Sunday, January 12, 2020

Desperately Seeking Authorization

"I'll crown myself thank you..."

The desperate need to be recognized, authorized, validated, accepted, affirmed, endorsed, verified, approved, sanctioned and given the green light as to one's place in God's Eternal Plan in ministry, is an obsession we have seen play out over the years since the WCG implosion. The paths to authorization a many and creative. They also are invalid and concocted.  

We have witnessed the men of renown, in their own minds at least, going to great lengths and repeatedly to prove that they indeed are anointed, called and set apart to be the Prophets and Apostles of the Continuing Saga Churches of God. Some refine their titles down to the new Joshua, Zerubbabel, That Prophet, A Prophet or The Prophet depending.

Dr.  Robert Thiel goes to yet another great length, and I do mean length, to reaffirm that the dreams he has had and others have had about him that he is the only known and valid prophet in the Churches of God today.  All sincere I imagine, but not credible.  "I had a dream" is a oft used ploy by those who either are willfully ignorant of the nature of dreams that we all have or are manipulative in a way that can't be tested but is simply to be believed by the gullible. 

I had a dream....


Dave Pack, as well we all know, is notorious for shifting the story and changing the game when it comes to title taking.  The man has justified the taking of every title there is and sees himself spoken of in scripture, which to me, is more a form of mental illness and delusional beliefs than anything close to a religious reality. The need to do so is both compulsive and ridiculous. However, Dave, unlike Bob Thiel who begs to be believed, simply states after hours of beating the minds of his seat gyrating members into mental and proof texted belief along with a bit of tale weaving,  that indeed he is an Apostle.  Where Bob Thiel seeks authorization in dreams and sketchy anointings, Dave simply declares it to be so.

Gerald Flurry also is a title taker along with Ron Weinland.  Gerald falls for the self delusion that he is "That Prophet" while Ron fancies he and his wife to be the Two Witnesses of Revelation.  Neither man is actually either and both are delusional tale weavers.

Even the Apostle Paul has a major meltdown over not being recognized as he felt he should be in his own time. The entire chapter 11 of 2 Corinthians is his proof of Apostleship and delivered in a somewhat sarcastic tone to those who seemingly had some doubts.  

"
16I repeat: Let no one take me for a fool. But if you do, then receive me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little...Speaking as a fool, however, I can match what anyone else dares to boast about. 
22Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I.
23Are they servants of Christ? I am speaking like I am out of my mind, but I am so much more: in harder labor, in more imprisonments, in worse beatings, in frequent danger of death.
24Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 
25Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and a day in the open sea.
26In my frequent journeys, I have been in danger from rivers and from bandits, in danger from my countrymen and from the Gentiles, in danger in the city and in the country, in danger on the sea and among false brothers, 
27in labor and toil and often without sleep, in hunger and thirst and often without food, in cold and exposure.
28Apart from these external trials, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches

Paul knew he had not been ordained an Apostle by any, such as Peter, James or John, the closer associates of Jesus himself.

Galatians 1:11 I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. 
12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.

Paul went so far as to note in Gal 2:6 As for those who were held in high esteem (Peter, James and John as the Jerusalem Apostles)—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism—they added nothing to my message."

For a more in depth study into who did or did not ordain Paul see:





The taking of titles to oneself and the desperate seeking of approval, affirmation and religious authentication is a common need for those who strike out on their own in the need to lead others in all things Biblical.  It is a required practice and ploy if you are going to take a piece of the mantle left by Herbert Armstrong and the Worldwide Church of God.  Joe Tkach did it as well to raise the lowly "Widow's Elder" to Apostle eventually over nothing much. 

In some churches, authorization is by ostentation. "Look at this place!" can be quite enough to convince those so driven. Dave Pack and Gerald Flurry have incorporated a bit of this schtick into their own authorizations by the Deity as his representatives on Earth. Let's face it, when you have one of the few Steuben Cups of Elijah, you gotta be someone special!

https://armstrongismlibrary.blogspot.com/2015/02/elijah-dave-pack-ever-so-humble.html

 In others it is also title taking such as Father, Monsignor, Holy Father, Your Eminence, Pastor, Reverend, Bishop or Cardinal, that elevates.  All are designed to set one apart as validated and authorized. When one is either offended by the titles of the "worldy religious", men and women who at least have done the hard work of study and credentialing to be so, they evidently have to appeal to such nonsensical means as dreams, words that can have double meanings and simply declaring themselves so to be. This is the Church of God way to divine authorization.

