News of Those Once Affiliated with the Global Church of God

Since the takeover of GCG by the board in the U.S., those once with GCG went to many places. Nearly 80% went with the Living Church of God (LCG), 8-15% went with the Church of God, a Christian Fellowship (CGCF) and smaller percentages went with David Pack's Restored Church of God (RCG), Harold Smith's Church of God Fellowship, Northwest (CGFnw), and other groups (at least one which is outside the U.S. uses the term Global Church of God). On July 1, 2001, eight ministers resigned from CGCF and formed the Church of the Eternal God (CEG), similar in name, but not related, to the Eternal Church of God (ECG--founded by a minister removed from the original GCG ministry for impropriety) about a month later CGCF (USA) dissolved and most still with it ended up in the United Church of God (UCG). One former GCG minister became pastor of the Wholeworld Church of God. One group that split from UCG (and never was part of GCG or LCG), then COGaic, called Church of God, Established in Modesto (COG-eim) has some former GCG members and maintains a relationship with the GCG Belgians (who had supported the original GCG takeover); in 2002, COG-eim split, and its leading minister formed a new group called COG-Faithful Flock (COG-ff). In 2004, Raymond McNair, having been in GCG, CGCF, LCG, then went independent and formed Church of God, 21st Century (COG21).

12/17/05 a.m. Last night, CG-ff's Don Billingsley posted the following comments:

If Mr. Armstrong were alive today I seriously believe he would not have written anything a whole lot different than what we see here in his writing some years ago. We indeed are living in perilous times! Scattered as most of God's people are today with ministers failing to cry out a warning to us of where are and what we are facing can be extremely dangerous to our hope of salvation unless we are very vigilant and keeping a close relationship with our God. Let each one of us seriously and prayerfully read this letter with our individual selves in mind. And whatever we need to do to strengthen ourselves spiritually, this we need to do.

Please be assured the Laodicean spirit and attitude, along with the fruits of it, is most definitely among us today and in all of the Churches of God including this one to some extent. It is a self-righteous, passive, and liberal spirit regarding the restored doctrinal teachings!

Sadly this is true--too many of the COGs do not preach the warning message or hold to all of the 18 truths that HWA said God had him restore to the Philadelphia portion of the COG.

The Laodiceans are condemned by Christ for having a different work than the Philadelphians had. And as far as I can tell, only LCG is doing the Philadelphia work to any significant degree.

Some articles of interest may be:

Should the Church Still Try to Place its Top Priority on Proclaiming the Gospel or Did Herbert Armstrong Change that Priority for the Work? Some say the Church should mainly feed the flock now as that is what Herbert Armstrong reportedly said. Is that what he said? Is that what the Bible says? What did Paul and HWA expect from evangelists?
Attending the Church of Choice This article discusses whose choice is important to worship God; should you attend the church of your choice or the church of God's choice?
Unity: Which COG for You? Why so many groups? Why is there lack of unity in the Churches of God? Has it always been this way? What can/should be done about it?
Do You Believe God Used Herbert Armstrong to Raise Up the Philadelphia Era of the Church of God? Nearly everyone while in WCG used to believe this, most do not seem to anymore.
Did You Know What the First Changes the Tkach Administration Made? Some have said healing, others other subjects, but probably the first change had to do with eliminating being part of the Philadelphia era. This article documents what those changes were and compares the Tkach list of restored truths to HWA's list of restored truths.

12/16/05 a.m. This morning, an LCG member sent this story:

12/09/05 a.m. This morning, CEG reported:

Catholics in Limbo?

The Church of God does understand what happens to babies when they die. And this is one of the reasons I became interested in the old Worldwide Church of God thirty-some years ago. Information on what happens to babies is included in the article Hope of Salvation.

12/02/05 a.m. This morning, CEG reported:

Has Goliath Been Found?

CEG is correct that true Christians accept the Bibical records as accurate. It is just that a lot of Catholic and Protestant "scholars" do not, thus these finds tend to silence them a bit.

11/24/05 a.m. It was been seven years since the GCG takeover in November 1998. At this time of year I tend to reflect on it, as it not only seriously impacted the COG, but also impacted me and this website.

Essentially, seven years after the takeover, LCG has grown every year (it also, as GCG grew every year since it formed in 1993 except for 1998). Accoring to the latest edition of Tomorrow's World magazine LCG is on about 170 tv and 13 radio stations in about 16 countries. Millions have seen its telecast, while hundreds of thousands receive it sliterature. LCG is about the size that GCG was prior to the takeover.

