Could Be, May Be, Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda: The Consistent Failure By COG Prophets To Prophesy

As coronavirus, locusts and panic gripe the world, Church of God prophets are in meltdown mode right now. They have an endless stream of  MIGHT BE,  COULD BE, WILL IT BE, DOES IT LEAD UP TO..., and other useless speculations.  They always have an easy out when their stupidity never comes true. They then think when they are mocked that they have an easy out by claiming they never specifically said something would happen.

Case in point:

The novel coronavirus of Wuhan, China fame, is now called COVID-19. It has also been called the ‘Coronapocalypse.’ Does COVID-19 have any prophetic ramifications? What did Jesus teach about pestilences and sorrows in the Olivet prophecy in Matthew 24? Could COVID-19 be the ride of the fourth horseman of the Apocalypse? Why was this type of disease expected according to the Old Testament prophecies in Deuteronomy and Leviticus? What has the US Centers for Disease Control warned about? What has the CDC reported about the flu? Were there lessons about fear and infections in the 2011 movie ‘Contagion’? Because of COVID-19, the World Health Organization (WHO), nation of Iran, and certain French locations are telling people not to use cash, but instead electronic forms of payment. The US Federal Reserve is now quarantining money repatriated from Asia to reduce the potential spread of the coronavirus on US currency bills. Is COVID-19 worse than we have been told or could this all be a ‘false flag’ event to encourage people to move towards a cashless society? If the thousands of deaths associated with COVID-19 are pushing parts of the world towards cashlessness, how much more likely will the ride of the fourth horseman and over a billion human deaths motivate people to move to making electronic payments that can be monitored? The Bible tells of a soon coming society that controls buying and selling to force allegiance to a coming European Beast power, known as 666 (Revelation 13:16-18). Does the ‘great tribulation’ begin before ride of the fourth horseman or with the opening of the fifth seal of Revelation 6? Do the words of Jesus helps us better understand the sequence of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse and the start of the Great Tribulation? Will the ride of the fourth horseman help lead to the rise of 666? Is that ride very close? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues and more.

Has this man ever told the truth since he started lying about his double blessing and dreams? Can he ever be trusted?

LCG Streaming Crashes For Viewers...Was It Satan Attacking Them?

Living Church of God sure has been batting pretty low this past week.  They can't even get thier streaming service to work right.

From a reader:

Site crashed. 

All I got to hear was Weston claim how he saved the church a ton of money by not cancelling the ministerial conference. And then started telling people how to maintain formality at home listening in. We are to dress up, sit attentively and don't dare kick up your feet and stuff your face. Also, don't you dare think for a second about saving yourself hours of drive time in the future by trying to tune in to webcasts on a weekly basis in your dirty undershirts. Afraid of what a little freedom might taste like to the sheep? Jesus Christ...tear down this wall!

From another reader:

LCG claims to have hosted thousands upon thousands of streaming Web connections for their Family Weekend services and for Rod Meredith's special presentations. The load today should be substantially less. So, if today's load crashes their servers, was LCG lying about the numbers of connections for their previous events? Or has LCG downgraded its streaming capability at a time when others are increasing theirs? Or is this simply a case of incompetent management? As Rod Meredith would say, "Where is God in all of this?" 

LCG: Don't Mock Our "Rules and Regulations" For Proper Dress and Grooming For Church Attendance

In this dramatic climate with people worrying over Coronavirus, the stock market and crazy rantings of doom and gloom preachers, the Living Church of God is focusing on how you look and act in church.

Then today, Saturday, March 14 we find out that Weston lectured his followers that they had to dress up to live stream services. How silly and petty can this guy get?

Be Lights and Examples: The Scriptures reveal that God desires His people to be lights and examples to a world enveloped in darkness. God called Abraham to learn to live by His commandments and to walk before Him and be blameless (Genesis 17:1; 26:5). Moses told the Israelites that God gave them His laws to set them apart from other nations so they could be examples to the world—and they were to pass these concepts on to their children (Deuteronomy 4:1–9). The Old Testament states that God’s people are to live moral lives, avoid profanity, avoid sexual perversions, and refrain from getting tattoos or dressing like the opposite sex (Exodus 20; Leviticus 18:22; 19:28; Deuteronomy 22:5). In the New Testament, Jesus told His disciples to be lights to the world and live, not only by the letter of God’s law, but also by the spirit of the law (Matthew 5:13–30). In addition, the Apostle Paul advised Christians to wear their hair in a manner that was appropriate for either a man or a woman (1 Corinthians 11:14–16) and that men and women should dress in modest and appropriate apparel—especially for Church services (Matthew 22:11–12; 1 Timothy 2:9–10). While some want to dismiss these clear biblical guidelines as “rules and regulations” that are no longer relevant to modern Christians, these instructions were preserved for us in God’s word to set His people apart from Satan’s society so we can truly be lights to this world—not only spiritually, but also physically. As standards of conduct and dress continue to decline, these biblical guidelines will become increasingly noticeable as Christians function as “lights” in a darkened world.

