(Co-Worker Letter, 11-26-73)
submission by SHT
A summary of Herbert Armstrong's Gospel. (Seems something is gapingly missing here, doesn't it.........)
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Galatians: The Most Ignored Book of the Bible by the Church of God
From The Bible Project that explores the Bible visually.
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Rod Meredith: Obey God's Ministers, EVEN IF they abuse their office.
Good News: September 1953
courtesy of SHT
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Origin of the Platypus
Forget the COG version on the platypus, here is the true version.
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Mark Armstrong on the prophetic accuracy of his Dad and Grandfather.
Mark Armstrong has never had the qualities that his dad and grandfather had and has to resort to pretending his dad is still alive and republishing his works on a daily basis. Apparently, those in the Armstrong family all think they are from a long line of prophets.
This end-time Work of the Watchman has a well documented history and tradition. It began with my Grandfather, some 70 years ago. All involved or familiar with this Work know of his lifelong contribution; and of the long and productive Work of his son, my Dad; Garner Ted Armstrong.
Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong gained an understanding of Bible prophecy through reading, study and divine revelation back before many of those active in this phase of the Work were born. He had the understanding necessary to look into the Bible, and into the future, compare those prophecies with world events extant at the time and see the trends which would lead to an eventual culmination. Beginning in the early 1950s his son, my Dad, Garner Ted Armstrong began to take an active role in writing and broadcasting that message of witness and warning. Consider the strong message and accurate prophetic prediction written by Mr. Herbert W. in 1957. It was an article which recognized that Eastern European countries under the control of the USSR were already beginning to adopt policies which were outside the Communist dogma, policies which would pave the way for them to eventually leave the Soviet orbit and join in a coming United Europe. Early in the article, he quoted some rather humorous definitions of Communism, Fascism, Democracy, “New Dealism,” Capitalism and Theocracy.
“Communism: You have two cows. The government takes both and sells you the milk.
“Fascism: You have two cows. The government takes both, feeds the milk to the army, and shoots you.
“Democracy: You have two cows. The government buys one and sells it to an enemy on credit.
“New Dealism: You have two cows. The government buys both, shoots one, milks the other, and throws the milk away. “Capitalism: You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull.
“Theocracy: You have two cows. You milk them both, sell the milk, pay God His tithe, keep the other nine tenths and God gives you a bull.”
Nobody ever accused Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong of having no sense of humor! But his article went on to highlight serious issues of that era, and into the frightening scenario which the United States will ultimately face according to Bible prophecy. Mind you, the year was 1957! The following quote appears under the subhead, “Germany is Risen Again!”
“The factor is this: Germany is once again a major world power- and we don’t know it!
“While we innocently suppose the Russians are as mighty and dangerous as their words of bluff, we remain sound asleep to the FACT that Germany is fast emerging as a far GREATER power than Russia.Those nasty Germans have been the bane of the Armstrong family for 80 some years now. From Hitler being alive in South America to invading German armies who set up concentration camps and hang Church of God members up on meat hooks, finding themselves being toss into crematorium ovens or taken as slaves to Europe where they will serve in the homes of the Germans as a final humiliation. For 80 some years now those prophecies have never come to pass.
Never fear though, Mark's Grandfather had travelled to Germany and knew for a fact that they are rebuilding their empire.
“Already Germany, in actual resources and sustained industrial power, has actually passed Great Britain, believe it or not! Twice in the past three years I have visited and toured over Germany. Never have I seen such dynamic energy for WORK- for the work of production- of restoring a whipped, beaten, depleted Germany to the pinnacle where the Germans can shout triumphantly, Deutschland UberAlles!
“Our people have forsaken GOD! And, for our own good, to bring us to our senses, GOD IS BEGINNING TO PUNISH! …While we PROFESS to be the leading `Christian’ countries, we (the U.S. and Britain) have actually turned God’s Holy Bible upside down-we have rejected the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, as Christ Himself delivered and proclaimed it-we have set up PAGAN sun worshiping practices and we call them `Christian’ festivals-we have adopted false and hellish doctrines that make God’s ways and His laws appear to be evil, and make evil appear to be righteousness!”
WHEW! Grandpa Armstrong sure knew how to make the words leap off the page!Mark goes on to quote his dad and his utterances as prophetic truth. It is a rather long article with Mark adding a few comments here and there as he ends with this:
If you’ve been a reader or a listener of much that my Dad, Garner Ted Armstrong wrote and said, you’ve already got a very good idea how all of this will turn out. He predicted a coming “New World Order,” one in which, sadly, the United States of America will not fare well. Talk about patriotism! He loved this country deeply. Was proud to have served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War, and he knew World War II inside out. Occasionally he’d run into somebody else well versed in the many facets of the second World War, and the conversation would be incredible.
He knew his history and his geography backward and forward. And he knew his Bible even better. He wrote and spoke volumes at every juncture of world events, every twist and turn since the early 1950s, describing what was transpiring and where it was leading. He was acutely aware of every aspect of this continuing evolution of the European Union. And he looked at history and at Bible prophecy as his guide to understanding it all. And he shared that with all of us.
We may be lulled into a sense of security for now. But moves are underway which will affect our role in the Middle East ultimately, our economy, and yes, our sovereignty. We will continue to draw attention toward these relatively unrecognized trends with the perspective Garner Ted Armstrong, and Herbert W. Armstrong before him, brought to so many. You may request publications and tapes (free of charge) by calling the offices of the Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.
