Monday, January 15, 2018

Herbert Armstrong: "Now I don’t know any cases where a WHITE MAN wants to marry a black woman, WHY IS THAT?"





The Painful Truth has a post up that contains comments by HWA that he uttered during a sermon as he answered a letter from a church member.

Thanks to the PT for posting this.  I had forgotten this tripe which I had heard many times over the decades.
Herbert replies in a sermon to a letter written by one of his followers:
“Today I want to speak on what may possibly be the very next attack that Satan will use against this church […] interracial marriage.”
“It was stated that the blacks in God’s Church are dissatisfied with such doctrines that are not in keeping with the current social trend in the world [civil rights movement] that are a part of this nations background. […] And this letter also says that they are trying to line up a group of blacks to give ME AN ULTIMATUM, that I get on the side of the social trend of this world, or else! I’ll tell you what I’ll give them, I’LL GIVE THEM THE ‘OR ELSE!’ (church audience laughs) I WON’T COMPROMISE ONE MILLIONTH OF AN INCH! And if you will, you can go into the Lake of Fire if you want to. […] Some are saying that we have to to have racial balance at ambassador college. […]”
“Genesis 6:1; And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,
Genesis 6:2; That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of ALL WHICH THEY CHOOSE.”

“That’s what they want to do today. A black man wants to take a white woman for a wife, THAT’S WHAT HE CHOOSES. […] Now I don’t know any cases where a WHITE MAN wants to marry a black woman, WHY IS THAT? Answer that for me! Why is it only BLACK MEN who want to marry white women?”
Now let’s look to the SOURCE of right understanding-the BEGINNING of knowledge-the WAY to wisdom! Does GOD teach integration? Does GOD condemn segregation? Does GOD approve mixed marriages?
Today, the world around, there are movements everywhere to UNITE! The spirit of UNITING is in the air! The nations of Europe are trying to UNITE-starting with the Common Market. Nasser is trying to UNITE the Arabs-with himself, of course, as ruler! The new Pope is carrying on his predecessor’s fight to UNITE all religions-under his iron-clad supreme authority, of course. The Communists are trying to break all color barriers, and, by intermarriage between races, UNITE all humanity as ONE color, and ONE race, with Communist leaders ruling over them.
The PT also includes this bit about Big Sandy where they held segregated events to keep the "Negros" and the "Latin" brethren separated from the white folk.



Please go and read the entire article here.  It is shocking...  Herbert W. Armstrong. Racist.
Posted by at 36 comments:

FaithLeaks - The "Wikileaks for Religion" Holding Faith Communities Accountable



There is a new website up called FaithLeaks that seeks transparency of faith communities and to hold them accountable for what they do and say.

This is their mission statement
FaithLeaks is a non profit media organization founded on the belief that increased transparency within religious organizations results in fewer untruths, less corruption, and less abuse. The organization provides sources and whistleblowers the technical ability to anonymously submit sensitive documents for use by professional and citizen journalists for starting and expanding news reporting, public commentary, and criticism related to religion.
FaithLeaks is a project by the Truth and Transparency Foundation, a non profit founded by Ryan McKnight and Ethan Dodge in November 2017.
They provide an avenue for church members and information on how to anonymously submit sensitive documents.  They use SecureDrop...
Like other whistle-blower organizations, FaithLeaks provides sources the ability to anonymously submit sensitive documents, which the site then posts publicly. FaithLeaks uses SecureDrop, an encrypted open-source system that is also used by media outlets including the New York Timesand ProPublica. SecureDrop uses the anonymizing Tor network to facilitate submissions that leave no trace online. Founded by two former Mormons in November, FaithLeaks believes that “increased transparency within religious organizations results in fewer untruths, less corruption, and less abuse.” A New “Wikileaks for Religion” Publishes Its First Trove of Documents

Their first big trove of documents to be dumped concerns sexual abuse in a Jehovah's Witness church and how church leaders attempted to cover it all up.

FaithLeaks Releases Documents Surrounding Sexual Abuse Investigation in Jehovah’s Witness Congregation
The documents released this week span from 1999 to 2012, and they’re devastating. They include details about accusations by three women against one church member. The first case involves allegations made by the man’s adult daughter, who accused him of sexual and physical abuse that began when she was 5 years old. (Names have been redacted in all the FaithLeaks documents.) Another daughter and an unrelated woman later came forward to make abuse accusations against the same man; the second daughter said her father had begun to “fondle and touch” her at the age of 3, and began raping her at 8. A New “Wikileaks for Religion” Publishes Its First Trove of Documents
On a secret COG facebook page, there have been reports by people sending in information about the Philadelphia Church of God and Restored Church of God.  One LCG member also claims to be gathering information to send in.