The US GCG itself lasted until the day before a fall holy day. It was dissolved then (in debt it accepted) as it spent the hundreds of thousands of dollars that was in the GCG bank account at the time of the takeover on its board members and employees instead of paying back the loans and other debt that it had. Its board created a new corporation (CGCF) which took the new holy day money to get started. After Larry Salyer and some other leaders indicated a desire to become part of UCG inspite of doctrinal issues (see article Beware, Doctrinal Compromise is in the Air!), a few remaining board members founded CEG.

Before GCG was dissolved, they eliminated David Pack, who founded RCG. David Pack, in 2005, declared himself an apostle and has a group with a few hundred members, but a strong internet presence (more about it can be found in the article Why Not the Restored Church of God?).

CEG itself seems to be a very small group that is faithful to most doctrines (except the King of the South and governance). But it lacks of any major gospel proclamation efforts (which happens to those who reject governance teachings).

Raymond McNair who, after assisting in the bankrupting of GCG and CGCF (he was, if I recall correctly, president of both organizations at some time), pleaded to be allowed back into LCG. And after being there a while, when his house did not sell (as LCG relocated its HQ to Charlotte), he left and went on his own (CG21). He now has a few who listen to him, but basically, he has never accepted Philadelphia era governance (as his writings indicate, please see article on the Elijah Heresies) nor does he have any real gospel proclamation efforts (he mainly funds negative ads in The Journal and then calls those articles in The Journal) . He now seems to give the impression of an internet presence because he has a lot of old HWA-era materials at his website that was provided by COGHomeschool.

ECG exists, and instead of looking at the propriety of all of the four marriages of its leader, it wishes to shift emphasis by trying to suggest that its view on dining out on the Sabbath is the big test for this age. For ECG, I will simply remind them that they really should look into the Hebrew as their Sabbath argument has a major techinical flaw (plus this is not the true test for Philadelphians as Revelation 3 says the Philadelphians "hold fast" not that they come up with a new concept that Philadelphians never held).

WholeworldCG still exists, but as a one person ministry. No major fruits that I am aware of.

CGFnw also still exists, but again with no major fruits that I am aware of (it also has a different view of the King of the South). Mrs. Smith confirmed to me at the time of its formation that one of their main reasons for forming was so that the Smiths would be able to have a retirement plan. I presume that is occuring.

The GCG Belgians still exist, but have no real impact beyond those that originally went with them. They and the UK GCG seem to sometimes have a distant affiliation with CEG, COG-ff, and/or COG-eim, but that seems fairly distant.

I am unaware of any the non-LCG groups that has had consistent growth since 1999 (and yes, I am aware that RCG has had growth this year--as an LCG minister and many with him joined RCG). Anyway, Jesus taught that you would know them by their fruits. And, seven years later, I remain convinced that I made the correct decision, and for the correct reasons, to support LCG. Some of this is documented in the article There are Many COGs: Why Support the Living Church of God?

11/18/05 a.m. RCG's George Rogers wrote:

11/11/05 a.m. CEG reported this Zeinit item today:

Zenit reported on November 7, 2005, that Pope Benedict admonished the Catholic clergy in Austria to preach Roman Catholicism in its entirety. The article quoted the pope as follows: "A Catholic teaching that is given in an incomplete manner is a contradiction in itself and cannot be fruitful in the long term... In the uncertainty of this historical period and of this society, offer men the certainty of the complete faith of the Church."

CEG also had this piece:

On November 7, 2005, the Los Angeles Times reported: "The Internal Revenue Service [IRS] has warned one of Southern California's largest and most liberal churches [All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena] that it is at risk of losing its tax-exempt status because of an antiwar sermon two days before the 2004 presidential election."

This COULD possibly affect the COGs. While most do not have antiwar sermons in the political sense, most do preach against Christians participating in military service. Thus, this could be an issue for the COGs. The COG position is discussed in the article Military Service and the COGs.

There are other issues of concern that this raises as well. For example, teaching against abortion and homosexuality, that almost all churches have historically considered to be moral issues, are now considered by many these days to be political issues. The government's definition of political issues keeps expanding.

11/04/05 p.m. Earlier today, ECG posted a photo with the following caption:

Speakers and their wives (left to right) Terry & Michelle Moore, David & Aprille Rothwell, Dennis & Annie Fischer, Art & Pamela Braidic, Randy & Cathy Vild.

I believe this is the second or third wife that Art B. has had since I met him ten years ago (plus I believe he was married before that--so he may have had four wives!). I saw his second wife at the FOT two years ago (yes, she still lives). The other photo shown suggests that ECG had 60-70 in attendance at its main (perhaps only) FOT site in Big Bear, CA.

10/15/05 p.m. In yesterday's newsletter, CEG asked and answered the following:

"Q: Are we forbidden to eat the meat of "unclean" animals?

