PCG: Biblical Manhood Must Be Confrontational

Leave it to Gerald Flurry's "boys" to tell the men in the Philadelphia Church of God on how to be real, men who are soon to be "gods."

Leave it to the immature boy-men, who have never held a real job, worked outside the PCG cult compound, or interacted with normal human beings in society, to tell older men how to act and rule their households.  These are boy-men who have had everything delivered to them on silver platters because they are married into the PCG hierarchy. These inexperienced boy-men have their education entirely from Herbert Armstrong booklets/materials and the teachings of Gerald Flurry.  None of them have any sound theological/biblical education.  None have been to a real college.

These immature little boy-men write articles for the PCG rags on a regular basis now that Lil"Stevie has taken over since his father has suffered several strokes and mental lapses.

In the latest article by Joel Hilliker on Biblical Manhood, he pontificates that men in PCG need to be confrontational.  Ministers and wives need to be confrontational with members and men need to be confrontational with their kids and wives.

Hilliker slobbers at the feet of Herbert Armstrong as the epitome of being an example of "proper" confrontation.  Armstrong was sooooooooo confrontational that he was able to stay the hand of Satan from persecuting the church.  Once Herb died, the gates of hell were opened up and Satan won the battle. Satan is one powerful dude in the eyes of so many in the PCG.

Other parts of the Bible describe what this “mystery of iniquity” was. Dozens, even hundreds, of top leaders in God’s Church were committing iniquity and plotting to fundamentally transform the Church—yet it was a mystery. It stayed underground and dared not show itself. Why? Because of “he who now restrains.” That sinister force was completely restrained and held in check by one man! 

Once God took that man out of the way, nothing was left to hold back this widespread evil influence. It took over and destroyed God’s Church. 

Speaking of this prophecy in Malachi’s Message, Gerald Flurry wrote, “There have always been people in God’s Church whom Satan can use unless they are controlled. … Christ used Paul to hold back this satanic force in his day. … It is a ‘mystery of iniquity’ because it was hidden. It dared not show itself because of ‘he’ who restrained it. He was a man who was seen and whose authority was feared—Herbert W. Armstrong.” 

This shows how determined Satan is to infiltrate and destroy God’s Church. It reveals that people in God’s own Church—which could include any one of us—can be used by Satan if not controlled by God and God’s government. It also reveals the need for vigilance and for restraining evil!

Hilliker thens needs to reenforce the idea to the emasculated men of PCG that it is their duty to start closing the gates of hell and reign Satan in like Herb did.

Men, this danger also exists in our lives, in our relationships, in our families, in our work and in our era of God’s Church. Realize that this is a core element of biblical manhood: A godly man restrains Satan’s influence!

How did Herbert W. Armstrong restrain? He restrained through his example, for sure, but he also restrained through direct confrontation. He had a God-commissioned office, he had authority, and he used it. People knew that and feared it. And through that confrontation, God blocked the volcano of evil that was boiling beneath the surface of His Church. 

It is amazing how the PCG has deified Herbert and turned him into a sinless powerful god who was stroger than Satan.

Hilliker then tells the emasculated men of PCG that they MUST be confrontational and embrace it!

We need to develop godly authority. We need to learn how to confront evil. We need to build the courage to restrain Satan’s influence. We need to become men who deal with iniquity with godly boldness. 

In fact, we need to embrace confrontation.

 Come on PCG men!  Be manly men!  Seize Satan by the balls and confine him! Keep him outside the compound!

We need to fulfill our manly duty to embrace conflict when God shows us it is necessary. If God is leading us to restrain evil, we should not shy away from confrontation: We should seize the opportunity.

One of the first ways that the men of PCG need to be confrontational is by confronting people on what they wear, particularly at church.  Hilliker then quotes the fake "evangelist" Lil'Stevie:

Here is a practical example. In our Pastor General’s Report, we have reprinted an article a few times by Evangelist Stephen Flurry called “Upholding God’s Standard in Dress and Appearance.” One of the subheads is simply: “Confrontation.” It says this: “[U]pholding God’s standard in dress and appearance also means that we—both ministers and wives—must confront problems as they arise. If we shy away from confronting problems—in this case, problems that are visible to all—then our congregation’s standard in appearance will only sink lower.

Apparently the pussy-boy ministers and fathers have been afraid to be confrontational.

“A couple years ago, my dad told me that we ministers tend to avoid confrontation whenever possible. ‘But the nature of this Work,’ he said, ‘dictates that we be people who will confront’” (emphasis added). 

Open rebuke is the key to love!  Though ministers should not lord it over their congregations, or so he says.  The track record on that proves otherwise!

Do you know what is even more beneficial than expressing love for another person?  OPEN REBUKE!