The founders of FaithLeaks hope to shed light on corruption and cover-ups within other religious communities going forward. “Our goal is to reduce the amount of deception and untruths and unethical behaviors that exist in some facets of religion,” Ryan McKnight told Religion News Service. “If someone is in possession of documents they feel deserve to be made public, we’re simply here to help facilitate that.” McKnight and his co-founder, Ethan Dodge, say they are particularly interested in documents related to finances, congregational policies and procedures, and information on sex-abuse settlements. 
It’s easy to imagine FaithLeaks being used by whistle-blowers within a wide range of religious communities, but it’s notable that so far the greatest interest and excitement seems to be coming from former Scientologists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Mormons. These are organizations that are famously secretive and close-knit, and which can be hard for members to publicly criticize. (Individual Protestant churches can be authoritarian and secretive, too, but there are usually dozens of local competitors, which makes it relatively easy for disgruntled congregants to simply leave.  A New “Wikileaks for Religion” Publishes Its First Trove of Documents



ht: Silenced






Posted by at 17 comments:

Herbert W. Armstrong: Racist?



Today is Martin Luther King Day here in the United States.  There can be no better time to repost an article from the Painful Truth and Gavin Rumney's old page about racism in the Church of God.


Herbert W. Armstrong: Racist

By M.A.M.

