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LCG: Prideful Members, But Not The Prideful Ministry, Are Causing Issues In The Church

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When will Living Church of God members realize that ALL issues in the Living Church of God are the member's fault?  Since the ministry is above reproach the blame has to fall on the lowly members.  Never has the Church of God movement seen a church headquarters filled with the most unified and converted leadership as LCG has.  But in spite of being unified as a ministry, those dumb members keep screwing it all up.  Grow up!  Emulate us! Be ye perfect like we are!

Humility—Key to Unity

King David wrote, “How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity” (Psalm 133:1). The Apostle Paul urged Christians to “walk worthy” of your calling “with all lowliness and gentleness… endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:1–3). He stated that the work of the ministry is to edify (build up) the body (the Church) “till we all come to the unity of the faith” (Ephesians 4:12–13). Paul also told the contentious Corinthians that they should be “perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Corinthians 1:10). In order to grow together in unity, we need to understand what causes contentions that disrupt unity. The Scriptures reveal that pride is an underlying cause of contentions (Proverbs 13:10), and that pride will contribute to a person’s downfall and destruction (Proverbs 16:18). Insisting on our own way also causes dissentions and strife (James 4:1). However, humility will eventually bring a person honor (Proverbs 15:33; 29:23), and true humility will promote peace and unity (James 3:13–18). Just as Jesus Christ humbled Himself and followed His Father’s instructions (Philippians 2:5–9), as Christians we must be subject to government (within and without the Church) and not resist authority (Romans 13:1–2). As we learn to exercise true Godly humility and treat each other with love and respect (Romans 12:10–18), we will promote unity within the body of Christ.
Have a profitable Sabbath,
Douglas S. Winnail

Satan Active In Everyone In The Church? A Typical Teenage Topic To Worry About?

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This was taken from the Good News of February 1980. A Teenager wrote to the Editor with what he thinks should be a focus of the Church. Obviously, by reprinting this, the Editors seem to agree. 

What do they agree on? 

That Satan's after Herbert Armstrong. 

That Satan's after the 18-year old author. 

That the devil's after everybody.

That the devil's after the church - and that everyone should know this. 

Where's Jesus in the picture? Anywhere? Bueller? BUELLER???

ht: from a reader here

COG Chief Pharisee Believes He Has Doug Winnail and LCG Trembling In Fear

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The Church of God has had over 8 decades filled with self-righteous, self-appointed malevolent men who have set themselves up as the know-it-alls of the Bible and truth. They foolishly believe they are the final men to get the end time message of their god out to the world and particularly to the Church of God. Some of them, like Bob Thiel and James Malm, believe they and they alone are the Elijah's to the Church of God.

Bob Thiel believes that the Living Church of God is jealous of him and his so-called ministry. After being profoundly and painfully rejected by his spiritual "daddy" for his aberrant beliefs, Thiel set off on his own doing everything he could to denigrate the Living Church of God for his dismissal.

James Malm, the official Chief Pharisee of the Church of God has sunk to the bottom depths of legalism after his wife and the rest of the Church of God's rejected his bastardized version of law keeping.

Malm has announced today that Doug Winnail has reacted to a series of articles Malm has done on "personal salvation" and "ecclesiastical authority." Malm believes that Winnail and the LCG are UNABLE to refute any of his hysterical teachings.

LCG-  Doug Winnail is reacting to our serialized weekly posts on “Personal Salvation” and “Ecclesiastical Authority”  by promoting organizational idolatry!  
Because they cannot refute the facts and doctrines presented on this site and at TheShiningLight; they are demanding that the brethren just follow them in whatever they do or teach, and refrain from asking questions: thereby setting themselves up as corporate idols and idols of men!  Thus fulfilling the Matthew 24 prophecy of Jesus Christ and the warning of Jude.
Malm is reacting to Doug Winnail's post that I put on this blog the other day:
LCG: Prideful Members, But Not The Prideful Ministry, Are Causing Issues In The Church

Humility—Key to Unity

King David wrote, “How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity” (Psalm 133:1). The Apostle Paul urged Christians to “walk worthy” of your calling “with all lowliness and gentleness… endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:1–3). He stated that the work of the ministry is to edify (build up) the body (the Church) “till we all come to the unity of the faith” (Ephesians 4:12–13). Paul also told the contentious Corinthians that they should be “perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Corinthians 1:10). In order to grow together in unity, we need to understand what causes contentions that disrupt unity. The Scriptures reveal that pride is an underlying cause of contentions (Proverbs 13:10), and that pride will contribute to a person’s downfall and destruction (Proverbs 16:18). Insisting on our own way also causes dissentions and strife (James 4:1). However, humility will eventually bring a person honor (Proverbs 15:3329:23), and true humility will promote peace and unity (James 3:13–18). Just as Jesus Christ humbled Himself and followed His Father’s instructions (Philippians 2:5–9), as Christians we must be subject to government (within and without the Church) and not resist authority (Romans 13:1–2). As we learn to exercise true Godly humility and treat each other with love and respect (Romans 12:10–18), we will promote unity within the body of Christ.
Have a profitable Sabbath,
Douglas S. Winnail
If you want to take Doug Winnail's entry above at face value, then it is quite obvious that Malm has ZERO humility and has absolutely NO DESIRE for unity.

Both Malm and Thiel do all they can to divide people and confuse COG members with their so-called Christian beliefs.

Plus, in their arrogance and narcissistic superiority, they both believe that LCG reacts to every single thing they write.  Really?  As if Winnal or LCG cares what either of them thinks!  LCG is no more worried about the rantings of these two self-righteous fools than LCG is with this blog.  Though it is well known that LCG closely monitors what LCG members write here, they do not care in the long run.  LCG's own self-righteous superiority is on par with James Malm's and Bob Thiel's. After all, they all come from the same abominable source that worships the law more than it ever has with Jesus.

So no, Chief Pharisee Malm and no, Elijah Bob Thiel, Living Church of God is not jealous of you nor does it care what either of you two thinks!



Fed Up, Stuck – and Tired of Life in a Carnal Church? Thoughts to think about.

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Opinion Editorial –

- written by a Former Member of the “Church” - all opinions belong to the author. The views stated belong to the author only and may not necessarily be the views and opinions of this Blog.

