God Hates Christmas Lights and Ashtrays

My favorite ultra conservative HWA worshiping site is at it again on Yahoo.  This time it's about the "spirit world."  Mind you, some of these are the "good" spirits that God uses to scare the crap out of you so you stop being a wretched sinner.  There is also one that is obviously demonic to him too. This guy has God intervening in his life by stealing Christmas lights off his light strings, then God throws them into the street to warn him to stop keeping Christmas.  Then God smashes his ash tray to make him stop smoking. More magical thinking about a god they need to imagine that does special things just for them since they are the select few in the world.

   I wonder how many of you have had experiences from the spirit world! Way back when my wife and I were first married, we had been living with my wife`s widowed grandmother for several months when we decided to buy our own home. We were both working for the same factory where we had met and we heard of this two and one half story house that was being settled by the heirs of the old woman that had died in that house and had been vacant for several months. The purchase price was $10,500 and we paid the $500 for the down payment and borrowed the rest.

  We would go to our newly purchased house in the evenings for house cleaning since it was in bad shape because of that woman`s age being unable to properly care for it. We would clean till late at night and then would shut off all of the lights. The next night, we found the light on on the floor lamp which I was sure that I had turned off. Then before leaving I made certain sure to shut off all lights. Then the next day, the *cellar* lights were on. This happened several times and then I felt that someone else had a key to that place and so I got a very thin wire to wire the three entrances to see which one was being used for entry. None of those wires were broken, so it had to be coming from within!! The problem finally stopped.

  Then when we were called into the truth and instructed that we need to get rid of all religious stuff from our walls and I didn`t believe that to be necessary and I left this only one item hanging on the wall. I had it hanging on the wall with a nail with a very large head on it to insure it not to fall! Then the next morning I found it on the carpet in pieces!! That thing was made with hard, thick, ceramic type stuff that could not break and especially when landing on the carpet!! It would likely take a hammer to break it!!

  Then at Christmas time I had put strings of lights on the shrubbery of the house and then the thieves would come and steal the bulbs. So we worked wiring the bulbs to the sockets. Then the next night, since they couldn`t unscrew the bulbs, they literally ripped the entire strings of bulbs off of the shrubs and strewn across the street. We finally got God`s messages!!!

   Then when called into the Church, I had a smoking problem and each time the minister and his assistant would come to the house to see how I was doing, I still had not quit and this went on for three years. I had smoked two packs a day for twenty years and was totally addicted. Then this one day, after the minister had left, my wife called me for dinner and as I was asking the blessing, we heard glass breaking from the living room, where I had been sitting, and this very thick astray that I had been using was in pieces!!! Then I was told, "I believe that God is trying to tell you something." I finally broke the habit after our minister, Mr. Bryce Clark told me that If I have to chain myself to the bed, I must quit smoking, and he made me quit before allowing me to attend services. Some thought that he was a bit harsh, but I credit him with not only saving my physical life but my spirit life as well. I could never have quit otherwise. We had been observing all of the Holy days, the weekly Sabbath, as well as tithing all of those three years, then with God`s help, I finally made it though I still craved a cigarette for five years after.

  Then one year at the feast at Niagara Falls, we were all packed packed up and was leaving and was in the outside lane of traffic this guy came barreling out of the mall and instead of staying in the inside lane, he came crashing on across into our lane and smashing against the side of our car and caused me to go over the curb. I tried chasing him because of the damage to our car but he sped away before I could catch him. I pulled off at the nearest exit to check the damage and to report it to the Niagara Falls police but after stopping and checking our car, there was not even scratch. As hard as he hit the side of our car, I couldn`t believe it!! It had to have been an angel of God who had protected us!!

  There have been other times that I can recall when we were protected by God, but this is getting quite lengthy!!

Idiots in the Pulpit: Mark Davidson - Torah Institute Attempts To Discredit Christmas

The Six Foot.....

If you had any thought that Armstrongites were the only ones who  would go to great lengths to discredit Christmas you are mistaken.  Below is a video of an idiot that surpasses even the weirdest Armstrongite.  Of course Armstrongites agree with this guy as further proof on the paganism involved in Christmas.  This was on a Facebook COG board.  It is a Messianic cult that preaches a lot of legalistic silliness that some Armstrongite's want to cling to.

Dennis On: "And Yes Brethren...I am that..."

Get Your Own Naughty Apostle Shirts Here

"And Yes Brethren...I am that..."

 

Dear Brethren,

 

Yesterday, Apostle Ron Weinland, with some nervous tension, announced that , "yes brethren, I am the third type of the Elijah to come."  That was the last straw for me.

 

I have had to endure Gerald Flurry declaring himself "that Prophet," and David C Pack, "And yes brethren, I am that Apostle."  Now I have to put up with Apostle Ronald Weinland declaring he is the third type of an Elijah to come.  He also made it clear he was the final one.  I guess Elijahs come in threes.  I assure you they do not.

 

I'm going to be honest about this.  I want a title.  My writings have brought me some derision where one called me "The High Priest of Marduk."  Now don't get me wrong.  I haven't had a title in a very long time and being the High Priest of Marduk is not bad considering he was the chief Deity over Babylon and lived at the top of a Ziggurat in Bagdad.  But it is not enough for me. 

 

Ron Weinland started his humble climb to stardom with being content at being an Apostle. Then he switched to one of the Two Witnesses with his wife being Witness Number Two.  To date, these witnesses have not wielded much power and have not impressed anyone with the word of their mouths, but there may be time.  Now Ron is declaring himself the Third Elijah Type to Come.  Great!  All the good titles are fast being consumed by the faithful ministry in him.  Ron may, however, fall back to Mr. or just plain Ron sometime in 2012.

 

Far as I know, Joe Tkach still goes by "Mr." so I congratulate him for at least not becoming the Arch Angel Michael.

 

Dave began as "The Watcher," progressed (in his fine mind) to "and yes brethren, i am an Apostle,' to darn near Prophet status or something of late.  I think he is basically out of titles and Ron has usurped the last legitimate one from him.  Nice work Ron!!  I suppose Dave could give a four hour sermon on "and yes brethren, i am the Fourth Type of the Elijah to Come," but it doesn't have a good ring to it.