The work of witness and warning will continue via radio, television, the Internet, and the printed page as long as God provides the strength and support. Thank you for the role you play in the fulfillment of the great commission!
The Long Tradition of Prophetic Insight and Accuracy
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When The Church of The Non-Mentioned God was Only an Extension Program of Ambassador College.....
When reading of the booklets for analysis - the booklet "This is Ambassador College" published by the Ambassador College Press in 1968 and 1969. This was three years before the big 1972 incident. Eleven years into the attempts to fund the Auditorium. Thirteen years since they were pressing forward the idea of the nineteen-year time cycle. Nearly every building was completed - except for the Crown Gem of the campus. And well into the glory years of the Church - just before that scandals of GTA and 1975 were about to rip a gash in the fabric of the Church. This is the background of this submission.
First - some pointed facts of what is NOT in the booklet.
There is ZERO mention or acknowledgement or praise of God, Jesus, the Church, or any hint or semblance of any religious affiliation whatsoever in the growth or the building up of this college. There is zero mention of any of the traumatic money-pushes that were going on at the exact same time this was published (of course). In fact, you cannot find any hint at all that this college was even religious. It's not there. In fact, the Church behind the college was such a secret at the time that you could not even find where they were meeting,or who the pastors were. Of course, we all know the story behind this - or at least how it was portrayed to the members. It still stands a strong, solid fact: God was absolutely excluded from any part of the founding or the story of Ambassador College. All glory was given only to Herbert Armstrong - for everything.
Here we see the "Business aspects" that claimed help Herbert start Ambassador College and the Church. This is actually very good information to what Herbert was learning behind the scenes - once you take off the religious charade that cloaked what he was learning and doing.
He traveled all over the country, it says, interviewing business owners, and executives - millionaires - searching out "ideas that had been successfully used by businessmen", gathering material for the Trade Journal. He was also internalizing this material for his own benefit - storing the advice and material wisdom from some of the brightest - and wealthiest - men of that generation.
Notice what this work involved. He had to literally question businessmen (and Herbert must have been in his glory here) to learn "the reasons for the success of the few and the failure of the many". The definition of success here, of course, was financial success - becoming "an important person", as he so often says he strove with all of his energy to be. He did many surveys to learn the psychology of why people buy what they buy, and spend what they spend. He was able to learn the act of marketing - how to sell a product, and to determine what needs to be said to what group of people to merchandise - to get them to buy whatever product people are trying to sell. Sales was an art form - and he was in a position to learn and employ every psychological formula to cause people to want to buy ANYTHING.
The wealth of information that he learned - make no mistake about this - was WORLDLY. He spent time classifying and analyzing all types of people and knew exactly what to write, in his ads, or say, in person, to convince a person that they needed a product - desperately. This knowledge would have cost much money to learn in a college environment. Herbert had the chance to learn these worldly ways directly from the ones who have used them the best. The Autobiography clearly states the financial advice he got in regards to money was advice he took with him for his entire life - employed and used in business, by a businessman.
Here, it is very obvious what Herbert was trying to do: Mix, as a hybrid, the worldly ways of financial success with the Bible as he saw it. This, in my view, is how he approached scripture. He allowed the worldly laws of finance and business to rule over the spiritual laws of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
It is BUSINESS that employed the top-down model of government. It is BUSINESS that employed the strict, dictatorial, my way of the highway approach that he used. It is BUSINESS that determined the ministerial policies of strong-handedness among the "management". The only way that he knew how to run a business was to run everything as a business - even if it was supposed to be "God's True Church".
It was business that caused Herbert Armstrong to use sales product pitches in every co-worker letter to obtain finances. It was business in the way he organized the very structure of every division. And it was as a businessman, and a boss, in how he viewed the baptized members of the Church - and the co-workers as an arm of funding.
The fruits of what happened are exactly what you would expect from a business, not a church.
Scandals. Debauchery. Immorality, Contentiousness. Power Struggles. Deceit. Lies. When you understand that the Worldwide Church of God was merely an "Extension Program" of Ambassador College - the fundraising arm through tithes, and offerings, under a pretense of religion - and you see clearly that all this was going on while the Church was fully deceiving it's membership as a means to an end - it begins to put every puzzle piece together.
The fruits of what happened are exactly what you would expect from a business, not a church.
Scandals. Debauchery. Immorality, Contentiousness. Power Struggles. Deceit. Lies. When you understand that the Worldwide Church of God was merely an "Extension Program" of Ambassador College - the fundraising arm through tithes, and offerings, under a pretense of religion - and you see clearly that all this was going on while the Church was fully deceiving it's membership as a means to an end - it begins to put every puzzle piece together.
Let me emphasize this once again for clarity.
Mention of God? Zero.
Mention of Jesus? Zero.
Mention of the Church? None.
This was intentional - until changed by Garner Ted in the 1970s, in an attempt to make the church "more visible" - and eventually, after everything was accomplished and completed as far as the master plan of the college goes - when nothing else was to be gained - the Church did become more visible, and the name of the Church was added to the World Tomorrow Program. But you did not find this happening until after the fact - when there was a massive shift from fundraising and establishing to simply maintaining.
Herbert was a pioneer in strategically using a worldly business model to combine with a religious organization to create the appearance of a Church. And without any doubt whatsoever - he used fully worldly, fully carnal, fully business-like methods to accomplish this task - using the business training he received from successful businessmen to do so.
When people joined into his "Church", they entered into a reverse business.
