Gerald Flurry recently bought his own jet for the exclusive use of he and his immediate family. The reason he bought the jet was so he would not have to fly sitting next to some disease ridden member of the public or gods forbid if he had to stand in line for the security check. Nothing could be more humiliating for the prophet of god having his crotch touched by an over-zealous TSA agent.
The Philadelphia Church of God has been working over time in finding every imaginable excuse in justifying the purchase of the jet. Now the son of PCG's most abusive ministers (Wayne Turgeon) has written an article, Flying Solo, that is featured on the PCG web site about his recent training on how to be a flight steward on his grand-daddy's private play toy.
PCG sent Grant Turgeon off to Long Beach recently to train how to be a steward on a private jet. Only the elite relatives of Flurry are allowed to fly on the jet, so there could never possibly be a lay member trained to do this job.
As soon as I opened the front door, something felt different. The date was June 19, my first day of a week-long course at Flight Safety International in Long Beach, California. Through nearly 40 hours of lectures and drills, I became certified as a cabin attendant for the Philadelphia Church of God’s new Gulfstream 450 aircraft.
In his very next paragraph, he talks about the intense persecution he received as a high school student playing basket ball. The reason for this is that he used his time in Long Beach as an opportunity to witness about the glories of his grand father establishing the most amazing work the world has ever seen. In high school, he did not have the balls to stand up for his faith due to being surrounded by the heathen unconverted spawn of pagans.
Ever since finding out about the training course a few days before it started, I had been bracing myself for the worst but still hoping for the best. It brought to mind an uncomfortable encounter as a 15-year-old high school baseball player back in 2008 when I was relentlessly ridiculed and harassed by my freshman teammates, and even the older players, for being the only kid who couldn’t participate in games on Friday nights or Saturdays, who disappeared for a week in October to attend the Feast of Tabernacles (or to sacrifice animals at the temple, as they jokingly claimed), who chose not to attend parties, and who refused to experiment with alcohol and drugs.
Of course, this was nine years ago in the absurdly popularity-obsessed environment of public school, in which teenagers probe for any peculiarity in their peers and then attack it relentlessly, just to avoid being picked on themselves for their own insecurities. Realistically, I understood that my time at Flight Safety International, surrounded mostly by adults twice my age and older, wouldn’t be quite as laden with persecution.
Now that Grant considers himself one of the most converted young men on earth today, he started imagining how he could witness to his instructors and class mates.
Still, I knew that God’s way of life always attracts curiosity, whether good or bad. When I entered the training center, I could only pray that the curiosity of my fellow students and my instructors would be of the more pleasant variety.
Never fear, the god of PCG was quick to intervene and use Grant as a witness to the majestic lifestyle of Gerald Flurry. His classmates were SHOCKED to learn he was working for his grandfather, Gerald. SHOCKED!!!!!!!!!
On the third day of training, one of the instructors asked my three female classmates and me how well we knew the principal passenger on the private planes where we would be working. After some hesitation, I explained that I would be flying with my grandfather.
This was shocking, apparently. My answer invited an onslaught of incredulous yet positive comments and questions, since working for a relative in the flight business is practically unheard of. Would my grandfather even make me wear a uniform? What meals does he prefer? How easy is he to get along with? Where will we be traveling?
During a mid-morning break a couple hours later, one of my classmates asked me several questions about my grandfather. I told her his name and pointed out that he is the presenter of the Key of David television program, one of the three or four largest religious telecasts in the United States. She asked to see what he looks like, so I pulled out my phone and showed her the introduction to one of the programs on YouTube.
His class mates were astounded by Grant's time teaching them about the one true church and they were amazed and excited. Apparently, these trainees already knew Gerald Flurry was the smartest man on earth.
Her excited reaction revealed that she had seen Mr. Flurry before. She quickly called across the lounge to her boyfriend, a pilot who was taking a different training course that same week. He was happy to meet the grandson of a man whom he frequently watches on tv. According to this pilot, Mr. Flurry is “smart” and “really knows his stuff.” I agreed.
Following a morning of practicing in-flight food preparation, teachers and students gathered beneath a flight simulator in the warehouse for the only group lunch of the week. The timing was impeccable, just a few hours after the whole crew had discovered my family relation to the big boss.
Grant now had the opportunity at lunch time to tell the complete story of the miraculous emergence of the greatest Church of God in this age.
