?
The Worldwide Church of God is “the Word of the Lord unto Herbert W Armstrong”. He is the end time Zerubbabel.
But “the hands”(more than one) of Zerubbabel shall lay the foundation of THIS HOUSE(the Worldwide Church of God), and “the hands” shall finish it.
By connecting people to the apostle, we are like builders connecting them to the foundation.
I continually use “Worldwide Church of God” so there is no question as to WHICH HOUSE. It includes Herbert W Armstrong, but EXCLUDES all other churches. No other church is like it.
Does that make sense?
When a rebellious people want to argue, the Lord God makes it clear, with no wiggle room for doubt. “Church of God” is too ambiguous, and opens the door for much argument and vain babbling.
The Bible tells us to avoid such.
By being a minister of the UCG, you have entered the argument, and now can only direct people to the apostle of Christ, and not to the Church as a group or structure.
I have the benefit of being able to do that. I have not sat at the table in these church groups. And my focus, is to keep the flow of the golden oil, to the candlestick. When there is a departure I point it out, and reconnect the flow of the golden oil by pointing back to what Jesus Christ did through Herbert W Armstrong!
Because “the Word of the Lord unto Herbert W Armstrong” is the Worldwide Church of God.
You Mr Dean are running with a kinked hose, and I’m trying to help where I can, to un-kink it, so your job is secure and edified.
That’s what I feel Jesus Christ wants me to do.
But you cannot run a hose from the House of God, into another house.
If you look at the Tabernacle in the wilderness, and the location of the candlestick, you find there are no pipes piped out into another tent! It goes into one candlestick, not two.
The Two witnesses are two candlesticks, but in reality it is the same Candlestick!
By the testimony and labors of the first witness, the Philadelphia candlestick, which is the Worldwide Church of God, goes into place of safety.
When Joshua is cleaned up(Zech.3) and Michael stands up(Dan.12:1) and says “The Lord rebukes thee Satan”(Jude 1:9), He is restored to THIS HOUSE(The Worldwide Church of God) or the “remnant” in Laodicean era.
Zechariah 3:5-9
“…And the angel(the first witness) of the Lord stood by.
“And the angel of the Lord protested unto Joshua, saying,
“Thus saith the Lord of hosts; If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt ALSO judge my house, and shalt ALSO keep my courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by.
“Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the Branch.
“For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone(Isaiah 28:16, Zech.4:6)shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.”
Only one Church, not two.
Just one part in a place of safety, and one part unprotected.
The second witness is unto Laodicea. He is only able to point them to the ONE MAN GOD IS USING. This is what you have been doing in the UCG, is it not?
The first witness is unto Philadelphia! He points out the SPIRITUAL TEMPLE, that was raised up through “the word of the Lord unto Herbert W Armstrong” that goes into a place of safety!
It is through the first witness, or Zerubbabel, the stone is laid before Joshua. Zerubbabel is about the business of laying the foundation. Through the labors of Joshua, the Temple is finished. This brings about the conclusion of the Laodicean era. Jesus Christ returns.
NOW NOTICE!
Zechariah 6:9-15
“And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
“Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah, which are come from Babylon, and come thou the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah;
“Then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest;
“And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The Branch; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord:
“Even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
“And the crowns shall be to Helem, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and to Hen the son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in the temple of the Lord.
“And they that are far off shall come and build in the temple of the Lord, and ye shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you. And this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God.”
The Word of the Lord unto….the first witness!
The house of Josiah-Hen(Kit-Chen), the son of Zephaniah. There the Temple of the Lord shall be built, and you shall know the Lord of Hosts has sent me.
I didn’t write the Bible. It’s not my idea.
But because Christ had given me this job, I am committed to see it through.
Josiah means “supporter of Yah”, the God being(the Word and Logos) who became Jesus Christ.
Hen means “Grace”.
Zerubbabel shouts TWO TIMES “Grace” unto the capstone, and two hands of Zerubbabel lay the foundation. The final one laying Herbert W Armstrong as the apostle as part of the foundation.
Kit means “supporter of Christ” the God being(the Word and Logos) who was the YAH of the Old Testament.
Chen means “Grace”.
Now Herbert W Armstrong came from a family branch of my family. The surname Armstrong was given to him.
His crest is a bare arm of strength coming out of a cloud.
My crest is an armored arm of strength coming out of a cloud holding a sword dipped in blood.
