Mystery Behind Exodus Has Been Solved By COG Member

It has been a hard issue for historians to deal with the biblical story of the Exodus and the fact that not one single archaeological bit of evidence has ever been found to support it.  A million plus people travelling 40 years in the desert and never discarding a single thing that was broken or worn out, no food byproducts have ever been found, no human latrine fields, no remnant of idols, no ashes from the burning fires in the tabernacle area, nothing.

Fret no longer!  A COG member has solved the riddle!  Sit back and be amazed!

This is from someone we have not heard from in a long time, Robert Petry.

Here is his revelation on the matter:

Because this was a DIVINE migration, it should be no surprise to real scholars, that there would be no artifacts of note, nor a need for them. Just reading the Bible story itself clearly explains these things. But, “scholars” are only physical minded, they cannot conceive that the DIVINE POWER behind the Exodus is real. They just pretend to believe that, if at all. Now, what does the Bible show about this?

Well, it’s very clear…

1. Their clothing, shoes, and trappings never wore out. Ergo, nothing to throw away.
2. Their shelters never wore out. Ergo, nothing to throw away.
3. Utensils and other things never wore out. Ergo, nothing to discard.
4. All food supplies were DIVINELY given. For instance, Manna — here today, gone tomorrow. Quail, masses fly in, and disappear. Ergo, what’s left to find.
5. Certain mass events where one might expect artifacts to remain, left none. Why? The ground opened and swallowed them up. Nothing left behind to find. 

There you have it!
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The Greatest Men and Women I Ever Met in WCG.

Non-compliance to stupid ideas or perspectives that my dad thought might hurt more than help was a family trait of ours even in the Presbyterian Church.  If my dad was not about to do something he felt was stupid or harmful, ill advised or just plain wrong he would say "I'll take that under advisement", which meant "NO".

It was a phrase he used often when the doc would want to put him on some new meds.  "I'll take that under advisement" and his doc of decades knew exactly what that meant.  Dad and mom died at just under 100.

Once he was warned by the Doc he had an extra heartbeat and the doc was concerned.  "At 90 Doc, don't worry about it. You never know when you're going to need and extra one."  "Ok Fred...."

In the 70's I took two Voyager Canoe loads of SEP kids on a long week paddle and camp ordeal.  I was not in charge but we put up on an island for the Sabbath.  It was HOT!!!!  No Swimming on God's Sabbath was the expected behavior.  Did I say it was HOT!!!???   So there we sat, in the woods or on the beach rejoicing in God's Sabbath.  When I had had enough, I said "Let's all take a swim."
We all did.  Even those that felt they could not based on the expectations of others.  We saved the Sabbath with that swim.  Nothing more came of it.   Except no one died of heat stroke miles from help and I was not one to trust in divine healing back then for such things.

Once Dave Pack was chiding the men in Spokesmen's Club for not memorizing their scripture cards.  Dad, who was an Elder in WCG raised his hand and gave Dave a bit of an overview on how much the men worked during the week and perhaps they didn't have the time he did.  "I'll speak to you in the hall Mr. Diehl during the break." said Dave.  "No you won't" said dad.  lol  And it never came up again.

Dave even told my brother in law, who was very good at not being pushed around by anyone, when the new minister ordained him a deacon after Dave left,  "Ron, if I had thought you were Deacon material  (He was common sense Elder material) , I would have ordained you."  To which Ron replied,  "Well Dave...(Ron knew Dave wanted to be called Mr. Pack), if I didn't think you had shit for brains I give a damn what you thought."    Sweet!!!!!

I inherited a good a few good genes from Dad.  I won't belabor the point of my personal choices but simply put, my kids got their immunizations in the 70's and yes, the church and friends knew.  I did not expect them to do what I would not.  I made it clear when they came for excused from immunizations form that this was their choice and did they really believe it as an adult or were they going along to get along?

I took members to professional counseling sessions, to mental health facilities and to the ER and hospital whenever needed.  I tried in vain to do so with some who were suffering needlessly in Jesus name and they ended up resenting me but you can't win in this case of doing what you personally believe as opposed to group think and the decrees of higher ups.