In the June-July 1981 issue of The Good News, there is an article titled “After 50 Years – Christ’s Apostle Still Ahead of His Time!” Like just about everything else published by the Worldwide Church of God about Herbert W. Armstrong, this is a lie. Herbert W. Armstrong was a man whose feet were firmly planted in the past. Within his church, Armstrong tried to re-create the world of his youth. 
We can see the theme arise again and again in his writings. In Mystery of the Ages, Armstrong wrote, “I have lived through the horse and buggy age, the automobile and industrial age, the air age, the nuclear age and now into the space age. I have seen America live through the agrarian age when farmers walked behind their horse-drawn ploughs singing happily, and into the urban age when Midwest American farmers are groaning and fighting for more government subsidies to prevent the extinction of farm life. (page vii).” For farmers at least, the past was better than the present. 
Armstrong’s love for the past surfaced again shortly after the murder of John Lennon. “In disgust, I left TV, but at 10 p.m., I tuned in for the LOCAL news. It was all eulogizing the ‘rock’ ‘musician.’ A local Tucson crowd of 2,000 had flocked to Reid Park bandshell to leave roses, and mourn for their dead idol. The local station had a lot about the ‘man and his “music.”’ (I had never thought of it as music, but a loud raucous SQUAWK and SCREAM with a fast beat - just an irritating noise.) 
“Pardon me, please! Perhaps I never had any musical education, although I have played the piano since 8 years old. I must have been terribly misled, for I supposed that the singing of a Caruso or a Galli-Curci of my father's time or a Pavarotti or Beverly Sills or an Arthur Rubinstein of our day produced music. I guess I'm terribly out-of-date. I have heard roosters make a loud raucous squawk when being captured for a Sunday dinner when I was a boy, but I just never had been ‘educated’ to call that ‘music.’ 
“When as a boy I worked one summer in a flour mill, to the constant ‘beat’ of the machinery till it nearly drove me crazy, I somehow never realized that was ‘music.’ 
“Please bear with me in my ignorance.” I'll try, but it isn't easy. At least here he was being truthful. Armstrong was ignorant of popular music. A strong beat has been a characteristic of popular music since the rise of jazz, right after the first world war. Apparently, Armstrong was unaware of anything that occurred outside of the opera house since Caruso's time. 
“I do remember, when I was in England at the college just before the mid-'60's, the Beatles were breaking into public notice. The had a new ‘way-out’ style, with an idiotic mop-topped hairstyle, with hair covering the forehead to the eyebrows, the ears and longer hair in the back of the head. The forehead is the seat of intellect - the mark of intelligence instead of animal nonintelligence. They started the style of male hairdo to turn evolution into reverse - man was becoming a dumb brute animal.” 
The new music was just “a loud raucous SQUAWK and SCREAM with a fast beat - just an irritating noise.” The new hair style “turn[ed] evolution into reverse - man was becoming a dumb brute animal (The Worldwide News, “How The Beatles Changed The Culture of the Western World,” December 22, 1980, page 1).” These were not the reasoned words of an open-minded, enlightened man. They were the belittling comments of someone who refused to accept the present. If Armstrong did not like the way a person combed his hair, he resorted to name-calling and insults, even equating him to an animal. 
On page 158 of The Missing Dimension in Sex, Armstrong again belittles modern popular music: “WHO determines what is ‘popular music’ today? The ‘teens.’ Even the radio stations who do not go to rock and disco music, in the main, play what is called ‘popular’ music. But is it MUSIC? Or is it a moan, a groan, a wail, a dirge, and a screech?” 
Anyone who was single in the Worldwide Church of God would be aware of the courtship rituals enforced by the ministry. These were based on the dating “procedures” (See The Missing Dimension in Sex, page 154) Herbert Armstrong practiced in his youth. After all, if God’s Apostle followed certain “procedures,” they were God ordained and all should follow them. We’ve all heard them: date in groups, date in order to develop friendships, don’t date for the purpose of finding a mate, don’t be alone with a person of the opposite sex, don’t date outside the church, date widely. In theory, these practices would prevent one from marrying the wrong person or committing fornication. They would expose you to a wide variety of people, and develop your interpersonal skills. In practice, they made dating unnecessarily difficult, and made it much harder to find a mate by erecting all sorts of artificial obstacles. It also put you under a microscope because if you followed the prohibition against being alone with a member of the opposite sex, you had no privacy. In addition, the church was full of people who refused to mind their own business, and asked prying questions. If you were seen together at church services, rumors would sweep through the congregation. Last, but not least, you had ministers watching you, enforcing Herbert’s will on the dating question. Ministerial meddling was common.  All of those I know who were single in the church had at least one serious relationship ended by ministerial diktat. 
When Armstrong was a child, back in eighteen-ninety-whatever, women didn't wear make-up. Naturally, it follows that he wouldn't let women wear make-up in his church. To Armstrong, make-up was “physical colored dirt” that deceitful women wore. In his classic booklet The Truth About Make-Up, Armstrong wrote, “Its modern, popular and almost universal use today originated with the harlots of Paris. From there it traveled to the old redlight districts of San Francisco, Denver, New Orleans, Chicago, New York and other American cities. Then it was used by the streetwalker prostitutes to attract and seduce men. 
“My wife remembered an incident that occurred when she was a little girl nine years old. Her father ran a small town general store. In the store she found two small packages of face powder, one white, the other red. She began to apply some of the colored powder to her face. Her mother saw her, and quickly took the powder away from her.
“‘No, no! Loma,’ said her mother. ‘You mustn't ever put that on your face. Only the bad women use that!’” 
Apparently, Loma found this incident so traumatic that years later, she was psychologically unable to confront her husband about his incestuous relationship with their daughter. 
“My mother - before she died - remembered that she used to apply a little powder on her cheeks but didn't seem to remember at what time this custom started. But she did distinctly remember that her mother never once applied powder, paint, or any kind of cosmetics whatsoever to her face. She was a very virtuous and religious woman, and in her time "only the bad women" put paint or powder on their faces. My own mother very emphatically declared that no lipstick ever touched her lips - a fact in which she took great satisfaction.” Yes, only harlots wore make-up, while the spiritually pure kept their faces free of the colored dirt. If it was true, as Armstrong claimed, that in his youth only prostitutes wore make-up, it was true of all times and places. 