In this article to Philadelphia Church of God ministers, Mr. Flurry was not saying that they should bulldoze through the congregation, squashing everything in their path. He was emphasizing the ministers’ duty to uphold God’s law. The nature of God’s Work, of God’s Church, of God’s way of life, demands that we confront! We must be willing to take on problems and stand up to evil! This is an important aspect of the love of God! 

“Open rebuke is better than secret love,” Proverbs 27:5 says. What good is love if it isn’t expressed? It doesn’t benefit anyone. You might feel very loving toward someone, but if you’re not expressing it, it does that person no good. You know what is more beneficial than that? Open rebuke. At least then the person might actually profit from what is said. And sometimes, rebuke can be extremely helpful.

This is why the ministry has been given to the church!  Who knew that was the purpose of the ministry.  Its obviously not to heal the sick, care for the marginalized and be loving shepherds.  No way, Jesus!

God gives His ministry for this purpose, to help His people overcome evil and become perfect (Ephesians 4:11-13). They address these problems through delivering sermons and Bible studies, through personal counseling, and by stepping in when necessary to point an issue out as it is happening. When God is using a minister to correct some type of sin, it is not a comfortable thing. But that man is a tool for God to pour out His love on us! God is using him to try to help us turn away from things in our lives that are hurting us and toward the godly righteousness that will bring blessings!

Ministers of PCG are not the only ones to do this, their wives must too!  Keep those girls in potato sack dresses and in the kitchen working!

But ministers are not the only ones who have this obligation. 

Evil apparently is pounding at the gates of the PCG compound and its member homes.  I can't imagine living in such a state of fear all the time.

God confronts evil! When Lucifer became wicked and tried to usurp God, God met him head-on and kicked him and his demons out of heaven! Revelation 12:12 shows that this type of confrontation happened not only before the Earth was created (Genesis 1:2), but again in this modern era. In fact, God confined Satan and the demons to this planet on or around the very same day “he who now restrains” was “taken out of the way.” God says woe to you who live on the Earth, because Satan is here among you now! People in God’s Church saw that horrific fact in action. We witnessed firsthand the devastating consequences of failing to restrain evil. 

God allows us to live in this woeful state—having Satan cast down among us—for a reason. He wants us to learn to confront evil! 

Clearly, this is not just a job for a minister. Confronting evil is crucial for everyone who follows God! And confronting evil is not restricted to trying to overcome sin in your own mind. In some cases, you have the duty to intervene and confront evil in the lives of your wife, your children, or other members of God’s Family.

Since all PCG members are trying their hardest to become like the god they follow, it is their duty to "provoke" each other.

Each of us is striving to become like God, and God confronts evil. He tells us over and over in the Bible that we must do the same. “Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works” (Hebrews 10:24). Provoke means to incite or even irritate. That is not comfortable! “If thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother” (Matthew 18; also Luke 17:3). “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness” (Galatians 6:1). Temper criticism with praise; be kind—but still, take action. “Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly” (1 Thessalonians 5:14). The English Standard Version renders this, “admonish the idle”—”comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.” 

The emasculated god-men in PCG need to start being confrontational at home before they turn that provoking fire upon the world around them.

Obviously the emasculated men of PCG need an extra pair.

If you are a father, you must confront your children. Satan is broadcasting non-stop to influence, tempt and even force people into evil, destructive thoughts and actions. He is working hard, constantly fighting the positive influence that God and you are exerting on your child. He is not afraid to confront you! 

If you are not confronting your children, you do not love them! Read Proverbs 13:24; 19:18 and 29:15. God says if you spare the rod—a very direct form of confrontation—you hate your son! If you love him, you will chasten him promptly. The father who loves his child springs into action when he sees evil. 

Our world is dominated by Satan’s influence. Because of this, your children are vulnerable—perhaps already suffering from serious sins. Children everywhere languish under parents who tackle those evil influences with insufficient force, or ignore them altogether.

Women, you are not left out of this process either, though you are to be on the receiving end:

If you are a husband, you cannot fear confronting your wife. The man who fears confrontation will one day realize that his wife is actually the leader of his home. Confronting your wife is not the same as confronting your child. She is an adult; she is your bride; she is an heir together with you. But it is the same in the sense that in both cases, you should confront it! You should exercise your authority to lead your family away from harm. You should restrain iniquity. 

Hilliker ends with this.  Obviously Cal Culpepper and his gestapo failed to get this message:

When you confront someone, whether your brother, your wife or your child, be slow to wrath (James 1:19-20). Mr. Flurry writes in his booklet on James, “The wrath of man contains none of God’s righteousness. So that means we must always let God’s righteousness direct our anger, or we will make many mistakes. We absolutely must rule our emotions.” Your impatience, your frustration, your bad temper is worthless to God! Do not discipline your children with these emotions; they are only destructive. And in general, when you rely on your own human emotion, you are going to make a mistake. 

