PCG Claims 10,000 Members Will Be Ready To Meet Christ When He Returns

 

Scripture twisting at its finest. But, this is the Philadelphia Church of God, after all.

Scripture indicates that the membership of God’s end-time work, at Christ’s return, will be around 10,000 strong (Deuteronomy 33:2; Jude 14-15; see our booklet No Freedom Without Law for further explanation). That is 10,000 out of a world population of close to 8 billion. This means each member will have been chosen now over 800,000 others. Would God choose someone at such vast odds and not make them a critical part of His work force?

UPDATE: COG Groups Waking Up To Bob Thiel's Deceptive CG7.org Website Which Is Meant To Deceive Members

 

UPDATE:  See bottom page

COGNews has a rundown on Bob Thiel's new website that is using deceptive tacts to deceive COG7 folk and other Sabbatarian groups that his site is for all Sabbath-keepers. What he does with every single link on his site is send people directly to his crap. Bob gets really ticked off that no one in the Sabbatarian groups follows or recognizes him as a legitimate leader, this is why:

In July 2020 we reported that Bob Thiel had launched a new website: cg7.org – Church of God 7th Day Sabbath Observing Christians, which is very similar to cog7.org – Church of God 7th Day, based in Denver, which is the largest ‘Church of God 7th Day Sabbath Observing Christian’ group. 

 

The new website stated that it “… is intended to help people who wonder about the seventh-day Sabbath as well as those interested in learning about the different groups that claim Christ, but who also keep the seventh-day Sabbath.” 

 

The Bible Sabbath Association, established 77 years ago, does exactly that, believing in “promoting fellowship and co-operation between Sabbath-keeping people of various groups; on a non-denominational basis; to restore respect and honor for the Ten Commandments as a whole (with emphasis on the Fourth).” 

 

The purpose of the new website, however, appeared to be to draw to it people searching the internet for the words and phrases in its website title, or mistyping cog7.org – then explaining the supposed doctrinal errors of other groups, and promoting the CCOG. 

 

On the 2nd of February 2022 CCOG’s founder, Bob Thiel, wrote that he “had began to embark on a potentially large expansion for the website.” So now that there is much more information on the new website, is it non-denominational, or a CCOG website in disguise? 

 

The home page on the menu bar has the title, Sabbath Keeping, Prophetic, and Church of God Resources, which suggests that the website is non-denominational, but all of the links on this page go to cogwriter.com, which is Bob Thiel’s personal website that he has run since the time he was in the Living Church of God. His beliefs are those of the LCG, plus some additions where he says the LCG is wrong. 

 

Clicking on History on the menu bar takes you to the Continuing Church of God website. 

 

Clicking on Books provides a list of Books all written by Bob Thiel. 

 

Clicking on 7th Day Churches provides a list of various Sabbath groups, but the links all go either to cogwriter.com or his Youtube channel. 

 

Clicking on Sermons provides a list of Sermons all given by Bob Thiel.

Bob has never been able to do anything on his own other than hanging on to the shirttails of others for information and legitimacy. As crazy as they are, both Flurry and Pack have at least come up with original things to entice their followers, Bob has been unable to do so and so he has to find ways to deceive other Sabbath-keepers into believing he is right. Even in this though, he is an abject failure.

Update:

To see first hand how deceptive Bob is in using the CG7 name he has advised a couple of his so-called "evangelists" in Africa that they do not need to stop using the CG7 Day moniker in their church affiliations.

Last week we mentioned some new Youth Bible Lessons and CCOG/CG7 Pastor Samuel Ofosu contacted me from Ghana and we have ordered a couple of sets of each of the six lessons we now have completed (that group is with CCOG, but since they were called CG7 before, when they asked to be part of CCOG, we did not require them to change their name, file legal registrations, etc.).

Gerald Weston: Even though kids got sick at summer camp it was worth it!

 

Dear Brethren, 

 

The last two years have been challenging. Some of you have lost friends and loved ones, and many of us have experienced varying levels of sickness. Our hearts and prayers go out to all who have suffered losses. Thankfully, most of us have survived and stayed out of the hospital. 

 

While the coronavirus is different from a flu virus, many experts draw some parallels to the 1918– 20 flu pandemic, which came in waves and took the lives of 50 to 100 million people worldwide. Major cities experienced a deadly fourth wave, extending the pandemic into the third year. As for coronavirus in 2022, we have seen a sharp spike in cases here in Charlotte from what appears to be the Omicron variant. While it is unpleasant, members are getting through it, many now have some natural immunity, and cases are dropping. This seems to be the situation elsewhere—a sharp spike followed by an equally quick drop. Individuals will no doubt come down with one variant or another this year and in the years to come. 

 

After discussions here in Charlotte, we have made some decisions. We will continue to respect the laws of the land and local venue regulations regarding masking, but where allowed, the pastor, in consultation with his Regional Pastor or Regional Director, may determine what is the best course of action given local circumstances. This means that in many locations around the world, masks will be optional for part, or all, of our services, and snacks and/or congregational meals may be permitted. We still encourage social distancing for the time being, and it is essential for anyone with symptoms of any sort of potentially contagious illness, or recent exposure to COVID, to stay home. 