A: The Bible is very clear that humans are not to eat the flesh of animals which God designates as "unclean." Comprehensive lists of clean and unclean animals can be found in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14. When studying those lists, it is obvious that the following animals are "unclean" and that its flesh is inappropriate for human consumption (even though they might be frequently eaten in certain parts of the world, and even considered as "delicacies"): Pigs or swine; hares or rabbits; camels; horses; donkeys; lamas; civet cats; monkeys and apes; cats; dogs; ostriches (including their eggs); seagulls; swallows; whales; dolphins; sharks; catfish; eel; lobsters; crabs; clams; oysters; shrimp; shellfish; octopus; squid; frogs; snakes; lizards; turtles; mice and ants. This list is not exhaustive, of course, but it highlights certain "popular" unclean animals."

Although many will claim this is only for the Old Testament, they really should read the article The New Testament and Unclean Meats which gives the New Testament perspective on this subject.

On other matters, according to AW, Ben Faulkner's group is called the Church of the Sovereign God. I went to its website, but no one's name is mentioned. There is a P.O. Box listed in Tampa, Florida though. Ben Faulkner was a minister in LCG until put-out a few months ago.

10/13/05 a.m. In an announcement with tomorrow's date, COG-ff's Don Billingsley writes:

"I picture in my mind what God says in Scripture regarding the terrible deaths by which people in our time will die, the slavery many will have to experience before much longer, and it saddens me greatly.

My sorrow is greater to realize that along with all of these people will be the martyrdom of the saints knowing they will have to win their salvation through the horrors of excruciating painful deaths!

Among them will be men and women you and I both know. This sorrows me all the more when I realize many, if not all, could avoid the horrors of these terrible times if they would just WAKE UP! It hurts knowing only the few will be counted worthy to escape and be taken to a place of refuge from the Great Tribulation."

While this is true, it is only those who have the Philadelphia work that will be considered worthy. Those interested in a place of refuge may wish to read the article There is a Place of Safety for the Philadelphians. Why it May Be Petra

10/07/05 a.m. In an change of traditional format, CGFnw announced,

"To begin our rejoicing at the Feast, arrangements have been made for a fellowship reception in the Garden Room at the Sheraton Tucson Hotel & Suites on Monday evening, Oct. 17th. This will give everyone an opportunity to see old friends and meet new ones. Light refreshments will be provided. Feel free to drop in anytime between 7:00 and 9:00 pm...

OPENING DAY SERVICES

The first service will be at 10:00 am on Tuesday, October 18..."

COGff's latest newsletter has these tips to have the best Feast of Tabernacles ever:

The first key is to strive to make this a Feast of deeper learning and understanding...

The second key to making this Feast the best one ever is to strive to make this a Feast of service...

God wants us to rejoice at the Feast of Tabernacles! This is the third key to a great Feast of Tabernacles! (Deuteronomy 16:13)...

The fourth and final key is to make this a Feast of building the family!"

10/04/05 a.m. Possibly in partial response to my 09/14/05 post, RCG announced:

"New Sermon: On October 8th we will post a sermon, “Do Christians Give to Relief Organizations?—What Jesus Actually Taught!”

Many in the splinters have dramatically changed their view of this subject—but seem not to recognize they have. Mass amnesia has set in. Entire organizations have forgotten what Mr. Armstrong taught—and the Bible’s plain teaching.

Be careful of “answering a matter before you ‘remember’ it” (Prov. 18:13). Much—MUCH—more is at stake here than meets the eye. You cannot afford to miss this sermon!"

Actually, I do not understand why a real Christian would wish to hear it. LCG, for example, still (and always has) spent the same percentage of its income to get the Gospel out as the old WCG used to. And, no David Pack, LCG did not give to relief organizations, but provided the relief directly--you must have the ability to know that LCG handled this from a biblically correct prospective.

As far as I know, RCG still has failed to publish audited financial statements that explain how it does spend its money. But irrespective of its financial priorities, sadly it seems to ignore scriptures a lot, and to be frank, RCG simply does not get it.

Perhaps I should mention that one of David Pack's claims for why he is an apostle is that he could not have produced all the RCG literature that he did if he was not. Under that scenario, then one would expect that his literature would not be full of scriptural as well as historical errors. Suffice it to say here that it contains them, but I see no reason to specifically point more out for him today. My 09/14/05 comments on this page show enough for now.

09/30/05 a.m. COG21's Raymond McNair wrote,

"Many former WCG members have been appalled at the “scattering” of God’s people, in the wake of the death of Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong in January 1986. But many have failed to understand that this “scattering” was prophesied long ago. The Prophet Daniel spoke of a “time of trouble,” at the “time of the end when many shall run to and fro [when] God shall have accomplished to SCATTER THE POWER of the HOLY PEOPLE” (Dan. 12:1-7)...

some forsook the biblical pattern of hierarchical church government, in favor of a “democracy of the ministry”!..