 

The only titles I find not used yet are, "Man of sin,"  "false prophet,"  "who say they are apostles and are not," "Messiah,"  "scoffers,"  "King of Kings and Lord of Lords," and "Family guy..."  

 

Therefore, and I am going to forgo the four hour sermon proving this and simply say, I am Jesus, no wait, I am God, and let me see you beat that one!

 

As Supreme God I command you, Ron Weinland, to step down as both Witness and Elijal type.  I fire you.  I did not call you to that and  you have been fibbing to the brethren. If I had appointed you that, I am quite sure I would have remembered doing so. You're fired.

 

This goes for you too David C Pack.  You were never a Watcher and certainly never an Apostle. Or if you were, you were in your own mind and like Paul, announced it yourself 22 times out of the 24 times Paul called himself one in the NT.  Seems no one else is familiar with your grand titles.

 

As for you Gerald,  you are not this or that or another prophet.  You made that all up and I have not appointed you. Again, I would have remembered that, and frankly I don't.

 

Now a word to you brethren who sit there comatose and unable to speak up with that niggly voice in your head that tells you, 'what!  That's a bunch of shit if I ever heard it."   Wake up brethren.  These men are fooling you and themselves.  They are self appointed, somewhat mentally unstable and while MAYBE sincere, not in touch with me on these things.  I know who I assign callings to, and none of these guys are on the list.  I am a bit disappointed at your lack of critical thinking, but it is what it is.  Save yourself however and question these guys and pay attention to your doubts.

 

Frankly, ALL the prophecies of my son, Jesus' return were for 2000 years ago.  I know what "shortly" means and "the time is hand" is all about.  It was not code.  I goofed.  I sincerely thought the night was far spent and the time was at hand.  Shortly means shortly and was not code for longly.  I simply made a mistake.  Or if not a mistake, did not mean the return would be as you have thought.  I think I meant the Jewish faith would pass the baton to the Christian one. The Fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD was kinda what i meant.  Wasn't thinking much past that and if you think 2000 years later is a good definition of "shortly", well I can't help you.

 

At any rate, as God, I have to negate all your titles as invalid and not of my choosing.  I know that's a toughy for you, but trust me, you'll thank me. 

 

Ok, well that's about it from HQ here.  Nice Auditorium for me there Gerald, but I don't like living in Oklahoma so won't be visiting there often if at all.  Dave, are you nuts?  Winter in Ohio is brutal.  I am a Middle Eastern kind of God so won't be living in your House for God anytime soon.  Ron, well what can I say. "When I was in prison, you visited me," may be the best I can do.  I wish you well.

 

That's about it .  Being God is not what it's cracked up to be.  You get credited with things you did not do or cause and you get the blame for things you had nothing to do with.  It's a tough job, but I had to adopt a title you could not out do.  Having done so...I return the reader to the channel they were watching, and myself to just being me.

 

Amen

 

Dennis C. Diehl
DenniscDiehl@aol.com

 

Spanky Meredith's Self Serving Fast Request Is Backfiring

The "Dear Leader" of Living Church of God is still turning off people with his required fast for healing of himself and others in the LCG.

This in some ways continues comments from a few weeks ago regarding Rod’s enforced fasts. I agree the tone of Rod’s desperate letter sounds like the desperation of the priests of Baal cutting themselves and jumping around wildly to get Baal to answer them. And like Elijah said in modern language: “maybe Baal is on vacation–or maybe he’s across town that he can’t hear you.” Maybe the God (or perhaps more appropriately god) Rod worships is not hearing him because of his terrible selfishness. I cannot believe how self-serving Rod’s “fast” is. He and his “leading” cronies get the hot seat of sickness–and he wants everyone else to do something about it!! It doesn’t work that way! “you fast for strife and debate–and to smite with the fist of wickedness (brutality.)” To be fair, I don’t think Rod’s “church” is as bad as the concentration camps run by F & P (Flurry and Pack) but Rod has never learned anything in his life. He never learned humility, (to this day boasting about his golden gloves boxing days; now that’s humility!)–he never learned how to obey orders, always insisting he be the one that gives orders–he has a long history of abusing people, but if he thinks God is “abusing” him or his cronies with sickness, why all you losers fast and pray so God will help me! It’s a sad, pathetic letter. I truly think the poor brainwashed members of Rod’s church (not God’s church) will be forced to see their “Dear Leader” for the carnal personality he is.

Weinland Criminal Court Case Moved To 2012

Weinerdude's criminal court case has been continued till March 2012. From Apostle Malm's blog:

On December 12, 2011, a hearing was called on the defendant’s motion to continue [delay] the trial scheduled to begin January 31, 2012. The United States was represented by Assistant United States Attorney Robert McBride. Defendant Ronald E. Weinland was present and represented by Robert Webb, retained counsel. The proceedings were recorded by official court reporter, Lisa Wiesman. The Court having heard counsel and being sufficiently advised, it is hereby ORDERED as follows:   1. The defendant’s motion to continue [Record No. 14] is GRANTED. The trial date of January 31, 2012, is vacated and the jury trial is rescheduled for March 20, 2012, beginning at 10:00 a.m., with counsel to be present at 9:30 a.m.   2. The pretrial conference previously scheduled for January 17, 2012, is continued [delayed] until March 12, 2012, beginning at 3:30 p.m., at the United States Courthouse in Covington, Kentucky.   3. Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(7)(B)(iv), the time period between January 31, 2012, and March 20, 2012, is excludable delay under the Speedy Trial Act.

The Court finds that failure to grant a continuance [delay] of the length outlined above would deny the defendant reasonable time necessary for effective preparation, taking into account the exercise of due diligence. Further, the ends of justice served by continuing [delaying]  the trial date in this case outweigh the best interest of the public and the defendant in a speedy trial.   4. The defendant shall remain on bond and conditions of release previously imposed.