With his adoration for the past, it is no surprise that Armstrong’s views on race relations remained unchanged from his youth. Segregation, bans on interracial dating and marriage, and the inferiority of the “Negro” race were things he took for granted. As his article in the October, 1963 Plain Truth demonstrated, Armstrong cloaked the racial prejudice practiced in the Jim Crow south with Biblical garb. His attempt to make racism Biblical is truly astonishing. 
Armstrong went to his grave without changing his opinions on race. In Mystery of the Ages, Armstrong lays out his racial theories in a book published just a few months before his death. Support for segregation, a distaste for interracial marriage, and a belief in black inferiority are all on display in his final book: 
“The subject matter of the chapter [Genesis 6] is the generations ancestry of Noah. Exceeding wickedness had developed through those generations, by Noah's generation reaching a climactic crisis that ended that world. 
“What was this universal evil and corruption? Jesus described that universal, corrupt evil as ‘eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage’ (Matt. 24:38). Eating food and drinking is not evil. Marrying is not evil in itself. There had to be wrong use and excess in eating, drinking and marrying - the evil was in the manner, and in the extent of eating, drinking and marrying.
“It could only be eating improper food, drinking excessively of alcoholic drinks, revelings (Gal. 5:21), rioting, violence. Marrying, to be evil, had to be as in Genesis 6:2, when men ‘took them wives of all which they chose.’ There was rampant and universal interracial marriage - so exceedingly universal that Noah, only, was unblemished or perfect in his generations - his ancestry. He was of the original white strain.
“It is amply evident that by the time of Noah there were at least the three primary or major racial strains on earth, the white, yellow and black, although interracial marriage produced many racial mixtures.
“God does not reveal in the Bible the precise origin of the different races. It is evident that Adam and Eve were created white. God's chosen nation Israel was white. Jesus was white. But it is a fair conjecture that in mother Eve were created ovaries containing the yellow and black genes, as well as white, so that some of the children of Adam and Eve gave rise to black, yellow, as well as white.
“The one man God chose to PRESERVE the human race alive after the Flood was perfect in his generations - all his ancestry back to Adam was of the one strain, and undoubtedly that happened to be white - not that white is in any sense superior.” So Armstrong says. But you’ll notice that he believes that Adam and Eve were white, and so was Noah and Jesus and the twelve apostles. Armstrong tries to convince us that the white race is not superior in his eyes, but he strongly implies that it is preferred in God's eyes.
“If you are a livestock breeder, planning to enter your prize animals in a livestock show - perhaps at a state or county fair - you will be sure to enter only thoroughbred or pedigreed stock! Mixing the breed alters the characteristics.
“God originally set the bounds of national borders, intending nations to be SEPARATED to prevent interracial marriage. Notice, "When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance [speaking of land or geographical boundaries], when he separated, [notice - he separated] the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people..." (Deut. 32:8).
“But people wanted to intermarry - until there would be only ONE RACE!
“That desire seems still inherent in human nature today!
“Noah was of perfect lineage in his generations. His wife and three sons were of that same white strain. But Japheth evidently had married an Oriental woman, and Ham a black.
“We know little more than stated above about civilized development prior to the Flood. (Pages 147-149, emphasis his throughout.)”
Where he developed this theory, I don’t know. There is no Biblical support for this point of view. One can only conclude that these were the opinions with which Armstrong started, and he interpreted the Bible to conform to his opinions. 
Incredibly, Armstrong predicted that the Kingdom of God would be segregated. God would appoint the resurrected Noah as his Minister of Racial Purity to supervise the separation of the races. 
“Since Noah lived first, we now take a look at Noah. In Noah's day, the chief cause of the violence and chaos of world conditions was racial hatreds, interracial marriages, and racial violence caused by man's efforts toward integration and amalgamation of races, contrary to God's laws. God had set the boundary lines for the nations and the races at the beginning (Deut. 32:8-9; Acts 17:26). But men had refused to remain in the lands to which God had assigned them. That was the cause of the corruption and violence that ended that world. For 120 years Noah had preached God's ways to the people - but they didn't heed.
“At that time, even as today, that world faced a population explosion. It was when ‘men began to multiply on the face of the earth’ (Gen. 6:1). Jesus said, of our time, right now, ‘But as the days of Noe [Noah] were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be’ (Matt. 24:37) - or, as in Luke 17:26, ‘And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.’ That is, the days just before Christ returns. Today race wars, race hatreds, race riots and race problems are among the world's greatest social troubles.
“Noah merely preached to people in his human lifetime. But Noah, in the resurrection, immortal, in power and glory, will be given the power to enforce God's ways in regard to race.
“It seems evident that the resurrected Noah will head a vast project of the relocation of the races and nations, within the boundaries God has set for their own best good, happiness and richest blessings. This will be a tremendous operation. It will require great and vast organization, reinforced with power to move whole nations and races. This time, peoples and nations will move where God has planned for them, and no defiance will be tolerated.
“What a paradox. People are going to be forced to be happy, to have peace, to find abundant and joyful living! (Pages 341-342.)”
How would they be made happy? By not having to associate with those of other races. Armstrong blamed many of the world’s problems on the integration of the races. The cure would be the re-institution of segregation. The world’s problems would be solved by apartheid. In this and many other areas, Herbert was a man behind the times. He either couldn’t or wouldn’t change. Although he claimed to be God’s Apostle, when it came to race he was more like the Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan.