Where is God’s true Church today? It has been splintered and scattered, resulting in hundreds of small “Churches of God.”"

While I basically agree with the above, I believe that Raymond McNair needs to look in a mirror as it was HE who contributed to this splintering and scattering. It was HE who was against the form of hierarchical church government that HWA had implemented.

Here is an excerpt of some of what is in my article on The Elijah Heresies:

In The Journal ad dated June 30, 2004, Raymond McNair quoted Herbert Armstrong, “Mr. Armstrong then added, “I’m going to say something to you now, that I would not have said five or six years ago under any circumstances. I don’t go out trying to fulfill prophecy. But Jesus said, BY THEIR FRUITS YOU KNOW. And sometimes you look back on fruits and you can tell some things you couldn’t tell in advance before the fruits had been performed…. God was going to raise up SOMEONE who is going to prepare the way for the Second Coming and calling people, preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. That’s exactly what Elijah did physically. He reminded them [Israel] that they had gotten away from the Kingdom and the GOVERNMENT OF GOD, and needed the RESTORING OF THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD” (McNair, Raymond.  Was Mr. Armstrong Who He Said He Was?  Ad in the Connection's section of The Journal, June 30, 2004).

LCG has the type of governance and fruits that Herbert Armstrong was talking about.  Raymond McNair, in his failed efforts running GCG and CGCF, never did have the proper governance or the fruits.  Nor has this been demonstrated in his current CG21. 

Perhaps the reason why is in and related to his paper on church government, where Raymond McNair wrote, “Jesus Christ never intended His Church to be run autocratically, and He never set one person over His Church…Christ fully realized that power corrupts and that absolutely power corrupts absolutely” (McNair Raymond.  Letter to Council of Elders.  Church Government in the New Testament, April 3, 1998).

This is a totally blasphemous position to take, and I have prayed that Raymond McNair has truly repented for writing it.  God the Father has absolute power.  He granted all authority to the Son (Matthew 28:18).  Neither Father or Son are corrupt.  Jesus was the firstborn of many brethren.  The resurrected saints will have all things in subjection to them (Hebrews 2:8).  They will not be corrupted then either (e.g. Revelation 21:4).

In that same paper, Raymond McNair continued with, “How was it possible for the Worldwide Church of God…led by Herbert Armstrong for fifty years)…to be dismantled…The answer to these questions lies primarily in the fact that the WCG was run autocratically—with ONE MAN having full authority to make all major decisions.  The WCG merely had an ADVISORY COUNCIL OF ELDERS, with no power to serve as ‘checks and balances’ on any mistakes or excesses which the leaders of the corporate organization (the WCG) might wish to indulge in…the kind of Church organization government that Jesus established was never intended to function autocratically” (McNair Raymond.  Letter to Council of Elders.  Church Government in the New Testament, April 3, 1998).  In a sermon given in Southern California in December 1998, Raymond McNair also stated that if HWA would have given the Council of Elders more power, he and the other Council members would have stopped HWA from doing many of the things they did not agree with.

Thus, this shows that Raymond McNair did not agree with the form of government that HWA specifically taught that God used him to restore to the Church.  (Beyond this, it demonstrates that Raymond McNair did not understand that a major part of the purpose of the dismantling of the WCG was to separate the unbelievers from the believers, and the Laodiceans and others from the Philadelphians.) 

Raymond McNair has not demonstrated the fruits that would be necessary to follow him. Simply calling HWA 'the Elijah' while not following his doctrinal practices, such as governance, is simply not Philadelphian.

How can any then follow HIM? He was also one that did not suppport the idea that the old GCG needed to be on as many television stations as HE wanted what I consider to be a lukewarm work. Which, sadly, is what HE now is attempting to be a partial leader of.

09/23/05 a.m. CEG's newsletter reports, ""Recently, the new leadership of the Worldwide Church of God announced that they would change the name of their organization--claiming that "Church of God" is not a Biblically mandated name. The real reason for this change is, of course, to break with any historical link associating them in any way with the late human leader of the Church, Herbert W. Armstrong. In a sense, it is not regrettable that Worldwide change its name, as this will only make "official" the fact that their organization is clearly no longer part of the "Church of God"--the spiritual Body of Christ (compare Ephesians 1:22-23; 5:23; and Colossians 1:18)...As the true Church of God has long understood, the correct Biblical name is "Church of God," or a variation of that designation. Jesus prayed to the Father in John 17:11-12 that the Church would be kept in "Your name"--that is, the Father 's name; and the name of the Father is God (compare 1 Corinthians 11:3). The name of the Church is mentioned twelve times in the New Testament. Six times, it is identified as the "church of God" (Acts 20:28; 1 Corinthians 10:32; 11:22; 15:9; Galatians 1:13; and 1 Timothy 3:5). In two instances, parts of the "church of God" are named in connection with a place or location (1 Corinthians 1:2 and 2 Corinthians 1:1--"the church of God which is at Corinth"). In two places, when referring to all of the local congregations collectively, the Bible speaks of "the churches of God" (1 Corinthians 11:16 and 2 Thessalonians 1:4). In one place, the Bible speaks of all the local congregations in Judea (1 Thessalonians 2:14: "the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus"). Finally, in one instance, Paul addresses the Church of God as "the church of the living God" (1 Timothy 3:15), describing the nature and character of God the Father."

