J.W. Brakebill of Francisco stands with the trailer he lives in when he goes on teaching trips. Brakebill said after a long winter trip, he realized that God would bring people to him instead. He plans to use the trailer for upcoming trips in the area. He’ll sit inside it and if someone wants to come and talk to him, they can, he said. But the message is always the same—in essence, “repent or burn,” he said.
The head line is, "...Madman? or Prophet?"
No, they are not talking about Dave Pack or Gerald Flurry. They are talking about another normal COG member who claims to have secret knowledge that God has revealed to him through Herbert Armstrong. This guys actions are reminiscent of Jules Dervaes, the crazy COG member who parked his van by the Pasadena campus with signs plastered all over it for a year or so. He forced his wife and kids to stand there picketing with him. People thought he was crazy as hell, just as the public thinks this guy is off his rocker.
Brakebill’s question: Madman? or Prophet?
Curious folks in Francisco gawk at his trailer covered in Bible verses. It sits near an RV next to the blue house on Green Street. The front of his camper reads “Madman? or Prophet?”
“I don’t know a whole lot of people,” he said. “I don’t bother people and they don’t bother me. Even my kids, they know better than to bother me,” he laughed. “Most people don’t want to hear what I have to say.” He said he’s found a few kindred spirits even though they may not agree on every single thing.
Later in the article ther eis this:
When Brakebill was in his 20s he pondered what he knew about Christianity and returned to the faith, eventually was baptized as a Pentecostal and later left that denomination to become involved with the Worldwide Church of God.It is sad to see the minds of people who let Armstrongism take over their lives and lead them down these sad, sick paths. I feel more sorry for this guy, who seems to be genuinely wanting to follow God compared to these people at PCG that knowingly follow a deviate who has made their lives miserable yet will not leave.
It was in this time that Brakebill experienced what he calls the “most inspiring” spiritual moment of his life. During a special meeting time, the church worshiped with fellow members in other countries via video communication. “I thought that was extremely inspiring.”
Brakebill said he found things in denominational churches that conflicted with what he read in the Bible, such as whether the church should worship on Sunday or Saturday, the same day as the Jewish Sabbath Day—and he found he believed that the Sabbath should still be kept.
But after the Worldwide Church of God “fell apart” he said he couldn’t find an anchored, “true” church. “So I gave up looking for the true church,” he said.