I was told to cancel our very successful Sr Prom in Kentucky where hundreds of really good kids showed up and had a wonderful experience because some kids somewhere fornicated and "we weren't having them anymore."  Really?   Um...sorry.  No. Our prom will go on and it did.  It never came up again.

I recall a fine young guy in Club who, under Gerald Weston, before I showed up, had not spoken up during table topics.  Gerald had him stand up and told him to stand on one leg and sing the National Anthem for the violation.  Tim said "No Sir.  That's disrespectful to the Anthem." and sat down.  Yay Tim!  Nothing more came of that.

The best moment I ever heard of had to be when the rather countrified good ol' boy song leader got up after Joe Tkach Sr's "Screw the Sabbath" sermon in Big Sandy.  It was the tape sent out the next week locally.  He got up to lead the last hymn and said.....and said...."Well now...wasn't that the biggest load of shit you ever heard.  Let's all rise, take our hymn books and sing to the real God!"
That's a classic!

Finally, one woman in Greenville, testing me I suspect after my first sermon there, told me her husband that morning had reminded her that he was the King of the home and she was nothing.  I thought she was kidding but she wasn't.  I asked her what she said.  "I told him then that made him the King of Nothing."    Excellent!!!!  I told her "good job."  

That same day, women must have gotten together to test me replacing GW it seemed and asked me what a woman should do about Biblical questions  they had as they were told they had to be quiet in church and if they had questions to ask their husbands. She continued to ask, "What if my husband is idiot and can't answer questions?"   I said, "then ask me or go find a good book."  She smiled and said "I like you Mr. Diehl."

I'd like to offer up some suggestions that the real men and women Lurkers here on Banned can and should use when confronted by Deacons, Elders, Pastors, Apostles or Zerubbabel's who rule over them.

"Thanks for your concern. NO."

"I'll take that under advisement" 

"That makes me uncomfortable."

"I'm sorry you feel that way. No"

"It's really none of your business what I do or think about that."

"That's the most stupid thing I've heard all week."

"And you really believe that?"

"You're on drugs aren't you?"

"Think what you like and leave me out of it."

"Do what you like and leave me out of it."

"And you think that's talking about you in the Bible?"

"Hell  no..."

"You're kidding right?"

"That's fine for you but not so fine for me"

"Believe what you want. Just don't expect me to ."

"It's none of your business."

"Get the tree out of your own eye before you come to me with that."

"You got to be kiddin'?"

"Where do you come up with this stuff?"

"I'll decide what's best for me and my family, not you."

"I'll give what I choose to give."

"I'm busy that weekend."

"I'm too tired to go to Club"

"I'm too tired to go to Bible Study and besides, they are shallow and boring."

"That was the most stupid sermon you ever gave. You can't prove that!"

"I ain't sayin 'amen' to that!!"

"My children aren't your children to raise."

"I'm sorry you feel that way. How can we make that better."

"Oh we can't unless I comply?  Well if I didn't think you had shit for brains I'd care about that."

"Yes sir...I heard you.  No sir is what I said."

"Sorry, not giving anymore for your airport."

"Sorry, not giving anymore for your buildings, ponds, fish and ducks."

"That's fine.  Then me an my family will find another church."

....and so on.

The greatest WCG members, aside from those as well who actually lived their faith in a balanced and humble way, were those who spoke up.  I would say my best friend, who stuck by me all these years until his untimely death last year , Gary Benjamin of Findlay, Ohio exemplified that quality that taught me how to embrace it even back in the 70's.  Gary was a self made man. The first words out of his mouth , as a deacon who came to help this 23 year old kid minister move into our first house right along the railroad tracks in Findlay were...."So...this is where my tithes are going..."  I glared at him and wondered what the hell that was all about.  But that was Gary.  He never changed nor would I want him to.  He gave me hell at times and was my friend. He helped me find the voice of my father.  He spoke his mind and I didn't mind and grew to admire the gutsy "that's just how it is and just how I think" personality he embraced.