As mentioned on my COG News page, I think it is good that WCG, no longer a biblical church, no longer intends to use the term "Church of God" to describe itself.

At its "Holy Day Preparation Guide" CGFnw lists days to various Holy Days, such as ""11 Days Until the Feast of Trumpets".

Those with additional interested in more information for that Holy Day may wish to read the article The Book of Life and the Feast of Trumpets?

09/18/05 a.m. LCG just released these reports:

Trip to Kenya

Dr. Winnail visited congregations in Kenya from August 30 to September 6.  During this visit, he and Mr. Muthama looked at several possible locations for a new office in Nairobi, and then traveled to western Kenya for visits, a Sabbath service, several Bible Studies and baptismal counseling. Arrangements were also finalized for the Feast in Kenya near Lake Victoria.  One highlight of Dr. Winnail’s trip was meeting with a new group of more than 60 people near Kisii who came across our website and have begun to keep the Sabbath.  They were very eager and excited to learn the truth about a number of biblically based Church doctrines.  Overall, Dr. Winnail and Mr. Muthama were able to meet with over 150 people in Kenya.  The brethren in Kenya send their greetings to members in other countries—and will also appreciate being remembered in your prayers.

Australian Work Report

Mr. Bruce Tyler reports that in August, the Tomorrow’s World program generated 822 responses in Australia. For the first eight months of 2005, the Australian office received 4,864 responses. Fifty-two percent were from first-time callers. Currently, our Australian mailing list is above the 11,000 mark. We are grateful to God for this growth.

MEDIA

Mr. Wayne Pyle reports that Mr. Ames’ TV program that aired last weekend, “2005 and Prophecy,” and offered the booklet, Revelation: The Mystery Unveiled! drew more than 3,000 calls.  Five TV stations last weekend had record responses. Mr. Pyle writes, “It was our best summer re-run weekend ever.”  In the UK, the current ad for the booklet The United States and Great Britain in Prophecy has generated more than 2,000 responses.

The work continues.

LCG also reported this about the Katrina matter:

"It has been very encouraging to see the generous response of members to Mr. Meredith’s request for donations to the Disaster Relief Fund.  These funds will be used to assist needy individuals who are impacted by devastating events, such as the recent Hurricane Katrina."

Speaking of Hurricane Katrina, do people recall that LCG's R.C. Meredith wrote this in his 7/20/05 Co-worker letter,

"As Tomorrow’s World has warned for years, the United States and its British-descended allies are headed for disaster unless we genuinely turn to the true God and His ways. Frankly, God is determined to get our attention one way or another! From now on, you will see a "pattern" in this slow but sure decline of American power and prestige. Of course, there will be ups and downs along the way. But the continual "breaking" of our national pride because of disaster after disaster in the Middle East and elsewhere, the repeated pounding by drought, wildfires in some areas and alternate hurricanes and floods in others, serious earthquakes and the growing specter of disease epidemics—all of these tragedies will begin to bring our people to their knees unless they genuinely repent!"

09/16/05 a.m. This morning CEG reported,

"On September 9, 2005, News24.com reported about the fact that the Bible is not read by many Catholics. It was pointed out:

"With an estimated five billion copies sold in more than 2,000 languages worldwide, the Bible is considered the ultimate best-seller. But is it also the best read? Apparently not, according to a new survey commissioned by an Italian Christian association and carried out in three Catholic countries: Italy, France and Spain. The survey's results were presented on Thursday at the Vatican, and suggest that only three percent of practising Catholics actually read the Scripture on a daily basis while 80% of them only hear extracts from the Bible during Sunday Mass. Bishop Vincenzo Paglia, head of the Catholic Bible Federation, also notes that there is widespread ignorance about the so-called 'Good Book'. For instance, the survey found that 40% of those polled believed... Paul had written a Gospel while 26% thought... Peter was one of the Evangelists--the... authors of the Gospels are in fact Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Bishop Paglia also expressed concern about a survey finding suggesting that the majority of practising Catholics still believe the Bible to be a book which should be confined to the clergy rather than one they should make their own."

This "concern" is of course rather surprising and hypocritical, as for centuries Catholic lay members were strongly discouraged, if not forbidden, by the Catholic Church to read the Bible."

