What do you do if your friends label you as "Bitter"?

 

From an LCG source:

From an HWA co-worker letter, May 25, 1972:

What organization, church, college or important enterprise is there which does not have a few -- possibly former members or employees, or those who have had some former contact -- who are dissidents, hostile and bitter or prejudiced?

It seems those who, for a sensational story or broadcast, attack this Work, seek out only those very few dissident and bitter enemies of the Work, and are willing to broadcast or print every defaming thing these enemies will say against us without checking the facts. They never seem interested in checking with the 75,000 members and many thousand other Co-Workers. They imply false motives employ clever and deceptive innuendos, and give false and misleading impressions.

Did you ever notice that our persecutors attack us from two inconsistent angles? 1) They accuse us of embracing doctrines, so difficult to observe that nobody would ever want to become one of our followers -- so unpopular we would never attract members (and in most cases they entirely misrepresent these doctrines). And yet, 2) they imply we are so very successful, and that we are receiving much money. I'm sure you can see the utter inconsistency of this. Why do they not point out, as our Co-Workers know, how every dollar in this Work is made to go farther and accomplish more than any place we know. HOW do you appraise the VALUE of one human life turned from sin and death to righteousness, receiving the gift of ETERNAL LIFE? The living Christ who heads and directs this Work, reaps a harvest, THROUGH this Work of a few THOUSAND of such every year.

PCG: Since Israel Is Too Stupid To Understand Their Own Archeology We Are Now Starting A New Institute To Educate Them On Their Archeology.

 

Gerald Flurry is constantly seeking to find ways to be relevant in the world like he believes Herbert Armstrong was. He built his own mini-me campus and auditorium near Edmond Oklahoma. He stole hundreds of HWA's works and republished them, got sued, lost the case, and then paid $3,000,000.00 for the rights to publish them. Then proceeded to rework them to edit out anything HWA might have said to make Flurry look like a self-appointed idiot, He started the Armstrong International Cultural Foundation in order to imitate Herbert's Ambassador International Cultural Foundation so he could share the same abbreviations (AICF). Abbreviations are important in COG land, it makes them closer to HWA than they really are.

Flurry also has his students from the cult college participate in archeological digs in Israel just like HWA did. While HWA worked with Benjamin Mazare, PCG has worked with Eilat Mazar, the great-granddaughter of Benjamin Mazar. When she has made a lot of discoveries, she is not held in the highest esteem for her interpretations. She fits right in with the distorted interpretations of Gerald Flurry.

Mazar was a biblical maximalist and, according to herself, "I work with the Bible in one hand and the tools of excavation in the other, and I try to consider everything."[22] 

However, Israel Finkelstein and other archaeologists from Tel Aviv University have flagged concern that, with reference to her 2006 dating of the "Solomonic city wall" in the area to the south of the Temple Mount known as the "Ophel", "the biblical text dominates this field operation, not archaeology. Had it not been for Mazar's literal reading of the biblical text, she never would have dated the remains to the 10th century BCE with such confidence.[23] Nevertheless, scholars now agree with Mazar's dating of this structure.[24][25][26] 

Mazar was cautioned by epigrapher Ryan Byrne following the 2008 confusion over the inscription on the Shelomit seal, that "in the mad dash to report biblical artifacts to the public or connect discoveries with the most obscure persons or events reported in the Bible, there is sometimes a tendency to compromise the analytical caution that objects of such value so dearly deserve."[27]

Flurry had an office in Jerusalem several years ago until he got the brainy idea to buy the Bicket Wood campus of the old Ambassador College so that he can be closer to Hill Tara in Ireland where he believes he and his cult will soon dig up the mound and recover the Ark of the Covenant that Jeremiah brought to Ireland when he supposedly visited it centries ago. When the campus sale fell through he bought Edstone outside of Bricket Wood and closed down the Jerusalem office due to finances.

Now that the end is just a few months away Flurry needs to spend millions on a new foundation and office to be built in Jerusalem.

In order to impress the faithful followers of Flurry, they announced this on the 32 anniversary of the founding of the PCG by Flurry.

Brad McDonald wrote the following the other day in a mailing to the faithful:

It was around five or six years ago now that Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry first mentioned his plan to start an archaeology institute. I remember the mix of emotion I experienced listening to the idea—the excitement and anticipation pickled in gravity and trepidation.

The idea was logical. We have practiced archaeology in Jerusalem, mainly in support of Dr. Eilat Mazar and Hebrew University, since 2006. We’ve helped Dr. Mazar uncover some truly astonishing biblical artifacts, including King David’s palace and the clay seal of Judah’s King Hezekiah. Our predecessor, the late Herbert W. Armstrong, worked alongside Prof. Benjamin Mazar, Eilat’s grandfather, for almost 20 years. After 50 years of participating in (and even sponsoring) archaeological digs, starting an archaeology institute was the next logical step.

Still, founding an institute would mark a major development. It would require an office in Jerusalem, qualified staff and researchers and a substantial research library. It would mean in-depth research, working alongside scholars and scientists, and then publishing. It would be a pretty audacious enterprise!

How did we get on?

This past weekend (January 16-17)—exactly 36 years after the death of Herbert W. Armstrong and less than one year after the death of Dr. Eilat Mazar—we finalized and launched the website of the Armstrong-Mazar Institute of Biblical Archaeology (AMIBA).

We have an archaeology institute!