Ronald Weinland’s criminal proceedings began formally on November 10. The criminal trial is scheduled to begin on March 20, the court having given the defense 49 days of the 180 days delay they had requested from an originally scheduled trial date of Jan 31. There are other hearings between those two dates.

Saint Herbert

Saint Herbert

You stupid fools that read other blogs and listen to people speak ill of God's Apostle are headed straight to the Lake of Fire! REPENT!  God's Apostle NEVER made any mistake when it came to the Church.  He may have made a few itty-bitty mistakes in his personal life, but NEVER in the Church!

   It is apparent that some of you are being involved with other forums and that is your business, but to bring to this forum what some dissident minister has to say in regards to a charge that Mr. Armstrong made some mistakes in dealing with God`s Church and that particular minister feeling that he must correct the mistakes of God`s Apostle, will not be tolerated! Christ would never use some dissident minister to correct any possible mistakes of His Apostle, that would make no sense and does not! Any mistakes that Christ`s Apostle could have made, Christ would have seen to it that He would use His own Apostle to  make any needed corrections!

  At one time, I had subscribed to another one of the more popular forums one day and unsubscribed the very next day having had to read some of the "garbage" that had been presented. It just was not my cup of tea! I found it hard to believe that some in God`s Church would resort to that sort of thing. I personally don`t care to read that sort of gossip!

  That is not to say that Mr. Armstrong didin`t make any mistakes in his personal life because obviously he did, but never regarding the Church, and then Christ using him (Mr. Armstrong) to correct those mistakes! Hopefully you all understand!

  There is nothing wrong with questioning something from the scriptures that needs better understanding that this forum might present in that understanding and would be very much welcomed.

Meredith Speaks Out About LCG Cancer Plague

As usual the premise of the letter says that if you are sick it is your fault! Your "lukewarm" attitude is causing your sickness.  Your lack of passion and refusal to put "your heart" into God's work is letting Satan have free access to your brain and causing you to sin.  Plus, if you sinners have stopped using your Moffat translation Bible you had better dig it out of the attic!  Does any one even quote that translation anymore except for Spanky?

Dear fellow ministers and brethren,

Greetings from Charlotte! I want to give an emergency comment about the upcoming FAST we have called for this Sabbath, December 17, 2011. I should have put this in the Update yesterday, but was too busy and got distracted. So it is my fault. Dr. Winnail mentioned it, but I do want to comment further because of the extreme urgency of the situation we are in—which some of you may not fully realize.

Brethren, more than in any time I can remember, literally dozens of our members and ministers are in “dire straits” physically. Up and down the East Coast, especially at here at Headquarters, at least seven individuals that I happen to know about are in life threatening situations—mostly from cancer. Just this morning, interestingly, I received an email from one of our leading members, Syd Attenborough, telling about the death of two CGI elders. One of the men I had known, Dennis Lawrence. The other I had not known but am very sorry for his death and the death of all of God’s people who perhaps have to die prematurely. So these two elders have died just within the last several days. A number more of our own people may die within the next several months unless we—as a Church—cry out to God to please intervene more powerfully to heal His own people! Certainly, as Jesus said, “When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8).

May God powerfully help us to regain the child-like faith that many had in years past—as some may not have had at all! Brethren, one of the major parts of Jesus’ ministry was to heal the sick—as I have explained many times. So we need to beseech God to help all of us draw closer to God so that He will begin to supernaturally heal those who turn to Him for this mercy. But the problem with many of us here—in this society—is that we do not get truly urgent in our prayers. We tend to be “lukewarm” in our prayers for healing—as in so many other things. One of Mr. Armstrong’s favorite scriptures along this line was something he said that we—as a Church—vitally needed to meditate upon. That is Moffatt’s translation of Hosea 7:14: “Though it was I who redeemed them, they have lied to me; they never put their heart into their prayers.” Mr. Armstrong often remarked that he thought that this was perhaps the greatest weakness in the prayers of God’s people—the lack of total fervency and passion when we pray to Almighty God. Brethren, I hope that as we enter this fast, that we can meditate on that and cry out to God for the sense of urgency and heartfelt outflowing concern for these people that are truly sick and perhaps ev en dying among our own brethren in the Church!

Remember when God told His servants to cry out to Him about the coming trials of the Day of the Lord—the time just ahead of us—He urged them, “‘Now, therefore,’ says the Lord, ‘Turn to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. So rend your heart, and not your garments” (Joel 2:12-13). And when God instructs us in the New Testament to pray for healing, He states, “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16). Therefore, as we enter this fast, I hope and pray that all of us will genuinely take it seriously and try to mediate thoughtfully and lovingly about the suffering and imminent death so many of our own brethren are going through! Let us, together, truly cry out to our God at this time for His special intervention and healing of His own people. I am sure God would want us to do this. If we cry out to God in this way at this time, it will all draw us close together as a Church and He will no doubt bless us in many other ways. As we pray, let us also cry out for additional faith and courage so that we may move ahead in every aspect of our Christian lives and honor the God who gives us life and breath.

Brethren, please take this seriously and let us go all out as a Church in seeking our God in this day of fasting and prayer.
With Christian love,
Roderick C. Meredith

Another Harlot Daughter School/College

The newest harlot daughter of Armstrongism, The Church of God Worldwide Association has announced it is starting a Bible School.  What's with all these splinter cults and their schools and fake colleges?

I would imagine their first course to be offered is "Ethics."  They wouldn't want any of the students working behind their backs to form another church while on COGWA payroll, would they?

Sadly another generation of youth will be indoctrinated in false doctrines, false prophecies and worshiping HWA.

EDUCATION:   Dick Thompson has agreed to oversee the development of a COGWA Bible school (details of which will be announced soon!) and assist me with ministerial development and training and any other adult programs or online educational efforts we may develop in the future.

Were Adam and Eve Bioluminescent?