Posted by at 27 comments:

Sunday, January 14, 2018

The Journal: News of the Churches of God Issue 201


The latest issue of The Journal is out. 

This issue has a tribute to Ian Boyne, a COGI minister who was a fixture on the island of Jamaica, with the public and his church members.

It also includes on the front page an article about the "Dig" in Israel that Ambassador College participated in for many years.  The "dig" was a bone of contention with many students in Pasadena and Big Sandy as it was considered a "perk" for the elite students who had played the AC/COG well.

Like all things with the COG, there were ulterior motives to the choice of the church being involved in the dig.  Much the same excuse that Gerald Flurry is using to fund his "college" students work in Jerusalem digs.

The Journal has this:
Mr. Dick, who came to Ambassador as a married student in 1957, told how it all began for him during the Days of Unleavened Bread in 1967. 
“During the afternoon sermon on the first day of Unleavened Bread at Ambassador College in Big Sandy, Texas, Mr. Ted Armstrong [vice chancellor of Ambassador and son of church founder Herbert Armstrong] shocked his audience by saying the Jews had to build a temple,” said Mr. Dick. 
“The only place to build it was on the Temple Mount in East Jerusalem, so something had to happen soon to place it under Israel’s control. Remember, this was April 1967, and the church was expected to flee [to Petra, in Jordan] in 1972. 
“The main announcement that afternoon was about establishing an office and having a contract for The World Tomorrow.” 

Reg Killingly has an article about what it means to "turn the other cheek", something CEM needs to take into consideration as it prepares to sue Allie Dart's Ronald Dart Evangelist Association (not mentioned in this issue.)
Jesus, though, is telling His followers that they should not seek payback for hurt. His disciples should not behave as normal. 
It would be hard enough to obey if He were telling them—and us—simply not to retaliate, not to hit back when hurt. 
But Jesus doesn’t stop there. The response He expects goes much further. He tells His disciples: Don’t just passively refrain from retaliation but proactively seek to behave in a way that defies every expectation. Do the diametrically opposite thing. Your response must be 180 degrees from what it normally would have been. 
In other words, don’t just not retaliate. Actively help your adversary. 
Michael Harris has an article about how the church still has a long way to go when it comes to dealing with gay/lesbian members (of which there are quite a few spread across the various COGs)

But has the Church of God always offered a balanced and biblical approach to
ministering to people who are homosexual? 
No! No, the Church of God is not always balanced and loving towards people like me.
‘Call them queers!’ 
I remember years ago when a prominent Worldwide Church of God minister came to speak in our congregation. He was known for his outspokenness in condemning gays, so I knew what was coming. 
As he shouted out “Brethren, call them all queers! That’s what they are!” I sat in my seat in literal pain waiting for his ranting to stop. 
This man’s sermon did not help me. It left me hurting. It was not a godly way to respond to the issue of homosexuality or to minister to people who experience homosexual temptations. 
There are the usual ads that are beyond the pale at times for the sheer craziness included in them.  

Jan Aaron Young always knocks it out the park though.  He rails against Mother's Day, Father's Day, and Thanksgiving, which apparently are a result of a Masonic conspiracy.  Where would the COG be without blaming the Masons and the Catholics for everything wrong in the world and the church? He also rails against the modern day Jezebel's who wear make-up, red lipstick, jewellery, participate in beauty contests and wear high heeled shoes. As usual in the COG, women get the short end of the stick as everything seems to be their fault.  Damn it, Eve!  Why did you have to pick that apple, even though Adam was standing right next to you and is as equally culpable?  It has not been women who have wrecked the church, but the men!

There is also an ad searching for tapes by Charles Dorothy, who apparently was the greatest speaker the church ever had.  If you have any of his tapes left in the bottom of your desk drawer or in a box, they might be worth $100.00!  These tapes need to be before 1980 though.  After that, those darn liberals influenced everything in the church.




And then there is Alton (Don) Billinglsey.  All I can say is, WTF?????

He claims President Trump is the likeness of Cyrus the Great.


President Trump has been made aware of his likeness to King Cyrus by the religious people in Israel. And Christ using his brashness and lack of fear of what anyone thinks of his decisions will stir up his mind at the exact time to make the proclamation. With his support, the Jewish people will begin the sacrificial offerings and laying the foundation for the new Temple.
Lest you think it cannot get any crazier, there is this about Art Mokarow, the "Ministering Sparrow.".

It also includes two cartoons that exemply what is wrong with the church:




You too can read this second to the last issue of The Journal here.   Issue 201





Posted by at 25 comments:

Saturday, January 13, 2018

The Laryngitis of the Gods



My "that's pathetically ignorant" button always gets pushed when Bob Thiel searches the globe for the nasty effects of weather, mostly in due season, inflicted upon the dregs of humanity and attributes this to "God trying to get our attention."  The concept that a god has to try has always escaped me.