 

Those with underlying conditions should feel free to continue wearing masks, but we recommend that they be properly fitting masks of the type (such as the N95) that offer real protection. If someone feels he or she needs to continue wearing a mask for any reason, no explanation is needed. We must not judge one another! 

 

Thank you for your cooperation these last two years. Not all decisions were perfect or popular, but you understood God’s instructions about deciding matters of controversy. Some of you subordinated your will to keep peace within the Body of Christ. I especially want to thank those of you in this category. 

 

As a result, we observed the Feast of Tabernacles for two years—most meeting in person—and as far as I know, while we had a few cases of COVID during or after the Feast, we did not have asingle death from anyone attending one of our sites. Our largest outbreak was at our summer camp in Texas where masking and social distancing were not realistic. Despite having to end earlier than planned, the camp was a welcome break for all our young people who attended.

I believe God has blessed us because He saw our willingness to follow His instructions about solving controversial issues (Deuteronomy 17:8–13) and saw us acting prudently—not tempting Him (Proverbs 22:3; Matthew 4:6–7). And His mercy was upon us despite our shortcomings (Psalm 136). Yes, some of our members have died from this virus and some may still succumb to it, but it appears this current variant carries less risk than previous ones. COVID is not over. Please do not throw all caution to the wind, but let us move forward with faith and courage and let us thank God for His protection and great mercy toward us these past two years.

Sincerely, in Christ’s service, 

Gerald E. Weston

"Dancing With The Stars" Alum and "Selling Sunset" Star Is Ex-Church of God Member

 

Another feel-good story of an ex-member who overcame the odds of a chaotic life and time in Armstrongism.

“Dancing With the Stars” alum Chrishell Stause has a memoir out now in which she writes candidly about her childhood growing up in Kentucky, including that her family was homeless at several points in her life and also that her parents got them involved for a while in what “felt like a cult.” Andrea Reiher

See full story here:  DWTS Alum Was Homeless, In A Cult As A Child

Strause has written a book on growing up against all kinds of odds:

Amazon says this:

In this engaging, witty, and inspirational memoir, Chrishell Stause shares her story of living an unconventional childhood in small-town Kentucky marked by periods of homelessness, family addiction struggles, and dreams of one day being on a daytime soap, all while managing the local Dairy Queen. Through resilience and grit, she overcame obstacles and pushed past every barrier in her path to become one of the most envied luxury realtors in Los Angeles and buzzworthy cast members in reality TV.

She takes us behind the scenes of Selling Sunset, reveals never-before-told stories from her life in soaps, and even pulls back the curtain on her highly publicized love life, offering insight not before shared. With her signature honesty and charm, Stause also gives tangible advice based on the lessons she’s learned over the years and offers unique insight about how to stay resilient and positive no matter how many times life knocks you down. Under Construction is for anyone who wants to remember that no matter what happens or how, you have to get up, dress up, and show up, and walk back into the room stronger than ever before.

Buy the book here:  Under Construction: Because Living My Best Life Took a Little Work

 

 

Church of God International and the Canadian Truck Protest

 

Banned comment:  Agree or disagree with the truckers protesting in Canada, Europe and soon to be here in the US, it is every thinking person's right. However, that is not the point of the article below. It is about how the Church of God International has now blatantly entered the political playing field and are endorsing political actions, figureheads, and causes around them, both from the pulpit and in print. Adrian Davis is now taking this message to Rumble where he is seeking to gain a new following of readers to his pseudo-religious/political message. CGI apparently stepped in and told him to stop using CGI's platforms for his political messages and in a spirit of rebellion jumped into Rumble. Politics has already created division in CGI, just as it has in society around us.

How can any COG member ever trust a minister spouting political crap when they can't even be trusted to be grace-filled leaders that treat members with respect and preach about Jesus?

CGI Canada’s Freedom Convoy

Church of God International Pastor Adrian Davis of Burlington, Canada wants the world to know that the folks in Tyler, Texas are not going to silence him! In defiance of that church’s leadership, Davis delivered Part 3 of his now infamous sermon series “Closer Than A Brother” this past Sabbath (5 February 2022). He announced: “We are trying out a new platform – that is the Rumble platform.” He claims that he was instructed to not use the church’s main platform if he intended to talk about something controversial (He was actually instructed to stop talking about Covid vaccinations and mandates). Hence, his decision to “Rumble.”

For those who may be unfamiliar with the site, Rumble is the preferred platform of folks like Devin Nunes, Jim Jordan, Sean Hannity, and Donald Trump. Why would the Pastor decide to use the preferred platform of Trumpists? As his message continued, the answer to that question became clear. Pastor Davis announced that he wanted to speak about the Covid vaccination mandate protest by Canadian truckers known in some circles as “The Freedom Convoy.” Fortunately, as of this writing, Davis’ long-winded sermon (over an hour in length) had only garnered thirteen “rumbles” (an indication of the post’s popularity).