Instead of getting paid, they paid the business. Instead of getting health benefits, their health was taken away. Instead of getting support from the ministers, they were chastized. Instead of the ministers seeing themselves as servants, they saw themselves as bosses.
Once they got you in their business, then the psychological training was on.
You were told if you left the Church, you would lose the business benefits. Which were:
- A Security Detail that would Protect You from the Outside Wolves
- The Office of a High-Ranking Manager in the World-Ruling Government
- A Pioneer in a World-Ruling Government
- A Yearly Vacation in a Business Conference, Which is paid by You, not the Corporation
- Mandatory weekly training sessions
Or, you could be terminated from the business by:
- Failure to comply with the Standards and Practices of the Organization
- Failure to pay dues as required by the Organization
- Failure to follow the Code of Conduct required by the Organization
- Disloyalty to the organization, or to it's management
- Failure to follow the Corporate Dress Code
- Self-Interpretation of Business Law or Dissemination Thereof to other members
- Failure to adhere with the Policies of the Organization
- Insubordination of Managers within the Corporation
In addition, you agreed to:
- Follow orders without question, every time
- Refrain from grumbling, complaining in any measure
- Maintain the highest level of productivity and efficiency within the organization
- Forego any "union" representation
- Refrain from personal interpretation of the Master Code of Regulations used by the Corporation
- Agree to not participate in the activities of the competition
- Agree to non-disclosure on corporate material to the competition; instead referring them to Management
- Agree to on-call, twenty-four hour service as required by Management
- Agree to pay for any business projects beyond dues as requested when required out of pocket
- Agree to zero compensation at all times
- Agree to a lifetime, irrevocable membership unless terminated by Managers
In the event you revoked your membership:
- You forfeited all rights, privileges, rank, and fellowship with the Corporation or other members of the Corporation, without eligibility of rehire, unless reinstated by the Management upon intent of compliance with the Polices, Standards, and Procedures of the Corporation.
In addition. You would be, according to the policies of the Church, convinced:
- You forfeited all spiritual, eternal, everlasting cohesion inside the mortal Universe, and as punishment for the Crime of Rebellion against the Corporation, you would be supernaturally obliterated into absolute nothingness as if you have never been, on the sole whim and judgement of the Managers of the Corporation.
"This Is Ambassador College" seemed to be absolutely EMBARRASSED a religious organization was behind it. About as embarrassed was as Herbert was to go to Kings and Prime Ministers and completely leave Jesus and his first coming out of it.
Herbert Armstrong took all the glory for the business with this booklet. God and Jesus got none. And this - 3 years before "1972" - all while deceiving the membership about what was to come - and here you see the College - and the Church - for exactly what it was. A worldly enterprise with an Extension Program, a "Church" as its main fundraising arm somehow not even mentioned here - with the most worldly senior management you could imagine running the whole business.
God wasn't in this.
Also, seriously, I'm being totally literal here.
GOD was NOT in this.
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What good was your brain when the church did all of your thinking for you?
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Philip Shields, former COG minister, accused of molesting women and underage girls is still seeking money and members
The telling comment at the end is about how the ministry of the church and leaders covered up for this guy. The Church of God has had a long record of covering up for rapists, pedophiles, stalkers and abusers of the brethren. The COG's love to mock the pedophile abuse going on in the Catholic church and yet the COG is filled with serial abusers all protected by leaders and fellow ministers.
Shields is also apparently part of the "sacred names" groups in the COG. It is more important to call Jesus and God by a certain proper name than it is to maintain moral integrity.
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Phillip Shields' website asks for your tithes and donations, so that he can continue in the capacity of a minister. Why would anyone ask for tithes unless they thought they were a minister of God?
From his web page, Light on a Rock, "Contact Light on the Rock Outreach Foundation:
"5622 Belle Terre Drive
Leesburg, Florida 34748-7887 USA
352-805-4457 pws2010@gmail.com
We deeply appreciate your gifts, tithes and offerings."The Journal: News of the Churches of God, previously had run an ad asking for assistance in an investigation into possible crimes committed by Shields.
His website address is http://lightontherock.org/contact-us.html
From The Journal, this ad, which was extremely accurate in reporting the number of victims Mr. Shields actually did his thing with, still appears on the Internet
"Announcements
Help needed with investigation: An investigation is being conducted by some former members of the Worldwide Church of God concerning possible crimes committed by Mr. Phillip Shields when he was in the ministry of that church. Allegations against Mr. Shields include numerous instances of sexual assault against married women and teenage girls and molestation of girls as young as nine years old. To date twenty-four probable victims have been identified. Six of them have furnished written statements for the preliminary report, which also includes statements by five other former ministers of the WCG concerning Mr. Shields' alleged predatory activities. The report has been furnished to church and legal authorities where appropriate. Mr. Shields currently lives in Vancouver, WA, where he is the host for the Church of the Great God, which meets in Portland, OR. Between 1977 and 1994 he was assigned to churches in Edmonton; Cornwall, NY; Plattsburgh, NY; New Brunswick, Canada; and Nashville, TN. The investigation is ongoing. Anyone who has information that would be helpful in this matter can contact us at PS Investigation, PO Box 3334, Grapevine, TX 76099."
The sad part is, when the ministry of the Church of God had the chance to turn him in, they did not. The effort to silence this sick evil which went on so long in our midst was aimed at silencing the victims.
