Philadelphia Church of God Says That Everyone Should Look To Headquarters For All Truth

Gerald Flurry's warrior God is alive and well in the latest article from the Philadelphia Church of God.  It is an article telling the story of the Zulu's and the British soldiers in South Africa.  The rise of Shaka Zulu and his warriors and the British soldiers holds as much significance to PCG elite as does the Bible. It is important for Flurry to have a warrior god that constantly is fighting.

Towards the end of the article, PCG members are reminded that they are to look to Edmond as the seat of all knowledge and leadership.  Edmond is the headquarters for the small remnant of true believers that posses all truth.  Bob Thiel does not have it.  James Malm does not. Dave Pack does not. UCG certainly does not.  All good PCG soldiers should look to the general at HQ for truth.  After all, they are too dumb to figure it out themselves.

This third point, then, is we must learn to keep our eyes on headquarters. Is Jesus Christ divided? Of course not (1 Corinthians 1:13). We have many proofs that He is only working through the small remnant of the Philadelphia Church of God; but even if we only had one proof, the Work would be enough. Christ said, “Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father” (John 14:11-12). 

A greater work was done through God’s Elijah, Herbert W. Armstrong. That great Work continues today through God’s prophet, Gerald Flurry. We must focus our attention on the Work and where it is being done. We must keep our eyes on headquarters—Edmond, Oklahoma. Losing sight of whom God has placed in charge of His Work will cause us to become battle casualties. The Soldiers of the King

Dingy Church of God False Prophet Says The Beast Power Will Soon Be Attacking Him

The false prophet from Arroyo Grande, CA is weighing in today on the ICANN internet issue that may happen this weekend.  Doomdayers are predicting all kinds of scenarios, but none are as absurd as Almost Arrested, Self-Appointed, Elisha, Elijah, Joshua, Famous Amos, Chief Overseer, Prophet, Apostle, 1/2 of Two Witnesses, Bob Thiel.  Only he is silly enough to think that this issue will have a direct impact upon his false ministry.  He thinks that Baron von Gutenberg, the Hadron Collider and the Catholic Church will join up together in a holy triumvirate to wage war on his pathetic little church.

The deliberate lies and self-deception of these false self appointed COG leaders is appalling.

You will notice that the lying false prophet now thinks he is one of the two witnesses. Thiel and Laura Weinland have a great work ahead of them!

One or more associated with the Continuing Church of God will be identifying that the European “prince” (Daniel 9:26-27) who is rising up to become a king, as not being able to truly bring peace, but instead will bring war and will be in league with the final Antichrist.

We will also be warning that the idea of a human-led utopia that the UN and others are pushing is false and that it is only through Jesus’ return and the gospel of the kingdom that such a utopian condition will happen.

This will likely trigger major media coverage.

Scrutiny of real, as well as claimed, COG literature will likely happen towards the end and various aspects of real and incorrect COG doctrines will likely be ridiculed. Media coverage would then be expected to cover more of the COG message (cf. The Gospel of the Kingdom of God) and this may be associated with the “short work” of Romans 9:28.

We in the Continuing Church of God (CCOG) are preparing for the ‘short work’ by establishing multiple websites in multiple languages, while researching and making available information on church history, doctrine, and prophecy, while also proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom of God to the world as a witness.

Since the true Church of God is so small, it is highly likely that it getting significant media coverage will help fulfill Matthew 24:14. Some of the Philadelphia remnant will be explaining that it is Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God and not the rise of a militaristic leader that the world needs. According to Daniel 11:32 it is “the people who know their God [that] shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.” Hundreds of millions, if not billions, will receive at least a partial witness. All of that will likely trigger the King of the North to take actions that lead to the end–this includes the persecutions, pre- (Daniel 7:25a, 11:29-36) and post-tribulation (Daniel 7:25b).

We Philadelphian Christians know there will be persecution and the work will be stopped and then the end will come, because of what Jesus taught:

9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake.  10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.  11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.  12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.  13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved.  14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24:9-14).

Notice the following which this ICANN move might impact:

11 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord God,

“That I will send a famine on the land,
Not a famine of bread,
Nor a thirst for water,
But of hearing the words of the Lord.
12 They shall wander from sea to sea,
And from north to east;
They shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord,
But shall not find it. (Amos 8:11-12)

The above could only happen in the 21st century if the internet was down and/or internet content related to the truth of God was no longer permitted. Governments are taking steps which look to be able to bring this about–turning over the control of ICANN possibly may affect this.

