Monday, July 28, 2014

New Book: Walking From Lockney To Jerusalem: My Life In The Worldwide Church of God


For those interested:


From Amazon:


It’s a walk of faith--and it also involves a “faith of inconvienence”...Join Coy Reece Holley as he takes you through a "walking tour" of his life in this unique "memoir with a twist in ”Walking From Lockney To Jerusalem: My Life In The Worldwide Church of God". This book will help you see evangelical Christianity through totally different eyes and will provoke you to explore issues not only in religion, but also in society that you may not have otherwise considered. He also recounts his own unique journey as a member of the Worldwide Church of God originally founded by Herbert W. Armstrong (now called Grace Communion International) through an insider's perspective of what happened in the years shortly before Joseph W. Tkach, Sr.'s 1994 "Christmas Eve" sermon as well as the aftermath of "the changes" within WCG/GCI that followed. Mr. Holley tells the story of how those "changes" have impacted both past and present WCG/GCI members even to this day.

News article here: Plainview resident to release online books

From Authonomy:

Come join me on a TRUE "walk of faith" by reading "Walking From Lockney To Jerusalem"!
Second Corinthians 5:7 reminds us that we "...walk by faith, not by sight." For most people in evangelical Christianity, this particular verse is a hard passage to put into practice. But my own life has proved to be an continued practical lab experiment that my God has used to put abstract spiritual concepts on the bottom shelf and make them more easily understandable. "Walking From Lockney To Jerusalem: My Life In The Worldwide Church of God" serves as an autobiographical account of not only my own personal life story, but also particularly emphasizing the personal journey I underwent in becoming a member of a church that just 25 years ago was once called a "cult" by many in orthodox Christianity, but which has since renounced previous unBiblical teachings for the cause of Christ. In "Walking...", I recount from an insider's perspective both the positive experiences as well as the trail of tears that myself and many other WCG members experienced after "...the changes". I also use some of my own stories as a way to give voice to other WCG brethren who still to this day have problems in expressing how they feel about what has happened in WCG/GCI.

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Gerald Flurry Still Looking To Establish A "College" In An Area Known For Nudism and Wicca


Click picture to enlarge


Gerald Flurry seems to be having some issues in finding a suitable estate in the UK to start a satellite version of his idolatrous Herbert W Armstrong "college" based in Edmond Oklahoma.  Flurry originally had his sights set on buying parts of the old Bricket Wood campus that the Worldwide Church of God owned in the 1960's and 70's.

Most COG members never knew that Bricket Wood held some dark secrets that most would never have appraoved of in the church: nudism and wicca.

During the 1930s the area became popular with naturists after Charles Macaskie set up a naturist camp on the outskirts of the village. Naturists bought up plots of land on the edge of the village and built their own communities, which at first didn't have electricity or running water. The village also began to attract Wiccans after Gerald Gardner set up Bricket Wood coven.

Naturism

The village of Bricket Wood has been host to at least six naturist clubs: Fiveacres Country Club, Spielplatz, The Sun-Folk Society, Gardenia (originally named Silverbirch), Diogenes Sunlight Society (also known as The Phoenix Recreational Society), and The Suncampers. Of these, Gardenia has now closed and been built on, Diogenes became the Diogenes Sun Club when it moved to near Maple Cross. The Suncampers have gone but the three remaining clubs are all still open.
The clubs have been there for many years. Fiveacres Country Club was founded in 1927 off Oakwood Road and is the UK's oldest naturist club on the same site. Spielplatz was founded by the Mackaskies in 1929 after visiting Fiveacres and they purchased their own site in the village in Lye Lane , The Sun-Folk Society started in 1931.

Wicca

In 1954 Gerald Gardner published his book "Witchcraft Today" to advance his own practice of Wicca as a modern religion. He established his first coven at Bricket Wood. Gerald Gardner operated his coven from Fiveacre Country Club in Bricket Wood.[1]