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Church of God Members Devastated By Turkey Bacon Recall

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Its a tough day in Church of Godland.   Kraft has had to recall 2 million pounds of one the most disgusting fake foods ever created.  It ranks right up there along side SPAM.


Kraft Heinz Foods Company is recalling more than 2 million pounds of turkey bacon.
The turkey bacon was produced between May 31, 2015, and August 6, 2015. The following products are subject to recall:      
  • 56 oz. cardboard boxes (containing four plastic wrapped packages) marked Oscar Mayer “Selects Uncured Turkey Bacon” bearing the plant number P-9070, the line number RS19 and Product UPC 0 4470007633 0, and with “Best When Used By” dates of 24 AUG 2015 through 26 OCT 2015.
  • 36 oz. cardboard boxes (containing three plastic wrapped packages) marked Oscar Mayer Turkey Bacon “Smoked Cured Turkey Chopped and Formed” bearing the plant number P-9070, the line number RS19 and Product UPC 0 7187154874 8, and with “Best When Used By” dates of 28 AUG 2015 through 20 OCT 2015.
  • 48 oz. cardboard boxes (containing four plastic wrapped packages) marked Oscar Mayer Turkey Bacon “Smoked Cured Turkey Chopped and Formed” bearing the plant number P-9070, the line number RS19 and Product UPC  0 7187154879 3, and with “Best When Used By” dates of 3 SEPT 2015 through 30 OCT 2015. BayNews9

PCG Parents Loses Custody of Daughter

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Bravo to the state case worker that recognized the abuse happening in the Philadelphia Church of God home.  Mental abuse is just as damaging as they physical abuse.

From Exit and Support:

August 21, 2015

I want to give as little information as possible to shield identities, but I thought readers of this site might be interested in knowing that the teenage daughter of a PCG family that has faithfully followed the "no contact" rule for more than eight years has been taken from them by her state and placed in a foster home. Her caseworker has initiated paperwork to have her placed with my family, from which she has been cut off for about a decade. The PCG said for years she could have no contact with us. Now the state says she can have no contact with them. I would appreciate prayers on our behalf by the readers of this site. --[name withheld]

The Parable of Jack and Shep

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Recently an anonymous commenter at Banned had this to say:

"I stay for the fellowship."
Really? And you consider yourself a Christian? Matt 10:37 "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me." You apparently love even your buddies more than Jesus.
August 24, 2015 at 10:24 PM
Then on the post titled

"PCG Parents Loose Custody of Daughter" 
​Dennis C Diehl gave a long list of additional Bible quotations that support this idea of shunning, banning, disfellowshipping, excommunicating, or committing other abuse against those who  question ​church dogma.
Here is a parable that pertains to this issue. The basic story is not original with me; I got it in an e-mail forward, and so I assume it is in the public domain. What I did was embellish it with character and setting details not in the original. Interesting note: the same basic plot device, with different setting and action, also formed the basis for an episode of "The Twilight Zone." The writing style here is pretty much the way I tell it in storytelling performances.
 

 (Retired Prof)




The Parable of Jack and Shep


This is a Jack tale. Not the same Jack as the one that traded off the family cow for a handful of bean seeds, but one of his descendants, a Jack modern enough to own a pickup truck.

He also owned a dog named Shep, sort of an ordinary-looking black and white farm shepherd. Jack and Shep went everywhere together. People in town would see Jack’s truck going down the street and say, “Yep, there go JackenShep.” Like it was one word. JackenShep. Dogs would sniff the base of a lamppost or fire hydrant and think, “Yep, ShepppenJack came along here.” Jack never ate in restaurants because they wouldn’t let Shep come in. He would order a hot dog or hamburger at the drive-up window. Two of them, actually: one with onions for himself and one without for Shep. When he simply had to go in a store where Shep wasn’t allowed, Jack would tell Shep to wait outside, because he would be back out pretty soon. The dog would stay there till Jack came out. Everybody liked Shep, especially little kids and old people, and they would scratch him behind the ears and wait for Jack to come out, or maybe if they were short on time they would go on inside and say hi to him there. Everybody liked Jack too.

Well, one day Jack and Shep had a bad wreck in Jack’s pickup on an icy bridge, and they both passed out. When they woke up, they could still walk around like always, and Jack could still scratch Shep behind the ears, and Shep could still lick Jack’s hand. Then Jack got suspicious. He said, “I ain’t cold. Here I am, ice and snow all around, wearing nothing heavier than this little old denim jacket, and I ain’t the slightest bit cold!” He looked around and got a shock when he saw his truck. The cab was crushed almost flat. He said, “Oh mercy goodness, nothing could have come out of that cab alive.” As you might expect, under the circumstances it took a while for the significance of what he had just said to sink in. Finally Jack said, “Well I be durn. I always wondered what it’s like to be dead. Now I know. It just feels normal.” He looked down and said, “Well, Shep, I don’t know nothing for it but to go on down the road. Let’s not go back the way we came. No point revisiting the past. I don’t see any future in it.”

Pretty soon they saw some kind of big impressive establishment with white walls and towers. It was high up on a hill overlooking the valley. Looked like a mosque or a cathedral or Disneyland. Something of that nature. Jack said, “Shep, let’s go check that place out.” All the snow and ice had disappeared, and the valley was green like June.

At the foot of the hill they came to a nice driveway leading up. The hill was high and steep, but the road was easy walking because it was smooth and broad and full of hairpin turns. Real crooked.