COGers say the strangest things:

When Adam and Eve were created, was it possible that they may have looked
different from what humans came to look like? What I mean is, is it possible
that they were bio luminescent beings or beings somewhere above humans but below divine spirit beings? And then when they took of the tree of knowledge, and God clothed them, could that have been God turning them into fully flesh and blood
beings? I think that when Adam and Eve were created that they may have been
created in a way that, had they not taken of the tree of knowledge of good and
evil, they would have been fully spirit divine beings (verse 22 in Genesis 3
seems to indicate that Adam and Eve may have became divine beings had they not
sinned).

So I guess if Adam and Even had not sinned we would all be glowing today?  Eve and that damn apple tree!

These Shoes are Killin' Me! Do you like the color?

These Shoes are Killin' Me!

Do you like the color?

She came through the front door of the local hospital looking more like a person who was about to ask where the emergency room was than the visitor she turned out to be. She was middle age and walking like she felt 100 years old. Limping and listing side to side, I thought she was going to tip over right in the lobby before ever getting to the desk. She asked the room number of a friend she wanted to visit and we found out they had been discharged and gone home.


What followed was comment that symbolized how so many live their lives on lots of topics.
"Good," she said, "Now I can go home and get these damn heels off." It was her church shoes that were tormenting this poor woman and giving her this grotesque walk that she must have counted as her normal "these are my damn Church Heels" walk. She was miserable in them. They were physically killing her feet and adding peril to her walk from points A to B. But damn it, "these are my Church Heels and I wear them every Sunday," I suppose is what she felt and expected of herself.


Why do we do that? Why do we torment ourselves wearing things we are expected to wear and doing things we are expected to do, when in fact they hurt us and make us miserable? She was obviously expected to wear those shoes, certainly by her own force of habit, but maybe also by all the other women in her church who tolerate the same torment of wearing shoes that in fact are "killin my feet." In her case, just stop wearing the darn things lady! They are either too small, too high, too narrow, too old or too so not your style. Just stop wearing them and every bone, muscle and joint from your toes to the back of your skull with thank you a thousands times over!


You pick the topic, but this wearing, doing, participating in, going to and believing things "that are a killin my feet," seems to be such a human trait and why do we do it? Seems so easy to me, but that's because I have gone through the process of rejection for not doing things that don't personally work for me anymore and leaving some shaking their heads in dismay over the changes I have made in ways of doing or not doing, being and not being. How about you? What is it you are doing, or practicing, or forcing yourself to believe, or participating in that you really don't want to and are physically, mentally, emotionally and even spirituality killin you?
Why do we torment ourselves by doing that which we don't really want to do and not doing those things we really want to. If that sounds a bit like the Apostle Paul, I'm not speaking of the same frustration he was thinking about.


First of all, we don't do or think the things we really feel because it is not acceptable with the Tribe. They have a belief and plan for our life all ready pre-approved, and we are not to stray from that plan without their permission, which we will never get, or approval, which we also shall never get. Solution: "I can't wait to take off these damn heels. They are killin my feet."


Secondly, wearing the clothes we want to wear, thinking the thoughts that work for us and believing that which we have found to be more true for ourselves, takes homework, effort and determination to be our authentic self. That poor woman knew how she felt in those lousy heels, but she still made no effort to correct the situation for her, choosing rather to endure it, and to her peril. How many people do I know who wear their ill fitting ideas, beliefs and practices on the outside, knowing full well that this is not who they are nor what they really believe. As I have noted in the past, how many ministers I know who understand a topic to be more true in their understanding than that which they are willing to share with their congregation. There is no difference between their discomfort and the woman wearing the heels that she hates and can't wait to get rid of, but can't or won't. In this case, these men have done the homework, but won't share the results because it is too risky. There is no difference between that problem and wearing "these damn heels." We just don't mention our discomfort, aches and pains and keep on wobbling along. Solution: "I can't wait to take off these damn heels. They are killin my feet."

Finally, we must do, practice, go, participate in and believe that which is "killin us," because, well, we like to. Oh my feet hurt, but everyone wears these damn heels and their feet must hurt too. Somehow, as long as we know that everyone else is miserable, we can just follow along in the misery and be happy with it. Scary huh! It is truly a case of "Doc, every time I do this, it hurts," to which the Doc tells us, "then stop doing that." We can't. It's a habit, we paid good money for those damn shoes, ideas and classes, and we gotta wear them. Well, no really we don't have to do anything. Just because one invested 20 years in one set of ideas, does not mean we have to invest the next 20 in the same set of erroneous ideas, although I realize that if something was "good enough for papa, it is good enough for you," as some will say.

Solution: "I can't wait take off these damn heels. They are killin my feet."


So don't put up with that which does not serve you any longer for any reason. There is no good reason to do that as you just end up with crooked feet, aching shins, lousy knees, fractured femurs, grinding joints, a twisted pelvis, painful back and a lingering headache. Take off the heels and get you some moccasins that fit and feel soft as a babies butt, and see how many want to join your tribe.
 Dennis C. Diehl
DenniscDiehl@aol.com

Haley's Comet Heralded HWA's Death

The silliness keeps on coming:

The bible tells us that the sun and moon are for signs.
Eclipses of the moon and sun have heralded many important events.
Like Christs birth.

Haley's comet also heralded important events . One such was Herbert Armstrong.

Haleys comet heralded the Norman Conquest, the destruction of the temple, the beginning of America in the 1600s, the death of Elder Andrew Dugger, last apostle of the church seemingly ending that era of the church, and it appeared again at Mr. Armstrongs death.

Are you Feeding Evil Birdies, Owls, Eagles and Other Unclean Birds In Your Bird-feeder?

In August I posted a blog entry about The Birds written by a Living Church of God minister.  His silliness is not unique to Armstrongism.  There are others in the splinter cults that think the same way:

What amazed me was seeing a picture of a WAREHOUSE full of little stands (for a garden, perhaps) (just for Jerusalem!) where the idolaters would put bread crumbs or "cakes" for the Queen of Heaven, who, naturally, sent the birds to bring the offering to her. :)  Hm, how many of us have bird feeders?