Many times this has been discussed, but it can never be discussed enough. Why is it that members of the splinters put up with the spiritual abuse that is blasted at them by so-called “ministers” in the Churches of God?
There is no doubt that there are many disgruntled, unhappy members in the Splinter groups. And there is also no doubt that this is for good reason.
The PCG has been well-accounted for extraordinarily horrendous policies involving separation of families (including minors) for dissenters. The RCG has been well-accounted for their “All things common” financial policies, and fantastically failed prophecies, that have scarred members both financially and spiritually. The COG-PKG has been time and time again convincing members of the time of the end, with failed date after failed date, pocketing money for lavish expenses, whose leader was convicted with tax fraud. The LCG, with a new leader at the helm, continues to assert submission to it's members to church government – while refusing to tackle serious issues brought up by it's members who see widespread carnality within it's ranks. The other splinters not mentioned are certainly not immune. From controversies to scandals, to ministerial misconduct – there is never any shortage of spiritual abuse within the churches of God. Whether or not it's minister-to-minister, minister-to-member, even church-to-church – or even church-to-world, the levels of carnality, wickedness, and dare we even say just plain evil have been accounted for factually for years on this blog, on the Ambassador Reports, on other COG-related blogs and websites, and other media sources. And yet, though more than a few leave, many decide to sit, stay – and pay.
What is it then that is the glue that keeps them sitting? What is it that holds them in what they have themselves said is miserable, discouraging, depressing conditions?
A Place of Like-Minded Community
The biggest reason that has been mentioned by Splinter Members over and over again has been because of community. The church that they are in – regardless of doctrine, teaching, disagreements, and authority issues – is their place of community. Many times their immediate families are members of the church as well. Many times long-term friendships – some lasting decades – are members in the church. To even think of not seeing them or spending time with them every week would seem to be nothing less than traumatizing. Members are also aware that in most Church of God congregations, shunning ex-members is strictly practiced within the church. It is a very real threat that if they leave the church, they will lose contact with everyone they have ever known. “No one in the world understands me, or can relate to me or my issues and beliefs”. Indeed, loneliness and depression is an extremely real threat to those who leave the church – and it can be more than enough of a deterrent to leaving the church, that members are willing to put up with spiritual abuse than risk losing lifelong relationships with the only people they've ever really been close to.
The Threat of Marital Division
Just as big a reason is spiritual unity between a husband and a wife in the church. Perhaps one of them has come to realize the level of spiritual abuse that has been endured for years – even decades. Perhaps one has become so frustrated that they feel like leaving. However, this individual is well aware that the consequences of leaving the church may have dramatic, traumatizing, life-changing events for not only the individual, but the spouse, and most importantly, the children of the married couple.
Spiritual divisions within the family can create dramatic tension, disputes, and arguments that can lead to grudges, separations, and even full-on divorce situations, that can cause lasting damage to children – not to mention bitter and drawn-out divorce proceedings. Many times on consideration of the dreaded road that leaving the church could put them toward, the spiritual abuse inflicted by the church seems to be a better option for them then losing their family – and potentially their children. Not to mention, possibly their house, car, and other possessions.
A Desire to Worship How They Believe is Proper
The third reason that a member may decide to stay is because of how they want to worship. Most members will tell you that they stay because they believe that they have a desire to keep the Sabbath, and the Holy Days in the common and accepted manner of their church. Their surroundings, worship style, and messages are predictable, and familiar. They do not have to worry about unfamiliar doctrinal messages coming from the pulpit, which would nearly certainly happen in another Church of God Congregation. They do not have to worry about losing their “place” in the church, whatever that “place” might be. And regardless of how spiritually abusive their ministers may be, the truth is, they are more comfortable with what to expect with them than they would be with someone new, where there's no certainty of expectations in anything.
What to Do, What to Do?
These are primary reasons why many splinter members of the Churches of God make the grudgingly depressing decision to stay. But these aren't the only reasons. As one member recently said in response to such a question in a popular Church-of-God related blog, paraphrased - “It is enormously complicated, you can't just get up and go”. And that's true. Uprooting ones self and starting over is one of the most difficult and scary things anyone can even begin to consider – and the consequences of those actions can change the entire course of life. How does one even begin to make the right decision? How does one even begin to know what to do?
Don't Decide on Your Own Strength and Power
In situations like this, it can be extremely easy to forget that you are a believer in Christ. If you're debating with yourself what to do – you can't stand your church, you can't stand being treated the way you are being treated. You know it's wrong, you know it's not Christian – you see with your own eyes the carnality, and you are frustrated at the actions you see all around you with disbelief – you seem overwhelmed and overpowered. Don't decide what to do on your own strength and power. Immerse yourself in prayer. Ask God to guide you, to lead you, in a loving, caring, and fatherly way through the jungles you find yourself trapped in. Remind yourself of the promises of His Word to you. That he promised He would never leave you, nor forsake you. That He promised that all things work together for the good to those who love Him, according to His purpose. That God's plan is to prosper you, and not to harm you – to give you a hope and a future. That God is good, all the time – and his goodness never fails. And that He is a merciful and loving God. And when you put your trust in Him – then you can be strengthened by knowing that God is faithful to His Word, and that God WILL make a way, where there seems to be no way.
Place your Burden on God's Hands. Then Let God work.
More than anything – give it to God. Give it to God in prayer, and do something that is extremely hard in this situation – trust Him. Trust Him that all things are going to be okay. And when God moves you in a certain direction – don't be afraid. Trust. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and mind in Christ.
Through trying to figure out your path in life, one thing is sure. No person should ever be subject to spiritual abuse by those who are trusted as representatives of Jesus Christ. No person should have to be subject to wickedness, carnality, and evil inside the Church. There's enough of that outside to last anyone a lifetime. If you are one who feels you are spiritually abused, trapped, and no idea where to go, or what to do – it can be easy to want to throw your hands up in frustration and resign yourself to your circumstance.
Perhaps you're not used to hearing this – but Jesus Christ loves you, and He died for you – and He does not want you to be burdened by spiritual abusers and oppressors. You believe in Christ. Go to Him. Talk to Him, heart to heart – brother to Brother. And then follow the advice of a well known scripture in Exodus 14:14
“The Lord will fight for you; You need ONLY to be Still.”

Trickster "god" Punishes Farmer By Punishing His Crops

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Trickster god


The magical trickster god of Armstrongism is a petty god that continually gets pissed at some of his followers and potential followers. It is always hit and miss though as to who it will be punished.  Top church leaders, ministers, children of evangelists and self-appointed lying prophets all go unpunished while lowly members are always treated like degenerate worms worthy of punishment.

Almost arrested but not arrested Elijah Elisha Habbkuk doubly blessed Bob Thiel has a truly absurd post up about how his magical god deliberately destroys the crop of a potential member of the improperly named "continuing" Church of "god."