Now  we see that, in keeping with COG Apostle think, PCG also finds their weak god , unable to speak up evidently, punishing California since the70's because they persecuted God's Apostle so called. It's a ridiculous concept and someone said it well when they noted that the Churches of God see themselves as the center and reasons EVERYTHING happens in this world.  That's Theological Narcissism to me.

God does nothing directly himself anymore.  That trait died out rather soon in scriptures as well as middlemen, weather and natural geological phenomenon took  over for the direct voice of God. When we read "thus saith the Lord" or "and God said",  if it's in the Bible we just think, "well ok..if you say so. "  Today we'd not be so trusting with good reason.  It never seems to cross the minds of we sincere folk  to ask just what do you mean "God told me" or the mechanism by which the "thus saith" actually comes from.  I got "called" into the church.  I got "called" into the ministry.  But only because I chose to do those things of my own free will.  I never actually got a call from any god nor did I hear his/her/its voice literally.   Everyone I know today who hears the voices  of the gods in their heads today is on medication to curb it and try to control the behaviors that don't lead to a quality life.

Dave Pack heard his own voice in his head and started his true church.  Gerald Flurry did the same but filtered his hallucinations through a prayer rock.  Every Christian Church on the planet traces their origins to the Apostles.  Bob Thiel does but he divines the gods through dreams and words spoken with meanings other than what he came away with.  Ron Weinland divines his calling through who the hell knows what.  Herbert Armstrong wove the tale of the steering wheel being practically ripped from his hands taking him where he had no intention of going.  Others divine the favor of the gods or God because "prayer proves it."   I prayed a lot in 30 years, for lots of right things and not "amiss."   I prayed over a gazillion sick and never saw a healing. People got better  or died but that's about it.  Prayer proved nothing to me and don't shit me about having no faith or being insincere and asking amiss. Dave's, Gerald's, Bob's and back when, HWA's calling were all self inflicted and they do not and did not hear any voice of a God.

There are some indications that Bible God can speak up, for himself and "with a mighty voice" at times, but over time even a cursory read of the scriptures will reveal that this boldness disappears leaving the Psalms to plea with a God who seems so far off and of asks "where did you go?" I think those who said God has a mighty voice never heard it personally but imagined it so to be.

"Jeremiah's" Lamentations reflect this loss of God's voice and intervention probably now having simply left Israel to her desolation and destruction and it's the fault of the people...nice going.

 The evidence of Bible God's dwindling loud voice and personal relationship with individuals is evident in scripture.  In Genesis we have a God who walks and talks in the garden with humans.  He is seen face to face and humans are his friends.  But it isn't long before God only speaks through pillars of cloud and fire and speaks from mountains  with rumblings (earthquakes and volcanos) . Soon enough, he disappears normal communication and has to resort to intermediaries in the form of prophets and priests who hear the voices and pass it on.  Today God speaks  only through Dave Pack, Gerald Flurry, Robert Thiel and/or James Malm ...whatever.  When they aren't available, he tries to get our attention with weather.


God, who is said not to live in temples, lives in the Temple, specifically the Holy of Holies, and can only be divined by the leader or later by the priesthood. He never comes out and only accepts visitors once a year at Atonement. I've stood in the space once used as the Holy of Holies, but God had left by then.

Even in the history of the times, the voice of God disappears and men are left to discern it with stones and bones, animal entrails, dice and lots. The early Apostles were even force to figure out who God wanted to replace Judas by casting lots.  God ain't sayin'.  Consulting Oracles were also popular to figure out what the gods wanted as He had pretty much disappeared from the surrounding nations as well.

Eventually in the New Testament we have God speaking through his son Jesus and that all becomes a matter of faith just as believing the voices in the heads of the prophets were actually that of God. An argument could be made for Ezekiel showing all the signs of schizophrenia, which would not have been understood in the day, as well as the young Samuel who was told by Eli the next time they spoke to him to do what they said.  Classic schizophrenia which tends to show up in the teens into the 20's.  We'd scoff if Dave Pack said the voice of God in his head told him to "send it in."  Most scoffed back then too and were right to be cautious of "God told me."

The Apostle Paul was called, so says Luke though Paul says he was called from the womb, on the road to Damascus seeing a light brighter than the sun and the voice of Jesus....in his head.  The accounts are muddled nicely.  They can't all be true.  This description also fits the classic symptoms of temporal lobe epilepsy with religious content, but I'll spare you that concept for God's voice for now.