Or, as Jesus put it, the birds nest in the tree. Birds are a symbol of evil throughout the Bible, from the dream Joseph interpreted to "the bird that carries tales to the King's ear" to the birds that snatch up the truth when the seed falls to the earth.

Of course, birds themselves are not evil--they are simply a part of God's creation and do what birds do. It is instructive to note that many evil people use owls, eagles, and other unclean birds as talismans (like Harry Potter and his mail-owl). ;It's as if they instinctively thumb their noses at God.

So, has anyone seen or read Harry Potter's Deathly Hallows? Does he combine into the powerful, evil wizard who keeps trying to kill him? You might read that as symbolic of God trying to win over Satan, similar to the Superman story. (Yahoo)

The stupid things Armstrongites come up with still continue to amaze me.  You never hear them talk about feeding the poor, taking care of the sick, or taking care of the orphans, but you sure hear a lot about how everything is pagan.  Pagan this, pagan that, evil this, evil that. One conspiracy theory after another, concentration camps on US soil,  illuminati, visions of Fatima and on and on the list goes! Stupid, stupid people!

Dennis On: "I Still Have Hope"

I'll let this be one of the shortest "articles" I have written.  I love this video. 

I love the message and I still wish it were so. 

 

For all the skepticism on origins and content, one would be a fool to not want this to be true.  

 

The world is really screwed up. 

Leaders are finally being challenged politically as religious leaders are 

by those like us who have had enough. 

 

Maybe it is people that make things happen after all. 

 

When in WCG, I stayed way too long because the hope of the message was still bigger than the stupidity of the administration.  

 

Then the stupidity won and it was time to move on. 

 

So to prove I can get to the point....I love this video. 

 

It still bring tears to my eyes.  

 

I still have hope.  

 

I just can't prove it and don't trust anyone to tell me how it all is anymore.

 

Season's greetings to you all however you perceive it.  

 

I love you all for the journey you have been on and have so freely shared.

 

Den

Interracial Dating In Armstrongism

Felix has a great letter on his blog by a GenX black member who grew up in the silliness that is Armstrongism. Armstrong and various other cult ministers always loved to preach that they were 'turning the hearts of the children to their fathers'. Nothing could be further from the truth than that comment. Armstrongism destroyed countless lives, families and the beliefs of tens of thousands of members.

There has been a slew of stories flooding the internet over the last several years by people who suffered under the putridness of Armstrongism. This story is just another in a long list of stories on how morally bankrupt the entire belief system of Armstrongism is. And of course the nay sayers come out of the woodwork and accuse these people of all kinds of lies. Most appalling is the extreme amount of racism that filled the church. I have loved watching Armstrongites over the years deny that there was ever any racism in the cult.  Some of the biggest proponents of this seem to have gravitated towards Rod Meredith and Gerald Flurry.

Another "Second Generation XCGer Speaks Out

19 07 2009

(Editor's note: We have on Gavin's blog heard the testimony of Sienspirit, a young woman in her mid-20's discuss her time being in the Worldwide Church of God (historic, orthodox and evangelical periods) and discusses the ripple effect of the church's destuctive policy on medical care which hit directly at home with her. Though members from the splinters came out from the woodwork (let's say) to spew their venom by suggesting that her testimony was exaggerated at best and fabricated at worst or that she was another second generation whiner who could not take any responsibility for her life and the most childish and infantile suggestion that Sienspirit was not the most attractive of appearences (I actually liked her hair done in the third segment of the video and I really do think she has an Alyson Hannigan-American Pie fame, thing going on but that's just my humble but complementary opinion), I thank God she had her defenders and I will proudly add my name to the list. Until Anderson Cooper gives people like her some prime time, Youtube and other internet media will be the route. I have also said some time ago have desired to hear some more stories of relating to an African American (or Canadian or Carribean) experience in Armstrongism. Well I didn't need to look to far. My brother's friend in Y.O.U. days has a story and it is a unique story. This brotha was an independent thinker from the get-go and trust me this guy has proven that there IS life after the WCG and more abundantly. I hope all will enjoy this different kind of perspective.)

On the family side, things began to sour. My father got fired from his good paying career because he refused to work a Friday night shift that he was scheduled to work. Then he tried to call the church lawyer using the "religious freedom" card. The lawyer in our church stated that he can't help him and hung up the phone rudely. In my opinion, losing a career in the manner my father did was irresponsible. As I look around me at church, the YOU group my brother was in were nice kids outside of church, but in church a collection of disinterested teens that did not care about church. I was in YES. I dutifully completed the bible lessons and I got my YES certificate from the minister-a stiff as a cardboard Englishman. I admit his daughter was cool to me because she was coming to church with yellow hair and openly criticizing the church current doctrines. I recall when word got out that she was pregnant, the self-righteousness of many people felt it was their right to openly criticize her. Using names like "*#$%@", members (particularly the single men) started to quote this line about "be you not unequally yoked". That service was just bizarre. I felt sorry for her. I saw in tears outside the meeting hall (a very old public school in another end of town) I said to her, I do not condone in this behaviour". I then decided it was time for me to "go on strike with the WWCG".

My biggest complaint with the 'church' was the policy on interracial dancing. My brother and I were not allowed to go because of this reason and I quote "The Worldwide Church of God view is that interracial dancing can ignite sexual arousal in black men so we don't allow black men to dance with someone outside their race." The minster went on to say that it was OK to call a black person "@%#%#@". The two statements are the most ignorant, short-sighted, ridiculous statements I have ever sat through in my life. This was said in the middle of church! Recall that my family was the only black family in the congregation. I threw a temper tantrum like former tennis star John McEnroe in his prime at church and to this day, I am very proud of myself for speaking out in the middle of church! I got some lashes from my father for it when I got home, but I felt strongly that what the minister said was racist. It became the 'hot-topic' in the church district I resided in. The minister tried to "smooth things over" but the mere sight of him entering my parents house would make me want to toss him out in the manner like Philip Banks did to Jazz on the 90s sitcom "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air" television show-throw Jazz out of the house!