So yes, godly confrontation must be done the right way, with courage, clarity and humility. Yes, it requires you to eradicate carnal thoughts: pride, frustration, wrong emotion. Yes, it requires you to take personal correction yourself. But do not let the hard work of godly confrontation dissuade you from doing it! It is your duty as a man! Don’t fear the hard work required. Fear the sin, the evil, the suffering that results from neglecting confrontation! Let God use you to restrain that iniquity! It is your critical duty of biblical manhood. Embrace love-motivated confrontation. 

Its this type of bullshit promulgated as "truth" that cause so much abuse in the church.  It causes the suicides, the divorces, the kids thrown to the curb, the kids turning to drugs, and a multitude of other issues.

There is nothing godly in this message from Hilliker even if he says God or quotes scripture.

COG Group Needs Binoculars In Order To Please It's "god"

The Chief Pharisee of Canada has been busy lately trying to see when the new moon was to happen so he can toot a horn.  Because the law is more important than loving one's neighbor, it is vital that his followers still pretend to be Jewish and keep the miniscule letter of the law.

The lengths Malm and his few acolytes go to in order to be "righteous" is exhausting and totally unnecessary.

Dr. Roy Hoffman of the Israel New moon Society saw the new moon this evening.  He is a highly experienced and skilled observer and had to first find the very faint moon by binoculars, then once the moon was located he could see it with his naked eyes and did manage to get a faint picture.  He was the only searcher who did see the new moon.  

On the grounds that: 

1.  Only one person saw the first light of the new moon, even though he was able to take a faint picture [cameras not being available during the Temple period]

2.   and  that even he, a highly experienced expert, needed binoculars [binoculars were not available during the Temple period or before] to find the faint moon before he could see it by naked eye: 

I find that a new moon would NOT have been declared for this evening during Temple times.   

If anyone would like to comment on this please contact me at jddm3@hotmail.com

 The new moon and first day of the fourth biblical month will therefore begin at sunset tomorrow evening ending Wednesday, and making all day Thursday the New Moon Day. 

When you read Malm's nonsense you can see why he finds Jesus so disturbing and cannot talk about him.  Can you imagine Malm ever discussing this:

Matthew 11:30The Message (MSG)28-30 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Just sayin... Ken Ham’s Ark Encounter Is Child Abuse

Just sayin...  Ken Ham’s Ark Encounter Is Child Abuse

July 6, 2016 by Michael Stone

Convincing children creationism is true constitutes intellectual child abuse.

Ken Ham’s Ark Encounter is a Christian fundamentalist project based on discredited science and a literal interpretation of Genesis.

The The life-size version of Noah’s Ark is located in Williamstown, Ky., just south of Cincinnati, Ohio, and is designed to be an exercise in Christian propaganda: a deplorable attempt to deceive children and others by denying the scientific reality of biological evolution and promoting Christian mythology as scientific fact.

The 500-foot-long, $100 million ark opens to the public on Thursday.

Ark Encounter is dedicated to indoctrinating children with ridiculous and discredited claims from the dubious field of “creation science,” claims such as the earth is only 6,000-years-old, that human beings and dinosaurs lived on the earth at the same time, and that the story of Noah’s Ark is true.

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The truth is that there is no scientific controversy concerning evolution. The assumption that creationism, or intelligent design, constitutes a legitimate scientific alternative to the theory of evolution is simply false.

Simply put, creationism is not a legitimate scientific alternative to the theory of evolution. And preventing children from learning the truth about the world, like teaching children that creationism is an acceptable scientific explanation for the diversity of life on Earth, is a form of child abuse.

Bottom line: By teaching children creationism is a legitimate scientific theory that disproves the theory of evolution, Ken Ham’s Ark Encounter is engaged in a despicable form of intellectual child abuse.

The list of topics taught by the COG's that are totally erroneous and mistaken is probably endless. All Apostle types, That or Those Prophets, Joshua's, Zerubbabels, Those spoken of by the Prophet Haggai and all of their lesser minister types are poorly educated in the realities of science well done opting more for the dismissive and  anti-intellectual attitude of  calling anything they don't understand or that upsets their Bronze Age views as "Science Falsely So-Called."  

The ministry of the WCG was poorly trained in theology much less science and it is even more ignorant to this day because of merely trying to copy the past mistakes and ignorance to keep their perceived glory days going at least until the end of their unchanged in a moment and the twinkling of an eye lives.

