Tuesday, January 14, 2020
Let's Vote:
A. I enjoy the occasional posting on the journey from belief and faith to agnosticism or atheism as expressed by Dennis Diehl reflecting his own journey out of the WCG ministry. Topics about Evolution vs Creationism or Biblical Errancy issues do have a valid place here on BannedHWA as part of our collective experience in WCG. Keep it up.
B. I do not enjoy and do not wish to endure postings on anyone's journey from belief and faith to agnosticism or atheism especially Dennis Diehl's no matter his journey out of the WCG ministry. The topics of Evolution vs Creationism or Biblical Errancy issues has no place here on BannedHWA. Stop it.
Feel free to simply pick A or B or explain your choice if you wish.
This exercise is designed to give all those who frequent BannedHWA the best experience possible and access to the myriad of experiences countless people have had in coming to grips with all that has transpired since first we believed WCG to be God's True Church.
I promise to abide by the majority view so help me who and whatever
Should the majority choose B, please fill in the gaps with your own views that Gary, I am sure, will be happy to include.
Thanks!
Dennis
Adult Sabbath School: Animated Nonsense and Articulated Foolishness.
Nothing or Creator?
An animation badly done, poorly spoken and terribly outdated
Or...
A Universe From Nothing
A lecture on the current state of our understanding of the Universe and why the nothing we think we know is something out from which all we know can come.
Obviously a HUGE topic and one that takes an actual interest in, determination and time to wade through. Most I know are neither interested nor open minded enough to consider that Bronze Age reasonings might not be correct.
But cheap cartoons, badly done on such topics can never help the cause the proving religious perspectives in our day and age. Dr Thiel can't even get someone who can read their lines well or pronounce "big words".
Dave Pack, who has a certain charisma based in his dogmatism and serious demeanor got taken apart by Aron Ra, who took all the time necessary to refute Dave's outdated and inaccurate presentation.
Apostles, Priests, Evangelists, Pastors and the Self Appointed need to stick to what they think they know well, even if they actually don't that either. While speaking to the choir may give them the impression they know something, "A Universe from Nothing" might show them they know ...well....nothing!
Not for the faint hearted or easily offended, but Aron's Epilogue to Dave Pack's series on defending the indefensible out of date ideas and badly mixing science with religion, will ring true for to those so inclined.
Whether it be badly done animations or smartly done presentations, pious convictions based on marginal information gives religion yet another black eye and convinces no one of anything.
Monday, January 13, 2020
The Way of the Waffling Prophet:
[ˈwäfəl]
The Way of the The Waffling Prophet
Armageddon Will it come on Trump’s watch?
Now personally, I don't believe that Dr Thiel has an insincere bone in his body. I fully believe that he sincerely believes his own press and place in the Biblical scheme of things. I think, like I was myself, that he, and all in the COG way of being, is still stuck in the "The Wonderful World Tomorrow. What It Will Be Like" and "Are we living in the Last Days?" mode. We can all access what the Bible says. It is what it means, for whom and when, that divides everyone into a thousand different churches each led by someone who knows themselves to be more correct than all the others. Personally I have never met anyone that said they attended the false Church and knew they were sadly mistaken about their beliefs.
And too, it is no surprise here that I do not personally believe any human being not then and not now can "pre-dict" the future. From bones and stones to visions and revelations, I simple don't believe it to be how life works. Much Bible prophecy did not come to pass as advertised and all sorts of apologetics have been invented to make them seem as if they did no matter the doubts. Also, and this is especially true with regards to the Birth and Death Narratives in the NT, what seems prophetic is simply OT scriptures mined by writers who needed to tell and upgraded tale and "according to the scriptures" became more true than most like to believe. It was not according to history or to reality. The Book of Revelation is a failed first century prediction that the Romans would be driven out of Jerusalem and the Jews and Jewish Christians would prevail. They weren't and they didn't. None of it is for our times though certainly can be used as if it was. That's the nature of vague prophecy uttered with hyperbole and dramatic content. I once asked a well educated theologian who his comments on Revelation. He said whoever wrote it was on good drugs.
That said...
Now personally, I don't believe that Dr Thiel has an insincere bone in his body. I fully believe that he sincerely believes his own press and place in the Biblical scheme of things. I think, like I was myself, that he, and all in the COG way of being, is still stuck in the "The Wonderful World Tomorrow. What It Will Be Like" and "Are we living in the Last Days?" mode. We can all access what the Bible says. It is what it means, for whom and when, that divides everyone into a thousand different churches each led by someone who knows themselves to be more correct than all the others. Personally I have never met anyone that said they attended the false Church and knew they were sadly mistaken about their beliefs.
And too, it is no surprise here that I do not personally believe any human being not then and not now can "pre-dict" the future. From bones and stones to visions and revelations, I simple don't believe it to be how life works. Much Bible prophecy did not come to pass as advertised and all sorts of apologetics have been invented to make them seem as if they did no matter the doubts. Also, and this is especially true with regards to the Birth and Death Narratives in the NT, what seems prophetic is simply OT scriptures mined by writers who needed to tell and upgraded tale and "according to the scriptures" became more true than most like to believe. It was not according to history or to reality. The Book of Revelation is a failed first century prediction that the Romans would be driven out of Jerusalem and the Jews and Jewish Christians would prevail. They weren't and they didn't. None of it is for our times though certainly can be used as if it was. That's the nature of vague prophecy uttered with hyperbole and dramatic content. I once asked a well educated theologian who his comments on Revelation. He said whoever wrote it was on good drugs.