He was a rather hard and cold person at times. It had to do with upbringing and baggage I'm sure.  Finally he got bounced out of the deaconship he had for decades by Ron Weinland, who he thought was a jerk and we know he was right. I came for an anniversary visit where all the deacons were brought up front and honored. But not Gary. He sat quietly musing just in front of me and watched them praised and get their awards blah blah....  I took a piece of notebook paper and made him a Certificate of Appreciation to the best and most honest deacon I knew and passed it to him from behind.  He read the torn piece of paper. Turned around with the only tear I ever saw in his eyes and said..."Thank ya..."   Gary always said "Thank ya...."  He taught me  how to speak up even it makes my lips quiver....

COG Prophet Suffers Horrible 1st World Problem As His Kenyan Members Criticise His HQ Location

Life has been rather difficult for God's most important man in the 21st century.  Not-arrested, but almost arrested Bob Thiel, chief overseer of the improperly named "continuing" Church of God, has been dealing with major life crisis issues, though he is not without food or water, or electricity, or heat, or income, even though this was of BIBLICAL proportions!

So just what major life challenge has Satan thrown in his direction?

Due to the recent fires and the horrendous rain we had a couple weeks ago, there was a major landslide in the Montecito area outside Santa Barbara.  They had to close down parts of the 101 freeway.

Speaking of messages, when I was giving the sermon recommended for the week, I mentioned that there was only one main motorway to where we live. As it turns out, we found out later that when I was saying that, the main road (Highway 101) had been closed then due to flooding. It is still closed and did negatively impact our family (though it did not result in a lack of food or water). People must realize that problems can really happen–and biblically will (cf. Mark 13)–even in the USA!  Letter to the Brethren: January 18, 2018

Oh, the humanity!!!!!!!  The end is near!

Bitter Bob also has had to deal with another issue from his Kenyan followers.  There is a church in Kenyan that claims it is the Jerusalem 7th Day Church of God, the "mother" church of the COG's.  They have questioned Doubly-blessed Thiel for having his "world headquarters" in Grover Beach, CA and not in Jerusalem.  He has a produced a video to give his reasons why.

Would someone please drop Satan a line and tell him to PLEASE stop harassing Elijah Bob!

See how Satan attacked Bitter Bob here:

Cleanup continues in Montecito; Highway 101 closed through Monday, Caltrans says

Sardis COG vs Philadelphia COG. Which Is Doing A Better Work?

It is indeed fascinating that the so called "Sardis Church" aka The Church of God 7th Day, has more than 250k members, who meet in unity, peace and harmony, whereas the Philadelphian era COGs , with supposed "brotherly love" have as a combined total, no more than 25k persons between them all, and who are at each others throats with splits, controversy and chicanery. Hierarchical church government, with centralized control, centralized money gathering, and unelected ministry and leadership is the main reason for the disparity IMHO. ht:Connie

The Church of God has a rich history of maligning other Church of God movements, particularly those that Herbert Armstrong stabbed in the back decades ago.  They were labelled as Sardis churches.  One of the more self-righteous splinter groups has this to say about Sardis:

If we consider only the Church of God, Seventh Day that Herbert Armstrong affiliated with, nothing in its name or reputation indicates life. Herbert Armstrong saw it had most of the basic doctrines correct, but judged the organization as not really doing a work. Hence, he called it dead, not alive. Perhaps it did have a Sardis approach, but since neither its official name nor reputation indicates life, we must look elsewhere for a larger fulfillment of Christ's words.

Somewhere within the church of God are people who—either by name or reputation—appear to be living, yet whom God judges essentially spiritually dead, save a few names. How easy it is to deceive ourselves about our true standing with God!