Elisha Thiel writes:

Should a farmer plant crops on the Sabbath? 
The commandment states:
8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. (Exodus 20:8-11) 
4 For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “And on the seventh day God rested from all his work.” 5 And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.” 6 It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience…9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience (Hebrews 4:4-6,9-11, NIV). 
The New Testament confirms that Christians should not be disobedient, but should rest on the Sabbath.
No, it doesn't, but lets go on to see what Elisha Thiel has to say:
Several months ago, a woman sent me the following in an email:
 I have spent considerable time, energy and effort in looking for God’s true church (comparing statements of belief/doctrine and “teachings” to scripture) and have settled on CCOG although I have no congregation anywhere near where I am …
Anyway, the above person is new to the Church of God and had not yet been baptized. 
As it turns out she is engaged. Her fiancé, shares some of her views on the Sabbath and the true church, but has been unsure. 
So unsure, that he felt it was appropriate for him to plant crops on the Sabbath.
Things are already starting to look bad for this poor chap, you can just see what is coming next.  Magical god is about to pull some naughty tricks on this poor guy.

Today, I received the following in an email with the subject line “Blessings and Cursings?” from the woman (names edited out, with bolding below added) by me:
We met in Almont, Michigan in July and I had my fiancé, Mxxxx, with me.  You may or may not remember, but he is a farmer.  I just wanted to share something with you regarding God’s promises of blessings and cursings.  Whether anyone wants to believe that this is proof of such promises and of God’s existence is up to them, but Mxxxx wanted me to share this with you because his experience has brought him closer to God and strengthened his belief and resolve. 
Mxxxx is going through some trying times with many demands on his time and while he knows about the sabbath requirement, he often finds ways to justify to himself for working on it.  This past Saturday was no exception.  Early in the morning, I received a call from him to come out and look at one of his fields.  I objected as I know, and hold fast, to keep the sabbath but he insisted that it would be God’s work and not my agricultural work.  Attached are photos from that field.  Normally, a field planted a day before will come up sooner, be ahead of and look better than one planted later.  This is not the case here.  In fact the difference is remarkable.  Note that both pictures are from the same field, same soil type, same seed and variety, same equipment used, same (natural) fertilizer package.  The poor stand (looking to the left) was planted on the sabbath.  The healthy stand (looking to the right) was planted (the field was finished) the following day, on Sunday.  Mxxxx did not move to take the pictures, other than to turn to the left and right.  He asked me: “Why don’t anybody else’s fields do this if they work in them on the sabbath?  Why me?”  I answered with another question: “When you planted this field on the sabbath, did you merely think that it was maybe wrong to do so or did you know in your heart that it was wrong?”  His reply: “I knew it was wrong but I thought it would be ok.  I think God is telling me otherwise.”  I cited James 4:17 and after some thought he left the field and joined me for Bible study.  But that did not last.  He soon “had so many things to do” and returned to the field.  After his combine broke down and his tractor stopped in the middle of the field (to perform an automatic maintenance procedure he had been putting off), he called me up and returned to Bible study.  Frustrated at the seeming prosperity of commandment breakers, I went over Psalms 37 and 73 with him for a better understanding of what is expected of us and the timing of our reward as well as who it comes from (James 1:17).  He has been somewhat “stiff-necked” regarding obedience to this specific commandment but I think he is starting to understand although I think he may need another correction or two before he truly submits in this regard.  I continue to pray for him, knowing that God’s chastisements are both merciful and just. 
Feel free to use and share this story and pray for us as we pray for you, that we all may grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and do those things that are pleasing to God.  May God keep you safe and inspire you according to his will.
Here is a screenshot of the pictures Elisha Thiel posted to go along with is the story:


Trickster god seems to be having some fun with the farmer, as Elisha Thiel wants you to believe.

The doubly blessed/cursed false prophet ends with this:
Many people do not believe that God cares enough to intervene or that God does not perform miracles in the 21st century. While God does not always perform massive physical miracles when He is calling someone, sometimes He does (cf. Acts 9). 
God is still on His throne, and yes, God does do miracles according to His will. 
God holds people to a higher standard that know the truth:
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” 
16 But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. (James 4:13-17) 
While some wonder about working to handle a seasonal surge or other such need, here is what the Bible says about planting and harvesting:
21 “Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest. (Exodus 34:21) 
So, no, the ‘busy season’ at work does not negate the Sabbath.
Christian farmers should not plant on the Sabbath.
God does exist. His ways are best.








COG Wars: When they got their own planets...the unavoidable was destined

Bible God Punishes Bob Thiel By Punishing His Church

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Bob Thiel notices

  "In fact the difference is remarkable.  Note that both pictures are from the same field, same soil type, same seed and variety, same equipment used, same (natural) fertilizer package.  The poor stand (looking to the left) was planted on the sabbath.  The healthy stand (looking to the right) was planted (the field was finished) the following day, on Sunday.  Mxxxx did not move to take the pictures, other than to turn to the left and right.  He asked me: “Why don’t anybody else’s fields do this if they work in them on the sabbath?  Why me?”  I answered with another question: “When you planted this field on the sabbath, did you merely think that it was maybe wrong to do so or did you know in your heart that it was wrong?”  His reply: “I knew it was wrong but I thought it would be ok.  I think God is telling me otherwise.”




Others Notice

"In fact the difference is remarkable.  Note that both pictures are from the same planet, same human types, same genetics  and variety, same equipment used, same scriptures.  The poor attendance(pictured first) ) was planted on the sabbath.  The healthy stand (picture two) was planted (the church was full ) the following day, on Sunday.  Mxxxx did not move to take the pictures, other than to take the pictures on different rotations of the earth around the Sun).  He asked me: “Why don’t anybody else’s church  do this if they preach  in them on the Sunday?  Why me?”  I answered with another question: “When you planted this church on the Sabbath, did you merely think that it was maybe wrong to do so or did you know in your heart that it was wrong?”  His reply: “I knew it was wrong but I thought it would be ok.  I think God is telling me otherwise.” 

….perhaps so...

Church planted on the Sabbath


Church planted on Sunday

And too...Poor row planted on the same day between great crops







David C Pack and Fraudulent Ministers, What Is the Difference?


The Harshest Lake of Fire Threat of All Time

The Master Plan of Ambassador and 1975 In Prophecy

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How was it that the Church could simultaneously predict the end of the world on the authority of Jesus Christ – AND develop and build a master plan for a distinguished private college at the same time?


Here's some of the facts of how this happened:


At around same time that “1975 In Prophecy” was published, The “present dimensions” of the Ambassador site were conceived in 1956, when the former estate of Hulett Clinton Merrit became available at auction.