The minister came to my parents' house to explain how SEP works, how I would be a "leader for the black kids". I told him I am no role model for anyone. The minister assured me that those rules were done away with, realized they were rules that created sensitivity issues etc. I went to camp, first dance they had, no interracial dancing (not even in dance class!) I remember the camp director. I never liked this man because in a YOU track meet earlier this summer, he made comments about black people that I felt were insensitive. I sat alone by the lake. One of the girls' counsellors found me and asked why I was not dancing. I told her why. She was SHOCKED to find out the rule existed.

My experience dealing with hypocrisy, racism (not just with Caucasian people but other black members of the WWCG were racist towards me due to my refusal to date their daughters and being called a "sell-out". For those that do not understand a "sell-out" is a black person who "acts white." By that I mean young black males like myself who do well in school, do well in extra curricular activities and are decent in character. For instance there was one young black woman who thought it was her divine right to go up in my parents face after church one and state this in a nasty attitude that was evident in some black women back then. I quote "You have raised beautiful whitechildren". I know most who read this may not understand but I will state that was very hurtful towards my mother. My reaction, some CHOICEwords for this young woman), church leadership (and I have not even touched on the doctrinal side of the Church in this retrospective look) and the two-faced attitude of most of the members I came into contact with.

He would be beaten, yet again, until crying and shivering from the pain...........

From Days, Vol 2

Cast amongst the unbelievers, the long discussions with the priests had been excruciating. It had caused great concern in the family, particularly with his mother, that as he turned 13 he began to express doubts. Their family had been ridden with the deep fears and insecurities that came with fundamentalist Christianity; and had swallowed whole the propaganda from the Worldwide Church of God, Herbert W Armstrong and Garner Ted Armstrong. They had been blessed by God, and told the truth, here at the end time. The bottles of stored water mounted in the cupboards. And all was lost, lost, when he couldn't reconcile his own stirrings with the strict proscriptions being hailed down upon them.

Was he really going to go to hell? For what exactly? Why was God so unmerciful, so cruel. Why didn't he care about those he was condemning to death. He wrote his first major poem, about this fearful God and the queues of the condemned. They snaked out through stone pillars and under arching stone walls, they spilled down mythical steps and they kept on coming, hundreds, thousands. There was a strange, stifled chant, more evil than religious. Despair was everywhere. Darkness shrouded the masses. Oh if only they had been good, instead of being here, facing their destiny, their death, their judgement.

Was he really going to die, just like them, just because he had the precocity to doubt. Just because he demanded to be convinced. Just because God didn't make sense to him any more, in his young, adolescent, longing brain. He didn't want to go the church on Saturday's any more. Saturday was yet another point of difference with the mainstream churches. They had chosen Sunday, the Roman day for worshipping the Sun God, and had betrayed the Lord. All around them was corruption. Mini-skirts were creating headlines. The Rolling Stones really were of the devil, even worse than the Beatles. Licentiousness surrounded them.

He would be beaten, yet again, until crying and shivering from the pain, he would be forced into a suit. He would sit in the back of the car, silent, tearful, the welts stinging on his legs and on his back, inside a gale of tears and regret, unable to see any way out of this living nightmare that was his life. He hated the suit he had been forced to wear. He hated his parents, who kept beating him so badly, all because he didn't want to go to church. And he hated God, for being such a fascist, forcing him to believe when he just didn't want to. Why so cruel? What did he care whether he believed or not?

But the belts snaked out until he was forced, literally forced, to recant and don the suit and get in their Holden, and sit in the back with those storms of tears inside him, and watch sadly, sullenly, as the brick green and red colours of the suburbs flowed by, as they exited their narrow winding street with its demonic trees and eternal rusting, its sandstone caves and the heat filled secrets of the bush. The only time he began to rally was when the suburbs became the city, and his interest sparked up. What would it be like to live here, or here, what was it like behind that door, or that one, were they happy?

And after the beatings and the long drive and an insanely boring service, where Ezekiel and Isaiah and a thousand other ancient horrors thundered from the pulpit of the Petersham Town Hall, after the thunderous virtues and the neatly dressed families sitting ram rod strait, their hair combed and their ears clean, after it all his concerned mother would drag him around for a special conference with the priest. He was excruciatingly embarrassed. What business of anyone's were his own myriad doubts?

He sat there and had what he thought were relatively advanced theological discussions, where he set out to prove that God did not make sense, that he shouldn't be imposing all this suffering on mankind, that if he really was a kind and compassionate and all knowing being he wouldn't be inflicting all this pain. The priest quoted scripture, and together with the priest, in a back room of the town hall, the family knelt and prayed for his salvation, for him to be rescued from evil thoughts, from doubt, from the wider world.

He didn't want to be rescued from evil thoughts. He wanted to escape the nightmare that was his life; the beatings, the brutality, the overwhelming despair, the gusts of emotion that crippled him. It was here in these painful days that he developed the philosophy that was to live with him throughout much of his adult life: he didn't want to feel anything at all, because to feel anything was to be hurt.

Cursed Be Ye Who Feeds His Family On The Sabbath

Our ultraconservative wanna-be Jews in Armstrongism never fail to disappoint....

The WWCG did away with the Sabbath completely. That was satan's first try.

There are more coming. The second try might be an attempt to have the church bring a curse on itself by watering down the Sabbath.

We might find people saying it is fine to work into the Sabbath or on it even if you have a family to feed.

Of course this will bring curses with it and it totally negates having faith in the ability of God to provide for you including a new job , etc. if you need it.

Another response:

Satan is behind the attack on all "Christianity". There is a increasing trend to mock anything Christian. The real target is God's Church.

 And yet another response:

So you might be told that  it is fine to continue working at a job on the Sabbath because of course God is merciful and doesn't want you to starve. It is a completely satanic argument but, it will be used for many issues and it is one to watch out for.

Another reader responds:

Hunger prevention strikes at our mortality and fear of dying. Satan used it on Jesus, commanding him to turn stones into bread! Satan [Jesus] was not fooled, however. He was not about to obey anything Satan said. So it must be with us. Just because God does not strike anyone with lightning at this time, does not mean his does not care or supports our sin

UCG's "Hidden" Gay Feast Site? Hardly.....