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Fake COG Prophet Reposts His Prophecies For 2018
The Church of God's ONLY true prophet who was doubly blessed by his god so set himself up as a new splinter group is back again touting his prophecies for 2018. He felt the need to repost his list after COGWA published a list of 2 prophet trends to watch out for:
Eric Jones, of COGWA, named these two trends:
Two important prophetic trends to watch
1. An increase in global conflicts and authoritarianism.One of the primary themes of end-time Bible prophecies is global violence and instability. In the Olivet Prophecy, Jesus spoke these words about the time preceding the Great Tribulation and His return: “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom” (Matthew 24:6-7). …
Then, almost arrested but not arrested, doubly blessed and eternally bitter Bob Thiel then felt he needed to supersede COGWA in order to get the last word in. The bitter prophet then republishes his 18 things to watch for in 2018.2. Germany’s increasing global role.The current edition of Foreign Affairs also features a very interesting article titled “Germany’s New Global Role” by German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The article describes how Germany has emerged as the most stable and powerful nation in Europe. Germany is not just the undisputed economic leader of Europe, but it is also becoming a bigger diplomatic player in global affairs, “contributing diplomatically to the peaceful resolution of multiple conflicts around the globe” (p. 106).
As usual, it is like a broke record eternally skipping on a COG record player. It is the same generalized junk that has been spouted for 80 some years. Generalizations, never any specifics like what the Prophets of old said.
18 items to prophetically watch in 2018Can you rely on Bible prophecy? Should Christians pay attention it to? Did Jesus say to watch? Are world events aligning with properly understood biblical prophecies? Dr. Thiel goes over 18 items, including:
1. Scoffers and the Modern Media;
2. Morality Prophecies Being Fulfilled Daily;
3. Weather Sorrows and Troubles;
4. Earthquakes;
5. The White Horse of the Apocalypse;
6. Strife and the Red Horse of War; 7. Trade;
8. The Deal of Daniel 9:27;
9. Knowledge Increasing;
10. Debt;
11. US Dollar Dominance will Decrease;
12. Cash and 666;
13. Gold;
14. Europe Will Work to Reorganize and Have a Great Army;
15. Steps Towards the Formation of the King of the South Will Occur;
16. The Time of the Gentiles will Lead to Armageddon;
17. Jews Ready to Sacrifice;
18. The Fulfillment of Matthew 28:19-20 and Matthew 24:14.
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PCG says Satan is more powerful than the god they claim to follow
Should we expect anything more than this from a Church of God that has turned its back on the Jesus they claim they partially follow? Their god is so weak and their emasculated jesus is so impotent that Satan has a 100% success rate.
Satan’s premeditated strategy has a nearly 100 percent success rate. He is intimidating, abusive, manipulative, deceptive and ruthless. He never shows his true colors, and he never directly speaks the truth. His lies and half-truths are all for achieving his sole ambition: total control of mankind. Man believes he is free to choose as he pleases, rejecting any authority over him. Sadly, by rejecting the authority of God, he fails to see he is both succumbing and submitting to the authority of the adversary.All of the things that PCG describes above about Satan is a perfect description of Gerald Flurry and the ministry of the PCG AND other COG's. Flurry has never spoken the truth. He lies and creates half-truths in order to make his sheep believe he is credible. PCG has rejected the authority of God and has denied Jesus of everything he accomplished. Thus they believe Satan has 100% dominion over Christians.
Man’s kidnapper isn’t interested in a ransom. He wants to murder us! This is why he is so interested in our disobedience, because it leads to death—eternal death. He wants total control over those he has abducted. He does not want us to have free choice. His control over us is dependent on our disobedience to God. He intends to destroy the Family that man is destined to become a part of. He knows that Family is ordained to overthrow his rule. Satan clings to his power like a desperate politician who knows his lies are about to be uncovered publicly.
Satan holds us captive by influencing our minds through his continual broadcast of negative attitudes, moods and emotions (Ephesians 2:2). Our carnal minds are automatically tuned to his wavelength. He thus inflicts a Stockholm syndrome in his captive victims. He palms off disobedience as freedom. Yet it is the worst kind of captivity.
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Way Down South in the Land of........Ambassador College
1956 Envoy
The COG apologists will claim this is all ok, after all, it was in the innocent days of the 1950's when God was looking with favor upon the church.
submitted by SHT
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How Many Times Does A Prophet Need To Tell Us He Is A Prophet?
For over 80 some years now the Church of God has had self-appointed prophets popping up in its midst with one miraculous revelation after another. Many of them are now dead or are sitting in their living rooms expecting a few devotees to send them money in order to keep a roof over their heads. Here we are in 2018 and not one of their prophecies has come to pass. Every single one has turned out to be a lair and a false prophet. Yet, that never seems to stop a new crop of prophets popping up year after year.
While many revealed themselves before Herbert Armstrong's death, they were nothing compared to today's crop of self-appointed prophets. Gerald Flurry claims he regularly receives divine revelations from his god. Dave Pack hit the scene running with over 130 some prophecies and a firm statement that tens of thousands of COG members would jump over to his church after his god struck down the leaders of four Churches of God. Ron Weinland has made so many failed prophecies that he now looks like a blithering idiot. All one has to do is take a look back in previous issues of The Journal and see the ads for all the other raving lunatics.
Yet, in all of this quagmire of silliness, one guy stands out in particular. For several years now he has been working overtime to remind us every other month that he IS a prophet of God. No excuse to legitimize himself is too far out to consider valid. From nightmares after a bad Mexican dinner to mentally disturbed people in other countries dreaming up dreams to legitimize our favorite prophet; the excuses are constantly flowing forth in order to impress us on how holy he really is.