While the Church was developing the Master Plan for the Ambassador College Campus, it became quite apparent that intense fundraising was needed. It was in 1956 that the Church came out with the largest push of Armageddon propaganda ever to come out – called “1975 in prophecy”.


As the Church was building toward a master plan to finish their College – they were publishing end-of-the-world propaganda to push their church – the main fund-raising vehicle of Ambassador College. The Church wrote the following in 1956, at the SAME TIME they were conceiving the master plan for Ambassador College.


This is the Master Plan that was finalized in 1963 – just SEVEN YEARS after the book 1975 in Prophecy was published, warning the world of a Very Soon to Come, Imminent Great Tribulation – which it is very obvious was not their “real concern”. (picture below from Ambassador Auditorium, the making of a cultural legacy, published 1994)



While modern science and industry strive to prepare us a push-button leisure-luxury world by 1975, United States Assistant Weather Chief... warns us unofficially to really fear the big drought of 1975. But the indications of prophecy are that this drought will be even MORE devastating than he foresees... and that it will strike sooner than 1975... probably between 1965 and 1972! This will be the very beginning, Jesus said, of the GREAT TRIBULATION!” (1975 in Prophecy, published 1956) 
Notice what was going on in Ambassador College during the same time-frame and projection of “the very beginning of the GREAT TRIBULATION”. (1975 in Prophecy, published 1956)
From 1957 to 1966, all properties within the projected Campus Boundaries were acquired.” (Ambassador Auditorium, the Making of a Cultural Legacy, published 1994)
Apparently, it was quite a fantastic, incredible and astounding coincidence that the greatest scare-mongering propaganda booklet called “1975 In Prophecy"came out just priorto the massive acquisition of all properties within the Campus boundaries – a booklet in which Herbert W. Armstrong unashamedly used the authority and the name of Jesus Christ to convince people the end of the world was near, and to join the “Work”, and save themselves from the terrors of Armageddon. It is very apparent that fear, intimidation, and the threat of destruction and war were used, with the full knowledge of the church, as a fund-raiser to complete the master plan of the Ambassador College Campus, including it's magnificent auditorium.


Notice the wording used in 1975 in prophecy in the quotes below. it's important to realize this was being penned by Herbert Armstrong ALL THE WHILE AND IN FULL KNOWLEDGE THAT THE MASTER PLAN OF AMBASSADOR COLLEGE WAS BEING FINALIZED, and a major push of properties purchase and financing was well underway: (All quotes from 1975 In Prophecy - 1956):
GOD ALMIGHTY now reveals....that one third of all our people will soon die... that a second third of our people...of your personal friends, relatives, acquaintances – will be killed by the awesome hydrogen bomb...”
our people will continue only a few more years in comparative economic prosperity”
All this is now only a few years off.”
people dying in every home, your loved ones, perhaps your children, or your parents, and scores of your close friends, perhaps even YOURSELF...”
Only one in three of your friends, of your loved ones, will remain alive, unless they come under God's divine protection under HIS conditions!”
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED”
Your immediate future is of your own choosing. You can take this lightly, let this slip from mind, allow yourself once again to be absorbed in the mechanics of today's complex society that you put this out of mind. If you do, I have now read YOUR FATE – and I say to you on authority of God Almighty that it is absolutely SURE”
The only thing that was absolutely sure was that while Herbert Armstrong was saying the above quotes on the authority of Jesus Christ, he did not believe a word of it – and was in the process of developing the master plans for the completion of his master building project – Ambassador College. Herbert Armstrong used tactics of great fear and panic of the end of the world to finance his vision of his college and his Auditorium – and the Church seems to have been the financing vehicle for his massive building projects and personal vision of “success”. (Image below from Ambassador Auditorium, the making of a cultural legacy, published 1994)



What then can we conclude?


Herbert Armstrong had absolutely no problem using the following methods to accomplish his building project: Co-Worker letters constantly touting financial emergencies, Using the name of Jesus Christ to suggest the end of the world while building a master plan for a college, using fear of war, death, and disease of friends and loved ones to entice growth in the church, the financial vehicle of funding for the project, and using God's name to grab money from any source possible to complete his project, without care or concern of the financial poverty afflicted on those who donated.


If anybody ever wondered how it was that one could summarily preach amazing prophecies of the end of the world, fully believed by the congregations of the fund-raising churches, and at the same time build up an expansive, expensive college campus - this sheds some enlightenment on the issue. We were all a part what I can only see myself - looking at the evidence - that all of this was one of the biggest doomsday-exploitation scams of the 20th century. Every prediction was a lie, and as we all know, never happened. I don't believe anyone ever expected them to occur. All eyes were on the final vision of the amazing campus of the Church and College, and Herbert Armstrong achieved his dream of becoming a successful, important person, with all of his treasures of worldly wealth at his control. 

You can look at the facts yourself with the following resources:





And also, be sure to peruse the Co-worker letters to see the methods HWA used to fund his massive building project without regard or concern about the financial condition of those he was begging for money from:




You will find the undeniable evidence that strongly indicates that the Church (and it's fund-raising conventions and Holy Days) was a well-planned financial operation, and the Media was a recruiting operation for HWA's dream real estate building project – using post-war doomsday propaganda in the name of Christ to accomplish his real estate dreams under religious pretense. 


If you dare, you may indeed begin to notice what appears to be much of the same use of familiar methodology in some of the splinters of Armstrongism even today. And it does not take much imagination to do so.


Contributed by SHT

UCG: That Shalt Have No Other Gods Before Me...Except for HWA, Mystery of the Ages, That Rock...

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United Church of God is starting a series on the 10 commandments in their United News. It starts off with the 1st commandment and also makes reference to the 2nd commandment.  Like normal in Armstrongism, it is necessary to also lash out at Catholics and others because the church has always felt the need to claim they were worshipping idols.
The First Commandment is the most important commandment because it means that only God has the sovereign authority to establish commandments for every human being plus judge them by those commandments. Only God can define right versus wrong, good versus evil, virtue versus vice, and moral versus immoral.  
Confusion of the First and Second Commandments  
We in United Church of God know that Exodus 20:3 states the First Commandment and verses 4-6 state the Second Commandment (about not using images in religious worship). Sadly, many Christian and Jewish people are confused and regard verses 3 through 6 as only one commandment.  
The different meanings of the two first Commandments will be explained fully in the next article but we can briefly illustrate them now. If someone worships any image (like a statue or painting), that is breaking the First Commandment. But if someone is worshipping the true God but is trying to visually picture God with images, that is breaking the Second Commandment. 
It is always easy for the COG to smear others for supposedly worshipping statues and icons, all the while never seeing anything wrong with the blatant worship so many in the church have of Herbert Armstrong, Mystery of the Ages, and much more.  HWA has been elevated to position right up there next to Jesus Christ with many in the church believing that when Jesus returns HWA will be standing right next to Jesus along with Moses.