Actually, the official Catholic position used to be that only those who were educated in Latin should read the Bible. The official concern was that the uneducated would not properly understand it. Of course, it is part of the lack of Bible reading that causes Catholics, Orthodox, and even Protestants to be confused about The Bible and Tradition.

09/14/05 p.m. RCG's David Pack wrote this in an 'open letter': 

"New Orleans, the Gulf Coast—and all of America!—are reeling from Hurricane Katrina. Authorities are just beginning to deal with the aftermath...

09/13/05 a.m. In an ad in the Connections section of The Journal, COG-ff's Don Billingsley writes,

"Hopefully, all of us will seriously think and consider ourselves individually by taking an overall view of those 7 Churches through time and their degenerating slide that began with the very first one who lost their first love, and this loss stairstepped
downward through time to the death of the Sardis Church: Ephesus—From the Loss of LOVE; Smyrna—Led To Tolerating Immorality and the False Ministers among them; Pergamos—This led to a Compromising Church, holding to the doctrine of Balaam, eating things offered to idols, and committing sexual immorality; Thyatira—This led to A CORRUPT Church—allowing the symbolical Jezebel to teach and prophesy while seducing God’s servants to commit SEXUAL immorality; Sardis—Then—To A DEAD Church. It all began with a loss of love for Jesus Christ and the desire to do the Work of the Church that degenerated from one to the other and finally led to the death of the 5th era. God then brought back to revitalized life the 6th Church era, the Philadelphia Church era, to enable the fulfillment of the end-time prophesied mission of God’s apostle and the Elijah to come. The 7th Church era, the Laodicean Church era, has become so self-righteous with what they think they have, they have become drowsy and gone to sleep. Contentedly sleeping their way into the Great Tribulation that is almost upon us!"

There are a variety of articles on the Churches of Revelation 2 & 3 at the COGwriter home page.

In an ad in the Connections section of The Journal, CG21's Raymond McNair correctly writes,

"God Almighty has made available to mankind a truly awesome power. This power is far greater than man’s most fearsome thermonuclear weapons—which could literally devastate the entire earth and erase all life from this planet, including mankind! Yet, since the dawn of civilization on beautiful planet earth, few humans have ever understood how to"tap"into this divinely bestowed power! What is this awesome"power"which very few have ever learned to properly utilize? This power is always used for good—never for evil! Billions have heard of this power, and pay lip-service to it—but few avail themselves of the full potential of this infinite power; and, sadly, this includes many who profess to be spiritually begotten sons and daughters of God (2 Cor. 6:18)! By learning to utilize this power you may: overcome all your doubts and fears; be healed when sick; have the faith to face persecution or trials; save your marriage; avoid catastrophic accidents; find ways to prosper, or you may even avoid premature death!"

09/11/05 a.m. In his weekly commentary, COG-eim's Steve LeBlanc wrote, "We have all seen the images on television of the suffering and chaos in the wake of hurricane Katrina. New Orleans in particular is a showcase of misery, mayhem and lawlessness. One looter said,"To be honest with you, people who are oppressed all their lives, man, it’s an opportunity to get back at society."God, of course, never condones such despicable behavior. One man who had 12 pairs of jeans draped over his arm was asked if he was salvaging things from his store."No,"the man yelled,"that’s everybody’s store.""

It is said that people really do not understand that keeping The Ten Commandments Reflect Love and Breaking them is Evil

09/04/05 a.m. LCG reports,

"Dr. Winnail in Kenya

The CAD Director arrived in Nairobi, Kenya, after a smooth flight from London. He has already located a property that could function as an office, meeting place for services and living quarters for Mr. Muthama, our office manager in Nairobi. Yesterday, Wednesday, Dr. Winnail held a Bible study in Narobi and tomorrow, Friday, he will be traveling to western Kenya. He will hold Sabbath services in Ndhiwa. Please pray for the success of this trip, as well as for his safety and protection. He will arrive in Charlotte via London on September 9.

The Work in Peru

In May 2004, Mr. Jorge Schaubeck and his wife, along with our deacon from Chile and his wife, traveled to Lima, Peru, to visit prospective members. They were met at the airport by several families. They held Sabbath services with more than 40 in attendance. During this visit to Peru, Mr. Schaubeck baptized one person at a beach in Lima. Sometime later, a group of people in Cerro de Pasco, one of the highest cities in the world (14,288 ft above sea level), expressed interest in joining the Living Church of God. When in March 2005 Mr. Hernandez traveled to Peru, Mr. Schaubeck accompanied him. Mr. Hernandez visited many people and conducted Sabbath services for more than 40 who had come from Lima, Cerro de Pasco and Trujillo. His visit resulted in the baptism of several people.