Ever the constant name dropper, this prophet has to drop the names of Rod Meredith, Richard Ames, Gaylon Bomjour, Dibar Apartian and others as his "proof's."
This is what he is publishing in his booklet, "Continuing History of the Church of God: Historical Overview of the True Church of God and Some of its Main Opponents from the 1st to 21st Century."
One group that was mainly faithful for a time to the teachings and practices of the Bible and the basic doctrines of HerbertArmstrong’s old Radio/Worldwide Church of God was theGlobal, then Living Church of God. Its physical human leader has been Roderick C. Meredith, who left WCG in late 1992.
In January 1993, Dr. Meredith began a church with the name Global Church of God (GCG). About two years later, evangelist Dibar Apartian joined with him. While trying to please various ministers, Dr. Meredith made certain statements on governance and other matters that concerned many (including this author).
Then, after an unusual series of legal moves by some individuals who did not share his public vision for leading the church, Dr. Meredith decided it was necessary to leave GCG in late 1998 to form the Living Church of God (GCG in the USA shut itself down within a year). For a short time, my COGwriter.comwebsite served as LCG’s website until LCG’s website got going.
Later, Dr. Meredith made me (Bob Thiel), over my objections, promise that I needed to tell him when I thought that he was“pulling punches” doctrinally. In early 2002, after LCG came out with its first public Official Statement of Fundamental Beliefs, I sent him an email where I mentioned that I felt he was pulling punches doctrinally and informed him that the Official Statementseemed Laodicean. Many, but not all, of the additions I requested were adopted by LCG officially in November 2002.308
Prophetic and Doctrinal Matters
In the Summer of 2005, Dr. Meredith appointed me to be an advisor to the evangelists on matters of doctrine and prophecy. Some of my advice was heeded, but much was agreed to, but not implemented. It was LCG’s failure to keep promises and to publish known errors that was distressing. One LCG evangelist flat-out told me that it did not matter that errors were being sent out as most of their readers would not really know the difference.
This I found to be outrageous and unacceptable (cf. Jeremiah 48:10).
Before that happened, on October 3, 2008, Dr. Meredith telephoned me and stated, “God may consider you to be aprophet.” Shortly afterwards I told that to Dibar Apartian, whotold me, “You are either ‘the one’ (‘the one’ to lead the Philadelphians at the end) or the biggest threat to the Church!” In 2010, Dibar Apartian confirmed I was not the biggest threat, but instead that God had an important end-time role for me.309
In January 2009, Dr. Meredith told me that if he raised himself to the office of apostle that he might ordain me as a prophet (which made me wonder about his view of spiritual gifts and theological authority). Although he did not raise himself up nor ordain me, in the Fall of 2011, two LCG ministers told me that I did not need to have hands laid upon me to be a prophet. I disagreed and I specifically prayed about this ‘prophet matter’ and asked God to give me insight on whether He might consider me tobe a prophet when I was to visit LCG’s offices in Charlotte, North Carolina in December 2011.
This prayer was answered when I ended up having had hands laid upon me by LCG minister Gaylyn Bonjour on December 15, 2011. He laid hands upon me and anointed me with oil and unexpectedly prayed that I would be given a “double-portion” of God’s Spirit (which Gaylyn Bonjour ended up telling me was reminiscent of the mantle passing from Elijah to Elisha; cf. 2 Kings 2:9-15 and what this anointing could mean).
Gaylyn Bonjour’s comments then, and in March 2012, made me wonder if the mantle had truly been passed and if the final phase of the work could begin (cf. Acts 13:41; Isaiah 22:20-23; Romans 9:28).
Earlier, back on December 16, 2011, there was a private lunch in Charlotte with me and LCG evangelists Dr. Meredith, Richard Ames, and Dr. Douglas Winnail. Richard Ames prayed, with“Amen” concurrence from Dr. Meredith and Dr. Winnail, that I would continue to do the work that God has had me to do, etc.
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Richard Ames also specifically called my writings/work “an additional witness.” Hence, there was a broad top-level concurrence with the evangelical and prophetic fruits of that work. Various promises were made to me by Dr. Meredith in meetings that month concerning doctrinal corrections, some of which he specifically assigned due dates in January 2012--yet none were kept that year nor the next. Instead, LCG ‘doubleddown’ and publicly promoted positions that several of its top leaders had admitted to me were errors. The Bible shows that the Jewish religious leaders somewhat knew about Jesus (John 3:1- 2), yet betrayed Him (Matthew 27:18). Sadly, though various LCG evangelists knew/suspected my role in 2012 and agreed to fix errors, in their own manners, they betrayed me and the truth.Our amazing doubly blessed prophet is so fantabulous that his prophecies go even further than Herbert Armstrong's and the heretic Rod Meredith's. In fact, Rod Meredith was such a poor prophet that even he acknowledges someone GREATER than him was to hit the scene:
Unlike Herbert Armstrong who restored truths to the Philadelphia era, and Bob Thiel who added many more details to those truths and restored more that was lost regarding church history, prophecy, and doctrine, Dr. Meredith has not claimed to do that. Nor has he fulfilled the prophetic office. Yet, he wrote that someone had to.Let's take a huge guess here. Just WHO could that ONE person be? This is so hard to contemplate! Never fear though, Doug Winnail knew who THAT prophet was:
Consider also, even after I left LCG, an email from LCG evangelist Douglas Winnail sent to me on January 7, 2013 stated,“we made comments to you that ‘you may be a prophet.’”317On September 27 2018, the divine one had to yet AGAIN tell us just how important he is to the Church of God. Like usual, he lashes out in bitterness at the Living Church of God because they have rejected him:
The Apostle Paul makes it clear that not all are prophets. Prophet is an office and prophets are to prophesy as God’s Spirit moves them. LCG’s position is that it has NO prophets (which is apparently the case as I stopped associating with LCG on 12/28/12). And it has had Dexter Wakefield publish that:We are aware of no prophets in the Church today (Wakefiel D. Living Church News, July-August 2015, p. 26)
But it should be noted that starting with a telephone call from its late top leader on October 3, 2008, LCG had repeatedly stated that God may consider Bob Thiel to be a prophet.
