The Philadelphia Church of God, lead by Gerald Flurry, has a bad reputation of isolating its membership from the tainted world around them. Because Flurry believes he is the final Elijah and numerous other incarnations he believes he is the sole bearer of all truth. That "truth" is a precious think only worthy of the ears of his dwindling flock of deceived followers.
Because of Flurry's autocratic reign of fear, his members are threatened with expulsion from the Kingdom of God if they dare question him in anything. With his recent edicts that PCG members are to break all ties with exCOG members and family members, the cult has further isolated itself. This has led to slim pickings for singles in the PCG to date and find potential spouses.
The "men" at headquarters came up with a great idea for PCG singles. They can date online! No matter here you are in the world you can find a date. You can go on walks "together." Watch movies "together." Touch finger tips on screen together. The amazing potential is endless!
A student at Herbert W Armstrong "college" writes:
My first online date was accomplished while I was parked in front of a McDonald’s. I am glad I already knew my date well, because this date would have made a bad first impression. Since the restaurant was crowded, I spent the time in an uncomfortable car. The Internet connection broke down a couple of times; my friend could barely understand me, and I was very tired.
Its truly sickening to see what Armstrongism has done to the minds young people still trapped in the cult to the point they think this is normal.When the spring holy days came, I managed to schedule my first online date with a single from the list. I prepared questions beforehand to make sure I would have enough to talk about for one hour. I was afraid she wouldn’t understand my accent or my poor pronunciation, but the date went very well! This single girl and I are now very good friends, and we will both be in the freshman class at Herbert W. Armstrong College this fall!
Many online dates followed after this one, and throughout my experience I have learned how wonderful God’s way of dating is. It is inspiring to think about how God forms His Family with one mind. Whether they live in America, South Africa, Europe or Australia, all have one thing in common: God is working with them! The more widely I dated, the more my thinking stayed on course and the less I would focus on one person. Dating widely turned out to be a lot of fun. I realized how wonderful it is to speak with each other about prophecy, to speak about content on pcog.org and theTrumpet.com, to go for a walk and even to make music together.
I was shocked to realize that most had never had an online date before I asked them. I wonder why. Many of those single women were eager to reply and willingly worked with me to schedule an online date. Whether it was late in the middle of the night or very early in the morning, it didn’t matter: The online date was wonderful, inspiring and motivating. Often I heard that I moved them “to think more deeply,” that “iron sharpened iron,” or simply that they enjoyed it a lot. I know that these dates shaped me to be a more open, creative and joyful person. Most importantly, I learned that the more I tried to get out of my comfort zone, the more blessed I was to receive so many wonderful, well-worded, inspiring, motivating, encouraging, funny and uplifting e-mails.