(The Bedford flag is my family crest)
The Word of the Lord can’t be broken. I am not a time traveler. God is the orchestrator of these things. And by the Word of God you now know I am sent by God unto you.
Oh, how utterly baffling it is, isn't it? Here we have the single greatest Church of God ever to grace the pathetic annals of human history—the one true beacon of divine truth, no less—led by the most exalted figure imaginable: the Great Bwana Bob himself (pardon me while I genuflect in awe). This is the church that has so heroically printed books in more languages than actual humans speak (because apparently God ran out of tongues to confuse at Babel and just kept going). This is the outfit blessed with the "sure word of prophecy," where the leader channels visions through a rotating cast of spirits like some celestial cable package with premium add-ons. This is the man who has draped himself in so many Old Testament prophetic mantles—Elijah, Elisha, Jeremiah, perhaps a dash of Habakkuk for flavor—that he probably wakes up in the morning unsure whether to smite a fig tree or just prophesy doom over his breakfast cereal.
And yet... and yet... this unparalleled powerhouse of end-time truth is being persecuted so relentlessly by big bad ol' meanie Satan? How can this be? It's almost as if the Almighty, in His infinite wisdom, decided to bet the farm on the one guy whose divine protection seems to glitch more often than a budget VPN.
Apparently, the god worshiped by Bwana Bob's faithful is either shockingly weak or hilariously incompetent when it comes to safeguarding His supposed most important church during these oh-so-perilous end times. The Holy Family must have been so busy micromanaging the foundations of the world—tossing planets around like cosmic bocce balls—that they completely forgot to budget any guardian angels for the final boss level. Priorities, right? Life is tough when you're a COG prophet. The pay is terrible, the hours are eternal, and the tech support from Heaven is basically nonexistent.
For months now, the most highly esteemed Great Bwana has been treating his loyal (and presumably very patient) followers to epic sagas about how Satan—yes, Satan himself—has unleashed his digital minions to attack the servers hosting the world's most important website. Because nothing screams "end-time urgency" like a DDoS on cogwriter.com or whatever it's called this week. In classic COGland fashion, Satan isn't just the adversary; he's practically the co-star. They talk about him more than God, Jesus, or basic website maintenance combined. The devil gets top billing as the all-powerful IT saboteur, while the Creator of the Universe apparently can't swing a firewall upgrade or inspire a decent sysadmin.
One almost pities the poor deity here. Imagine being omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent... yet still unable to stop a few hackers from inconveniencing your hand-picked final witness. It's like building the Death Star but forgetting to install antivirus. Truly, the mind reels at such cosmic incompetence.
Poor Bwana Bob. Carrying the weight of prophecy on his shoulders while dodging Satan's relentless cyber-bullying must be exhausting. Maybe next time the Almighty could spring for cloud hosting with divine redundancy. Or, you know, just smite the routers. But no—better to let the Greatest Church Ever limp along on glitchy servers, because nothing builds faith like blaming the Prince of Darkness for your uptime issues.
Truly, the end times have never been so... underwhelming.
Greetings from Grover Beach, California.
We have made progress with issues affecting our ccog.org and other sites, as well as cogwriter.com.
But we are not completely finished yet.
As mentioned last week, Satan does not want us to proclaim all the truths that we do and has his minions affect us in many negative ways (Ephesians 6:12).
Another Fraudster
On Tuesday, we received an email from www.Anedot.com asking if we authorized anyone to collect money on behalf of the Continuing Church of God with them.
I said we were unaware of such, and they sent me an email that someone who claimed to be:
Peter Kotschedoff set up the account under the email churchofgodcontinuing@gmail.com. So, I told Anedot no, we do not have anyone named Peter Kotschedoff, and no, he was not authorized to set up an account at Anedot.com. So they closed that account on Wednesday.
Anedot.com is some type of a donation website, and apparently some thief (we are not sure if the name Peter Kotschedoff is real) felt his/her covetousness was more important than supporting the end time Philadelphian work and assisting the poor, widows, orphans, and hungry.
The Apostle Paul warned:
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, …
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. …
13 … evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. (2 Timothy 3:1-2,5, 13, KJV)
Satan wants to stop us from leading the final phase of the work as the Philadelphian remnant of the Church of God.
While having literary, political and theological meaning, the myth of Adam, Eve and the Garden is not any actual account of human origins or "first parents", a mere 6000 years ago.