Others have elevated the writings of Herbert Armstrong to the point of canonization, claiming that the Mystery of the Ages is divinely inspired and is necessary for salvation.

Gerald Flurry traipsed over the fields of Oregon to dig up a dirty old rock that the holy hands of Herbert Armstrong supposedly touched, bringing it back to Edmond and placing it on display for the admirers who would sit and pray next to it.

Dave Pack runs his entire organization according to the very things he claims to have been taught while sitting at the feet of Herbert Armstrong.

Every single Church of God splinter group exists because of the idolatry of their worship of Herbert Armstrong. From Bob Thiel to the bastardizer of the law James Malm, these sick pissants have placed everything about Herbert Armstrong on par with Jesus Christ.  Rare is the moment when you hear any Church of God talk about Jesus, but oh how they love Herbert Armstrong.

So before any idolatrous Church of God incarnation starts smearing Catholics and others, they had better step back and look at the idolatry they commit daily with HWA. Take down his pictures from your hallways, dump his books in the garbage and publicly repent of your own idolatry first!  Hypocrites!



Only an infinitesimal few....

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ht: SHT

 What a weak and impotent god it is that allows only an"infinitesimal few" out of billions of people who will ever be chosen.  Church members do not seem to grasp how ludicrous this statement is.

Apparently, we were not called for salvation but to stand BEHIND Herbert...
well, we all know how THAT turned out...



Narcissistic Self-Appointed COG Leader Believes His Church Is So Great That All Other COG's Need To Just Shut Down And Join Him

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The arrogance of certain Church of God leaders is mind boggling at times.  Of course, most of the issues come from the self-appointed milquetoasts that have never worked an honest days work in their lives and want others to support them.

Today, the Almost-arrested but not arrested Elijah, Elisha, Amos, Habakkuk, doubly cursed Bob Thiel has this to say about certain COG groups he looked at online today.

08/10/18 a.m. Visited the websites of the Church of God In Peace and Truth, COGNEOhio, Church of the Sovereign God, and Enduring Church of God today. They do not seem to update their websites very often and had no recent news of interest. In time, hopefully those associated with them will realize that they are not doing a Philadelphian work and then take proper steps to support that work in the 21st century.
Just ONE guess as to WHICH group is the one doing a work in the 21st century.  It is James Malm!!!!!!!

Oh, sorry, it is Thiel himself and his improperly named "continuing" Church of "god."

No one in their right mind would EVER join up with Bob Thiel and his band of church-hopping Africans.

Bullying: The Hard Facts of Armstrongism's Attitude Problem

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By SHT, Contributing Writer

In case you didn't realize it, the Armstrong Empire was full of bullies. From the top, down - through all the ranks of ministry to the deacons - it was a haven that produced, enabled, and promoted bullies. Nowhere was this most evident, however, than at the very top. An article in the Good News, November, 1962, displays a sample of the prevailing attitude in bold, stinging detail.

Garner Ted Armstrong had a member of the Church come to him - who was "in trouble" with the Local Church because he only attends once in a while. This individual was judged to be "plainly carnal", and had the absolute audacity to come up to Garner Ted to shake hands with him.... get this.... "as if he was really a brother in God's Own Church".

GTA might as well have said to this man:

"How DARE you come up and shake hands with ME, you smelly, stupid, indifferent person!"

He might have said to someone who is overweight:

"You're fat and lazy. You're also a glutton! Why do you believe you're not, you dummy!"

Then Garner Ted Armstrong goes off on those who came to church as unshaven, uncouth, and unclean as deaf, dumb and blind. And if that wasn't enough, let's go off on the little children as well - and call them virtual MONSTERS. Then, he calls their parents deaf, dumb and blind too.....

"You dummy! You come to church completely unclean - how can you be so blind?"

"These children are MONSTERS! Have you no control over them? You DUMMY!"


Garner Ted Armstrong then asks them if they are "REALLY" a Child of God!

But that's nothing.He basically looks at a person and says:

"Why, you MISERABLE, FOUR-FLUSHING, LYING, CHEATING, CONNIVING, HARD-HEARTED, SELFISH, LUSTFUL, RESENTFUL, REBELLIOUS, SINNING, NEGLIGENT, APATHETIC, GOD-REJECTING, DECEIVED, PLEASURE-MAD, STIFF-NECKED, CAST-OFF WORTHLESS HUNK OF HUMAN JUNK" .

Well, that is, anyone who isn't in a "converted member".

 Talk about a beat-down.

This is the way the Worldwide Church of God treated their members who were not meeting their mold in the 1950s and 1960s. This is also the way that many of the members were trained to act in their ministries decades later. It is classic bullying. It is indefensible. It is absolutely inexcusable.

This is how we were taught to view the world. This is how we were taught to view those who were not in our church, who were not us. This is how we were taught to view those who go to church on Sundays. Or our co-workers. Or our school-mates. Or those who were caught up in addictions, or struggles, or in divorces. This is how we were taught to look down on people who we regarded as unconverted. We were taught to look down at them in the same manner as this man looked down on those he did not regard as "brethren". They world, to us, was the literal scum of the earth - not fit for us to associate with, to eat with, to be with. And if they couldn't be charged with any of those things, then they were heathen, pagan, awful CHRISTMAS-KEEPING, HAM-EATING, SUNDAY KEEPERS. Which actually, to us, was a worse charge than the laundry list of names that was spewed on the struggling in the Church by an Armstrong.

This is the inner mentality that was firmly etched into many of those trained into ministry. Some of that mentality still exists in a few of the ministers even now who are in the splinters. They look down on those who struggle with issues with haughty arrogance and nauseating pride. Instead of teaching others the positive message of Jesus Christ, and how the Holy Spirit changes you to reflect and show the fruits of the Spirit in Christian love and positivity, they sent the members to boot-camp with the full force of a drill sergeant and a blast furnace of negativity.

But to some of them, as long as you keep the Sabbath, and the Holy Days, and call yourself, "The Church of God" - it's all going to be okay. That's the sign of the true church, they say. And they're fine with the thoughts and attitudes of judgement that harbor to others who aren't in the same place as they are.

In case you wonder why the Splinters are in the shape they are in today - all you have to do is look at the attitudes that were displayed in those who they listened to as their trainers.