One only need ask "what new things have I learned about the Bible, its origins, intent, politic and historical accuracy and presentation in the last 50 years" to see how backward their views still are. Jesus being the same yesterday, today and forever was the unfortunate cue for them to feel they needed to do the same intellectually.  And they have held their ground in their ignorance against all we as a species have learned about ourselves, our history and our origins very well.  They have to I suppose for once you get stuck in telling and loving "the Old Old Story" you are stuck indeed. 

 Dave Pack boasts that he learned the truth of , or mistaken truth, of evolution 50 years ago.  I was in that same "Genesis Flood" Bible class and I can tell you it was bogus and beyond stupid in my own hind sight.  We have learned more about evolution and Biblical issues and difficulties over the past 20 years than n the previous "6,000".  To even say such a thing as if it was a good thing is both arrogant and ignorant beyond measure.  

Have you ever heard the words or admission "We were mistaken" or "I was mistaken" from any of the leadership of the splits, splinters and slivers, like Dave Pack, Gerald Flurry or Rod Meredith?  Joe Tkach doesn't count either as he has gone on to adopt new and improved falsehoods in his reinvention of the wheel of theology.  One read or listen to any presentation of "The Surprising God" perspectives on all things God, Jesus and The Enigmatic Holy Spirit should convince you of what word salad means.  Maybe it's just me and my early life questions and problems with growing up in a Trinitarian Church before WCG.  as a kid.  I never liked that answer.  That always meant to me "we have no idea" but you are to stay put and have faith.  As I got older I learned faith is what one had before the facts eradicated it.

http://thesurprisinggodblog.gci.org/

Very little of what LCG, PCG and RCG teach is actually true.  They are perpetuating ignorance in both theology and science to yet another generation of well meaning  but nonetheless  "just tell me what to believe" men, women and children who ultimately won't be served well by it all.

Recently in a rebuttal to the view that the Book of Revelation is a failed first century prophecy written only to the holders on during the Roman siege of Jerusalem back in the day, someone proved how modern and yet to be Revelation was because it spoke of armies of 200 million, which were impossible back in those days.  Of course the answer to that would be a good study in Biblical hyperbole and it's use but those kinds of concepts escape literalists.  The concept of Midrash in writing the New Testament story of Jesus and how it makes the Old Testament look like it so accurately predicts the New is also not a concept understood or even heard of by COG ministers much less members in their study of scripture.  

And science well done?  Well all we have to recall is "A Theory for the Birds" and "A Whale of a Tale" to understand just how little WCG and Ted Armstrong understood about evolution.  In Dave Pack's recent mistaken series on Evolution, Dave harkens back to those booklets and uses them just as they were used 50 years ago as well as many other now totally discredited "facts".  Sad and pathetic actually for a man who is touted as "very intelligent".  Ignorance posing as intelligence is merely being clever which is not the same as truthful and professional. 

In theology, the leadership and ministry have much of it wrong.  In science, they have just about all of it wrong.

Sometimes there is a way that seems right to a man because it is right.  Sometimes the wisdom of man is really wise and the foolishness of the gods or his representatives is really foolish. Sometimes man sees not as a god sees because the author who told us what the god saw was mistaken.  The science that is falsely so called is only  false to those who refuse to see the truth of it because it upsets the apple cart of their cherished beliefs though beliefs are not the same as what is actually true.

In science well done,  "If you can't show it,  you don't know it".  But in the theology of the COGs,  if you can't show it,  it's just a mystery and it would  be in your best interest to simply pray, pay, obey and stay put....which is intellectual abuse for both adults and children at its worse.

What's Your Favorite Stupid Church of God Story?

The following story was discussed on other group the other day and goes to show how SICK Armstrongism is with it's magical god and stupid stories.  What stupid story do you remember?

Anyone ever hear of the story which circulated about a situation at a feast site where a toilet was plugged up in the mens' restroom and several men were standing around, discussing how to unplug it? The story goes that this set of circumstances arose and some stranger stepped out from behind the group and reached down inside the toilet bowl and unclogged it with his hand. Then, he left the bathroom. Somebody tried to follow him, and when he stepped outside the restroom door, the stranger was totally vanished. So, the story got around that angel stepped in to save the day at the feast, and that other angels were among us, but we couldn't see them. Believe it or not, our congregational Super Hero actually performed a copy-cat act to this story! One sabbath not too long after that story first circulated, we had a clogged toilet in the ladies restroom at our local church meeting hall. When the ladies reported it to "Mr.Gung Ho," he had to replicate the angel in the story, and so he went in there and reached down and unclogged that toilet with his hand. He was the same Super Hero who studied Arabic so that when WCG fled to the place of safety, he'd be able to communicate with the locals in their native tongue and serve as a go-between between us and them.