Consider also:
- On August 26, 2012, LCG Evangelist Dr. D. Winnail told Bob Thiel, “We all think that you might be a prophet.” In order to determine who “We all” was, on September 7, 2012, I asked if this was a reference to all three of the LCG Charlotte-based evangelists and Dr. Winnail concurred.
- On January 7, 2013, Dr. Douglas Winnail sent me an email, which included the statement, “we made comments to you that “you may be a prophet.””
The craziness continues:Now that I am not in LCG, it seems obvious that LCG does not have any prophets. As far as LCG and other COGs go, they have at least 38 prophetic errors, which are cited in the article The Laodicean Church Era.
Dexter Wakefield’s ‘rare prophet’ article continued with:
“Prophets” in the sense of Elijah are rare,
True. But rare does not mean that there are not and cannot be any. Now while Dexter Wakefield did not make that error, many in various COGs have concluded that rare means none. The New Testament is clear that God has prophets who prophesy (1 Corinthians 12:28-30) and will do so in the last days (Acts 2:17-18). Those in LCG and all other COGs need to realize this.
As far as ‘Elijah,’ the position of the Church of God since the beginning is that there would be three biblical ‘Elijahs.’ The original Elijah (e.g. 1 Kings 17:1), John the Baptist (Matthew 7:12-13), and an Elijah to come at the very end of the church age (Malachi 4:4-6) to restore all things (Matthew 17:11).
LCG’s late Roderick C. Meredith taught that Elijah would be a younger man than he (Meredith, Roderick C. The Elijah Question. VTE 131, May 19, 2001). Its Dr. Winnail has improperly taught that the Elijah is not a person but an “Elijah-type work” which fulfills the Elijah prophesies in Matthew 17:10-11 and Malachi 4:4-6 (Winnail D. The Mission of the Church. Living Church News, March-April 2006, p. 7). The Bible shows that ‘Elijah’ will be a person.
As far as rarity goes, I would ask, “How many people were told by an actual top evangelist in the Church of God that God may consider him to be a prophet?” In the 20th and 21st centuries, there is only one who comes to mind. So, while prophets are “rare,” and being told one is a prophet by an ordained evangelist is also rare, rarity does not mean that there are none.
As far as “Elijah” goes, he is to “restore all things” (Matthew 17:11).
Even the Living Church of God has taught about restoration–yet LCG has NOT restored what it says should be done.There is one person, in particular, that is to blame
The truth about early and apostolic Christians is that it is PROVABLY NOT IN LCG AND IS FAR MORE IMPORTANT than Dr. Meredith realized. When I was in LCG in 2011, I was trying to help them restore much of it; Dr. Meredith agreed, but then failed to keep his word. Dr. Meredith’s failure to keep his word on that and other matters was a major reason that the Continuing Church of God had to form.Where has the historical knowledge of the early Church of God been most fully restored?
Not true at all! The improperly named "continuing" Church of God is NOT carrying on any truth. It is also a FACT that Bob Thiel is a false prophet and a liar. God no more set him up as a prophet than he has Dave Pack, Gerald Flurry or Ron Weinland.In the Continuing Church of God!
All one has to do is look at the biblical record of prophets. They never seek to legitimize themselves. They never lie about themselves. They speak unapologetically while never whining.
Now take a look at the myriad of COG prophets who regularly pop up like pimples on Satans butt. They constantly come and go and accomplish nothing other than whine and bellyache in between the lies they regurgitate on a regular basis.
There is not a single man in the Church of God today that is a prophet. Not a single one!
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Another Narcissistic Fool Claims God Has Sent Him To Restore The Truth
In spite of his adherence to the law and his imitation of Herbert, people still reject him and he is not happy.Brethren I have not come teaching strange things; I was sent to restore what has been forgotten and is now rejected by those who should know better and have strayed very far from the truth.In fact before 1968, HWA taught most of the very same truths that I teach on doctrine! Herbert taught these truths in a basic form and I teach these same truths with the increased depth of another thirty years of study since 1986, but the fundamental truths are the same!
Friends, since the early 1970’s you have been told that the resurrection of the first fruits comes on the Feast of Trumpets and that the Feast of Tabernacles represents the millennium; and I am rejected by the major COG groups for teaching that the spring harvest of first fruits must be resurrected in the spring.I have studied and proved out what I present by the Word of God, nevertheless it has been brought to my attention that Herbert Armstrong also taught [before 1970] that the harvest of first fruits must take place in the spring.The plain truth is that after Loma died, Herbert came under the influence of certain persons and he began to allow them to stop holding bible studies on the new moons, also allowing them to go to restaurants and order catered meals etc on Sabbath; he stopped keeping the Feast of Unleavened Bread for the seven full days like Tabernacles, and he also allowed elders to teach the false mainstream position that the first fruits are resurrected on the Feast of Trumpets [see any commentary].