Doesn't this cause you to wonder how many times Garner Ted had to be called names this way by someone, in some manner, to think this sort of bully behavior was okay?

Regardless of how you endeavor to spin this, the truth of the matter is, bully tactics have nothing to do with the fruits of the spirit.

Never mind the hypocrisy that you know too well in hindsight. But that's for another time and place.





 


LCG: Mike DeSimone Infantilizing Members In Order to Control Them

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A post on a previous thread:
Just this last week, in Charlotte LCG, little Mikey DeSimone delivered a beat-down to LCG members old enough to be his parents and grandparents. Completely ignoring the Bible's instructions that he honor his elders, this kid used the analogy of white-water rafting to demand that members obey the ministry without questioning. The Bible tells us to follow the ministry as they follow Christ, but Mikey believes that LCG members must follow his instructions even if we recognize that he is making a mistake. Members are to recognize how little they know, and how much Mikey (like other ministers) knows. 
Mikey seems unable to realize that if everybody took that approach, we would all still be Roman Catholics, and that if Rod Meredith had taken that approach he would have died as a member of Grace Communion International.

Unfortunately, Mikey is a good student of Rod McNair, who recognizes that if you can infantilize the brethren, you can control them more easily. God gives brethren the Holy Spirit to help them grow in maturity and discernment, which means that Rod and Mikey must work very hard to bully LCG members into quenching the Holy Spirit and becoming jelly-brained robots.

Herbert W. Armstrong: Was He A Racist?

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From Gavin Rumney's blog.

Herbert W. Armstrong: Racist
By M.A.M.

In the June-July 1981 issue of The Good News, there is an article titled “After 50 Years – Christ’s Apostle Still Ahead of His Time!” Like just about everything else published by the Worldwide Church of God about Herbert W. Armstrong, this is a lie. Herbert W. Armstrong was a man whose feet were firmly planted in the past. Within his church, Armstrong tried to re-create the world of his youth.

We can see the theme arise again and again in his writings. In Mystery of the Ages, Armstrong wrote, “I have lived through the horse and buggy age, the automobile and industrial age, the air age, the nuclear age and now into the space age. I have seen America live through the agrarian age when farmers walked behind their horse-drawn ploughs singing happily, and into the urban age when Midwest American farmers are groaning and fighting for more government subsidies to prevent the extinction of farm life. (page vii).” For farmers at least, the past was better than the present.

Armstrong’s love for the past surfaced again shortly after the murder of John Lennon. “In disgust, I left TV, but at 10 p.m., I tuned in for the LOCAL news. It was all eulogizing the ‘rock’ ‘musician.’ A local Tucson crowd of 2,000 had flocked to Reid Park bandshell to leave roses, and mourn for their dead idol. The local station had a lot about the ‘man and his “music.”’ (I had never thought of it as music, but a loud raucous SQUAWK and SCREAM with a fast beat - just an irritating noise.)

“Pardon me, please! Perhaps I never had any musical education, although I have played the piano since 8 years old. I must have been terribly misled, for I supposed that the singing of a Caruso or a Galli-Curci of my father's time or a Pavarotti or Beverly Sills or an Arthur Rubinstein of our day produced music. I guess I'm terribly out-of-date. I have heard roosters make a loud raucous squawk when being captured for a Sunday dinner when I was a boy, but I just never had been ‘educated’ to call that ‘music.’

“When as a boy I worked one summer in a flour mill, to the constant ‘beat’ of the machinery till it nearly drove me crazy, I somehow never realized that was ‘music.’

“Please bear with me in my ignorance.” I'll try, but it isn't easy. At least here he was being truthful. Armstrong was ignorant of popular music. A strong beat has been a characteristic of popular music since the rise of jazz, right after the first world war. Apparently, Armstrong was unaware of anything that occurred outside of the opera house since Caruso's time.

“I do remember, when I was in England at the college just before the mid-'60's, the Beatles were breaking into public notice. The had a new ‘way-out’ style, with an idiotic mop-topped hairstyle, with hair covering the forehead to the eyebrows, the ears and longer hair in the back of the head. The forehead is the seat of intellect - the mark of intelligence instead of animal nonintelligence. They started the style of male hairdo to turn evolution into reverse - man was becoming a dumb brute animal.”

The new music was just “a loud raucous SQUAWK and SCREAM with a fast beat - just an irritating noise.” The new hair style “turn[ed] evolution into reverse - man was becoming a dumb brute animal (The Worldwide News, “How The Beatles Changed The Culture of the Western World,” December 22, 1980, page 1).” These were not the reasoned words of an open-minded, enlightened man. They were the belittling comments of someone who refused to accept the present. If Armstrong did not like the way a person combed his hair, he resorted to name-calling and insults, even equating him to an animal.

On page 158 of The Missing Dimension in Sex, Armstrong again belittles modern popular music: “WHO determines what is ‘popular music’ today? The ‘teens.’ Even the radio stations who do not go to rock and disco music, in the main, play what is called ‘popular’ music. But is it MUSIC? Or is it a moan, a groan, a wail, a dirge, and a screech?”

Anyone who was single in the Worldwide Church of God would be aware of the courtship rituals enforced by the ministry. These were based on the dating “procedures” (See The Missing Dimension in Sex, page 154) Herbert Armstrong practiced in his youth. After all, if God’s Apostle followed certain “procedures,” they were God ordained and all should follow them. We’ve all heard them: date in groups, date in order to develop friendships, don’t date for the purpose of finding a mate, don’t be alone with a person of the opposite sex, don’t date outside the church, date widely. In theory, these practices would prevent one from marrying the wrong person or committing fornication. They would expose you to a wide variety of people, and develop your interpersonal skills. In practice, they made dating unnecessarily difficult, and made it much harder to find a mate by erecting all sorts of artificial obstacles. It also put you under a microscope because if you followed the prohibition against being alone with a member of the opposite sex, you had no privacy. In addition, the church was full of people who refused to mind their own business, and asked prying questions. If you were seen together at church services, rumors would sweep through the congregation. Last, but not least, you had ministers watching you, enforcing Herbert’s will on the dating question. Ministerial meddling was common. All of those I know who were single in the church had at least one serious relationship ended by ministerial diktat.

When Armstrong was a child, back in eighteen-ninety-whatever, women didn't wear make-up. Naturally, it follows that he wouldn't let women wear make-up in his church. To Armstrong, make-up was “physical colored dirt” that deceitful women wore. In his classic booklet The Truth About Make-Up, Armstrong wrote, “Its modern, popular and almost universal use today originated with the harlots of Paris. From there it traveled to the old redlight districts of San Francisco, Denver, New Orleans, Chicago, New York and other American cities. Then it was used by the streetwalker prostitutes to attract and seduce men.

