Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Tammy Tkach Interview Not Going Down Well With Ex-Members


Certain ex-WCG Facebook pages have been really down on a video made by The Network of Evangelical Women in Ministry - NEWIM that they posted a year ago on their site where they interviewed TammyTkach.

What really set people off were the comments about church finances and not knowing it was a cult:


Some comments from Facebook:

"I never seen or heard her before but still had to stop it."

"How could you not know it was a cult!"

"she knew. She benefitted."

"Hilarious that she says at the beginning that they were considered a cult......so she KNEW what she was in. 
At 16:01 she said Joe Jr says he doesn't condemn him (HWA) and that he was sincere?!
Yeah, ruining people's lives is sincere 
🙄
.....but what would he know, we know good and well that he and his family didn't live like most of us so it didn't effect him."

In reference that it was a cult:

"I think the bigger reason is that when inside one we rarely see it as is. Brain washing. Dulling down of independent thinking and risk of losing everything (my entire family were members) will keep a person from even looking to see if something is off"

 "i agree... my whole family was also in it and I was also born into it."

Where the situation baffles me is, at what point does an individual :
-First : decide to adhere to such an organization.
-Second : realize the unorthodox, questionable, illogical teachings; 
YET, decides to stay.
-Third : Even after that realization, agrees to give a huge part of their revenue to said organization.
-Fourth: Gives up on all logical reasonable thinking; totally accepting to be subjugated by the cult leader.
And
I would add a last one :
Fifth : Reproduce within the cult and teach the newborn human baby totally incoherent, false and absurd information about life and it's meaning.

""Joe jr says he doesn't condems (HWA) and that he was sincere"??!!
Can you believe that LIE?
What about the myriad of accusations of fraud and sexual misconducts, assaults and exploitation?
Was he sincere about those accusations also?"

What do you think?


Sunday, February 25, 2024

After 29 Years UCG Says: "Now we must get to work."

 


UCG/Rick Shabi sent out its Home Office update on February 22 and it was a sight to behold. For 29 years now they have been wandering around trying to figure out their purpose. They have finally decided what they need to do.

Let me address just a few of those areas as we begin to focus with a greater sense of urgency. Jesus Christ is the head of His Church, and we look to Him to guide and direct what we do. It must be done His way, or it will not bear fruit. God has provided the physical resources—both monetary and human—to do the work. Now we must get to work
 
Christ commissioned His Church to “preach the gospel in all nations, to make disciples, and to teach them to observe all things He commanded” (Matthew 24:14; 28:19-20). This is a key part of the operation plan that we, as Church administration, will be presenting to the Council of Elders at their meetings here at the home office next week. We have begun implementing this through our more extensive use of direct, clear messages to the world available now on YouTube.

Apparently, they never thought to consider their international regions and the potential they had there. 29 years of neglect and now they are waking up. Note, it doesn't mean they will do much but they are "endeavoring" to understand. WTH? They would have had a better return on their money in the Latin American countries and in Africa over how much they have wasted in the United States and Canada with their messages that have had minimal impact.

Following the principle in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23, we are endeavoring to learn and understand more about our international regions so the gospel can be preached in them more effectively and in a manner and form that is best suited to be heard and received. You can help us with this, and we can help provide content and materials to assist in the preaching of the gospel in your area.

Now, the plan is to "cry aloud and spare not", though if they are going to accuse those around them of their sins they need to clean their own house first. Plus, it appears that UCG members are getting sick of hearing about all the end-time scenario crap they have been subjected to for decades.

In Isaiah 58:1, God commissioned us to “cry aloud, spare not, and show My people and the house of Jacob their sins.” Even those not a part of the Church are beginning to loudly proclaim their doubts about the future of the world. It is time, and we will “cry aloud” with a bold, clear and direct message to the house of Jacob (and the world) of the sins and heinousness of the actions and direction of this world, reminding them that repentance is necessary for salvation and that Jesus Christ will return to “save” mankind from the utter destruction he would inflict upon himself. We will continue to do this as God leads and provides the direction and message He wants delivered.

Our Great Bwana is going to beg to differ. He and he alone is doing that.  

Not only will they be crying aloud, but they will be unified! Woo Hoo!

One more thing that needs to be mentioned as we remember God’s will and actively begin to practice it in our lives, is this: Jesus Christ, before He was crucified, prayed in John 17 for His people to become “one” with each other and with Him and the Father. In Ephesians 4 we are admonished to “keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”

With their newfound focus on unity, great things are in store. Unity has never really been their focus when they rebelled from the Worldwide Church of God, when David Hulme split off, and when COGWA split off. But, heck! It looks good in print. 

Passover is quickly approaching and their previous sins over the last year will be forgiven and they can start anew.

Indeed, when we take of the bread that symbolizes Christ’s body at Passover, we are reminded that it is the koinonia (fellowship, partnership) of the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 10:16). It pictures unity, being at one with each other and learning and practicing that “oneness” that we must have and develop as God’s people. 