"Paul himself makes no mention of a conversion on the road to Damascus, whereas Acts of the Apostles has not one, but three accounts:
  • At Acts 9:3-8, Paul was blinded by a light and fell down, then heard Jesus, who told Paul that he would be told what to do when he was in the city. His men did not see the light, but heard the voice. They remained standing.
  • At Acts 22:6-11, Paul told the people he was blinded by a light and fell down, then heard Jesus, who again told Paul that he would be told what to do when he was in Damascus. This time, his men saw the light but, unlike Paul, were not blinded, and did not hear the voice.
  • At Acts 26.13-19, Paul told Agrippa that he saw a brilliant light and heard Jesus, who gave him his mission, but did not command him to go to Damascus. He fell down, but there is no mention of blindness, nor is there any mention of the men seeing or hearing anything, although for some reason they also fell down. He told those at Damascus and Jerusalem about his conversion experience.

Throughout scripture, the voice of God gone from mighty to "a still small voice" .  From the beginning almost, one can see that literal wind, fire, thunder, lightening , hail and rushing water was perceived by those desperate to hear from God as the voice of God.  Individuals heard the voice of God and reported to the group but hasn't that always been a rather unfair way credibly communicate such important things?

Reading between the lines indicates that all too natural, though dramatic,  weather phenomenon and geological events were heard as the voice of God. It's what humans do and  have done for thousands of years endeavoring to divine the divine and explain natural events they had no understanding of. 

Exodus 24:16


The glory of the LORD rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; and on the seventh day He called to Moses from the midst of the cloud.


Numbers 7:89


Now when Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with Him, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim, so He spoke to him. 

1 Kings 19:12


After the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing.
IT WAS THE WIND

Psalm 68:33


To Him who rides upon the highest heavens, which are from ancient times; Behold, He speaks forth with His voice, a mighty voice.

Psalm 29:3-9 
     
The voice of the LORD is upon the waters; The God of glory thunders, The LORD is over many waters. The voice of the LORD is powerful, The voice of the LORD is majestic. The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; Yes, the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
IT WAS THE WATER. IT WAS THE THUNDER. 

Psalm 46:6


The nations made an uproar, the kingdoms tottered; He raised His voice, the earth melted.
AS IN MAGMA

2 Samuel 22:14


"The LORD thundered from heaven, And the Most High uttered His voice.
Psalm 18:13


The LORD also thundered in the heavens, And the Most High uttered His voice, Hailstones and coals of fire.
IT WAS A THUNDERSTORM.  IT MAY HAVE BEEN A VOLANIC EVENT

Ezekiel 43:2


and behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the way of the east And His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with His glory.
RUSHING WATER DIVINED AS A VOICE ALONG WITH GOD AS THE SUN

Revelation 1:15


His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters. 
                             
Jeremiah 10:13


When He utters His voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, And He causes the clouds to ascend from the end of the earth; He makes lightning for the rain, And brings out the wind from His storehouses.
STORMS.  Baal was the original storm God but Israel appropriated his traits for YHVH's, who originally was a Mountain God. 

Ezekiel 9:1


Then He cried out in my hearing with a loud voice saying, "Draw near, O executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand."
"IN MY HEARING...NOT YOURS"

Ezekiel 10:5


Moreover, the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty when He speaks. 


I also heard the sound of their wings like the sound of abundant waters as they went, like the voice of the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the sound of an army camp; whenever they stood still, they dropped their wings.
Revelation 1:10


I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet,
A VOICE AND A TRUMPET ARE TWO DIFFERENT THINGS.  ALSO HEAD ONLY IN JOHN'S HEAD

      
After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things."
Daniel 4:31


"While the word was in the king's mouth, a voice came from heaven, saying, 'King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: sovereignty has been removed from you,
Matthew 3:17


and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased."


John 12:28-30

"Father, glorify Your name " Then a voice came out of heaven: "I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again." So the crowd of people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, "An angel has spoken to Him." Jesus answered and said, "This voice has not come for My sake, but for your sakes.
THOUGH THEY DIDN'T UNDERSTAND IT OR HEAR IT AS A VOICE.  

2 Peter 1:18


"and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain"

So which is it ?   
John 5:37


"And the Father who sent Me, He has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form.
Posted by at 25 comments:

Friday, January 12, 2018

PCG: California Storm Damage Due To Fact State Of CA Attacked The Living God In 1979





That magical god of Armstrongism is constantly being called forth by the many COG false prophets and getting blamed for any recent natural disaster to hit the world,  but particularly if it happens in the United States, and even better if it happens in California.

Brad McDonald, a Philadelphia Church of God minister, let the "god is angry" spittle fly once again when he had to talk about the recent fires and landslides in California.

