The Dark Side of Tithing

Gerald Flurry to Soon Transport Herbert's Prayer Rock to Petra Where He Will be Made King to the House of Judah

Armstrongism has always produced men who have had extreme beliefs that are on the far fringes of the movement, from what sounds logical at first glance to outright silly beliefs and actions.  None has been more silly and outrageous as Gerald Flurry wandering the backwoods of Oregon looking for a rock that Herbert Armstrong supposedly knelt at.  The sheer idolatry is astounding.

Gerald Flurry has no proof that Herbert actually knelt at this very rock, even so, he has declared this to be the holy stone that Herbert knelt at when he conversed with his god.  When you realize that at least half of the stone was buried in the dirt, it left very little for Herbert to kneel at and rest his arms on or to conveniently use as support for his bible or other materials.  None of that mattered to Flurry though, he dug it up and transported it all the way to Edmund, Oklahoma, where it was originally enshrined in an outdoor garden.

The myths that Flurry has created around this dirty rock is mind-boggling at the sheer stupidity that has evolved around it.

Here is what was said earlier this year in regards to this holy rock:

Herbert at his rock

Not long ago, Pastor General Gerald Flurry revealed exciting revelation about Herbert W. Armstrong’s prayer rock. God built up the Philadelphia era of His Church through the prayers of Mr. Armstrong. That rock represents the beginning of the great Elijah work, which we continue today. It shows the mind-boggling success that comes from a fervent prayer life!

The Autobiography of Herbert W. Armstrong mentions prayer about 240 times—an average of once every three to four pages! That book gives many examples and lessons on how to pray. Mr. Armstrong knew how to get an answer every time he prayed. What power! His formula for prayer was tremendously successful. You can have that kind of success too—if you follow that formula. 

“But if small, it started with a burst of energy and inspiration. First, it started with intensive and earnest private prayer. To the rear of the Fisher farm home was a fair-sized hill. Running over this hilltop for exercise I discovered a rock about 14 inches high. It was in a secluded spot. It came to mind how Jesus had dismissed the multitudes, and gone up into a mountain ‘apart’ to pray—alone with God. I dropped to my knees before this rock, which seemed just the right height to kneel before, and began praying earnestly for the success of the meetings. It became sort of a daily pilgrimage, during my stay at Fishers’, to this, which became my ‘prayer rock.’ I’m sure that I drank in much energy, spiritual strength and inspiration at that prayer rock.” 

That was the beginning of God’s Work—and it started with these prayers at the prayer rock!

Here we see an important part of the formula: This was “intensive and earnest” prayer. It wasn’t routine, drowsy, mumbly, careless, apathetic prayer. Mr. Armstrong put his heart into it! He was sincerely determined to get through to God! 

In 1930, before those “prayer-rock prayers” that changed world history, Mr. Armstrong faced the most serious situation of his life to that point. God used this to begin teaching him how to pray through his trials and tests. It all started at a rock

That is mild as to what Gerald Flurry also claims about this rock.  In their vainglorious idea that they were going to head off to Scotland and gain possession of The Stone of Scone, which they believe Scotland will willfully give to them when the times of trial start, they bought a mansion in England to allow closer access to the stone and to Hill Tara where they expect to dig up the Ark of the Covenant where they believe Jeremiah buried it when he took his daughters of a trip to Ireland many centuries earlier.

That vision apparently hit a big snag when Scotland did not willfully hand it over to them.  this set Gerald Flurry's mind into a tailspin.  What was he to do? Never fear, the holy stone of Herb called out his name.  This holy stone was also a symbol of royalty.  This would be the new stone that Christ would return to when he is crowned King of Kings. Philadelphia Church of God members were told that they are royalty by the very fact they are PCG members.

If you are part of God’s Church, then you are royalty. This is a biblical fact. The Church is called a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9). Its converted members are called kings and priests (Revelation 1:6; 5:10)—and they are soon to fill those positions in a world-ruling government after Jesus Christ’s return. Even its youth are called “princes in all the earth” (Psalm 45:16), and its daughters are “honorable” princesses (verse 9).

PCG members are being taught to look upon Gerald Flurry as their "king."

For as long as all our teens have been alive, we have taught that the office of God’s end-time apostle and prophet—pastor general of the Philadelphia Church of God—was synonymous with that of a king, based on two verses in Micah (Micah 2:13; 4:9).

Because Gerald is now King, the symbol of authority has now been moved from the Stone of Scone to Herb's prayer rock:

That understanding was taken to a new level in 2017. Throughout the first half of the year, God revealed in message after message from the pastor general that He had moved the symbol of David’s throne—and even the throne itself—to the Philadelphia Church of God. 

The craziness only gets worse:

For this new truth—in addition to proving God’s existence, the validity of His Word, and the location of His one true Church—there are two other major prerequisites. 

The first prerequisite is understanding the spiritual office that Gerald Flurry fills as the pcg’s pastor general. The fruits bear it out to be the office of an apostle—the highest human rank in the true Church of God. Prophecies about God’s end-time Work also show that his office fills that of specific prophet to come on the scene just before the coming of the Messiah. 

With the purchase of the estate in England, this allows Flurry to transport Herb's rock on PCG's new jet and locate it in England when the time of Christ's return is close at hand.  There no longer is a need for the Stone of Scone.

The other prerequisite is understanding the material contained in Herbert W. Armstrong’s book The United States and Britain in Prophecy—proving the United States and Britain to be the modern descendants of biblical Israel. What is significant about this is that it proves how David’s dynasty survived until modern times—being overturned three times (Ezekiel 21:27). These overturns were from Judah to Ireland, then to Scotland, and finally to Britain. Knowing where David’s throne went, and knowing about the symbol of that throne (the stone of destiny, or Jacob’s pillar stone), is vital to understanding the new truth that has recently been revealed to God’s Church.