Word has been circulating for a while that there is more unrest in the UCG ranks. I guess they are trying to nip it in the bud with this: 

To achieve that, humility is required. We must put aside our thoughts, our pet ideas, learn how to reconcile with each other, and strive to work together as one under Christ, following His lead and supporting the direction of His Church. That includes “speaking the same thing” (1 Corinthians 1:10) as we have been focusing on with the ministry this year and “advancing His mission” as has also been stressed. 
 
It is time for us individually and collectively to focus on what God wants, to yield to Him, and to move forward in becoming the people and Church God would have us be.

Why Is Our Crackpot Prophet Always The Martyr?

 

One of the things they have always trained management with is to start out conversations with positives, then include gold/projects to work on, cover any negatives, and then end on a positive note.

This has never been the way leaders in Armstrongism have worked, particularly in many of the less impactful splinter groups over the decades. Though, Armstrongism has always embellished the negative as a form of control and to play on emotions.

Out Great Bwana to Africa and the occasional 100 Caucasians puts this into practice with almost everything he writes, says, and does. Negativity reigns supreme. Check out his latest member letter to the African leadership (the ordinary members don't see this or care).

He starts out with:

Dear Brethren and Co-Workers in Christ:

Greetings from Grover Beach, California (where now our ceilings have to be replaced because of water damage related to the tornado that hit earlier this month).

Truly the weirdest and dumbest opening of a member letter, EVER! 

We were disappointed with the proposals we received from Corpus Christi. Therefore, we have contacted to other cities further north in Texas related to the USA site for the Feast of Tabernacles in 2024, who have not yet responded. That said, a representative from Corpus Christi said she was looking into getting other proposals submitted, so we have not yet totally eliminated Corpus Christi. We plan to let you know when a decision has been made.

Satan is stealthy messing with the Great Bwana Bob Mzungu.

He then proceeds to discuss the marriage of one of his sidekicks in New Zealand and some positive things supposedly happening in Africa. Missionary history in Africa has taught that one never knows how far to trust the reports from these so-called leaders as they are well-known throughout Africa for telling their white overlords in America how great things are so that more money can be sent to them.

Then he immediately has to dump on his readers how deceives someone on Facebook masquerading as him. Who dare they! He doesn't support orphanages! How dare they claim such a thing. Take care of others as a real act of charity? Well, I never!!!

Brethren, as reported before, I received several messages from contacts on Facebook who suspected that friend requests that they received which supposedly came from me in December 2023.

While I normally receive Facebook friend requests multiple times per week, I have not sent out any Facebook friend requests myself to anyone for over a decade. Generally speaking, I try to avoid Facebook, and only try to be to it the minimum time possible-which I sometimes need to do for some overseas church matters.

Well, now someone is pretending to be me again on Facebook and is associated with an orphanage ministry in Kenya.

When I learned this connection on Tuesday, I sent the orphanage ministry the following message on its contact form:

Someone is sending out fake Facebook posts supposedly from me, Bob Thiel, with a link to your ministry. If you are doing this, please cease and desist. If it is not you, but you know of someone doing this, please tell them to stop bearing false witness.

The above orphanage ministry has still not responded to my message.

That said, although we in the CCOG do support numerous orphans (consistent with James 1:27), this Facebook push to the one promoted was not from me.

Only those orphans who might be part of his so-called church get his support, if at all. 

Whoever is pretending to be me has the devil as his/her father.

Many use a variety of techniques to try to deceive.

Everyone seems to be out to get the little guy. Stop it al of you big bad meanies out there! Stop it, NOW!

Yes, the emergence of various fakes is a sign of the last days.

Expect deceivers to put out materials pretending that I and/or others in the CCOG leadership have accepted one or more heresies or have engaged in biblically sinful behavior. Remember to be careful NOT to accept accusations against church leadership (cf. 1 Timothy 5:19) without REAL proof (some who have claimed to have “real proof” have not, but instead have twisted matters and believed lies).

It is sad that some wish to try to deceive others through fakes, talebearing, and other ways (cf. Leviticus 19:16).

The Apostle Paul also warned end-time Christians, “not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, … Let no one deceive you by any means” (2 Thessalonians 2:2,3).

That includes trying not to be deceived by “deepfakes and phony computer requests.” 

Yes brethren, I believe that deepfakes will get worse consistent with the prophecies in 2 Timothy 3:13 and 2 Thessalonians 2.

Be on guard. Fakes and liars will get even worse.

Still perturbed and angry, as only a little guy can be, says:

On Tuesday, I denounced a couple of false predictions at the COGwriter.com website. One was from a Messianic Protestant and the other from one who had been a minister in the old Worldwide Church of God. Consistent with what the Apostle Peter wrote, we in the Continuing Church of God “have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts” (2 Peter 1:19, KJV). 

You had better HEED US NOW before it is too late! Stop picking on us! 

He does end with this,

Live in peace, and demonstrate the love of God of love.

Probably the only thing worthwhile in this entire weekly update.