McDonald writes:

Perhaps you’ve heard that Southern California this week is experiencing terrible flooding and mudslides. Whenever a catastrophe like this happens, it’s easy to simply note the particulars and move on, not giving much thought to the human suffering. For me, it was when Johnson said, “We don’t know where [the baby] came from.” Imagine a sleeping toddler swept from its crib (and family), carried away violently, and eventually deposited in an unfamiliar place under four feet of cold, wet mud.
This is California. One month it’s drought and massive wildfires; the next it’s torrential rain, flooding and mudslides. Peppered in between are crises like the Oroville Dam crisis, enduring drug and crime problems, and debilitating debt. Meanwhile, the tectonic plates beneath the state continue to creak and groan, hinting disconcertingly that another massive earthquake is imminent.
With each crisis, one question comes further into focus: Is California cursed?
A strong case can be made proving that California’s demise began in the late 1980s. On Oct. 17, 1989, a massive earthquake rattled Northern California. The Loma Prieta quake caused 63 deaths, more than 3,500 injuries, and billions of dollars’ worth of damage. It occurred during Game 3 of a World Series that, interestingly, was between two California teams. The game (and earthquake) broadcasted live to millions of Americans.
In a sense, the “World Series earthquake” was a sign to the nation of the disasters, tumult and suffering that was to become routine in California over the next 30 years. It was a national sign that California was cursed. In May 1992, Los Angeles erupted in the worst riots in United States history. On Jan. 17, 1994, the Northridge earthquake killed 60 people, injured 9,000, and inflicted $20 billion worth of damage on Southern California. Both of these crises were “historic.”
Since the late 1980s, California has experienced one colossal—in many cases, “historic”—crisis after another: floods, drought, wildfires, mudslides, mass shootings, economic crisis, protests and riots. Exactlyone month ago we published an article on California’s historic wildfires, the worst in state history. In 2017, nearly 9,000 fires burned 1.2 million acres of California, destroying more than 10,000 structures and impacting tens of thousands of people.
As the wildfires raged, it was common to hear people—average, nonreligious people—discussing the fires in apocalyptic terms. Many seriously wondered if the fires were a sign from God, or a sign that the world was about to end. But now that the fires have died down, most people have moved on. California’s apocalypse, many believe, is over (unless you live in Southern California).
But is it?   from You Need to Know: Is California Cursed? January 10, 2018
There is a method to his madness as to where he is going with this. California has always been the COG's favourite whipping post. From liberals to gays to everything in between, the church found fault with everything. All of that pales in comparison as to the real reason California has had several crises over the years.  The reason CA is in such a mess is because it attacked the Living God when it launched its lawsuit against the corrupt administration of the Worldwide Church of God when it tried to seek accountability to the millions and millions of dollars flowing through the church coffers  that was being squandered on all kinds of things.

According to Gerald Flurry, when the State attacked the church, they attacked the Living God himself!  When that happened, Flurry's god got really really angry and started punishing the citizens of the state in revenge.

Gerald Flurry writes:
In an overt attack against Mr. Armstrong, the state of California, through the attorney general’s office, launched a massive lawsuit against the WCG in 1979. On January 3, that office initiated a sudden, armed assault on the Pasadena headquarters, in an attempt to claim ownership of the Church’s property and assets as well as its continuing income—in violation of the U.S. Constitution. A receiver, secretly appointed by the court, tried to take over and operate God’s Church. Completely false, outrageous and baseless allegations of financial mismanagement were made—despite financial and all other required records having been regularly and voluntarily filed. No evidence of wrongdoing was ever found, and on October 14, 1980, the attorney general dropped all charges and dismissed the case. Later, the higher appellate court ruled that the lawsuit was without foundation.
California is the only state that ever attacked Mr. Armstrong and his work. Actually, it attacked a lot more than that. California really ATTACKED THE LIVING GOD!
Is God now intensely cursing California for its attack against the living God’s work under Herbert W. Armstrong?
“Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord” (Rom. 12:19). Is God now taking vengeance against that state for what it did to His work? Yes, He is! And California is only the beginning.
The sooner we repent, the sooner the curses will end.  From Is California  Under a Curse?  December 2003 Trumpet
McDonald also includes this absurd comment about how his god may get really pissed on January 16th, the date of Herbert Armstrong's death.
It wouldn’t be a surprise if California was pummeled again really soon; maybe even around January 16 or 17? (the anniversary of the death of Herbert W. Armstrong).

Posted by at 23 comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)