Questions came my way, so I answered. Do I plan to enter the ministry like Mr. Flurry? “No; no one in this Church plans to.” Why would some pcg members travel several hours to attend Church services each week? “Because they are deeply committed to their beliefs.” With every answer I gave, the people around me realized more and more how vastly different this way of life is.
“Why did your grandfather choose to become a minister?” one middle-aged female instructor asked as the other teachers and students got up to wash their dishes. I replied that it was the last career he would have chosen; as a young man, he used to criticize his mother for listening to the radio program of Worldwide Church of God founder Herbert W. Armstrong, the predecessor to Mr. Flurry and the pcg. But as his life spiraled out of control, he couldn’t help but notice how happy and stable his mother was. Since his father wasn’t the best role model, he came to see Mr. Armstrong as his spiritual father.
Later on, I continued, Mr. Flurry attended the wcg’s educational institution, Ambassador College, which was located in Pasadena—just a short drive from Flight Safety International. After three years as an older, married student, he was hired to write for the Church’s world news publication, The Plain Truth, only to be fired about a year later.
At this point, a field minister asked Mr. Flurry to be a ministerial trainee under him. Finally, I told my instructor, he became a minister and has remained in that capacity for nearly 50 years. Because the wcg changed its mission under new leadership following Mr. Armstrong’s death in 1986, Mr. Flurry started the pcg in 1989 and has worked to uphold Mr. Armstrong’s legacy ever since.
In practical terms, I explained, this means starting colleges in Oklahoma and England, hosting renowned musical geniuses in an annual concert series at Armstrong Auditorium, excavating biblical remains in Jerusalem, delivering a hope-filled message through every possible digital and print medium, and even acquiring a private aircraft for the purpose of traveling the world and encouraging thousands of dedicated pcg members.
Grant felt deeply inspired by his experience and the chance to witness the glorious truth about his grandfather to his trainee mates. This time he was not a weak immature high school student too afraid to witness to his basketball teammates. God used him as a witness to the unconverted.
Now Grant wants to use this experience as a tool to teach the youth of PCG to always be ready with an answer when asked and to never be afraid. So the next time someone questions a PCG member about the mindless purchase of the jet, they will be ready to step forward with an answer.
During my week in California, I also learned the true meaning of the Apostle Peter’s admonition: “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear” (1 Peter 3:15).
In other words, God’s people, including the youth, must have the humility and the understanding to give honest answers about our way of life, which fills us with a living hope. Sometimes, this goes beyond explaining why we keep the Sabbath and the holy days, or why we don’t eat pork. At Flight Safety International, I was hardly asked a single doctrinal question. Instead, I had to know some of the fruits of God’s Work, as well as some of the history of the Church. The Autobiography of Herbert W. Armstrong and Raising the Ruins are outstanding resources for building this knowledge.
Never once in his entire week of training did Grant ever talk about Jesus. It was all about Gerald Flurry, Mystery of the Ages and Lil'Stevie's pathetic and deceptive book, Raising the Ruins. Since Jesus has never been part of the Philadelphia empire, it is no wonder Grant was incapable of talking or witnessing about Christ to these pagans.
One of the mantras of the Church of God has always been, "be ready to give an answer." Of course, that "answer" was always about justifying Herbert Armstrong or some other COG leader or doctrine. It never included mentioning Jesus. God forbid a true COG member would EVER discuss Jesus with pagans!!!!!! Ghastly days!
Notice: We are encouraged to “give an answer.” This implies that someone asked a question first. One thing that makes God’s Church vastly different from any other church is that we do not initiate religious discussions. We do not go door to door with the gospel. We do not argue for hours with unconverted family members, trying to convince or force them to come into the Church. We do not embark on missionary journeys to baptize pagans in Africa and South America.
But, if asked, we should have been paying enough attention during Church services, and exerting enough effort in personal Bible study, to give a satisfactory answer.
God’s way of life works. People are naturally intrigued by it. It is up to us to set a right example and to give an answer that would make God proud.
God's way of life does work if the person is following Jesus, but does a COG way of life work as a way of making God proud? Considering the horrific track record of the Philadelphia Church of God in leading people to suicide, breaking up families and marriages and teaching members to abandon handicapped children in the mall, how could God EVER be proud of the PCG?