Today, we have congregations in Lima and Cerro de Pasco, where we have also started broadcasting the Spanish radio program. Our Colombian elder, Armando Orrego, who conducted a public conference there on August 14, will be coordinating the Feast in"Merced de Chanchamayo"—located in the Peruvian jungle region."We expect an approximate attendance of 60 for the Feast in Peru this year,"reports Mr. Schaubeck."

09/01/05 a.m. RCG reports,

"As New Orleans and the coastal regions of Mississippi and Alabama struggle to recover from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, many ask,"Why?"

Why were tens of thousands of homes damaged or destroyed?

Why did so many people—especially the poor, the elderly and the young—suffer power outages, flooded homes, overcrowded temporary shelters, shortages of food and fresh water, looting, injury—and even death? Why were millions left homeless? And why are whole cities in Mississippi listed as"gone"?

As soon as the storm left New Orleans, people defied the curfew and ventured into the French Quarter ready to drink and celebrate. At first, it was thought that the city had been largely spared.

But soon the nation learned how wrong they were...

Tourism is the city’s most lucrative market. An estimated 10.1 million visitors came to New Orleans in 2004, with more than 1.4 million visiting for just a day. Total visitor spending amounted to $4.9 billion that year!

Though many come to experience the food and music for which New Orleans is famous,"The Big Easy"is also known around the world for its drunken permissiveness, where alcohol seems to flow through the streets...

Casino gambling exists throughout the metropolitan area and the Gulf Coast. Yet, perhaps the most insidious form of gambling is found in virtually any New Orleans bar, restaurant or even doughnut shops.

Video poker—often referred to as"video crack"—is among the most addictive forms of gambling. Often, players spend hour after hour feeding money into the machines and staring into video poker screens, mesmerized by the instant"rush"that they feel. Some players have wasted their family’s entire savings doing this...

People have talked about how to rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf Coast areas—yet, how many have spoken of changing—rebuilding!—their lifestyle, their character and of drawing close to God and seeking to truly obey Him? How many understand that human beings cannot determine their own steps (Prov. 14:12)? How many will admit that they need their Creator to correct their"paths"(Jer. 10:23-24)?"

While the 'public' sins of New Orleans may be more than in some other cities, Jesus' words to the disciples about another disaster seem to be applicable here:

"There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answered and said to them, "Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish" (Luke 13:1-5).

Jesus' point is that ALL need to repent and that is surely RCG's position as well.

On other matters, CEG reports:

"Q: Please explain what is meant by the word, "saint."

A: Actually, the Bible is very clear as to the meaning of this word. However, orthodox Christianity, and especially Catholicism, have distorted the meaning and have adopted a concept of a "saint," which is in total opposition to the Biblical teaching.

The "Christian" world thinks that a saint is a very special kind of a Christian; usually one who has died, went to heaven, and who is now interceding before God on our behalf. The "Convert's Catechism of Catholic Doctrine," by Peter Geiermann, edited 1946, defines a "saint" as "one whose soul is in heaven" (page 111).

The "Catechism of the Catholic Church," edited 1994, states under No. 828: "By canonizing some of the faithful, i.e., by solemnly proclaiming that they practiced heroic virtue and lived in fidelity to God's grace, the [Catholic] church recognizes the power of the spirit of holiness within her and sustains the hope of believers by proposing the saints to them as models AND INTERCESSORS."

The "Concise Catholic Dictionary", by Reynolds and Rosemary Ekstrom, edited 1988, states on pages 134-135:

"Early followers of Christ... sometimes referred to other Christians as saints, but eventually (!) the word saints applied only to those in heaven... The [Catholic] church teaches that the saints in heaven can intercede on behalf of those on earth (these saints are often prayed to for help)... The church has traditionally taught that everyone in heaven (!) is a saint--not just those who have been canonized" "

It is true that the early followers of Christ sometimes referred to other Christians as saints and that the Roman and Orthodox Catholics came up with a non-biblical view. One such 'saint' according to those groups was Justin Martyr. The article Justin Martyr: Saint, Heretic, or Apostate? deals with whether he met the biblical criteria to be a saint.

08/19/05 a.m. CEG reported this news item that I wished to comment on, "The Washington Post reported on August 16, 2005, about joint military exercises between Russia and China. The paper stated:

"Russia and China will hold their first ever joint military exercises this week as the once wary neighbors demonstrate their willingness to cooperate in the face of the U.S. military presence in Central Asia... The two countries have held exercises before with other Central Asian republics, but this week's maneuvers are the first bilateral exercises... "

It is clear that the Chinese are interested in Russian military technology--a national news item about this on television mentioned that part of the reason for this exercise is for the Russians to demonstrate military hardware to induce the Chinese to buy more. What is clear to me, however, is that this is helping pave the way for a fulfillment of the prophecy in Daniel 11:40,44-44 which states:

"At the time of the end the king of the South shall attack him; and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them, and pass through...