“My wife remembered an incident that occurred when she was a little girl nine years old. Her father ran a small town general store. In the store she found two small packages of face powder, one white, the other red. She began to apply some of the colored powder to her face. Her mother saw her, and quickly took the powder away from her.

“‘No, no! Loma,’ said her mother. ‘You mustn't ever put that on your face. Only the bad women use that!’”

Apparently, Loma found this incident so traumatic that years later, she was psychologically unable to confront her husband about his incestuous relationship with their daughter.

“My mother - before she died - remembered that she used to apply a little powder on her cheeks but didn't seem to remember at what time this custom started. But she did distinctly remember that her mother never once applied powder, paint, or any kind of cosmetics whatsoever to her face. She was a very virtuous and religious woman, and in her time "only the bad women" put paint or powder on their faces. My own mother very emphatically declared that no lipstick ever touched her lips - a fact in which she took great satisfaction.” Yes, only harlots wore make-up, while the spiritually pure kept their faces free of the colored dirt. If it was true, as Armstrong claimed, that in his youth only prostitutes wore make-up, it was true of all times and places.

With his adoration for the past, it is no surprise that Armstrong’s views on race relations remained unchanged from his youth. Segregation, bans on interracial dating and marriage, and the inferiority of the “Negro” race were things he took for granted. As his article in the October, 1963 Plain Truth demonstrated, Armstrong cloaked the racial prejudice practiced in the Jim Crow south with Biblical garb. His attempt to make racism Biblical is truly astonishing.

Armstrong went to his grave without changing his opinions on race. In Mystery of the Ages, Armstrong lays out his racial theories in a book published just a few months before his death. Support for segregation, a distaste for interracial marriage, and a belief in black inferiority are all on display in his final book:

“The subject matter of the chapter [Genesis 6] is the generations ancestry of Noah. Exceeding wickedness had developed through those generations, by Noah's generation reaching a climactic crisis that ended that world.

“What was this universal evil and corruption? Jesus described that universal, corrupt evil as ‘eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage’ (Matt. 24:38). Eating food and drinking is not evil. Marrying is not evil in itself. There had to be wrong use and excess in eating, drinking and marrying - the evil was in the manner, and in the extent of eating, drinking and marrying.

“It could only be eating improper food, drinking excessively of alcoholic drinks, revelings (Gal. 5:21), rioting, violence. Marrying, to be evil, had to be as in Genesis 6:2, when men ‘took them wives of all which they chose.’ There was rampant and universal interracial marriage - so exceedingly universal that Noah, only, was unblemished or perfect in his generations - his ancestry. He was of the original white strain.

“It is amply evident that by the time of Noah there were at least the three primary or major racial strains on earth, the white, yellow and black, although interracial marriage produced many racial mixtures.

“God does not reveal in the Bible the precise origin of the different races. It is evident that Adam and Eve were created white. God's chosen nation Israel was white. Jesus was white. But it is a fair conjecture that in mother Eve were created ovaries containing the yellow and black genes, as well as white, so that some of the children of Adam and Eve gave rise to black, yellow, as well as white.

“The one man God chose to PRESERVE the human race alive after the Flood was perfect in his generations - all his ancestry back to Adam was of the one strain, and undoubtedly that happened to be white - not that white is in any sense superior.” So Armstrong says. But you’ll notice that he believes that Adam and Eve were white, and so was Noah and Jesus and the twelve apostles. Armstrong tries to convince us that the white race is not superior in his eyes, but he strongly implies that it is preferred in God's eyes.

“If you are a livestock breeder, planning to enter your prize animals in a livestock show - perhaps at a state or county fair - you will be sure to enter only thoroughbred or pedigreed stock! Mixing the breed alters the characteristics.

“God originally set the bounds of national borders, intending nations to be SEPARATED to prevent interracial marriage. Notice, "When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance [speaking of land or geographical boundaries], when he separated, [notice - he separated] the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people..." (Deut. 32:8).

“But people wanted to intermarry - until there would be only ONE RACE!

“That desire seems still inherent in human nature today!

“Noah was of perfect lineage in his generations. His wife and three sons were of that same white strain. But Japheth evidently had married an Oriental woman, and Ham a black.

“We know little more than stated above about civilized development prior to the Flood. (Pages 147-149, emphasis his throughout.)”

Where he developed this theory, I don’t know. There is no Biblical support for this point of view. One can only conclude that these were the opinions with which Armstrong started, and he interpreted the Bible to conform to his opinions.

Incredibly, Armstrong predicted that the Kingdom of God would be segregated. God would appoint the resurrected Noah as his Minister of Racial Purity to supervise the separation of the races.

“Since Noah lived first, we now take a look at Noah. In Noah's day, the chief cause of the violence and chaos of world conditions was racial hatreds, interracial marriages, and racial violence caused by man's efforts toward integration and amalgamation of races, contrary to God's laws. God had set the boundary lines for the nations and the races at the beginning (Deut. 32:8-9; Acts 17:26). But men had refused to remain in the lands to which God had assigned them. That was the cause of the corruption and violence that ended that world. For 120 years Noah had preached God's ways to the people - but they didn't heed.

“At that time, even as today, that world faced a population explosion. It was when ‘men began to multiply on the face of the earth’ (Gen. 6:1). Jesus said, of our time, right now, ‘But as the days of Noe [Noah] were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be’ (Matt. 24:37) - or, as in Luke 17:26, ‘And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.’ That is, the days just before Christ returns. Today race wars, race hatreds, race riots and race problems are among the world's greatest social troubles.

“Noah merely preached to people in his human lifetime. But Noah, in the resurrection, immortal, in power and glory, will be given the power to enforce God's ways in regard to race.

“It seems evident that the resurrected Noah will head a vast project of the relocation of the races and nations, within the boundaries God has set for their own best good, happiness and richest blessings. This will be a tremendous operation. It will require great and vast organization, reinforced with power to move whole nations and races. This time, peoples and nations will move where God has planned for them, and no defiance will be tolerated.

“What a paradox. People are going to be forced to be happy, to have peace, to find abundant and joyful living! (Pages 341-342.)”

How would they be made happy? By not having to associate with those of other races. Armstrong blamed many of the world’s problems on the integration of the races. The cure would be the re-institution of segregation. The world’s problems would be solved by apartheid. In this and many other areas, Herbert was a man behind the times. He either couldn’t or wouldn’t change. Although he claimed to be God’s Apostle, when it came to race he was more like the Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan.