This is what Flurry has on the main page of the Armstrong-Mazar Institute of Biblical Archeology and how they intend to educate Israel and the world:

Welcome to the Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology (AIBA). AIBA’s mission is to showcase Israel’s biblical archaeology and to make it available to the largest audience possible, most especially to the people of Israel. 

 

AIBA is a non-profit academic and educational institution headquartered in Jerusalem, Israel. 
AIBA seeks to share and promote Israel’s biblical archaeology via multiple platforms, including: 1) this website, which publishes articles, scientific reports and videos on Israel’s biblical archaeology; 2) Let the Stones Speak, a full-color, 32-page bimonthly print magazine; and 3) private tours of the Ophel and the City of David, as well as public seminars and archaeological exhibits. 

 

AIBA also sponsors and participates in archaeological excavations in Jerusalem, primarily in the City of David and on the Ophel. (To learn more about past projects, or to follow our ongoing projects, see Excavations & Projects.)   

 

AIBA has deep roots in Israel and in the field of biblical archaeology. The institute collaborates and works in partnership with many of Israel’s esteemed academic institutions, including Hebrew University, the City of David Foundation, the Israel Antiquities Authority, and the Israel Exploration Society. AIBA is named after Herbert W. Armstrong and Dr. Eilat Mazar, two personalities with a long and rich history with both Israel and biblical archaeology. 

 

Herbert Armstrong was a prominent 20th-century Bible scholar, minister and humanitarian. He was also a keen supporter of biblical archaeology and the Jewish state. From 1968 to 1986, Mr. Armstrong supported multiple archaeological excavations in Israel, most notably the “Big Dig,” a massive excavation on the Temple Mount led by Hebrew University professor Benjamin Mazar. (Our Excavations & Projects page has more information on this.) 

 

Dr. Eilat Mazar, granddaughter of Prof. Benjamin Mazar, was one of Israel’s greatest biblical archaeologists. Eilat was responsible for making some of biblical archaeology’s most sensational discoveries, including King David’s palace, King Solomon’s royal complex, Nehemiah’s wall and the seals of King Hezekiah and Isaiah (among other finds). Dr. Mazar was a brilliant scientist who not only deeply valued the scientific method but recognized the crucial role the Bible plays in the study of Jerusalem’s ancient history. 

 

Since 2006, AIBA has proudly sponsored and worked alongside Dr. Mazar in her excavations in the City of David and on the Ophel. We endeavor to preserve Dr. Mazar’s archaeological legacy and keep it alive by approaching biblical archaeology with the same dedication to scientific and academic integrity, and the same passion, urgency and love. (You can learn more about the work and legacy of Dr. Eilat Mazar here.) 

 

AIBA’s overarching mission can be divided into five specific objectives: 

 

To promote the Bible as a credible and essential historical resource in the practice of archaeology in Israel 

 

To feature and continue the archaeological work of Dr. Eilat Mazar and her grandfather, Prof. Benjamin Mazar 

 

To analyze and explain archaeological excavations and discoveries past and present in the context of the Bible 

 

To challenge the unwarranted and unsupported criticisms leveled against the use of the Bible in archaeology in Israel 

 

To encourage archaeologists to consider and employ the Bible in the practice of archaeology

 

Gerald Flurry: Have a Smart Phone? Unless You Get Rid Of It You WILL Be In The Tribulation And Will Eat Your Sons, Daughters, And Friends!!!!!!!!!

 

The total asinine pronouncements of Church of God ministers get crazier by the day. Exit and Support Network is reporting that Flurry has banned smartphones and has proclaimed that anyone who still uses them will be in the tribulation where they will be eating their own children. Imagine being part of a cult that is this sick? Why do COG members still fall for this shit?

I can guarantee you that Lil'Stevie and the kids of the elite ministers at the cult compound have those phones. While they may use them at home instead of at work, they still have them.

The real reason he doesn't want them to have these phones is that they can easily access articles and information critical of the cult.

Armstrongism is sick. Sick to its rotten filthy core. Not one single one of them has any idea what being a Christian is.

GF Says Get Rid of Your Smart Phones or You Will End up in the Tribulation:
January 25, 2022 

 

I just wanted to draw attention to the last sermon GF gave entitled, “Jeremiah’s Commission.”
Towards the end he began speaking about smart phones. He referenced one specific family who used them and though he didn’t specifically say, he alluded to them no longer being members. So whether they were kicked out or left I don’t know. 

 

He then proceeded in an attempt to scare his followers by saying if people don’t get rid of their smart phone they will end up in the Tribulation and they’ll be eating their sons, daughters and friends and he then asked, “what good will those smart phones be then?” 

 

This is only about control! Think about this. What is the difference between an iPad or a computer? They all access the same information. What is the difference between a man at work all day on his computer in his private office or a stay at home mom with access all day to her iPad?? There is literally no difference. 

 

GF does this to control, and if the members secretly keep their smart phones, then they feel guilty and will attribute any bad thing that happens to them to this little “act of rebellion.” And if the ministry finds out someone is “rebelling,” then that gives them leverage and control over them. Even by their own doctrine, if their members can’t control themselves and stay off the porn sites–which he seemed to indicate that was a problem–how then can they make it into their supposed kingdom? Clearly they don’t have the character, and can’t do it unless their life is controlled for them. 

 

Last time I checked God doesn’t want robots. If He did, He would have made us so. It makes no difference if they access porn via a smart phone, iPad, or computer. It’s not about that, it’s solely about control, just like the recent ruling on men only wearing white shirts to church. It is 100% cult behaviour. –T. C.