God’s revelation that Mr. Armstrong’s prayer rock was the new stone of destiny had far-reaching consequences—as Mr. Flurry indicated it would in that sermon. As he continued to explain, the stone of destiny had been the object God used to represent the throne of David. Therefore, a new stone also meant a new throne was being established. This was further emphasized in a sermon just 14 days later. Mr. Flurry referenced the prophecy in Hosea 3:4 that foretells Israel being without the throne of David. He went to the verse in Micah 2:13 that shows how God rules His end-time Church through a human king and how that verse is about the Church fleeing to a place of safety just before Christ’s return. God reveals to the Church about this king just before the Church flees to the place of safety. 

Until 2017, the Church supposed that Jacob’s pillar stone would be present in the place of safety in order to establish the throne of David. But new revelation about the new stone of destiny clarified this verse for God’s Church. With the prayer rock as the coronation stone, the apostle’s office would now stand as that of king—not just symbolically or spiritually as a human leader of God’s “kings and priests”—but as the literal king on this new throne of David. 

 Understand: This throne is still the throne “of David,” as it is still occupied by a physical descendant of David: Mr. Flurry’s lineage traces back to an Irish king. Even Herbert W. Armstrong was a descendant of the Davidic house through the line of England’s King Edward I. And this throne is the same throne of David on which Christ will soon sit.

Can Armstrongism get any crazier?  Oh, just wait...

Gerald Flurry will soon the "father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah" and would be the "lawgiver."  Please tell me why the COG needs more laws enforced upon it?

As 2017 progressed, God continued to pour out deeper understanding about the various verses and implications of this new revelation in sermons and lectures from the pastor general.  

Most of these messages were written and compiled to be published in one issue of the Royal Visionmagazine, serving as nearly the entirety of the July-August 2017 issue. The issue shows ample scriptural evidence and basic logic regarding this specific end-time revelation about David’s throne.  

One of those passages is found in Isaiah 22, beginning in verse 20, which discusses an end-time Eliakim. For years now, the Church has applied these verses to the office of God’s last-hour apostle, who would be “A father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah” (verse 21), and upon whose shoulder God would lay “the key of the house of David” (verse 22).

Another verse that springs to life is found in Genesis 49. Verse 1 of this chapter shows that what is contained in this passage is prophecy for “the last days.” Verse 10 contains this prophecy about the house of Judah: “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet [meaning, he would be a Jewish descendant], until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.” Shiloh refers to Christ, and the verse would be better translated: until He comes to whom it belongs. David’s throne really belongs to Christ. 

This shows conditions just before the time when Christ returns. A man who represents the scepter just before that time would also be a lawgiver. 

As other Bible translations make clear, the two offices—the lawgiver and the one representing the scepter—are combined into one in the last days. This reinforces what Isaiah 16 prophesied about the throne in the place of safety: The one on it would be known for “seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness” (verse 5), which only would be possible if the throne were at last working in conjunction with God’s law. 

 And it gets crazier still:

The new revelation even tied back to a significant period in pcg history. From 1997—2003, the Church was involved in a legal battle over the rights to print Mr. Armstrong’s seminal work Mystery of the Ages, as well as 18 other pieces of literature once published by him. What started that court battle was the pcg’s decision in November 1996 to print Mystery of the Ages. 

Back to the connection with the court case. Keep in mind that it was in late summer 2002 that Mr. Armstrong’s prayer rock arrived at God’s headquarters campus. That fall, God revealed some new truth about Habakkuk 2:11, which reads: “For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it.” What was revealed was that Habakkuk (which discusses God delivering His people from injustice in the courts) talks about the “beam”—representing the literary centerpiece of the end-time message: Mystery of the Ages. Thus, the Church would win the rights to Mr. Armstrong’s literature—and all litigation did in fact come to an end on the following January 16 in 2003. 

But in 2017, 14 years later, God revealed more about the “stone” in Habakkuk 2:11. Though the “stone” there represents Jesus Christ, He had given His Church a physical symbol—a stone, in fact—that connected to the Church’s fight for Mr. Armstrong’s literature! This further explains the “double wonder” that Habakkuk 1:5 discusses: This new stone, which symbolizes the new throne, is the first wonder of the double wonder—which the pcg acquired in the final year of its court battle. Victory in this legal war gave the pcg Mystery of the Ages—the second wonder of this double wonder.

How in the world can PCG members sit there and listen to this crap and believe it?  What is wrong with them?

That throne is on this Earth today, under the stewardship of God’s true Church. It is David’s throne. Rulership has transferred to a different son of David. 

Christ’s coming and His overtaking of Earth’s throne is fittingly depicted in a prophecy found in Daniel 2. In a dream that depicted the succession of world-ruling kingdoms, Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar saw an imposing image. This figure, as the Prophet Daniel explained to Nebuchadnezzar, outlined the empires to rule the age of man. In his dream, Nebuchadnezzar saw the statue destroyed by none other than a stone. The stone represents the King of the Kingdom—Jesus Christ. 

This is the Rock upon which the Church of God was founded. This is the Stone shepherding the pcgtoday. This is the power behind the Work of God’s one true Church. And this is the Stone that becomes a mountain and fills the Earth. This stone and throne represent salvation for the entire world!  Just What Do You Mean … New Throne?

The Church of God is rotten to the core.  Eighty years of abominable doctrines and outright heresies have produced the climate that allows spiritual degenerate men like Gerald Flurry, Dave Pack, Bob Thiel, James Malm and others who willfully bastardize scripture to fit their own sick purposes.  These men are sick and no more speak for God than Herbert Armstrong did.  Great will be the day when these men are dead and buried and the Armstrongite version of the Church of God movement is no more.




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