From time to time, up the hill through the trees, they could see the walls of the place, like polished marble. When they got closer, they could see coils of razor wire all along the top of the walls. Then at the top of the hill, they saw that the towers they had seen from afar were spaced a hundred yards apart like watchtowers, as far as the eye could see. Jack said, “Shep, I reckon the people that own this place must have treasures stored up here that they don’t want thieves to break in and steal.”

They came to a gate. It looked a lot like the fancy iron gate in front of a gated community or some rich man’s estate—maybe even the White House—except it was all iridescent, like mother of pearl. The driveway leading up to it was blacktop. The street on the other side was gold. In front of the gate, off to the side, there was a high desk like in a restaurant where the hostess asks if you have a reservation. The big man standing behind it had flowing white hair and beard, and he wore a white robe. He was overjoyed to see Jack.

He yelled, “Hi, Jack! Good to see you, man. Welcome to Heaven! We’ve been expecting you ever since we saw you start across that bridge.”

Jack blinked and swallowed hard a couple of times before he thought to say thank you.

The man in white said, “Now Jack, we want to fulfill your most heartfelt desires. Whatever you yearned for in life that you could not have, tell us what it was. Maybe you were too poor and couldn’t afford it, or maybe somebody wouldn't let you have it. Makes no difference. You can get it here. We aim to please.”

Somewhere across the fence Jack could hear an organ playing “Ode to Joy.” Or maybe it was a calliope. Yes, he could see puffs of steam in that direction. He also heard and saw a fireworks display. The smell of sulfur drifted in. A Ferris wheel was turning, and a tilt-a-whirl. People squealed the way ecstatic teenage girls used to when Elvis or the Beatles came on stage.

Jack said, “Well, I been traveling a ways, and right now I’m real thirsty. Can I get a cold drink of water?”

Man in white just busted out laughing. When he caught his breath, he said, “In all my days working the admissions desk, that is the simplest, the most modest request anybody ever gave. Of course you may have a glass of water.” He clapped his hands twice.

Instantly a beautiful young woman wearing a halo and a pair of wings appeared. She was holding a tray with a pitcher of ice water on it, and a crystal goblet. She held it out to Jack, and he reached for it but then stopped and looked at the man in white. He said, “Reckon could Shep have some water too? In a bowl?”

Man said, “Shep? Who is this Shep? Nobody by that name on the list.”

Jack pointed at his dog.

The big man’s eyes bugged out. “That quadruped? A mere beast? You ought to know better than to think you can bring a dog into Heaven. He’s got no soul. He’s not even made in the right image. Get that son of a bitch—and I mean that in the technical sense—get him out of here!” The veins in his neck stood out. His face was red.

Jack looked through the gate. He always used to go to the county fair every night it was open. He said, “You all got a nice carnival here. Lots of rides. Lots of excitement. I couldn’t have no fun in there, though, with Shep stuck out here. I reckon we better go on down the road and see what else we can find.”

The man said, “You mean you would give up eternity in Heaven for the sake of a wretched mongrel cur? Let me plead with you, Jack. Hear the call. Please, Jack. Answer the call today.” Jack didn’t say anything, just looked at him. “Let me warn you, Jack. This is the last chance you will ever get. You don’t deserve another one. But I tell you what, Jack. What you do deserve is what you will get if you go on to that next place down the road. Every minute of it. You hear me? Every miserable damned minute. And I mean damned in the technical sense.”

Jack said, “Yeah, well. You got a nice place here, but if you ain’t going to let Shep in too, we better just go on down the road. Besides that, taking something I didn’t deserve, I’d feel like a piker. Come on, Shep, let’s go.” They headed back down the hill to the road that ran along the river bottom.

After while they came to another driveway on the other side of the road and went down that. This was just a little narrow two-track leading out through the woods toward the river. Greenbriers and blackberry vines grew on both sides, so you had to stay pretty close to the middle of the road.

Eventually the woods opened up to a clearing with a big elm tree in the middle, and on the other side of the tree was a wooden gate between two tall cedar gateposts with a long horizontal pole joining them at the top. The gate looked like it hadn’t been closed in a long time, and if there ever had been a fence, it was gone now.  A man sat in a chair in the shade reading a book. He had on grey pants and a light blue short-sleeved shirt and looked like maybe a small-town lawyer or real estate agent, something like that.

When he saw Jack and Shep, he broke into a big smile and said, “Hey there, Jack. Glad you could make it.” He stretched out his hand to the dog and said, “Come here, Shep.” Shep went over, and the man scratched him behind the ears and told him he was a good dog. Shep grinned and wagged his tail.

Man looked up and said, “Well, Jack, you okay? Anything you need?”

Jack wiped his mouth. “I could stand a cold drink of water.”

Man in the blue shirt said, “Why sure. There’s a well on the other side of the house back there.” He pointed toward some lilac bushes, and just past them Jack could see a white house with a long porch. “I just now drew up a fresh bucket and set it on the table next to the well. There’s a dipper and a clean glass sitting on it, and a bowl on the ground for Shep. If you use all the water in the bucket, draw another one.”

Jack and Shep walked back there and stayed gone for some time. When they finally came back, Jack said, “You know, this place reminds me of Grandma’s. I spent some of the best times of my life there, in the summers.”

Man said, “It’s similar. Lot less drouth. Neighbors are all nice people. They’d enjoy a visit, only most of them aren’t home right now, because the county fair’s going on. Tell you one thing about those neighbors, though. You can count on them. If they give their word, they’ll keep it.”

Jack said, “Sounds real good. What’s the name of this place?”

“This is Heaven.”

Jack’s eyes bugged out. “Heaven? There’s a man up the road calls his place Heaven.”