He began his message by referencing the book Live Not By Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents by Ron Dreher. Davis used the book to draw an analogy to the experiences of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn when he was under the thumb of Soviet totalitarianism. According to the pastor, the Christian church should “refuse to live by lies” (meaning we should resist vaccine mandates and attempts to suppress our lies about them). He went on to compare the situation in the U.S. to the former totalitarian regimes of Eastern Europe. “We are clearly headed towards some kind of totalitarianism,” he warned.

Pastor Davis went on to ask: “What does the Freedom Convoy of 2022 mean to Christians?” He said that elders must resist efforts to suppress them speaking out against mandates – that they must “speak the truth from Scripture.” To underscore his point, Davis referenced Daniel’s behavior when a law was promulgated which forbade the worship of anyone but the King. In other words, according to the pastor, Daniel clearly resisted a government mandate in this instance by continuing to do what he’d always done (praying to God). He said that Daniel was willing to face the consequences of his actions, but Davis never really addressed the subject of whether or not he would be willing to accept any sanctions for his own behavior.

Davis then went on to commend his colleague Murray Palmatier’s diatribe against church leadership’s restrictions on Covid misinformation from the pulpit. From there, the pastor proceeded to decry the “mob rule” of the Black Lives Matter movement, but he chose not to mention what happened on Jan 6, 2021 in the same vein. Davis then proceeded to proclaim that mandates were getting more and more restrictive (this despite the fact that many states have eased restrictions as Omicron numbers have declined). He went on to bemoan the fact that America used to be the “beacon of freedom” in the world, but that Canada had now replaced America as the symbol of freedom in the world (the implication being that the Freedom Convoy had earned them that title). Davis gleefully declared that the convoy which began in Ottawa had now spread around the world – pushing back against those horrible mandates!

From there, the pastor proceeded to bemoan the “post Christian world” that currently exists and gave voice to his longing for the good old days when America and Canada were Christian nations. According to Davis, both of those countries are moving toward a Marxist ethic. As I listened to Davis, I couldn’t help but wonder about the rest of the world! Isn’t he supposed to be part of the Church of God International! I am waiting for the pastor to suggest that they change the name of the church to something less globalist in outlook! Continuing in the same vein, the pastor went on to bemoan the current “assault on logic” – that “a man can be a woman” (the pastor appears to be transfixed by this whole question of gender identity). Before finishing his diatribe, the pastor got in one more jab at the very immoral BLM movement.

Nevertheless, not all is hopeless! It is very clear that the pastor finds great joy and solace in “The Freedom Convoy.” He said that we simply cannot ignore all of those trucks disrupting our supply chain. He claimed that this was justified because mandates are evil. He went on to say that the convoy is breaking the spell created by this mass formation mob which supports vaccine mandates. Davis also made clear that he is mad at Prime Minister Trudeau for calling the truckers a fringe minority. He then proceeded to decry the Prime Minister’s Marxist leanings and said that he should respect the truckers and what they are trying to accomplish. According to Davis, these are good people just trying to stand up for their God-given rights.

In a final gasp of madness, Pastor Davis went on to compare “The Freedom Convoy” protest to the Christian Passover! He underscored their courage and commitment as the very values that underpin that Holy day. For the pastor, it is unconscionable for those carnal truckers to have taken this stand against mandates while Christians meekly do what they’re told to do! If Christians could only find their courage, Pastor Davis mused that the coming Passover could be the most meaningful one ever! He went on to decry the “fear of death” which motivates those nasty mandates; but he never mentions his own fear that the vaccine might kill him, or that he is afraid of government totalitarianism. Clearly, for Pastor Davis, Christians should not fear dying from Covid-19. According to him, we have the resurrection to look forward to, and he compared death to falling asleep (there is no mention of the fact that Scripture also refers to death as our enemy). I have to say that this part of his sermon made me the most nauseous. I felt like saying that many of us on the other side of this issue also have hope in the resurrection!

Pastor Davis concluded his message with more praise for the truckers. He claimed that they should not be compared to those evil BLM people who were trying to burn down cities (even though the truckers are literally trying to burn down the supply chain in an attempt to blackmail the Canadian government into eliminating a vaccine mandate). According to Davis, most of the world lives under the “rule of whim” (implying that there is no justification for wanting to vaccinate everyone). He went on to say that “When the government fears the people, you have democracy.” Davis said that he believes that totalitarians derive their power from Satan (even though Scripture states that God places rulers in positions of authority). According to Davis, if the convoy’s blackmail is successful, they will have pushed back against the advance of Marxist totalitarianism. He finished with a shout-out to the personification of that can do American Spirit, Donald Trump (and his chief supporter Bill Watson), and Davis made clear that his hat is off to those glorious Canadian truckers. Me thinks that CGI has a big problem on its hands!

--Lonnie Hendrix