ICANN is to be an international body starting tomorrow. This will tend to make its decisions out of the jurisdiction of American courts. This will allow it to be able to censor basically at will. Instead of first amendment protections, Americans will be subject to international whims and things like ‘community standards’–standards that already have been shown to be in conflict with scripture. If ICANN is pressured to pull some or all of our proclaiming Christ’s Gospel of the Kingdom of God message off the internet, this will cause a famine of the word, and perhaps the one prophesied in Amos 8. 

UCG Fails At Yet Another Media Campaign (Updated)

The poor old boys at UCG still don't get it.  No matter how hard they try they just CANNOT seem to draw in new members.

Vic Kubik writes about their latest campaign and blames poor attendance on lack of gas, weather and the Charlotte riots.  Whey these guys did not have the wherewithal to cancel the Charlotte campaign because of the riots shows how out of touch they really are.  300 signed up, 76, showed up, and of that 76 probably 40-50 were UCG members who attend to pad the audience.

On Monday, our Beyond Today Live team returned from North Carolina where we made the America: The Time is Now presentation in Raleigh, Greensboro and Charlotte. We reached a total of 76 people; however, more than 300 people registered to come. We had a few obstacles to our presentations. First, there was a gasoline shortage in the entire state. A gasoline pipeline had broken and gasoline stations did not have adequate fuel. As we traveled, we made certain that our fuel was always above a half tank. Also, there was stormy weather on the first part of the trip and, finally, street protests and unrest in Charlotte (after a black man was killed by police) affected attendance. One person called our pastor, Scott Hoefker, and told him that they really wanted to come, but they were fearful of getting out, not knowing how safe things were in the city. 

Church of God News reported this about three other UCG campaigns:

The three Beyond Today presentations, ‘America: The Time Is Now’ in North Carolina, drew only 27 new guests in Raleigh, 26 in Greensboro, and 23 in Charlotte (where several who registered did not attend owing to local unrest).

What has finally dawned on the old boys network is that people do not attend campaigns because of the speakers.  People attend church because of relationships built with members.  This is standard in most churches.  The problem in Armstrongism is that members were told to never discuss their faith with nonCOG members.  Examples work better at drawing members than does doom and gloom speeches and end of the word nonsense.

Or, UCG may be taking the usual route and blaming members for not being more involved.  This is probably more likely since the membership of the COG has never been able to do anything right over the last 8 decades.  It was always the members fault that prophecy never happened and Jesus had not returned.

It is becoming more apparent to us that local congregational involvement and engagement will be needed and expected to help increase our attendance. From the home office, we can do only so much to promote these events. Further publicity and encouragement will need to come from local pastors and their congregations. 

UCG member will soon start being "trained" on how to be proper examples. 20 years after the start of the most godly COG splinter group ever, it still has not been able to get cross to its members just what it is they are supposed to believe.

The personal appearance campaigns are making us more aware of the need to proclaim not only the gospel message, but also to “make disciples.” It is important to teach about the Kingdom of God from the Bible and to expound the scriptures that authoritatively explain God’s vision for the world. 

The problem with the COG view of a kingdom to come, which all Christians believe, is worthless in a troublesome world.  People need to know how to relate to daily struggles, not worry about some end time apocalypse or some idiotic final training in Petra.  Most Christians also know that UCG is full of hot air when it comes to perverted doctrines.  Until they clean up that mess they are not going to draw in many people.

A disciple develops a deep and secure understanding about the nature and authority of the Word of God. In any discussion with those outside of us you must speak up to establish the basis of your beliefs, which is the Bible. Are you able not only to defend your beliefs, but also defend the authenticity, genuineness and reliability of the Bible?

The church has always emphasized that everyone had to "prove" everything.  That is a load of garbage.  It is dwelling in the mystery and the unanswerable questions that have always inspired people through the centuries.  Living and believing in that tension is far more profitable than parked in front of some poorly researched correspondence course and proof texting scripture or reading legalistic web sites like James Malm and Dave Pack where they lie through their teeth.

The glory days of UCG are over.  It will NEVER be a great work.