Theology? Yes. Human origins? No.
Homo habilis and the Dawn of Human Intelligence (2.4–1.5 Million Years Ago)
Around 2.4 million years ago, the first members of the genus Homo appeared. Homo habilis, or “handy man,” was named for the stone tools found near its fossils. These early humans had larger brains than Australopithecus and were likely more dependent on tools for survival.
They lived in complex social groups and may have scavenged or hunted small animals. Their teeth were smaller, suggesting a shift in diet. The use of tools allowed them to crack open bones for marrow—a rich source of calories that may have fueled further brain growth.
Although they still looked primitive by today’s standards, Homo habilis marked a turning point. The cognitive gap between them and earlier hominins was vast. The line between survival and innovation was beginning to blur.
Homo erectus: The First Global Wanderers (1.9 Million–140,000 Years Ago)
Around 1.9 million years ago, Homo erectus emerged in Africa. This species was larger, stronger, and more advanced than its predecessors. Its brain was about two-thirds the size of a modern human’s, and its body proportions were similar to ours. Homo erectus used more sophisticated stone tools, possibly controlled fire, and built shelters.
But perhaps the most remarkable trait of Homo erectus was its wanderlust. It was the first human species to leave Africa. Fossils have been found in Georgia (1.8 million years ago), Indonesia (1.6 million years ago), and China (1.2 million years ago). Homo erectus adapted to many environments, from tropical forests to dry grasslands.
Fire provided warmth and protection, allowing these early humans to settle in colder climates. Cooking may have made food more digestible, improving nutrition and supporting brain growth. Social bonds deepened. Cooperation became essential. The long human journey had gone global.
Neanderthals, Denisovans, and the Branching Tree of Humanity (800,000–40,000 Years Ago)
From Homo erectus came a variety of species adapted to different environments. In Europe and western Asia, Homo neanderthalensis—the Neanderthals—evolved around 400,000 years ago. In eastern Asia, another group emerged: the Denisovans, known primarily through genetic evidence and a few fossil fragments.
Neanderthals were not brutish cavemen, as once believed. They had larger brains than modern humans, buried their dead, cared for the injured, and created art and tools. Their lives were hard, marked by cold climates and dangerous hunts, but they were intelligent survivors.
Meanwhile, early Homo sapiens were evolving in Africa. Fossils from Morocco, dated to around 300,000 years ago, show a mix of modern and archaic features. These early humans had high foreheads, smaller faces, and behavior increasingly shaped by culture.
Homo sapiens: The Emergence of Modern Humans (300,000 Years Ago–Present)
Modern humans, Homo sapiens, emerged in Africa roughly 300,000 years ago. They spread slowly at first moving into the Middle East around 100,000 years ago. and into Europe and Asia by 60,000 years ago..
Along the way , they encountered and interbred with Neanderthals and Denisovians, leaving traces of these ancient relatives in our own DNA.
What set Homo sapiens apart was not just biology, but behavior. Around 50,000 years ago, a “cognitive revolution” occurred. Humans began to make intricate tools, jewelry, cave paintings, and musical instruments. They developed language, rituals, and myths. Culture became a survival tool as powerful as fire or stone.
As humans spread across the globe, they adapted to new environments, domesticated animals, and transformed landscapes. By 15,000 years ago, they had reached the Americas. By 4,000 years ago, they had colonized remote Pacific islands.
Agriculture, which began around 10,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent, changed everything. People settled into villages, built cities, and formed civilizations. Writing was invented, and with it, history began.
From a historical perspective, literacy levels for the world population have risen drastically in the last couple of centuries. While only one in ten people in the world could read and write in 1820, today, only 1 in 10 remains illiterate. .
Humans became personally conscious about 3300 BC to 2100BC, 5,300 to 4,100 years ago when writing was invented with reading came next. It was at this time the personal "I" came into being .
From Homo Erectus, 2 million years ago, up until the last Neanderthal, the hand axe never changed. This personal Acheulean handaxe is about 800,000 years old
From 60,000 years ago to today, modern humans went to the moon and invented AI
AI beings may prove to be the next new species putting the existence of modern humans at risk if quardrails aren't enforced.
Shaping Humanity: How Science, Art and Imagination Help Us Understand Our Origins
It's that magical time of year again—Armstrongist Passover season is upon us, and right on cue, Bwana Bob Thiel is gearing up for his annual meltdown over the dreaded cross.