That said...
Dr. Bob Thiel's way of being a prophet hardly abides at all in the Biblical model of "Thus saith the Lord" or "I was in vision on the Lord's Day..."
Bob is the Prophet of Waffle. Rather than make bold statements such as "Trump fulfills Ezekiel 32", "This Roman leader changed times!", "Petra IS the Place of Safety!" and "Armageddon WILL come on Trump's watch!", he knows better than to do that evidently. Very risky as to one's credibility as a prophet if you keep getting it wrong. Better to leave waffle and wiggle room and at least be able to say "I NEVER SAID IT WOULD HAPPEN! I only asked if it COULD". If need be, this line can be followed by "You people just don't get it!" or "It's SPIIIIRITUAL!" Always have a personal out.
Dr Bob's is to waffle...
Waffle Bob will always have the advantage to say both "We (I) in the Continuing Church of God predicted (which is also not the same as prophesied) this! So see, I am a Prophet!" or simply deny or never mention that which didn't come to pass. Take credit for a good guess and not responsibility for an inaccurate one.
It's easier and less risky to say "Are the fires in Australia as sign of God's judgment?" than "The Fires in Australia are a sign of God's judgment." Someone is bound to point out that much of it is arson.
Dave Pack is the Master of the Non-Waffle Prophecy and still manages to blot the blunders out of his mind and the minds of all those who love bold BS. Bob seems to avoid this problem with the Art of the Waffle.
Dr. Bob posts 20 Waffle Ready things to watch for prophetically in the coming year.
1. Scoffers and the Modern Media
(And BannedHWA)
2. Morality Prophecies Being Fulfilled Daily (Sodom and Gomorrah)
(People behaving as they always have)
3. Internet Censorship
(Of ME, which I seriously doubt as well, though others should be)
4. Weather Sorrows and Troubles
(As usual on earth)
5. Earthquakes
(Your continent floats on a sea of liquid rock dufus)
6. The White Horse of the Apocalypse (Pope Francis, Vatican, Ecumenical Movement)
(Don't forget "This is the LAST POPE and he will change his name to Peter" again.)
7. Strife and the Red Horse of War
(Nothing new here)
8. Trade
(Which of course has been going on since Neolithic times)
9. The Deal of Daniel 9:27 (Donald Trump, Palestinians)
(I thought it was Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Clinton, Bush?)
10. Knowledge Increasing (5G)
(But not what the James Webb Space Telescope might reveal or Hubel has. Knowledge increasing has always been a troubling prophetic trend for the Church.)
11. Debt
(Big time Prophetic topic!)
12. US Dollar Dominance will Decrease (Instex)
(They all do in time)
13. Cash, 666 (Legal Entity Identifier), & Gold (Russia, China, Romania, Poland)
(Not to mention Estonia, Lithuania, Slovenia and Uzbekistan!"
14. Europe Will Work to Reorganize
(Women will clean their houses and men will help occasionally!)
15. Europe Will Have a Great Army (Ursula von der Leyen)
(Hey, what happened to Karl Theodor Von Pretty Boy?)
16. Steps Towards the Formation of the King of the South Will Occur
(Lindsey Graham?)
17. The Time of the Gentiles will Lead to Armageddon (Velt and Road Initiative)
(It's always been the time of the Gentiles. That would be most humans actually)
18. Jews Ready to Sacrifice
(Bring on the Red Heifer!)
19. Fulfillment of Matthew 24:14; 28:19-20
(Gospel of the Kingdom and the Short Work)
(Gospel of the Kingdom and the Short Work)
(Not again! You're just saying that because you think your time is the time. Besides, "short", "shortly" and "soon" mean "long", "longer" and "never" in prophetic talk)
20. 2020 Presidential election.
("What's all this talk about Presidential Erections?" Elections!
"Oh, never mind"
Rosana Rosanna Danna)
Let's face it, if Dr. Bob was Matthew or Luke, who really weren't the real Matthew or Luke BTW, his prophecy of Jesus would sound like this...
"Could God send a Son to die for our sins?"
"Did Jesus cleanse us from Football?"
"Is Bethlehem a reasonable place to be born?"
"Could Mary have stayed with Cousin Elizabeth in Jerusalem instead of a stable?"
"Could Jesus be wrapped in swaddling clothes and just what is swaddle?"
"Could the whole world be taxed by Caesar?"
"Will Wise Men see a star in the East and Go West?"
"Real Star or Just an Angel?"
"Could Mary be the Virgin of Isaiah 7:14?"
"Will she name him Immanuel and does it mean "God with us" or "God IS With us"? "Does it matter"
"Could Jesus be the Messiah of Psalm 22"
"Will Jesus, the possible Messiah of Psalm 22, call himself a worm and not a man?"
(v. 6)
"Will Herod be the Beast of Jerusalem and think to slaughter the innocents?"
"Will Mary and Joseph tell the other parents to grab their children and run Or will they just quietly leave knowing something they don't know?"
Musings on Waffles...
"A waffle is like a pancake with a syrup trap." Mitch Hedberg
"Sounded like a load of waffle to me." "There was some important stuff hidden in the waffle." J.K. Rowling
"Way, way back in the day, like in the 1990s, if you wanted to tell everyone you ate waffles for breakfast, you couldn’t just go on the Internet and tweet it out. There was only one way to do it. You had to go outside and scream at the top of your lungs, 'I ate waffles for breakfast!' That’s why so many people ended up in institutions. They seemed crazy, but when you think about it, they were just ahead of their time." Ellen DeGeneres"
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