It, however, doesn't actually make it so and let the buyer beware.

Saturday, January 11, 2020

Self Tarnished Reputations



The eternally butthurt Great Bwana to Africa delivered a new sermon to his African followers.

He makes a couple of absurd comments in the posting:

Solomon gave instructions and observations about life in Ecclesiastes. This sermon covers all the verses in chapters 7 and 8 of that biblical book. Reputation, and those who would tarnish it, are discussed. A focus of this sermon is dealing with anger. Is anger a sin? Can you be angry and not sin? Is it acceptable to sin when angry? Should you retain anger? How can you reduce anger? What do other passages in the Bible teach us about anger? Although Solomon wrote it would turn out well for those who obey God, did he refuse to follow some of the specific instructions for kings? Did Solomon fully understand God’s plan? Do you have a better opportunity to understand aspects of God’s plan than Solomon? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues and more in this third sermon in a series covering the Book of Ecclesiastes.

Never has the Church of God had a more self-absorbed man that Bob Thiel and his grandiose ideas of self-importance?  Even Gerald Flurry and Dave Pack, in all of their vaingloriousness, cannot compare to the Great Bwana and savior of the Church of God.  The Bible was apparently written for this time in COG history as a vehicle to justify the self-appointed of the Great Bwana as a prophet and church leader.  Never has the church seen so many people dream this guy into existence, or seek to legitimize his self-appointed prophethood status.  

in spite of all that, no man in the COG has tarnished his reputation to the extent that the Great Bwana has done.  Even Ron Weinland, after his conviction and jail time, seems saner at times than the Great Bwana does, and that is being generous!

And then there is this: 
"Do you have a better opportunity to understand aspects of God’s plan than Solomon?"
Yes, Bwana Bob, there is!  That person is Jesus, that silly man you continue to ignore and discredit every time you make one of your absurd comments about the law, the old covenant, and 99% of the other useless neo-pagan crap you think is important to a Christians walk.  Law-keeping, 10 commandment-keeping, sabbath keeping, holy day keeping, non-pork eating, and all the rest of the legalistic drivel you claim is important will not and cannot save anyone. What he did and accomplished is far greater than the trite actions of Solomon. Grace, justification, mercy and eternal rest far outshine Solomon, David, Moses, Amos, Joshua, or Ezekiel.

You try to act like Solomon and pretend you have the answer to everything, know more about history than anyone else in the church, or understand doctrine and prophecy better. Do you think the following list of topics means a hill of beans to any of your deluded African followers, let alone, your couple hundred white American members?

  • Hyginus: Did this Roman leader try to change times?
  • Shouldn’t All Christians Be Multi-Millionaires?
  • CGFF and PCG view on ‘restrainer’ is in error
  • 2020: Could this be the year?
  • PCG and COGwriter on Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg
  • Iran retaliates, threatens more, and Donald Trump announces more sanctions
  • Apollinaris of Hierapolis: Church of God or Church of Rome?
  • Catholic World Report on a Jerusalem Temple and the Millennium
  • ZH: Iran Evaluating 13 Retaliation Scenarios To Inflict “Historic Nightmare” On US
  • Former Global Church of God board member says that pride is the main reason Christians do not accept a prophet
  • BIN: Why Some Christians Are Eating Biblically Clean
  • How Long Will It Take For The US To Collapse? Could the US dollar collapse like Rome’s currency? Well, in modern times, some nations are also working to push the US dollar aside
  • What was the largest empire in recorded history?
  • Do you understand Ezekiel 37 better than Pope Francis?
  • BIN: Iran Raises Red Flag Over ‘Messianic Mosque’ Declaring ‘End-of-Days’ War’ for First Time Ever
  • BibleNewsProphecy: Should You Smoke? Would You Like Help to Quit?
When it comes down to the fact of life for them, they could care less about the rantings of a privileged white American who imagines himself as the savior of the church and who thinks he is God's final mouthpiece.  Their identity is in Jesus, who they seek to follow in their own traditional ways and not in the mindless crapfest coming out of Arroyo Grande. 

Your reputation has been destroyed by you and you alone.  Not by this blog, not by the Living Church of God and United Church of God (who rightly rejected your lunacy) nor by any other COG out there who have told their members to steer clear of you.

Of course, you are just one of many in a long history in the Chruch of God who have tarnished their reputations. Liars all.
 


Gerald Waterhouse


Stupid things Church of God members heard from Gerald Waterhouse.  

How many more can you recall?

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