Man said, “I think I know that establishment. Way up on a hill?” Jack nodded. “Whitewashed walls and watchtowers?” Jack said they were white, all right. “Cheap plastic mother-of-pearl veneer on the gate?” Jack allowed that could have been what he saw. “Streets spray-painted gold?” Jack said maybe so. “All kinds of noise and confusion inside?” Jack said definitely so.

“Yeah, that’s Hell.”

“Hell? Hell? Don’t it make you mad for somebody to operate a place like that in the name of Heaven?”

“Nah. Doesn’t bother me. They do part of my work for me. They screen out everybody that would walk off and leave their best friend.”


Philadelphian Era: Did it ever happen? Are any of the groups today Philadelphian?

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For many decades we all heard the "Philadelphian" labeled attached to Herbert Armstrong's version of Christianity.  He claimed the doors were opened to the "Philadelphian" era to take the "gospel" to all the wold.  God was working specifically with the "Philadelphian" era. It was alive, vibrant. and powerful.  Prophetic messages abounded with abandon.

God loved the "Philadelphian" era so much that he was going to protect it in Petra for 3 1/2 years while the lukewarm "Laodiceans" languished during wars, famines and persecution.  It was to be their wake-up call to really choose the right path.  Though they were still loved by God they were having their lives strengthened by fire and tribulation.

Then, horror of horror's, Herbert Armstrong died.  The prophet and end time apostle that was going to usher in the Kingdom of God on earth died and left the church in the hands of others.  The church imploded swiftly with hundreds and hundreds of splinter groups breaking off to start their own versions of the "Philadelphian" era, or at least they thought they were.  Armstrong always said that the era to follow the "Philadelphian" era was the the "Laodicean" era.  None of these groups could ever accept the fact that they were/are lukewarm and "Laodicean."  Its always the OTHER group that is the "Laodicean," never ones own group.

Armstrong taught otherwise, even though Pack, Flurry, Meredith, Hulme and others all claim they are NOT the "Laodicean"era.

A reader here  sent the following to me. 


Christ warns that the Laodicean Era of Revelation 3:14 is asleep and about to be "spewed out" of His mouth.  Given that the present Laodicean Era followed the Philadelphian Era with copied doctrine and ministry, what's that tell you about the teaching of the present ministry?  What's that tell you about the ministry during Mr. Armstrongs time?

Not one of Mr. Armstrongs prophecy's ever came to pass and since he proclaimed them, he obviously considered himself to be a prophet (amongst every other conceivable title he could think of).
This applies also to those who profess to be prophets today.

Given the warnings by Christ regarding false prophets and teachers to come at this time (time of the end), apply this doctrine to the present day ministry/organizations: Revelation 19:10 .... for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. It follows that without the spirit of prophecy, which is blatantly obvious, they "DO NOT have the testimony of Jesus".

That should shock and rock their laity to the very core.  
Don't count on it. Everyone of these groups feel they do have the testimony of Jesus and are God's only mouthpiece.  All truth resides with in their isolated groups.  






Living Church of God: Can You Trust It To Use Morgan's Scholarship Money Wisely?

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Living Church of God has announced that the flights and funeral expenses for the Montgomery family have all been paid. 

Living Church of God is still continuing to ask for money to go into the fund.  They claim that this money will be used to help send youth to the various summer camps AND for providing IMPORTANT services to the church youth.  That comment is drawing a lot of negative responses.

Just what criteria will the LCG use to determine what is an IMPORTANT service for the youth.  This opens the door to wide spread abuse.  This is nothing new to Rod Meredith and crew, considering what Meredith has done in the past with church monies.  In the 1970's he was caught using 3rd tithe to remodel his home.  While widows and orphans around the church struggled, the privileged elite in Pasadena found convenient ways to manipulate the church coffers for their own purposes.

One person with connections to LCG recently said:

Donations should be payable to Living Church of God and they are totally trustworthy so I'm sure they will only use the money for camp scholarships, right?
Living Church of God and trustworthy in the same sentence...oh my.

Living Church of God Appoints Man Who Sees Demons In Elderly As New Public Face of Broadcast

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Due to the rapidly declining health of Rod Meredith and the poor health of Rod King, the Living Church of God has added two new presenters to the line up for their World Tomorrow program.

LCG announced:


Dr. Meredith has announced that there will be two new presenters for the Tomorrow’s World telecast. The first new presenter will be Mr. Gerald Weston, who will be the third main presenter for the program, along with Mr. Ames and Mr. Smith. The second new presenter will be Mr. Rod McNair, who will function as a guest presenter. Dr. Meredith asks that we please pray for both of these men, that God will continue to guide them and use them.

The addition of these new presenters was prompted by the ill health of Mr. Rod King and the challenges that Dr. Meredith faces as he ages.
Meredith has been well known for his practice of nepotism in the LCG HQ hierarchy.  In spite of wise counsel from many, Meredith has appointed Jim Meredith, Rod McNair and others to positions none seem qualified for.

Rod McNair apparently lives in the dark ages where everything that happened in life was attributed to Satan or demons.  McNair recently claimed that demons inhabit the bodies of the elderly in nursing homes and demanded than an LCG member quit his job working in a nursing home.
Rod McNair recently ordered one of his members to quit their job at a nursing home where they worked helping sickly senior citizens. His reason? Demons. It is his belief that demons often inhabit the elderly.LCG recommends that its members stay away from people with mental illness and now they have added to that, the elderly. Ironic since the average age of an LCG member is about 75 and its leader, Rod Meredith, is 85.  According to sources, this member obediently quit their job immediately after being told to. Most professionals understand the importance of giving a notice of resignation out of respect for the employer and to maintain ones reputation in the industry. But not McNair. This member was subsequently accused of being disobedient to God's ministry by not quitting quickly enough once McNair learned that the member worked a two week notice to wrap up their obligations to the company. The member has now been disfellowshipped.