Have a profitable Sabbath,

Douglas S. Winnail

God's Only True Prophet Claims Fasting Will Help You To Not Catch Coronavirus

Where would Armstrongism be without some internal crackpot saying something stupid during an epidemic or tragedy? In their eyes, they are seeing prophecy unfold before them and see it as an opportunity to say stupid things with members believing them unquestionably. This is especially true for some of our crazier splinter cult leaders today, all men who set themselves up as leaders and spokesmen for some creature they call god. The pseudo-spiritual rot that eats away at their minds leads them into all kinds of wild fantasies, especially as the Coronavirus concerns spread around the world.

Our favorite dream weaver, end time embodiment of Elijah, and leader of the improperly named "continuing" Church of God has this to say 

World News Items

The coronavirus continues to dominate much of the news around the world. Europe’s economy, particularly its tourism, is taking a big hit (see ‘Will Brexit and coronavirus end the EU? and ‘Coronavirus Fear Cancels Events Across Asia, Striking at Economy’ ‘Tourism is 10% of GDP in France, 13% in Italy, 15% in Spain. And Now it’s in Free Fall’ and ‘Facing recession, Europe grasps for ways to limit damage’). Last night US President Donald Trump announced a 30 day ban on flights from Europe–with the notable exception of the British Isles–and the Europeans and not pleased with that (see ‘World walls off as leaders warn viral pandemic will worsen’). This ban not only could push Europe into a financial crisis, it is another move separating the US from the bulk of the continental Europeans. They will not forgive and forget this–this will be added to the list of reasons they will hate the US for.

Regarding COVID-19, some ‘fact checkers’ have been a bit dismissive of some ways to strengthen the immune system (e.g. COVID-19 and Vitamin C: The truth, the myth, and the hype). While washing hands is good (see ‘Coronavirus: Steps to stay safe,’ ‘How To Avoid Getting Infected By The Coronavirus,’ ‘Italy Shuts Down North in COVID-19 Fight,’ ‘Every EU member except Cyprus has infections,’ and ‘COVID-19 Leading to 666?’), things such as fasting and eating more fruit (when not fasting, of course) can help the immune system–though neither of those are guaranteed ways to avoid getting COVID-19 or other ailments.

That being said, the fallout from COVID-19 looks to be a way to get people to become more suspicious of physical cash. This will likely make the implementation of ‘666’ financial controls (Revelation 13:16-18) more politically-acceptable in the future. Our recommended sermonette for the week is related to that: COVID-19 Leading to 666?

Tensions between Turkey and the European Union remain as Turkey is pressuring the EU by releasing/pushing out certain Syrian refugees near the Greek border (see ‘Turkey Tears Down Greek Border Fence: Floods EU with Syrians’). While Turkey looks prophesied to separate from Europe and align itself with the Arabic King of the South for a time (cf. Daniel 11:40-43; Psalm 83:5-7), this will not last and Turkey will later align with the European Beast (cf. Daniel 11:25-26, 11:41).

Over in Russia, a constitutional change was announced that theoretically could result in Vladimir Putin being in office until 2036 (see Reuters: Putin opens door to changes that would allow him to stay in power until 2036; COGWriter: Could Vladimir Putin lead the prophesied 200 million man army?). It is possible that if he does do so, that he could be the leader of the 200 million man army of Revelation 9:16 as the Old Testament points to Russia leading a major force in the end times (cf. Jeremiah 50:8-9, 41-43; 51:11) BEFORE Jesus returns.

Speaking of Russia, it and Saudi Arabia split over oil production this week. Some wonder if this could more negatively affect Saudi Arabia than Russia and potential cause some type of change or unrest in the Saudi kingdom (see SF: Saudi-Initiated All-Out Oil War Could Lead To Collapse Of Kingdom Itself; COGwriter: A prelude to the King of the South?). It is possible that what is happening in what looks to be a producers’ ‘war’ may be a factor in change coming to Saudi Arabia as it will one day, temporarily, support the coming King of the South (Daniel 11:40-43).

I left Chief Overseer Bwana Bob Thiel's hyperlinks intact in case you want to read his nonsense.

LCG: Casper Milquetoast Fails To Make A Definitive Decision On Sabbath Services

(Several LCG members sent me comments this morning about services.)

Leave it to Gerald Weston to wait till the last minute to make a definitive decision on whether or not LCG churches should be meeting today.  Oh wait, he didn't.  

He went the "I don't want to be accountable way" and left it up to each local LCG pastor to determine whether to meet or not.

With a vast majority of Christian churches, Synangoues and Mosques stopping all services, Weston continues on as the milquetoast leader of LCG.

You may have heard by now that Sabbath service cancellations were put in the hands of local pastors to decide. LCG, UCG and COGWA are all cancelled in my area. A decision has only been made for this week in LCG. 

A link has been sent out for anyone who wants to listen to the livestream at LCG HQ.