Rumors have been floating around the Internet since last year that UCG was having a a "hidden" feast site in Montana.  COGWA and die-hard conservatives in UCG have made all kinds of claims about this site including one that it was for gay UCG members.  The conservatives and COGWAites have a bitter  attitude towards UCG because it tends to be "slightly" gay friendly.  Melvin Rhodes and Dennis Luker have long worked with gays and lesbians in UCG by advocating that they are just as loved by God as everyone else - though in UCG's eyes it be a sin to "act" gay, but not a sin to be gay.

This reminds me of a meeting in Las Vegas several years ago called Fall Autumn Gathering.  It was a meeting place for gays and lesbians traveling to various COG sites.  It was only a three day affair, but allowed people to meet others. Of course this sent various individuals into catatonic fits of rage.  It was fun watching them make complete asses of themselves while they pretended to be the most perfect Christians that ever had graced Armstrongism.

The Montana site though was for those UCG members who lived in the state who were "...under-employed, unemployed, and individuals on fixed incomes to be able to attend the feast . . . whereas otherwise they would not be able to attend due to distance, finances, and health."  UCG Feast, Bigfork Montana

It still fascinated me on how anti-gay so many in Armstrongism are. If many of them had their way, they would be the first to start stoning them according to "old testament" laws. The ironic thing in this is that many of those ready to cast stones are alcoholics, adulterers, thieves, porn addicts, liars and partakers in other salacious activities.

Bitter WCG Executive Sells HWA Treasures

Apparently a WCG executive has sold some treasures of HWA on Ebay recently.  According to Craig White this executive despises HWA. so much so that he wants to get rid of any reminder of him. This included leather bound copies of Herbs books, a model of Herb's jet plane, and a model of the ark of the covenant.

This apparently mind boggling sale has a minuscule group of  COGgers giddy with excitement over these most significant find..  Can anyone say IDOLATRY..................

Craig White writes:

Greetings,

I recently took photographs of HWA’s model aircraft and special bounded books he authored and uploaded them here. These items were procured by a friend. The model plane was sold on EBay by a WCG executive that despised HWA! The entire historical trail that I am developing may be found here.

All I can say is that small minds  can only get excited over something so insignificant as these items!  Don't these people have a real life?

Dennis On: "This is For All The Lonely People..."

This is For All The Lonely People...

I suppose it would be easy to label the downside of breaking free of religious dogma, drama, misinformation and imaginary outcomes as "the Dark Side" of the process, but perhaps it is simply "The Other Side."  

Being out of the group, while liberating, can be one of the most lonely journeys in life you will ever go on.  While there are great gains to be recognized, there are also many losses.  We lose most of our friends who were friends because of the tie that bound us.  To sing, "Blessed Be the Tie That Binds," in a crowd of thousands where we were under the illusion we were all bound together in the same one grand thing, was always emotional for me.  To sing, "God be with you til we meet again," as the last hymn at a festival site before heading back home to the real way it was would leave me teary yet hopeful.  

Just feeling safer knowing so many like minded people all over the world made living in the world easier somehow.  There was order.  Be here, be there, do this, do that set a framework upon which one could build the illusion of safety and harmony.  I can't say I don't miss it. 

I have always found that speaking one's feelings and sharing the stuff that lies deep within, while sometimes risky, most often is far from it.  All my ministerial career (is that the right word?) being ahead of my time, saying what my ministers friends often only thought or sharing thoughts and feelings deeply on a very practical level, were common observations about my "style."   It was not a style.  It was just me.

But what I found over and over again was that I was not alone in these thoughts, questions, observations or realizations.  Everyone was thinking on these things and just not sayin' nuttin'!  Oh sure, you had the oblivious and the suck ups, but most people simply sat on their feelings and doubts, or their hopes and dreams. Everyone down deep feels what we all feel and think we alone have cornered the market on that feeling, disappointment, loss or recognition.  It simply is not so.

 

I want to relate to all of us who just under the surface and for all our bluster, information, realizations and observations are simply lonely in this life.  One does not have to be alone to be lonely.  You truly can be lonely in a crowd.  I imagine many COG members understand this.  They stay because there is no emotional place to go and yet they are lonely to talk or express themselves or even lonely to disagree for once and not feel threatened by the higher ups that seem threatened by not all speaking the same one thing.  Speaking the same one thing is not the same as speaking the same right thing.

So let me begin. I consider this a form of personal therapy and yet know that the vast majority of us all completely understand it for ourselves.  While risky at times, self disclosure and sharing the stuff of life is still better than keeping it inside where eventually what eats you...eats you!

I have honestly never been more lonely in my life as I find myself now.  That loneliness has been costly.  It ruins relationships and sometimes makes one look in all the wrong places for a fix, no matter how temporary.  Being lonely is painful.  For me it causes both a conscious and subconscious anxiety.  It gives one too much time to ruminate about bad choices, good choices gone bad and what may or may not happen in the future.  Sometimes  you find yourself sitting alone in the dark with your dog talking to it and saying dumb stuff like, "well, here we are Chewy. Just you and me. Who would have guessed?"

One of the lessons lonely leaves you with is that if you depends on others to make you happy or give you meaning, the Karma Fairy will have to make a visit and straighten you out on that.  I have deeply depended on others to make me feel fulfilled, alive and loved.  The problem is that if we allow others, even jobs and churches to "make us happy," or to fill that void left by loneliness, they have the power to take it away overnight, and they do.  It's why I study the fine art of acceptance and forgiveness now.  These are two things I never had to do when everything was just fine.

While I recognize that "If you understand, then things are as they are.  If you don't understand then things are as they are," is true, it still is a lonely road when what is sucks or appears to at the moment.

Loneliness shows.  It manifests in the inability to get out and fix it because at times we have to be careful what we wish for.  Loneliness has made me moody and distracted from necessary pursuits.  It has also left me very distrustful and at times with the feeling of just killing time  until it's over.  Loneliness gives too much time to the critical voice in the head that loves to rub it in.