See that story here:  Rod McNair Says Elderly Possessed By Demons 

 
Related Rod McNair items of interest:
 
Why Does Rod Meredith, Rod McNair and Bob League Treat LCG Members With Such Disdain? 

How Many Lies Can Rod McNair Speak In 15 Minutes? 

Bob League and Rod McNair's Love Letter To Wayward LCG Members

Rod McNair Attempts To Quell Dissension By Tell LCG Members The Rules of Engagement For Disfellowshipment

Why Do So Many LCG Members Cover Up The Spiritual Abuse That LCG Commits Daily?

Rod McNair Dares To Preach About Family Communication While Destroying Families


God's Most Favorite End-time Work Moves To New Offices

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God's most favorite Church of God in this end-times has moved into new offices on the Central coast of California.  Being doubly blessed has brought multiple thousands to gather at Theil's feet, thus the need for new offices.

Bob Thiel has announced this his global work has expanded so much over the last few years that bigger and better offices are required.  Dave Pack and Gerald Flurry look like first graders running lemonade stands compared to this theological giant and his global work!


Notice that he is using money from his homeopathy work to pay for this building and his justification for it all.  Apparently having a church composed of 96% African members does not bring in much income, thus he is mingling his work money with church business.  Don't worry though.  Thiel claims he is just like apostle Paul and has forfeited his RIGHT to an income from his church.  I love how all of these self impotant COG leaders always talk about themselves in the third person.

Because of the need for more storage space, the main office for the Continuing Church of God (CCOG) has been relocated to Grover Beach, California.

It was the most cost-effective building we could find.

Perhaps it should be mentioned that CCOG is NOT paying for the building space, Dr. Thiel’s business is–he also draws no salary from the Continuing Church of God.  While he does believe that he is biblically entitled to be compensated (beyond being reimbursement for expenses, etc.), he, like the Apostle Paul, have forfeited taking a regular salary from the (Continuing) Church of God for the current time–nor did he ever taken a salary from CCOG, or LCG or GCG for that matter over the past nearly two decades).  He makes his family’s income another way–owning a business that he works at part-time (the Apostle Paul made tents, apparently part-time, to support himself at times per Acts 18:3, while he also proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom).  He does not take a salary as there are other needs in the work that he has placed as a higher priority during this “present distress” (cf. 1 Corinthians 7:26).  For those who wonder, perhaps it should be mentioned that all the tithes and offerings collected thus far by the Continuing Church of God have been used to proclaim Christ’s gospel of the kingdom (Matthew 24:14) and other end time aspects of the work (Revelation 3:7-13), teaching those things He commanded (Matthew 28:19-20), preparing for the short work (Romans 9:28), supporting the poor, widows and orphans (Galatians 2:10; 1 Timothy 5:3; James 1:27) mainly in Africa and Asia, and only relatively minor amounts have been spent for administrative aspects of the church (1 Corinthians 12:28; 2 Corinthians 9:6-14)–government-related legal costs probably being the single biggest administrative expense (and those are fairly minor).

Being doubly blessed, regardless of how deceitful the process was, has reworked Thiel's brain into imagining all kinds of theological wonders.  Thiel considers himself to be the final authority on end-time prophecy, the Mayan's and homeopathy.  No human that has ever walked this earth is as intelligent or theologically sound as he is.

That greatness has brought forth the need for a new office that is conveniently located between Ace Hardware and a foot massage parlor.  I guess after he builds his own shelving from Ace Hardware he can go get his feet massaged, as all good prophets do.

You Know You Grew Up In The Church of God...


The Profound Ignorance of UCG Leaders

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A comment was left on Gavin Rumney's OTAGOSH blog in relation to an article in UCG's Good News magazineon Iran and its nuclear deal.

Gavin writes in The problem with The Good News magazine:
There is really no way to successfully negotiate with such people. Whatever they agree to is merely to buy time to prepare for the needed world conflagration.
UCG Iran "expert" Robinson
Where's the balance here? This is a petulant piece by a man with - please correct me if I'm wrong - zero expertise in this subject, and who has one suspects been spending far too much time on the sofa with Fox News and WND.

What's the allure of this kind of rant? Why won't the GN provide some sort of sane overview of the situation - which is what it would claim to be doing but clearly is not. Why are they incapable of even hinting at an optimistic assessment of the Iran deal... even if only to provide some much needed balance.

It just doesn't fit the narrative.

The narrative, based on a profound ignorance of what the Bible is (and isn't) has the world going into an irrecoverable tail spin. Things might look bad right now but they're going to get worse. And there's nothing you can do about it but belly-ache and moan. This constitutes "warning the world", which (don't laugh!) constitutes preaching the gospel.

Almost all of the various splinter groups seem to get giddy at the thought of world wars, famine, disease and human suffering.  It has to happen because Herbert told them that it would.  Almost none of these men have any education outside of Church of God institutions or circles of insular thought processes.

Almost all of the men in UCG leadership positions are men who apostatized from their mother church in an act of rebellion in order to keep their salaries in tact.

One reader on Gavin's blog, whom no one ever agrees with, had this accurate comment about UCG:

UCG is a political organisation, which was started by a pack of hirelings, to fleece the gullible out of tithes and offerings! In civilian life, these men couldn't get proper jobs, to maintain the lifestyle they were accustomed to in WCG. So they started their own chuch, and now paid 6 figure salaries for talking and writing nonsense! They should all be in prison!