God first addresses their "works." While they may still have the truth, their dead works indicate a lack of living faith. This indicates a people who perceive themselves to be alive, but who apparently are basically standing still, spiritually catatonic and comatose. They may exist as stones in the Temple, but not as "living stones." Perhaps this is why Christ says "not one stone will be left upon another"! Church of the Great God

Living Church of God has to get in on the act too:

In contrast to the other churches on the mail route, Philadelphia was not a wealthy, sophisticated or influential city. Located on an easily defended hill beside a major highway, it functioned as an outpost for spreading Greek and Roman culture (and later Christianity) to the surrounding region. The city was destroyed several times by earthquakes, but each time was rebuilt. It still exists today. Its name means "brotherly love." The Philadelphia era appears to have begun in the 1930s—about the time radio became popular and just before the age of television. In the last 75 years, the Church of God has used mass media to reach millions of people—proclaiming the Gospel of the coming Kingdom of God, and warning the world to watch for the signs of the end of this age and the return of Jesus Christ. This was the mission Jesus gave to His Church (Matthew 4:23; 10:6–7). This message was to be prominent at the end of the age (Matthew 24:14). Understanding the identity of modern Israelite nations—a key to understanding Bible prophecy—was restored to the Church of God during the modern Philadelphia era.

God promised to provide the Philadelphia era with an open door—a door no man could shut—for preaching the Gospel. God commends this small church for its persistence in fulfilling its mission, and for holding on, without compromise, to His precious Truth (Revelation 3:7–8). For faithfully doing a Work and holding onto the Truth, not just attending a church of their choice, Philadelphian Christians are promised protection from the coming Tribulation (Revelation 3:10). The lesson of Philadelphia is simple: Remain faithful to Truth—do the work of preaching the Gospel, love the brethren and let no one take your crown. We cannot afford to "drop the ball" at this vital moment of history! Our salvation and our reward are at stake if we do! Living Church of God

UCG has this to say, which they surprisingly do not realize is an exact description of their very own church!  COG7 is growing a vibrant and UCG is stagnate and starting to putrefy.

The people in a dying church begin to imitate society around them so much that they look just like them, the society around them. If you were to have gone to Sardis they would not have been worshipping Zeus. I am not saying that. But it wouldn’t have been that much different in terms of personal conduct than some of the pagans around them. I am saying that these people would have promoted adultery but they would have accepted adultery. They would not have promoted idolatry. But they wouldn’t have really been against it, either. They exist and they have a name and they appear to be a live church. But they are really not. And so what happens is that they simply begin to decay. Remember, it is a decaying city, a decaying church. Everything inside is stuck somehow. There is no growth. There is no vibrancy. They get together every Sabbath and they hear the same sermon they have heard for 25years. And they say the same things to each other that they have said for 25 years and they sit down and have the same pot luck that they have had for 25 years and then they say good bye and they all go home and live the same way they have. In this sort of dead emptiness for maybe 15 years. Somewhere along the way, you remember, he says you are ready to die. You are a decaying place. 

You want to know some of the problems that the Roman church had. Well, let’s see. Revelry and drunkenness. Partying spirits. Lewdness and lust. Sexual sins. Strife and Envy. Some of the problem that they had was drunkenness, sexual problems, strife between members, and people being envious. Yeah, sort of like church today. And some of the same problems. “ But put on the Lord and make no provisions for the flesh to fulfill its lust.” You know what he was telling these people? They weren’t dead. The church at Rome had problems but it wasn’t dead. It was a live church. What he tells them to do is strengthen what you have. The problem with looking like the world is that you forget to strengthen what God has given you. When you start looking like the world start doing what God says to do. Strengthen what you have.

So, a dying church is not aware of Christ’s return, they are not preparing for Christ’s return. So, watch. I dying church is sliding into the world. So, what do you do? Well, just what Christ told them to do. You strengthen what you do have. Take what you do have and work off of that. Work off of what you have. 

Decades ago when Herbert Armstrong and others smeared the COG7, it all sounded logical and accurate to us.  Then the one true church imploded and fractured into hundreds and hundreds of irrelevant little groups who are next to dead, while the COG7 grows and is alive and vibrant preaching the gospel.

Why Church Leaders Need Their Own Private Jets