- I learned the things that I teach through my own studies independently, not knowing that HWA taught them until this last week, when this information was sent to me. I teach all of these truths and SO DID Herbert Armstrong before 1970 before Loma died, and before he came fully under the influence of men like Stan Rader and others.
Like all the other legalistic buffoons that have preceded him, Pharisee Malm is determined to see himself as a prophet. Pretty soon he too will be peddling dreams and anointings in order to dupe his followers. Just like Bob Thiel, Malm is one more in a long line of false prophets leading gullible COG members into the utter rejection of the one they claim to follow. Prostituting one's self to the law does not make one a Christian.
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Letter From A Teenager To The Church (1973)
This was a letter found in the Bulletin, a publication for the ministry, and shows what the teens REALLY felt of their place in the church.
It was addressed to GTA and marked personal.
contributed by SHT
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Exclusive Pictures from the Feast of Tabernacles
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Last Great Day Special Music At Continuing Church of God
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Your Salvation is Dependent on Works!
Rod Meredith, JUL57
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In a few short, short years, you will be God
Stephen Flurry, the heir apparent of the most despotic Church of God on earth today, has written a missive to the youth of the Philadelphia Church of God. Notice it was written to a "great many" of the youth. Not all of them will apprenlty make it into the hellish kingdom that the Flurry clan intend to place upon this earth. After ripping apart families and marriages, these are the people that intend to rule the world with
Can you imagine surviving World War III and then finding out that you will be ruled over by a bunch of self-righteous, Irish dancing, snot-nosed members of the Flurry clan and their followers. The licking flames of the Lake of Fire will never have look so good! Imagine having to live a thousand years in the millennium being ruled over by these people! It is easy to see why when Satan is released at the end of the millennium why so many will join up with him.
In just a few short, short years, a great many of you teens will be God beings, assuming those king-priest responsibilities! Stop reading and just think about that for a while. Will you be one of them? Are you preparing today? How much hinges upon your willingness to live your life for God! To learn to love obedience. To grow as a leader. To fight through obstacles.
Aim in this direction, teens, and your future is simply awesome to contemplate.But what if you still don’t have quite the maturity when Christ gets here to have made the serious commitment of baptism?
Young people, consider. If your parents become kings, what does that make you? The sons and daughters of kings are called princes and princesses. Remember, “Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the Earth” (Psalm 45:16).
In this new world to come, the adults of the faithful PCG will be gods and unable to do any work. Typical elitist Armstrongite mythology.That’s talking about you! Princes in all the Earth. The royal leaders of tomorrow’s world!
This new world we’re talking about is real. Constructing homes will require architects, carpenters, bricklayers, electricians, plumbers, painters. Farmers will cultivate food and tailors make clothing. You will have a job you are well suited for.
Remember, today’s Spirit-begotten adults will be spirit beings. That means they will not be the ones physically building this new society. God will need a strong team of physical leaders He can count on to dig into the multitude of projects around the world.
The bulk of mankind will be just beginning their education in God’s ways—and probably recovering from the shell-shock of the Tribulation for some time. You, on the other hand, are not only alreadyreceiving true education, you will have been saved out of the world’s worst troubles, all the while being groomed and prepared for great responsibility and opportunity. So who will lead such projects? It will be YOU—the princes in all the Earth!
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The Royal Pretender
Herbert Armstrong always had a passion for wanting to be royal.
I've discussed in the past his dream and ambition for having his own royal palace - many decades before such an edifice was raised into being. He even traced down his lineage to see if he had any link to royalty. Importance - to Herbert - was not in what the fruits of the Spirit were. Importance had to do with how monetarily successful you were, and how well you appeared to other people, and most of all - what you controlled and managed well.
Herbert collected many, many physical treasures over the years. To specify for this article's purpose:
One of the types of treasures to induce the appearance of royalty were expensive oil paintings. When he had the funds to have paintings of his family produced by those who painted actual royalty, he jumped at the opportunity. He commissioned oil painters in the development of many of these paintings. One of which was a particular S. Morse Brown, a "leading painter" who resided in the United Kingdom.
I looked up information on S. Morse Brown and his paintings. He was commissioned in the paintings of many "important people" in Britain and elsewhere, including the Right Hon. Lord Davies, Admiral Edward Evans, 1st Lord Mountevans of Chelsea, and David Davies, 1st Lord Davies of Llandinam. Auction sales of his paintings generally sold in the thousands of dollars. In other words, he was a very important painter.
The painting above by S. Morse Brown of Loma Armstrong was painted in England in the year 1961, no doubt on one of their many shopping excursions "for the College". It was this year, or shortly thereafter, that Herbert Armstrong conceived the master plan of the College, including the Ambassador Auditorium. Many of his overseas or international trips were full of many such elaborate shopping excursions well beyond the scope of "Gospel Proclamation" on his quest for luxurious living as an important person. In fact, As early as the 1940s, Herbert Armstrong was not modest on his excursions all over Canada, shopping at Hudson's Bay, one of the oldest Canadian department stores in existence. The stores, according to Wlkipedia, have a "focus on high-end fashion apparel, accessories, and home goods".
Other personal portrait paintings of the Armstrong Family were featured prominently within the Ambassador College Campus of Bricket Wood - which hung a large painting of Dick Armstrong to grace one of the Campus's main buildings.