Church of God leaders and various ministers have set themselves up as authorities on all kinds of world news and events.  From the Philadelphia Church of God to the Restored Church of God, poorly educated men rely on Fox News and WorldNetDaily for their news, though only as long as the news fits the COG perspective and can be used to prop up pet fantasies (prophecies).

Dueling Feast of Tabernacles Sites

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The latest issue of the Journal (issue 176) has up the listing of all the hundreds of Church of God Feast of Tabernacles sites around the world.

The sad thing about this list is the numerous sites of separate Churches of God that are really close to each other.  Certain groups publicly forbid their members from attending or associating with the other groups close by.  Some have even been in the same complexes and refused to speak to each other.

In California we have several really close to each other in the Central Coast area. This listing does not include GCI's Monrovia location which adds to the mix.  The most pathetic mixture is in Missouri.

California

Carlsbad:
Rock Valley Christian Church,(951) 600-9555, http://rockvalleychristianchurch.org/content/tabernacle_welcome.php.

Indian Wells: LCG,https://fot2015.lcg.org.

King’s Beach: ICG, intercontinentalcog.org/tabernacleshome.php, (903) 561-7070.

Oceanside: UCG, http://feast.ucg.org.

Oxnard: The Father’s Call, http://thefatherscall.org/feast-plans.

Pismo Beach: Church of the Eternal God, eternalgod.org/feasts.

Solvang-Buellton: COGWA, http://feast.cogwa.org.

Ventura: Guardian Ministries, David Antion, P.O. Box 50734, Pasadena,Calif.91115, daveantion.com.

Florida

Destin : Church of God Big Sandy, churchofgodbigsandy.com, (800) 946-5545, P.O.Box 690, Big Sandy, Texas 75755.

Fort Walton Beach :
CGI,
Life Resource Ministries,
Common Ground Ministries,
Church of God Cincinnati,
Common Faith Network, commonfaithnetwork.com.

Lantana: The Christian Church of God, fla-ccog.com.

Melrose: Multiple study groups, Sept.28-Oct 6, http:// fallfeast.com.

Navarre: LCG, https://fot2015. lcg.org.

Palm Harbor: LCG, https://fot2015. lcg.org.

Panama City Beach: UCG, http://feast. ucg.org.

Panama City Beach: ICG, intercontinentalcog.org/tabernacleshome.php, (903) 561-7070.

St. Petersburg: Church of God Miami and CGI, http://godsbhurch.org/Feast.htm.
St. Petersburg/ Clearwater : CGI,http://cgi.org/feast-oftabernacles, Aleida Fontao, info@GodsChurch.org, (305) 752-5275.  

Missouri

Branson: UCG,http://feast.ucg.org.

Branson: CGWA,http://feast.cogwa.org.

Branson: International Congregation of Yahweh, feastgoer.org/metamorph_spring/branson15.html.

Branson : Providence of God Outreach Network, providenceofgodoutreachnetwork.org/2015-fotupdates.html.

Branson : Eternal Church of God, eternalcog.org/holydays/ecgholydays.html#tabernacles. Greenville: Yahweh’s Restoration Ministry, Sept.28-Oct.6,http://yrm.org/fot2015.

Kimberling/Branson: ICG, intercontinentalcog.org/tabernacleshome.php, (903) 561-7070.

Lake of the Ozarks: LCG, https://fot2015.lcg.org.

Lake of the Ozarks: Season of Our Joy, sooj.org/index.html.

West Plains: Congregation of Yahweh,Sept.30Oct.6, yahschosen.org/tabernacles.html.

We spent decades in the Worldwide Church of God mocking the hundreds and hundreds of various church denominations of the world.  Now that bitter vehemence has come back to bite the Church of God in their holy self-righteous posteriors. The Churches of God are divided into hundreds and hundreds of factions and personality groups that despise each other.  If these sad people cannot get along in the present world why would ANYONE want to be a part of their "kingdom's to come?

With the exception of Philadelphia Church of God and Restored Church of God that required registration and name tags to attend, most COG members ignore their leaders admonitions and visit other groups to see friends.

Philadelphia Church of "god", Gerald Flurry and Cal Culpepper Destroying Yet Another Marraige

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Gerald Flurry's despotic reign continues to wreck more havoc as another marriage is being destroyed by Flurry's evil teachings. This sick cult takes great pride in splitting up marriages and families. 

From Exit and Support

August 31, 2015

I am grateful for your but devastated about my situation regarding my husband and PCOG. He believes this is the true church and remains dedicated to tithing, keeping the feasts, etc.

It is causing great turmoil in our marriage, and due to this group, PCOG, is disintegrating. It's like my husband is proud of this and claims Jesus says leave father, mother, wife, etc. This group has twisted, corrupt, ministers and the members are fear and guilt stricken. No religious group should have so much power and destructive capabilities.

How can you not assemble with your loved ones or attend a friend's funeral because they are "not of God's character" and that it is against their teachings? Honor thy father and thy mother? Really? And judgment? That's all PCOG does. I can't imagine that Cal Culpepper will teaching after Christ comes. Far from it!

I have a lot of pain from what has happened to my husband. He is fearful and has stopped living. I love him and pray that we will make it. However if we don't, it will be the PCOG's influence--100%. For years I have respected my husband's interest in PCOG (he is not yet baptized); but I have now been challenging the PCOG's behavior. More so, the ministers who control the organization. It's a shame that the PCOG website looks so "normal."