No one could possibly forget his utterly appalling (and let's be honest, vile) reaction back when grace-filled Christians in the local community quietly erected crosses to honor each Living Church of God member slaughtered by Terry Ratzmann in those tragic Milwaukee murders. While others grieved, Bwana Bob couldn't resist spewing his disgust at the very symbol of the faith he claims to follow.
And here we are in 2026, and surprise, surprise—he's still just as spiteful and repulsed by the cross as ever. If you're a genuine Christian, even considering this guy as a legitimate teacher or leader, that should be flashing red lights and blaring sirens.
One can only imagine the sheer delight it must bring him when he sees Islamic extremists tearing down Christian crosses and demolishing churches—he probably equates it to some glorious sign of the times. After all, Armstrongists like Bwana Bob treat the Book of Revelation like their personal validation playbook; they desperately need every disaster, plague, and apocalyptic horror mentioned in it to actually happen so they can finally scream, "See? We were right all along!" How convenient for their endless nuttiness.
Many people have pointed to various aspects of modern technology as being related to the ‘mark of the beast’ of Revelation. And while the final Beast power will utilize technology, could something as familiar as some type of a cross be a mark of the beast?
Like many other Armstrongists, Bwana Bob's eyes glaze over at the mere thought that Emperor Constantine slapped that pagan-tinged symbol on his military shields—the infamous labarum with its chi-rho "cross" thingy—turning what should be a simple execution stake into some militaristic talisman for his troops.
Because nothing screams "true Christianity" like a Roman emperor repurposing a heavenly vision to win battles and push his version of the faith forward, right? Clearly, that's the hill Bwana Bob chooses to die on—repeatedly—while conveniently ignoring how the real cross has meant comfort and remembrance to actual believers for centuries. But hey, who needs historical nuance when you've got prophecy-fueled disdain to fuel the annual rant?
Oh, of course—those stupid, ignorant, pagan heathens dared to use the cross, so naturally it must be forever prohibited. Bad pagans! Shame on them for tainting the symbol with their filthy history.
Real True Christians (read: Armstrongists) would never, ever allow a cross anywhere near them—gasp!—because, as everyone knows, the Antichrist is definitely going to be making you get one on your forehead or hand. Better safe than sorry, right? Can't risk associating with anything that might accidentally look like that thing Jesus actually died on. Priorities, people. Priorities.
If the cross is a symbol of the future Antichrist/Beast power as Priest P. Huchedé indicates it will be (and it is in a book with an official imprimatur), perhaps those who come from faiths descended from Emperor Constantine should be concerned about their religion now–before it becomes even further removed from the original faith. The Bible indicates that the true Christians will NOT have the symbol/mark needed to buy or sell when the two beasts of Revelation 13 are in power, but only those that will follow those beasts will (Revelation 13:16-17)–and while crosses may not necessarily be required everywhere, other Greco-Roman Catholic writings suggest that in certain places, they will be.
Bwana Bob goes on and on about all kinds of things just to pump up that massive vain ego of his, yet he very conveniently chooses to ignore the following from the Bible:
You know, verses like Proverbs 16:18—"Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall"—or maybe James 4:6, where it says God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Funny how those get skipped when you're busy declaring yourself the one true prophet while everyone else is apparently blind.
But sure, keep ranting about pagan crosses and end-time disasters—nothing says "humble servant of God" like turning every post into a mirror for self-admiration. Priorities, right?
Instead of despising the cross, like Bwana Bob does, perhaps he needs to look at how his sacred Scriptures present the opposite view:
...the cross is central to salvation, to be boasted in (Galatians 6:14), preached boldly, and regarded as the ultimate demonstration of God's love and power.
The message of the cross is described as foolishness (or seeming absurd/nonsense) to unbelievers like Bwana Bob, but it is the power of God to those being saved.
1 Corinthians 1:18 — For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
1 Corinthians 1:23 — ...but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles...
This shows that unbelievers (Jews expecting a triumphant Messiah without suffering, or Greeks seeking philosophical sophistication) naturally reject or scorn the idea of a crucified Savior. Paul calls this a "stumbling block" (skandalon, scandal/offense) and "foolishness," but he affirms it as divine wisdom. Jesus Himself "endured the cross, despising the shame" — not despising the cross as evil, but treating the shame/humiliation associated with it (public execution as a criminal, nakedness, mockery) as something to disregard because of the greater joy of redemption and exaltation ahead.