The Racist Policies of Ambassador/Imperial Schools In 1958: Herman Hoeh

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It is a shame that even the youth were ingrained by some of the racist British Israelism crap that so many still look at today as 100% valid. Bob Thiel and others go out of their way to cover up this racist mentality, claiming it never existed in the church.






This same mentality carried over to Ambassador College.  Much to Herbert Armstrong's chagrin, social interaction was unavoidable between the races.  It was even going to go as far as having separate training classes for each race in order to send these men and women out to work within churches filled with their own racial heritage.  God forbid if they happened to be sent to an all-white congregation!


Contributed by:  SHT

Herbert Armstrong: Yes, I know they are revolting...but you had better show your children these pictures!

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By SHT, Contributing Writer

I don't get angry that often - really angry - when I read the way we were. But this is different.

I am literally fuming at what members of the Church and readers of The Plain Truth were TOLD to show our children.

In the Plain Truth of February, March, of 1955, Herbert Armstrong told parents to show their children the horrifying, graphic imagery of Armageddon that was drawn by Basil Wolverton. In 1955 - this was insanely graphic for the time. 

In a response to people who those who "griped" and "criticized" Herbert Armstrong about not wanting to see such realistic pictures, even that they would stop reading - and some, rightly, not wanting their children to see such pictures - what did Herbert do?

First, he admits that the pictures are TERRIFYING and REVOLTING.

Then, he doubles down and says he WANTS children to see those pictures!

He wants the children to "WAKE UP" and see what's happening. Herbert wants these children to "seek God and His Divine Protection." And that these horrible events NEED NOT strike them - that they MAY be taken on a flight to the place of safety."

This is the most disgusting, revolting piece of pure garbage I have ever come across from researching the bowels of historic Armstrongism. Because showing children, intentionally, these images, is absolutely horrible. Then, telling them that these images may really happen? Even worse. But then putting it into their heads that they are going to be taken to some place of safety? At any time? That's the WORST UNCERTAINTY a child could ever imagine. These tactics were abusive. They were destructive. They were nightmare-inducing and fear-enabling. Most of all, all of this were nothing but lies that severely harmed the lives of children in their most formative years of life.

What kind of man would ever WANT to show children these kinds of pictures? What kind of man would want children to focus on Armageddon, death, destruction, boils, pain and hurt? What kind of man would TELL parents to show kids this? What kind of man would tell parents to tell kids they might be whisked to some place of safety? What kind of man would make children believe that all of this was going to happen - and SOON?

You know what kind of man would do that. And yet, so many stand behind this kind of man as some sort of holy restorer of divine truth. The man many stand behind was an abusive liar. And the harm he caused by advising parents to show children this sort of CRAP - and teach them LIES that it would happen in their childhood and lifetime - cannot be understated. Because my parents were two that listened to that man. And I believed my parents. And I know others who believed the same thing. And our childhoods were stolen.

Children need to learn about Jesus Christ. Children need to learn about the love of God. How to help people. How to care for others. How to worship and praise God, and be thankful. Children need to have fun, live life, play, learn, laugh, and love. Children need to develop in an atmosphere of joy and peace - to the best that their surroundings allow. Though we all know that life in childhood for many is never a bed of roses - a mix of the best and worst of times - the LAST thing that a child needs is the horrifying images of Armageddon, death and destruction in their heads, their parents telling them it's all real, and at any moment they might be whisked to the place of safety. That's not Christianity. That's just abuse. And that's why I am angry I came across this absolutely disgusting piece of crap of an article in "The Plainest Bullcrap" of March, 1955. 








Segregation in Chicago Churches in 1960's

LCG: The Legacy of Fools?

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LCG, 
the land of constant rainbows and lollipops


Living Church of God is highlighting an article from 2010 on their World Tomorrowweb site.  It was written by J. Davey Crockett III, the Legacy of Fools.

It is kind of funny to see such a title on a web page for a Church of God that has such serious issues as LCG seems to be having with its members.

Crockett writes:
There are great stories and interesting examples of legacies, large and small, in the history of mankind. In this country, there have been the Carnegies, the Rockefellers, the Vanderbilts, the Fords and many other philanthropists. In Europe, the British Commonwealth and other developed nations, great legacies have been bequeathed by the leading industrialists, financiers and royal families. Those physical legacies will pass away in time.

People of ordinary means also leave legacies. In Ecclesiastes 7:1 Solomon wrote that "A good name is better than precious ointment." The Book of Proverbs puts forth this idea in this way, "A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, loving favor rather than silver and gold" (Proverbs 22:1). Certainly a family name associated with honesty and fair dealing is a wonderful legacy to those who receive it. A loving relationship within the family in which children have been brought up in the "nurture and admonition of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4), is also a priceless, timeless legacy.

The other side of the coin is not so valuable. Proverbs 3:35 states plainly that, "The legacy of fools is shame." Shame? Webster's Collegiate Dictionary defines shame as, "a painful emotion caused by consciousness of guilt, shortcoming, or impropriety. A condition of humiliating disgrace or disrepute." No one wants this! Yet many live their lives in ways that bring shame and other undesirable consequences, which are not confined to this current generation, but which spill over into subsequent generations. We shouldn't be surprised.
LCG leaders are into the 3rd and 4th  generations of their existence and it most certainly is true that the undesirable consequences of disgrace and disrepute continue to spill over into today's leadership. The track record of abuse has left a trail of destruction in its wake with destroyed lives, including death and mayhem.

Crockett continues with this:
Anciently, in the passage where the Ten Commandments were given, the Bible made this very clear in Exodus 20:5, "...For I , the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me."

So, as you contemplate your legacy, what will it be? If you are truly seeking answers to the important questions that every person should ask, and if you are dedicated to following God's way of life, your legacy will not be that of fools, but that of a wise, discerning person who wants God's will for yourself and your descendants.
A wise and discerning Christian would actually see that Jesus is missing from LCG and would take some serous steps in leaving the group!
The legacy we leave is ours to choose. Will it be a godly legacy of truth and light, exemplified by the Christian life, or the "legacy of fools" which brings shame and disgrace?
A wise and discerning Christian would also know that any organization that has spawned Dave Pack and Bob Thiel has some serious spiritual issues!

I think we all know, and certainly the LCG members who read and post here know, that shame and disgrace have followed the Living Church of God since it stabbed Global Church of God in the back, which in turn had stabbed it's mother church in the back and stole membership rolls and actively sought to divert tithe money into their pockets.  After all, maintaining their privileged lives was far more important than the spiritual welfare of the members that they seduced to follow them.









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