Please pray for me and my husband. --[name withheld]

The Modern Fundamentalist's Song

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The Modern Fundamentalist's Song

Modern Fundamentalist:
   I am the very model of a Christian fundamentalist
   And by a strange coincidence a solid occidentalist.
   I cherry-pick the Bible for the verses close or distantly
   Amenable to straight white males, however inconsistently,
   Unless those verses might apply a little inconveniently
   In which case I interpret them a good deal more than leniently.
   We want to do just what we please however strange or horrible
   And still regard ourselves as wholly moral and adorable.

Congregation:
   We want to do just what we please however strange or horrible
   And still regard ourselves as wholly moral and adorable.
   And still regard ourselves as wholly moral and adorable.

MF:
   I call myself a Christian but it's really Paulist cultery
   Since Christ himself has said that my divorces were adultery.
   But I from man to man enjoy convexness and concavity
   And call whatever others do immoral and depravity.

Cong:
   But we from man to man enjoy convexness and concavity
   And call whatever others do immoral and depravity.

MF:
   I do not want to hear about the quantum or molecular
   Or how the Founding Fathers made our institutions secular
   I say the nation's Christian under Biblical authorities
   Rejecting what the Constitution says about majorities.
   The workings of the government may worry and perplex you all
   I say we're equal under God -- unless you're homosexual --
   Or black or brown or female or some kind of evolutionist
   For all attempts at reasoning are really persecutionist.

Cong:
   Or black or brown or female or some kind of evolutionist
    For all attempts at reasoning are really persecutionist.

MF:
   My freedom of religion trumps your Constitutionality
   Because the Constitution says it does with firm legality.
   I claim my rights from God or man, whichever's more commodious
   For what I want to do however evil, vile, or odious.

Cong:
   I claim my rights from God or man, whichever's more commodious
   For what I want to do however evil, vile, or odious.

MF:
   When I can issue licenses or not because I feel like it
   The public's just my piggy and the public can just squeal like it.
   I'll happily apply whichever law is most agreeable
   To what I want to do since what I want is unforseeable:
   The conscience of the person must control the way they view their job
   And not demands that public servants ought to serve and do their job.
   The Constitution's man-made law and God is not endorsing it;
   The SCOTUS made their law, and now good luck to them enforcing it.

Cong:
   The Constitution's man-made law and God is not endorsing it;
   The SCOTUS made their law, and now good luck to them enforcing it.

MF:
   There's nothing in my creed that advocates for love officially
   Except some quotes that God and Jesus handed down judicially --
   I don't see why I must obey the acts of which God sent a list
   And yet I am the model of a Christian fundamentalist.

Cong:
   We don't see why we must obey the acts of which God sent a list
   And yet we are the models of a Christian fundamentalist.



                                                        -- Marcus Bales

Self-Appointed Church of God Prophet Warns COG Members They Will Go Through Tribulation If They Watch Football This Fall

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It's that time of year again as God's most highly favored, doubly blessed, self-appointed prophet/apostle/chief overseer is back proclaiming his perceived evils of football.  The NFL and collegiate games have all started which is raised the hackles of the self-appointed prophet.

Bob Thiel considers his words so prophetic that he has quotes scripture to warn those that find him foolish:

Later today, the National Football League (NFL) is scheduled to begin its official season for this violent sport. Many do not wish to seriously consider that American football is harmful, despite the facts, and would prefer that I not post about it.

The Bible suggests otherwise:
1 Cry aloud, spare not;
Lift up your voice like a trumpet;
Tell My people their transgression,
And the house of Jacob their sins. (Isaiah 58:1)
Delusional Bob was not appointed by God.  He was not doubly blessed by God to be set apart to be a new splinter group leader.  Gaylyn Bonjour never even entertained the thought of such a thing happening when Theil asked for a blessing before going in to counsel with Meredith.  Thus, there is no concern to be had for anyone who disregards anything Theil says.  Quoting Isaiah as a threat does not mean God is going to back up that threat.

While there is ongoing debate on the physical repercussions of of tackle football, Thiel sets himself up as the FINAL authority on the matter. 

For some reason he feels that his group is the true Philadelphian era and is filled with Philadelphia Christians.  For those that still believe the "era's" teachings, it is recognized by most that this would be considered the Laodicean era of the church.

He writes:

There is no doubt that American tackle football is dangerous to health. While some in the world consider watching it to be an ‘ethical uncertainty,’ true Philadelphia Christians (as well many who are not) realize that something about this sport is physically harmful and should not be encouraged.
Those who claim that encouraging American tackle football is fine are NOT Philadelphian Christians.  American tackle football causes real damage.  Damage that should not be encouraged.

These are some of the "proof's" Theil has for his nonsense:

Jesus taught not to intentionally hurt others, as it taught:
39… ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ (Matthew 22:39, NKJV)
The Apostle Paul also wrote:
29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it (Ephesians 5:29, NKJV)
Also, notice what John the Baptist taught soldiers:
14 And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages. (Luke 3:14, KJV)

Thiel cannot get past the cheerleaders either:



From the violence on the field, to the under-clothed cheerleaders, to some of the half-time antics, there is a lot wrong with American football.
Thiel also feels that the "gospel" prohibits football.  I can assure you that no writer of scripture ever entertained the thought of American football when writing out those verses.
Additionally, twice the New Testament refers to the good news message as “the gospel of peace”:
“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!” (Romans 10:15)
14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; (Ephesians 6:14-15)
Is not taking a stand against encouraging sports violence consistent with the gospel of peace and love? Or should ministers tell people that violent sports like American tackle football are not “inherently evil” as at least one minister has done?
Then like any good Armstrongite has to do, Theil has to bring Herbert into the picture:

Unlike stories of violence in books or movies, American football involves actual violence and often physical injury–including brain damaging ones that are often not obvious for years.

