How proper government works in the Churches of God
Nothing infuriates self-appointed COG leaders more than someone daring to question them, their teachings, and their asinine prophecies. In their eyes, this is a blatant satanic rebellion against the government of God.
While several COG groups stress the importance of members submitting to the government of their god, one group surpasses them all in its idolatry of that government. Gerald Flurry takes church government and places it right up there next to Mystery of the Ages in its importance.
Flurry has a new article up today for his dwindling followers that they had better be submitting because when they do not, it creates tohu and bohu. Of course, these standards never apply to COG splinter leaders who started new groups in fits of rebellion against those over them. They can get their feelings hurt, lash out and when they feel they have not been heard start their own little group where they continue to be abusive to their followers.
The King of the Church of God and future right-hand man of Jesus Christ has this to say:
Throughout the history of the true Church of God, Satan has been on the attack. He continually wars against God’s government. We have witnessed this dramatically in these last two eras of God’s Church and will see more in the time just ahead.
When God created the universe, it was beautiful (Genesis 1:1). As long as Lucifer and the angels administered the government of God, everything was unified and peaceful.
But that changed radically: “And the earth was [or became, it should read] without form, and void [Hebrew tohu and bohu] …” (verse 2). Satan warred against God’s government, and created tohu and bohu—waste and emptiness. That is Satan’s legacy. And it has carried on that way ever since, even throughout the age of man.
The Prophet Jeremiah had a vision of how the age of man would culminate, and it made him physically sick! (Jeremiah 4:19-20). He wrote, “I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light” (verse 23). Earth is going to become tohu and bohu again!
We in God’s Church must beware this satanic war against God’s government, or we too will create tohu and bohu rather than producing the beautiful fruits that only God’s government yields. But what wonders happen when we administer that government properly. If you have God’s government, you have God’s law, and God’s law of love makes God’s true Church, His Work and His college so special. God’s headquarters produces peace and godly fruit like no place else on Earth! It is all about the law and the government that administers that law. And you are part of that.
When has the Church of God, ANY Church of God, EVER produced beautiful fruits with the administration of church government? The Worldwide Church of God never did under Herbert Armstrong. The current splinter groups do not produce beautiful fruits. Good government does not cause people to leave. It does not cause them to get divorced. It does not cause them to turn their backs on children, grandparents, siblings, parents, etc. as the PCG currently teaches. It doesn't cause suicides. It doesn't cause church divisions. It doesn't create self-appointed prophets and apostles that lie through their teeth.
So what happens to those who rebel?
What will happen to those who despise God’s government? The Apostle Peter reminds us about the fate of the angels that rebelled: “God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell [tartaros—the lowest places], and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment” (2 Peter 2:4). Lucifer, who became Satan, convinced all those angels to rebel against God’s government. Now, they will be bound in chains of darkness forever!
...Any other government besides God’s is the government of the devil! God’s government implements the law, and when you start experimenting with another government, you are rejecting the law of God!
After rebelling against God’s government, the Laodicean churches are producing tohu and bohu. That is what their rebellion yields.
What does Flurry think he did? He is too blind to see he did the very thing he just condemned.
Flurry goes on to say that the PCG possesses the spiritual ark and all the contents in it, including the manna, which is church government
And within the ark were the Ten Commandments—the law of God. The law was in the holiest object on Earth in the holiest place in the universe! The law is the way God thinks.
Later they also placed within the ark a pot of manna—a symbol of God’s revelation, our spiritual food today, which God will feed us if we are guarding the law—and Aaron’s rod, a symbol of God’s government. Numbers 16 and 17 record how God resolved a dispute over government among the Israelites by miraculously causing Aaron’s rod to bud, blossom and produce almonds so everybody knew where God was working. He then told the tribes if they didn’t stop murmuring against His government, they would die (Numbers 17:10). The ark of the covenant is all about God ruling man.
God’s Church is His temple today (1 Corinthians 6:19; Ephesians 2:21). We possess a spiritual ark today, and the contents are the same. The Israelites had the letter of the law; we have the spirit of the law. We have God’s government and the spiritual manna. God expects us to strive to unify as the Family of God, full of love and doing all we can to administer and guard God’s law.
The Churches of God will never be unified as the Family of God. Not one COG leader will ever accomplish this
Christianity has since its inception understands the focus is upon Jesus Christ, not the law. Bowing down at the altar of the law invalidates everything Christ said, did, or accomplished.
The tabernacle was at the center of Israel because God wants the focus on Him. If you’re going to have the government of God, everybody must focus on God. Nothing else will work.
When Joshua led the Israelites into the Promised Land, he instructed the people to follow the ark.
He had the priests tell them, “When ye see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it” (Joshua 3:1-3). That is the approach we need toward the spiritual ark—and toward the government of God.
Talk about a steaming pile of bullshit! Oy! The PCG is NOT the ark, it does not possess a spiritual ark. PCG members need to be looking at Christ, not some apostate thing called "church government".
Flurry continues his blasphemous screed by attacking Ernest Martin and why he left the church and what Martin taught about Simon Magus. Flurryahs the truth, Marin did not. Anytime a COG leader says something about Simon Magus or Nimrod, your alarm should go off immediately. Flurry condemns Maritn for his rebellion, as Flurry calls it. Martin and others are in rebellion but Flurry, Pack, and Thiel are not in rebellion. What a joke! Everyone else is always carnal-minded, but not our fearless COG leaders today!
This carnal-minded man was in extreme rebellion against God, yet he saw that the Holy Spirit really was the Spirit of power, and he wanted to buy it, as well as the office of an apostle! Peter told him, “Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity [lawlessness]” (Acts 8:20-23). Simon Magus was in the gall of bitterness and bound up in lawlessness!
Those men who leave the true Church cannot give up their gall of bitterness. Rebellion makes people bitter! Satan the devil is behind that. Hewallows in bitterness. He intensely hates God and anybody associated with and knowledgeable of God. (You even see this in many people in politicsthese days. Nothing makes them happy—they just want to destroy like the devil.)
Have you ever noticed how bitter the guys are that are leading so many COG's today are? Thiel got upset that Meredith refused to listen to him so he threw a hissy fit and left in a spirit of rebellion. Flurry rebelled against the Worldwide Church of God after he threw his little hissy fit. Dave Pack rebelled twice by getting all pissy with the WCG so he went with Meredith, then got his bloomers in a knot and went into rebellion again. UCG rebelled against WCG as they plotted and schemed to take as many members and as much money as they could with them while still on the payroll.
The current Church of God movement is built upon bitterness.
You can read his screed here: Fight to Uphold God’s Government (notice the illustration with the article with the man holding the Scottish rampant lion flag. FLurry is doing all he can to try and picture himself as a king and royalty.