Perhaps Church and group think only mask loneliness?  Maybe one can be alone in a crowd.  Yes, of course they can.  I was often lonely as a minister because who do share expanded thinking with in the COG?  That was always a great formula for something bad to happen to you.  I find the same problem here with the school I teach at.  They don't listen and just as I could see with the Church and now again with this school, if they don't they won't be here in a couple years.  Is it so hard to see you can't disturb, disaffect, disillusion and dis-everything everyone and expect anything but a negative outcome?

Anyway, back to lonely.  One of the reasons I am lonely is because, try as I might, I still feel anger at a few specific life situations and people that is taking way too long to dissipate.  I accept responsibility for those I angered and this often leads me to tell myself that I don't deserve to be angry because I have angered others.  You know, Karma Fairy. But that thinking does not help.  In fact, it leaves me in limbo.  In my soul I know that anger serves me in no positive way. It changes nothing and like loneliness , shows too often and poisons the punch.  Intellectualizing about it doesn't release it anymore than sitting home alone cures loneliness, or at least takes the edge off.

Actually, perhaps the whole world is one big lonely planet.  We buy stuff to distract  us, eat ourselves into comfort and play endless video games into the wee hours of the morning to stop thinking about it.  "Gamers" are now an official cause of broken relationships and blood clots in the legs leading to stroke.   Distraction is not a cure for loneliness.  It merely postpones having to come to terms with what really makes one content.  "Happiness" seems like an illusion to me.  It is why, when sitting through the few services I could stomach in the new WCG, and happy singing and happy hand waving was introduced, I felt sick to my stomach.  It did not make me "happy."   Being "happy" about Jesus was just not going to work with who I am, what I know and where I want to be.  I guess lonely is going to go with my kind of temprement.  Actually I was told as about the only prophecy ever given me that was 100% true,

"Dennis, you outgrow your boxes quickly. Most people never look at the box they were born in.  You have two choices.  You can get back in the box you came from and make everyone happy. However, you will be on antidepressants the rest of your life.  Or you can leave the box you are now in, as you actually have.  But YOU WILL GO ALONE."

Truer words were never spoken to me.  Of all thing then...I had a feeling to turn around and look behind me in the grocery store awhile back.  You know, that feeling you get when you feel someone is looking at you.  It was my counselor who I had not seen since the day he told me of my journey.  He looked awful. He looked sad and very very lonely.  He perked up when I related how I had told most of the planet of his observation and that he had done many some good.  It was an odd experience.

Well, between "shut the hell up,"  (spoken by lonely pain bodies I know:), and this having the potential of getting too long, I admit I am very lonely.  While I will never give my brain to group think again, or feel comfy in a church of uneducated Bible readers who know the answer to everything, it's still lonely. The holidays don't seem to help and yet I find it doesn't seem to help many.  Everyone is scattered and we all are caught up in our dramas, hopes, dreams, fears and realities.  Perhaps the way we think or view things is our worst enemy.  I have to admit, I am not much of a one to apply "the Secret," and get the Jaguar of my dreams.   Simple works best for me.

So, this is for all the lonely people, thinking that time has passed them by.  This is for all the people in my past who came to me and sharing their own loneliness whether in a crowd or  at home alone.    I get it now!  I do understand. 

We used to say, "Experience is the best teacher, but the tuition is high."  Perhaps "Experience is the ONLY teacher. Everything else is hearsay."

Dennis C. Diehl
DenniscDiehl@aol.com

Idiots In The Pulpit: Muslim Cleric Bans Cucumbers and Bananas For Women

If we thought  some Christian ministers were idiots, they don't even compare to this Muslim idiot Cleric.



International Business Times has this entry:   

The Internet has been blazing and people are appalled, but apparently the Islamic cleric living in Europe was quite serious. The Islamic cleric said women should not touch or handle or be close to cucumbers or bananas to avoid any "sexual thoughts."

Claiming that the fruits and vegetables "resemble the male penis," the Islamic cleric said bananas, cucumbers and more, including carrots and zucchini could make women "think of sex" and they should be handled by a third party if they are to eat them to avoid arousal.

The Daily Mail has this entry:

The sheikh was asked how to 'control' women when they are out shopping for groceries and if holding these items at the market would be bad for them.

The carrot should also join the forbidden list of foods for women to touch

The cleric answered saying this matter is between them and God.
Answering another question about what to do if women in the family like these foods, the sheikh advised the interviewer to take the food and cut it for them in a hidden place so they cannot see it.

The opinion has stirred a storm of anger among Muslims online, with hundreds mocking the cleric.

Why is it that fundamentalist religions, whether Christian or, Muslim, produce such incredibly stupid people?

Dr. Bob - the Lap Dog?

Another fun day in COG paradise!  Apostle Malm has this little tidbit in one of his responses to a reader concerning a possible reconciliation between Living Church of God and COGW:

FYI Bob is Rod’s lap dog and is not well liked by some others high in LCG, he may be in for a big surprise when Rod leaves the picture. Bob has made many enemies for LCG throughout the COG spectrum including many now in COGWA. Bob would have to go; for any LCG reconciliation or cooperation with almost anyone else could take place. 

Further Doug Winnail who is the heir apparant, would never reveal or admit any thoughts along the lines of cooperating with COGWA, which would be a nonstarter [because of Larry Salyer] with Rod and might get him removed as heir apparant.

While heir apparant, Doug Winnail is still opposed by certain others, LCG is not nearly as united as they want to appear. There is still a behind the scenes struggle for power going on.


Rod and a good many in LCG still bear a huge grudge again Larry Salyer and would not want to cooperate with COGWA as long as Larry was around. Larry is supported by Doug Horchak and that would involve the politics in COGWA. Nothing along this line of cooperation could happen until Doug Winnail is in full control of LCG. Then Larry Salyer would have to be sidelined by COGWA, and Bob Thiel by LCG. If not stopped they would certainly be sidelined and muzzled. James