The Bible forbids harming others or encouraging sin. Early professors of Christ would not watch violent games as they felt that watching was encouraging and participating in sin. Herbert W. Armstrong categorized American football as evil.
For someone who supposedly characterized football as "evil." Herbert watched football as well as basketball on Friday nights and Saturdays.

Thiel continues:

I do not watch American football. I consider that it is evil (also, no Christian can really defend how professional football cheerleading females are often publicly dressed and displayed). Others want to falsely act like there is nothing wrong with watching it.
Thiel's final warning is that you WILL go through the tribulation of you watch football this coming season.

 Be warned!  Your salvation is at stake!

Those Laodicean Christians who are fans of American tackle football are NOT Philadelphians and will be subject to violence themselves as they will have to go through the Great Tribulation if they do not repent (Revelation 3:14-22).

You can read his pile of malarkey here: NFL 2015: Should Christians Watch?

New Bobby Fischer Movie Includes His Involvement With The Worldwide Church of God

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A new movie about a moment in the life of Bobby Fischer is set to release around the country next Wednesday.  The producers of the film were in contact with The Painful Truth for information about Fischer's time spent being wrapped in Armstrongism. 

The WCG/Ambassador Foundation used Fischer as a publicity tool and took hundreds of thousands of dollars of his money over a ten year time period.  Many attribute his decline into madness to have been initiated by the church and is aberrant teachings.


The Los Angeles Times had an article up today about the movie:
Tobey Maguire moves through chess king Bobby Fischer's checkered life in 'Pawn Sacrifice'
The movie, which opens Wednesday in Los Angeles in limited release, works as a psychological thriller that begins in Fischer's troubled childhood, then shifts to a sports drama with all the tension building toward Fischer's match with Spassky. Schreiber, speaking beautiful Russian, plays against Maguire's wild-eyed intensity with elegance and humanity.
Together, they illustrate how both men were imprisoned by chess; Fischer by his own mind and Spassky by the Soviet regime.

Documentary footage is interspersed with the chess-playing dialogue-free scenes as Zwick aimed to shift between Fischer's private hell and the media circus he lived. The effect is "a fragmented portrait that wasn't dissimilar to what his life might have been," said Zwick.

Fischer joined the apocalyptic cult Worldwide Church of God for a time, then ended up in Pasadena, consumed by paranoia and living under a pseudonym. In 1992, he replayed Spassky in war-torn Yugoslavia. But the match violated U.N. sanctions and the U.S. issued an arrest warrant for Fischer. The chess champ lived the rest of his life in exile, occasionally coming out of seclusion to issue venomous attacks, particularly aimed at Jews.

Philadelphia Church of God: More Evil from the Cult Compound of Gerald Flurry

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It seems like almost every day now stories are popping up on various Internet sites about the horrendous spiritual, mental and physical abuse that is going on in the Philadelphia Church of God personalty cult.  Of all the hundreds of groups that make up Armstrongism now, this has to be the most vile and degenerate one out there.

With its evil ungodly doctrines and regulations to its equally degenerate leadership and ministry, the PCG is wrecking havoc in countless lives.

Below is the story of a man who recently left the cult and what the PCG did to rip his marriage apart.
When I left Philadelphia Church Of God (an extremely controlling cult that practice shunning of those members who decide to leave) my wife decided to divorce me.  She told me she counseled about it with the ministers, "every step of the way."  (Why is that not a comfort to me?  Google Mike's Enlightenment page and read there, or just google Philadelphia Church Of God and read some of the stories of people who left also the story from Fox News. ( I had a personal friend who committed suicide because of his experience.)    I did not want a divorce but I have no choice in Arizona.  Now I have to either sell my home or pay her $55000 for her half.  The problem is that I started building my home using a pre 1978 mobile home as the core and then refurbished it and added on to it more than doubling its' size.  This was to be our retirement home so we didn't intend to sell.  Now that I am forced to sell or to get an equity loan to pay my wife for her half, I find there is no financing available because of the age of that mobile I started with. This also means the sale price will be low. In my 70th year I have just a small social security check each month.  It is a frightening prospect to have to start over at this age. If you can identify with the treatment I am getting from a very nasty cult then perhaps you could spare a dollar or two.  I don't know if this will work but I have tried everything else.  Please help. Also please share this story. Thank you very much.  P.S. I still care about my wife and I've told her that we can both live in our home and enjoy our retirement but she absolutely refuses.  I know she is being manipulated.  They don't care about her well being either. Save My Home

Philadelphia Church of God Helps Destroy Another Family!

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Another story has popped up today by a person who left the Philadelphia Church of God cult and now is shunned by her family and friends.  The evil of Gerald Flurry, his cult ministers and ultimately Armstrongism itself,  continue to march on as present members who know the abuse is wrong stand by and do NOTHING!

My wife Kelly has spent her life helping people. From age 20-21, she moved to Amman, Jordan to volunteer, working at two schools helping children with physical and mental disabilities , as well as outreach work throughout the Middle East.  She also later spent three weeks volunteering at a UN refugee camp in Somalia to help those wounded in the civil war, has been all over world touring and helping people.  She has been active in causes to stop child and human trafficking, and efforts to promote human and civil rights, both in her community and around the world.  She has worked tirelessly to help others, but now she cannot move forward with her life without receiving help from others.

