Its Time For COG Members To Part Company With The Liars And False Prophets Running The Churches

If every minister, member, or speaker who dares to utter a prophecy could understand the impact of a false prophecy on the lives of a fellow member - perhaps, it would cause one to stop with their careless and thoughtless babbles. 

When a person speaks a prophecy, and that prophecy turns out to be wrong, it causes discouragement, sadness, disappointment, despair, even depression - all the way to personal doubt about the authenticity of Jesus Christ Himself. When a person speaks a false prophecy, it causes a desensitization and an expectation of failure. When a person speaks a false prophecy, it does more to tear a person away from God then it does to build someone up in God. It is so counterproductive to the Christian life that only when one realizes the impact that careless prophecy does to a person that one understands a little bit why in the Old Testament false prophets were dealt with so harshly and severely. 

The Church of God is littered with thoughtless idiots - and I do mean idiots - who, in an abundance of zeal but a lack of a sound mind - have taken a tool of prophecy and have used that tool to defecate all over the Bible, and vomit all over the word of God. Every time a minister opens his mouth, and utters nothing but contemptible lies, it shames Jesus Christ and it hurts His people. It is just as bad as picking up a knife and stabbing a person in the heart, because what comes out of their mouths are sharp, vicious lies that only cause despair in agony. 

Yet they continue to spew lies from the mind of the heart of the father of lies - the devil. Why do they do this? What is it that causes them to continue in lies, even after they're proven wrong? 

I've spoken before about the issue of pride within the Churches of God - and it's no different with false prophets. Admitting to being a false prophet is admitting to a liar. Admitting to be a liar causes people to lose trust in the pastor. And when you lose trust in a pastor, you leave the Church. If you leave the Church, you cut off the pastor from a certain amount of money. Do you see where I am going here? 

Prophecies in the Churches of God have always had an impact on "The Bottom Line". Prophecies were used by Armstrong to increase funds during his large scale building projects, which allowed the completion of the Auditorium. The prophecies - which turned out false - already accomplished their purpose - to fund the building project. Prophecies have always had the goal to increase income, and whether or not the prophecies were correct or not did not sway the prophet. Once the prophecy is issued, and the timeframe is gone, and the money has come - the purpose has been accomplished. There's no refunds - just an "apology" and a kick down the timeline for the prophecy - maybe next time. 

Seriously, there is not a "next time".

The effect of a false prophecy is anti-everything the Holy Spirit's fruits are. Does a false prophecy by a false prophet bring joy? No, only incredulous doubt. Does a false prophecy by a false prophet bring peace? No. It only proves the prophet has not been spoken to by God whatsoever. Does a false prophecy bring truth? Absolutely not. A false prophecy is just that. It's a lie by a liar who is, almost always, at least in the Churches of God, unrepentant, unapologetic, unwilling to admit, and scared to death that any admittance will impact his financial intake. This is why they don't renounce. This is why they don't admit. Because it's all about the MONEY, and admitting one is a false prophet will take away the MONEY. Kicking down the line keeps the MONEY flowing in. This is truth. This is what it has always been about. 

A person who is the embodiment of what and who God is will embody the fruits of Who God is and What He stands for. There will not be a rush to prophecy, but a desire to serve. There will not be a rush to pretend to be a know-it-all, but a mind of compassion and understanding to help each person individually. There will not be a constant conveyor belt of speculations, maybe's, if's, and's, or but's, or of orders, commands, and legalistic bullcrap which only serves and fuels ones ego of importance - but a true heart of compassion, love, joy, and service in the love of Christ. The desire of a true minister of God will not be to hold all the cards in regards to prophecy - but to strengthen and build up the Church in Jesus Christ in love and in service. 

The negative impact of false prophets cannot be understated. False prophecies are absolutely devestating to the well being of good-hearted, God-minded Christians - but they've been happening for thousands of years by those who think they speak for God but only crush the souls of their followers, leading many away from God to a life of godlessness. God is not found in the pastors, the ministers, or the churches and the theologies of false prophets, but in the still, quiet, flowing river of simple love, grace, mercy, truth, goodness, and compassion. Those who blast lies like a lion love to deafen the quiet whisper of holiness. The only way to truly listen to whispers is to embrace the Whisperer. It is time to stop feeding the false prophets and enabling their evils. It is time to embrace the Whisperer. It is time to put the false prophets out of work. It is time to stop giving money to evil wicked ones. It is time for Church of God Christians to repent from enabling wickedness - and turn to God - and part company with liars and false prophets.

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What Every COG Minister Should Wake Up To And Read Every Morning

