God Unable to Keep Another of His Universities Open

God seems to be having a tough time maintaining the integrity of his universities" that he supposedly established to train the true world leaders to come.

First, he had to shut down his world class campus in England where he was going to have a ringside seat when the beast power rose up in Europe.  Then he was unable to keep Big Sandy open so he inspired COG leaders to move the student to Pasadena.  Then God had problems in Pasadena and was forced to shut down Pasadena, which led him to inspire leaders to send the students back to Big Sandy.  Then after inspiring church leaders to dump millions of dollars into his university, he failed once again to keep it running and was forced to close it down.

With three universities closed down, God needed a new school for the training of his true ministers.  After putting a bug in Rod Meredith's ear to start his own true church, God whispered to the powers to be that they needed a university too.   God said to even bring in Michael Germano to once again start the university.  As one LCG member said on Facebook the other day, Germano has had his fingers in the middle to three campus closings! Rod Meredith should have known better...or maybe God should have known better.

What LCG members and other COG members should realize by now is that God was not a part of the inspiration to start these world-class universities.  It was just a bunch of narcissistic men seated around a large conference table who thought they knew what the church needed.  God was never part of the design and certainly never inspired any of them to start a college or university.

Living University was no more relevant than Gerald Flurry's Herbert W Armstrong College, United's Ambassador Bible Center, or Dave Pack's failed "university."

As usual for any of the churches behind the closing of their universities, it was NOT their fault.  Living U is blaming their closing on censorship in the world around them.

The Spring 2018 semester at Living University will be the last for its curricular programs. As we push further into the 21st century and the laws of the land become more restrictive, it is becoming more difficult for LU to function, especially in the United States. Twenty states currently prohibit us from educating their citizens and we anticipate that number will grow in the future. In this light, we have been directed to begin to wind down the efforts of Living University with the goal of concluding formal operations by the end of the Spring 2018 semester (May 2018). 

The god of the Churches of God seems to be one weak creature.  He can't keep his colleges open any more than he has kept his churches joined in unity and one in truth.

Conspiracy Theories and Armstrongism

Why do many within the Armstrong Churches of God seem to be so susceptible to conspiracy theories? Don't think they are? Check these out:  Mark Armstrong's Weekly Update and Bill Watson's Is Anybody Listening? 

Think about it. Conspiracy theorists believe that the truth is hidden - that most folks are deceived about what is really going on in the world, and THIS IS A CENTRAL TENET OF ARMSTRONGISM.

Research into the psychology behind conspiracy theories informs us that they are generated by a lack of trust in institutions and political cynicism (Conspiracy Theorists Aren’t Really Skeptics)

In that article, we read:  "The common thread between distrust and cynicism, as defined in these experiments, is a perception of bad character. More broadly, it’s a tendency to focus on intention and agency, rather than randomness or causal complexity." Continuing:  "The more you see the world this way—full of malice and planning instead of circumstance and coincidence—the more likely you are to accept conspiracy theories of all kinds. Once you buy into the first theory, with its premises of coordination, efficacy, and secrecy, the next seems that much more plausible."

Hence, if one has already bought into the idea that Satan and the Catholic Church have hatched a grand conspiracy to deceive Christianity about God, Jesus Christ, the Bible and doctrinal issues, it is easy to believe that other actors have hatched other conspiracies designed to hide the truth about other issues. And this is NOT the kind of suspicion that evokes scientific research and critical thinking. Instead, it seeks information (or to interpret information in a fashion) that reinforces the suspicion!

This is the kind of stuff that turns someone like Donald Trump into a Christian savior and his opponents into maniacal deviants bent on a program of misinformation. If you are prone to this kind of thinking, then climate change can seem like a liberal plot to undercut our free market economy and George Soros can look like he's running the entire show. Nevertheless, for those who are still willing to think for themselves, I think that it is still possible to get back to reality. What do you think?  Miller Jones

Armstrongism's fascination with conspiracy theories

Living Armstrongism: Dave Pack On Conspiracy Theories in Global COG

Living Armstrongism: PCG Promotes Bilderberg Conspiracy Theory

WHAT BEN CARSON’S PYRAMID THEORY MIGHT SAY ABOUT HIS FOREIGN POLICY

The Evil Zionist/Jesuit Conspiracy To Take Down The Church

It's A Masonic Conspiracy!

Rooting Armstrongism out of Ex-Worldwide Church of God Folk

Why So Many People Believe Conspiracy Theories

The Weird Mind of Conservative Armstrongites