Of course, these were not the only oil paintings that took place during the emergency crisis' of the 1940s to the 1970s. Nor were they the only extravagant purchases that occurred during the times when members and co-workers were being drained to the last penny under constant salvation-ending pressure.
Herbert Armstrong's sales technique and plans were nothing sort of masterful - in the business sense - in the creation and quest of his royal and kingly lifestyle. Look, for instance, at how he created "crisis" and "emergency" perceptions to the public when it came to his building program. (Mirrored applications in how he built his media empire could also be shown.)
First, overbook students. In other words, intentionally crowd them into a dorm for the following year, or a goal of such in the next few years - accepting more than it could currently house. This creates a need, and a sense of urgency. In such, it's an intentionally created "man-made" crisis or emergency, intentionally designed to motivate people to give more, to avoid the appearance of a "backwards" step in "the Work", something that would bring shame to a work that was said to have divine favor and origin.
With more students, other "man-made" emergencies would erupt. Now, dining rooms were filled to capacity. The escalating "crisis" now needed more money to be spent on other buildings, like a larger dining room - otherwise, the dining room would be over-capacity and the college could get into code violations. He'd often see the need, and instead of doing the "right business thing", he'd green-light the project to build what was needed even without the finances on hand - and then guilt the heck out of the members to their breaking point to support this "Work of God". All while building up and purchasing royal treasures or expensive items in existing structures, and paying existing employees lavish incomes (consider Raymond McNair's Jaguar in the 50s/60s.)
This pattern started from the very beginning and carried on into completion - but it was the Auditorium that launched the fundraising program into what the Church remembers so well as the "Big Push". It was during this time period that Herbert felt he had no choice but to pull out the worst business trick possible - the imposition of massive lies and extreme fear to extort finances out of spiritual people to raise enough money that the bank would approve the loans to sign off on the dream of the Auditorium. Herbert had an addiction to, and a passion for, the high life of material wealth. A life of fancy, luxury living with the finest of all physical treasures well beyond the auditorium. He wanted to be an important person. He knew that the only way to "be" an important person was through physical impression and physical appearance. The buildings, the clothes, the grounds, the music - and yes, the property and treasures - all of this had to meet the high class life he always so desperately needed and wanted since he was 16 years old. Even on the personal appearance campaigns, his son Garner Ted was constantly looking for just such type of people - and would overtly ignore anyone who did not meet that mold. Those who were common poor folk were beneath them.
His "world tomorrow" was a physical manifestation of the world based on physical interpretations of scripture that he most desperately envisioned as the reality of what world peace would be. A world of high-class, kingly living, where gold and silver jeweled treasures were everywhere, fountains flowed all over, everyone had the personality of royalty and the flair of royal manners - royal music like Strauss everywhere - all in the mold of the acceptable culture of life as part of the collective drone-like personalities imagined as appropriate under the rule of Herbert Armstrong. Spiritual enforcers - royal beings of the highest rank and position - would always keep an eye out for any who would possibly dare to express their own personality and creativity, under the rule of his interpretation of the governance of what he considered the law to be. There would be no shortage of royalty.
Many times, Herbert would call the members of the Church future kings and queens in his world tomorrow. He would also call the children of the Church princes and princesses. And for the elite of the College who were seniors, these future royalty were given the rare opportunity to eat with the king to be himself, Herbert - on and around royal treasures worth nearly half a million dollars - a chance to play king with the great royal pretender himself.
Real life was never like the world Herbert wanted so desperately to be. Certain splinter groups continue in the illusion and delusion of such a royal life. But such endeavors arealways to the detriment and the harm of the common people. Those who have been suckered in under royal pretense.That they would, too, someday, share in the rank, and position, and power, of those who are currently benefiting from those who believed their smooth talk. They believed that if they gave up what they had now, that they could be royal later - in a year, maybe two or three - that they were specially chosen for royalty. Only to find years later that they were victims of what can only be described as a royal scam.
The truth is, scripture says that God is more precious than silver and gold. Scripture says that the things of the spirit and are of far more value than any earthly precious mineral or gemstone, or monetary wealth. Scripture says to store your treasures in heaven, where rot cannot destroy. True royalty is not what Herbert thought he was - because right now, Herbert has absolutely nothing. True royalty can best be described in the golden rule: Do unto others as you would have people do unto you. True royalty is encapsulated by the example of love. It's not in BMW's, or gemstones, or gold - like one particular splinter leader tried, and failed, miserably. The Great Pretender's treasures of gold and silver have scattered to all corners of the earth, as have the people, ministers, and buildings he treasured so much. But those who through it all have lived a lifestyle of love are like the building which was never washed away in the storm. And if there's one thing Herbert's legacy taught us, it's this: What seems physically unbreakable in one generation may be a distant memory the next. A lesson all of us, in whatever we may believe and hold on to, should hold dear.
submitted by SHT
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48 Hours Expose on United Church of God Elder Stephen Allwine
"Never in my journalistic career have I ever been involved in a murder investigation
that led us to prevent other future potential killings," says correspondent Peter Van Sant
"48 Hours" explores the alarming world of murder-for-hire on the mysterious dark web and exposes an international criminal organization in a hunt for a self-described murder mastermind who uses the name Yura.
A six-month investigation spans the globe and leads "48 Hours" to information in the U.S. and beyond, about murder plots bought and paid for -- but not yet carried out.
"48 HOURS" DISRUPTS ALLEGED DARK WEB HITMEN IN POTENTIAL MURDER-FOR-HIRE PLOTS
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