Hebrews 12:2 — ...looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
This is the closest the Bible comes to using "despising" in connection with the cross, but it's Jesus despising the shame of it (not the cross itself), and He endured it willingly for our sake.
Believers are warned against becoming enemies of the cross by living in ways that undermine its meaning (e.g., pursuing fleshly desires instead of self-denial and holiness).
Philippians 3:18 — "For many... walk as enemies of the cross of Christ." (Paul weeps over this, describing such people as focused on earthly things, with destruction as their end.)
The New Testament consistently honors the cross as the means of atonement (e.g., Colossians 2:14, 1 Peter 2:24), reconciliation (Ephesians 2:16), and victory over sin/death.
Paul says:
Galatians 6:14 — "But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."
The Bible says the cross appears foolish or offensive to those rejecting the gospel (unbelievers), and Jesus despised its shame while enduring it. But true Christians are called to embrace, proclaim, and boast in the cross—not despise it—as the core of salvation. Any teaching that despises the cross itself (as a symbol or the event) goes against the New Testament's emphasis.
Picture it: wide-eyed, wallet-open members gazing upward in reverent awe at their ministry—those anointed vessels of divine wisdom, those celestial middle managers hand-picked by God Himself to micromanage every last thought, skirt length, car color, dress shirt color, and tithe check. The very idea that these luminous beings might not, in return, regard the average tithing serf with even a modicum of respect? Why, that’s practically heresy. Almost as heretical as suggesting the ministers were ever meant to—gasp—serve the congregation instead of the other way around. How quaint. How adorably naïve. How very 1st-century of anyone to still believe that servant-leader nonsense after all these decades of glorious top-down lordship.
For generations, the flock has been showered with the most affectionate pet names straight from the pastoral heart: spiritual babies (aww, they’re still on milk!), weak, sheeple (because actual sheep have more backbone), gullible, naive, rebellious (the cardinal sin), Jezebels (because nothing says “godly discernment” like slapping that label on any woman who dares have an opinion), bitter, stupid, dumb as rocks, Laodicean (the nuclear option), and my personal favorite—“unconverted.” Truly, the vocabulary of love knows no bounds.
And then—cue the heavenly choir and a spotlight brighter than the one on a Feast of Tabernacles stage—enter the Philadelphia Church of God, the glittering crown jewel of administrative compassion. In their breathtakingly brief but extraordinarily malevolent history, they have never once wasted a single calorie holding any member in anything approaching high esteem. Why bother when you can instead lovingly bury them under an ever-expanding avalanche of godly government rules so intricate, so soul-crushingly petty, so marvelously life-destroying that the average member probably needs a flow chart just to figure out when they’re allowed to speak to their own children again?
The fruits of this enlightened leadership? Shattered families, messy divorces, heart-wrenching estrangements, and, tragically, suicides—all in the name of "God's government," of course.
How utterly Christ-like.
How perfectly Philadelphian.
The Exit & Support Network has been kind enough to keep the receipts—decades of testimonies, shattered lives, and polite little horror stories that read like dystopian fan fiction except they’re real and someone’s still tithing to keep the machine humming.
So here’s to the ministry: forever preaching servanthood while practicing Pharaoh cosplay, forever demanding blind loyalty while dispensing contempt like it’s the new Passover wine, forever promising God’s blessings right up until the moment the ambulance leaves with the lights on.
Truly, if sarcasm were a spiritual gift, these groups would have the full nine yards and then some.
PCG Ministers Call Members “Field Mice”: January 24, 2026
Some time back when I was still in the Philadelphia Church of God. I attended a family event at the PCG compound in Edmond OK.
I went into the men’s room and while there I noticed an older man cleaning the room. I told him he was doing a great job because it was so clean. We talked a bit. It seems he was a member of the PCG HQ congregation and he was glad to see so many non HQ members at the event.
He told me that HQ staff and ministers called members from outside HQ “field mice” and that it was the job of the “field mice” to “pay and pray.” He didn’t like that sentiment and thought the term derogatory. He told me that he was thankful for us because without us “field mice” he would not have a job.
I think if you ask any member of the PCG outside of HQ they will tell you that they are thought of as “field mice” and they can see the difference in how they are treated by HQ staff and ministers. –Former member of PCG [name withheld]
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