Kelly is thirty-seven years old and disabled, but it wasn’t always that way.  Kelly was active in sports since the age of 5, and was even granted a scholarship to play college volleyball, but that dream was cut short before playing her first game as her health started taking a turn for the worse.  Now, life isn’t so easy.  She suffers from a neurological disease called Dystonia (related to Parkinson’s), as well as DVT's (blood clots ), pulmonary embolisms and other chronic serious pulmonary issues keeping her reliant on oxygen, Antiphosphilipid Antibody Syndrome, digestive issues (she's lost 35 lbs in the past 6 weeks alone), neck and back issues, and chronically severe compression mega-migraines.  Medical staff has had to resuscitate her back to life three times in the past few years due to physical health problems combined with hospital mistakes.

Additionally, due to her parents joining a high-demand, abusive fundamentalist group at age 5, which Kelly tried to leave quietly at age 30, she has been shunned by her family and friends in the group. This has been very hard on her emotionally, and has led down a road where she also has been diagnosed and is being treated for  Complex PTSD, major depression disorder, and panic/anxiety disorder.   

#HelpSaveKelly - Mayo Clinic Trip

More Construction On Pasadena Campus

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This panorama shot is of the new condo complex being constructed
on the site of the old Fine Arts Hall.

The building in the background is where the Science Hall, parking lot and Mediterranean Garden fountains were behind Terrace Villa.

Ambassador Hall is currently being marketed as a private home for $9.5 million.

Eric King: Thanks to the intervention of extraterrestrial's and God he was able to influence Obama into making a decision on Syrian refugees.

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Forget about all of the empty prayers and petitions belched out by Flurry, Pack, Meredith and Thiel!  God no longer hears their prayers.  God apparently is listening however to one loyal follower from the Church of God who has combined Armstrongite myths with extraterrestrial teachings.  King and crew have been praying since August and finally God heard their prayers!  Woo Hoo!  Apparently it is good to have extraterrestrials and God on your side.

Some SOCT refugee prayers are being answered!

The Science Of Christian Thought posted September 3rd 2015 on its website the following:

“Since August 2015 all SOCT students including  myself have been praying for the immigrants and refugees worldwide. As of today [September 3rd 2015] I am asking all of us to pray at one o’clock PM around the world, no matter what time zone you are in, say a special and powerful prayer that the world wakes up and begins to help our fellow Human Beings. This will amount to powerful group prayers..” CLICK TO SEE ORIGINAL POST

And today we have action taken confirmed by the United States regarding this very important issue:

Obama Increases Number of Syrian Refugees for US Resettlement to 10000

The Ultimate Indictment

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ht: FT @ Facebook: Herbert W Armstroke

Christian Platt: The A**hole Christian Survival Guide

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Christian Platt is one of my favorite Christian authors.  He is unlike the evangelical writers that write the syrupy twaddle found in WalMart and most Christian books stores. Nor is he anything like the self-righteous legalistic miscreants that head up Church of God splinter groups.  He is a breathe of fresh air in the stagnant and/or backward thinking evangelical atmosphere that permeates this country today. He also feels that Christians should laugh at themselves for many of the stupid things we do and say.

He is writing a new book called  The Asshole Christian Survival GuideThe title of his book will immediately tick off the uber-legalists and the self righteous in the Churches of God.......because......we all know that there could not possibly be any assholes in Church of God ministerial positions!  Gerald Flurry's not one!  Bob Thiel's not one!  Rod Meredith's not one! Vic Kubik can't possibly be one and most assuredly Dave Pack could NEVER be one! So where does that leave James Malm?

Platt writes:

Are You Ready for the A**hole Apocalypse?

You’ve encountered those Christians who are so self-assured about their faith it’s like fingers on a chalkboard. You’ve met the type that is only satisfied if you think, act and believe just like they do. You know the Christians that want to start a conversation with an awkward question like “have you accepted Jesus into your heart?” or left a tract as a tip, or gave crosses to kids at Halloween or…you get the idea.

One of the best sermons I ever heard started with the sentence, “I’m a Christian because I’m an asshole.” This got me thinking: maybe we do need an example like Jesus to follow because we can ALL be real assholes from time to time. But what I’ve noticed is that too many Christians believe that, once they’ve accepted Jesus, they’re all fixed and are no longer assholes.

And there’s the real irony: Thinking that having Jesus in your heart keeps you from ever being an asshole again makes you an even bigger asshole. So it’s time we talked about it.
 Elsewhere he writes:
So if we Christians are supposed to reflect God and Jesus to the world, why are so many of us such jerks?

Sometimes we Christians take everything so seriously it's a real drag. So this book is done very much with tongue in cheek, but also with the intent of getting at some real truth. And I think sometimes the best way to start healing and mending fences between us and the rest of the world is to be able to laugh at ourselves.

So the book is less about fixing us all, but teaching us how to better get along together by helping us come to terms with our inner asshole. Making peace with it, maybe even laughing about it sometimes, but still doing our best not to be too much of an asshole might actually make the world a little bit better place to live.

Where did the Idea Come From?

One of the most inspiring, honest sermons was from my friend who started out by saying, "I'm a Christian because I'm an asshole." At that moment, a little light went on inside me. It's not that I need Jesus because of original sin or to save me from burning in hell. He's not a stamp on my celestial passport. 

But I can be a real asshole. And once I have the humility to admit it, I might actually have something to learn from it. One of the biggest paradoxes, though, is when people mistakenly think that becoming a Christian makes them no longer be an asshole; in fact, Christians who think they're somehow "fixed" are some of the biggest a-holes of all.

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