• Every life in my congregation is precious and dear to God.
• Every counsel that I give can impact a life permanently. 
• My advice can alter the course of history for the life of the member and the lives of generations to come. 
• I take personal responsibility for every word that I say in God's name. 
• I have a responsibility to exhort, encourage, and uplift my congregation. 
• I have the responsibility to take every interaction in equal importance, big or small. 
• I must do nothing that negatively impacts a Believer's relationship with God, their family, and the Church. 
• I must respect a Believer's personal relationship between them and God
• I am not an overlord. I am a servant, a helper, a mentor, and a friend. 
• I am a guardian. I must protect the Church and it's members from abuse and harm, inside and out of the Church. 
• I must avoid greed and the love of money in all its forms as a minister of Jesus Christ. 
• I must flee from immorality and live a life dedicated to helping and serving the Church without distraction. 
• I must preach on things that will make an impact and help the specific needs of my Congregation. 
• I must center and focus on Jesus Christ in every interaction and in every message of my Pastorate. 
• In every interaction I must act in love towards all I serve. 
• If I must correct and counsel, I will do so in Godly love, kindness, and most of all, in prayer and respect. 
• I will respect a member's personal life in regards to family, job, talents, and personal life in the Lord. 
• I will resign from the ministry if my personal life impacts the health and spiritual welfare of the Church. 
• I will counsel with the Church's leadership and devout members of the Church always and in prayer. 
• I recognize I am a servant, not an overlord. I am a helper, not a commander. I am a guide, not a sheriff. 
• I will keep my sermons on point, on message, and completed in a reasonable time. 
• I will take seriously the impact I have on every life at every time in the position of service that I am in. 
• I will never use the funds of the Church for self-centered, greed-oriented, personally-benefiting reasons. 
• I will never ask for, demand, guilt, or coerce members for funds or for money in God's name or otherwise, especially Low Income members who would be harmed financially and spiritually. 

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The Problem With Failed Prophecies In The Armstrong Churches of God

It is unbelievable that the United Church of God would say that they have a more "sure" word of prophecy than any other Church of God group. 

For over 70 years, in the zealous mindset of the Churches of God, when it comes to prophecy, they have been trying to fit their predictions into reality like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. They have never even come close to even beginning to have a handle on any kind of accurate prophecy in any of their major predictive theories. Not even once. 

Which is honestly saying a lot, because their entire theological foundation hinges only on their predictions of prophecy being correct. Their claim to fame is that they, and only they, have the keys to the Kingdom of God, and that through their understanding of their identity as "spiritual Israelites", then suddenly everything was supposed to have fallen into place. This is the very thing that all ex-members, living or dead, of the Church banked their lives on - that the Church had a mystery long solved, evidenced by their correct interpretations of prophetic understanding. 

From their claim that a large part of the Bible is nothing but prophecy, to their literal interpretations of Revelation to the claim of theological duality in prophecy - their claims were the biggest part of their legacy that made the "glory years" what they were. It were these predictions that filled arenas and auditoriums with those who believed what they interpreted prophecy to mean. Who can forget their colorful images of Daniel, of Beasts - of Revelation images with the voice of Art Gilmore over brass instruments echoing their prophetic interpretations? The biggest gamble of any Church of God member's lives was the gamble that the Church knew what they were talking about. The only problem? Enough time has passed that any logically thinking person can know with full certainly that every thing they ever said about prophecy has turned out to be absolutely, categorically, and blatantly false. Their prophetic interpretations cannot be defended, and any belief in their prophetic interpretations today can only be attributed to an acceptance of lies and an inability to renounce what must be renounced, if truth is the yardstick one measures by. 

Chronological timeframes have been wrong. Predictions about people have been wrong. Predictions about world events have been wrong. Predictions about world leaders have been wrong. Every one - but that has not stopped certain zealots who believe they alone have the correct interpretation of prophecy from trying. Whether it's Bob, Dave, Ron, James, Gerald, Gerald, or Tom, Dick and Harry - without fail, their timelines end up being fantasies based on delusions of correctness. Truthfully, a five year old who claims to understand how algebra and calculus works can be trusted more than a Church of God minister who claims to know how prophecy and the Bible works. Plus, a five year old can be trusted more than any Church of God minister can. At least a five year old has the intelligence to be corrected when told he's wrong and listen to people who know more than he does. 

If their entire construct of their entire religion - and we're talking about Armstrongism - is wrong, then how can one put any credit in anything that they talk about? Partly because of one simple comparison that every one of them makes - them vs. what they see "in the world". What the Armstrong Apologist sees in the world of Corporate Christianity to them is far worse then the failures of Armstrongism. They see what they view as idolatrous worship of false images, pagan holidays and symbols, sun worship, belief in lies such as Santa and the Easter Bunny, embracing of Jeremiah-like Christmas trees, and the rejection of Old Testament commandments they feel are in force. This is what they use to justify that they are "more correct" than "the world", even though in reality they are just as wrong, just in a different tangent. What they do not admit they are doing, however, is measuring everything in the mind of physical legalism, not in the mind of spiritual atonement and reconciliation with God in a pure heart in mind - which they think is impossible spiritually as they judge them physically based on what they think is unacceptable in the eyes of God. 

Regardless of your opinion about the physical aspects of more mainstream Christianity, or however disgusted you are with some of the traditions and observances of the same, it does not change the fact that the Churches of God have been sharply condemning of others while dismissive of their own heretical problems. There can be no sugar coating it - lies, deceptions, delusions, and failed prophecies have been as big a problem with the Churches of God as they ever could be. And no amount of shifting blame to the problems of Mainstream Corporate Christianity as they see them will ever make that statement untrue. Untold harm and psychological damage has been the result of the lies and failures of the Churches of God's prediction addiction from people of all ages - from children to senior citizens, and all those who have ever listened to the lies of Herbert Armstrong and every splinter leader, from Dave to Bob to James, who in their self-righteous arrogance dares think they speak for God when the record is clear they only speak from their own minds, without one shred of credibility or reason to believe they could be right. Ronald Weinland himself has cemented the reality of what happens when one banks on Armstrong predictions for the record of Armstrongism for generations to come. 

There is one thing about prophecy that we can know for sure is true in the Churches of God when it comes to the "sure word". That the only sure word of "prophecy" in the Churches of God is "False".

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