"But news from the east and the north shall trouble him; therefore he shall go out with great fury to destroy and annihilate many. And he shall plant the tents of his palace between the seas and the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and no one will help him."

The Russians are north and east, while the Chinese are east of the area of the King of the North.

08/16/05 a.m. In an ad in The Journal, COG-ff's Don Billinsley writes, "You and I, as well as all other members, should give very serious thought whether we are living the lives we should that are pleasing and acceptable before our God (II Corinthians 13:5). Unless we are in full belief and practice of the TRUTH as God has made known in Scripture and restored within His Church through His late apostle, and are enduring, overcoming and growing, we could very well be among those who are to experience the horrors of this soon coming time for it is sure to take place, so says Jesus Christ (Matthew 24:21-22). Please do not expect leaders or others to make it happen for you for salvation is to be worked out individually with fear and trembling (I Corinthians 10:11; Philippians 2:12)! It is very sorrowful and painful when we stop to consider the present state of the Church, for it is apparent that there are many who have not yet learned from what has taken place over recent years! They are the sleeping virgins that are defined as being of the Laodicean attitude and spirit and will have their part in
the Great Tribulation UNLESS they wake up in time (Revelation 6:9-11). Brethren, the resurrection must be our major goal and pursued while we yet have time just as did the apostle Paul (Philippians 3:8-15). "

This is close to being correct. We are to actually, "Seek first the kingdom" (Matthew 6:33). And if we are to be faithful to the Bible (as well as the truth HWA restored) we will continue the Philadelphian work to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom to the world as a witness (it is not primarily to be a message to those in some COG). The Laodicean problem is that they have a different work than the Philadelphians. Should the Church's Top Priority be Proclaiming the Gospel or Did HWA Change that Priority?

08/14/05 a.m. LCG's Wayne Pyle reports, "Superstation WGN passed a major milestone this past week when we received our 200,000^th response from WGN’s TV viewers.  Last week’s response brought the total reply-count from WGN, since January 31, 1999, to 200,319.  These replies came from 106,351 respondents, and we are happy to see so many of them making repeat calls and asking for additional literature. Over the past six years WGN has been very productive for the Church.  So far, 162 individuals have been baptized after coming in contact with the Church through WGN.  And many more are attending Church services and are headed towards baptism.  To date, for those whose first contact with the Church was through WGN, one out of every 656 viewers has now been baptized.  This is a very encouraging ratio."

This type of fruit has not been apparent, to me at least, from the other groups once affiliated with GCG.

LCG's Steve Stifler reports, "The Tomorrow’s World website continues to see an increase in daily traffic.  The number of visitors since May is up 70%!  Our web advertising program is in high gear, exposing our literature to more people than ever.  During the month of August our advertisements have been seen over 3.1 million times.  Year-to-date, this number jumps to over 21 million!  Over the past few weeks we have added several new Study Topics to the www.lcg.org site, which continue to be a popular item for people to review.  We are now starting to work on the www.cogl.org Member Resources website and, once this area is done, we will then start to work on assisting our international websites.  Regardless of time or day, through the Internet we have the potential to reach over 900 MILLION people!  Continue to pray that God will bless this very cost-effective way of preaching the Gospel to the entire world."

08/12/05 a.m. CEG reports,

"Coming Merger of Catholics and Anglicans?

On August 5, 2005, the "Church Times" published an interesting article about an agreement reached by the Catholic Church and the Anglican Church, pertaining to the role of the "Virgin Mary." The article pointed out:

"A new arcic report, published this week, argues that differences in the understanding of the Virgin Mary should not divide the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches... The 60-page text, Mary: Grace and hope in Christ, brings to an end the work of the second phase of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC II), which first met in 1983. The report was published on Monday in Seattle, in the United States."

Incredibly, the report tries to justify the WRONG doctrine of the "immaculate conception," by misquoting or misapplying Scripture...

"The Commission does not resolve what it describes as 'problems not only for Anglicans but also for other Christians' about the immaculate conception and the assumption, in that they were defined respectively by the Pope as having been 'revealed by God' (1854) and "divinely revealed" (1950). These phrases 'reflect the theology of revelation that was dominant in the Roman Catholic Church at the time... They have to be understood today in the light of the way this teaching was refined by the Second Vatican Council'..."

What is interesting about this development is the fact that the Anglican Church--unlike the Catholic Church--is willing to compromise their beliefs in order to merge with the Catholics.

This is typical. The Roman Catholic plan is to not compromise (though they will reword some things), but to get the other groups to, so that unification can proceed.

The Orthodox Church takes a nearly identical position to the Romans on Mary:

"...we are called by God in no uncertain terms to bless the Mother of our God. We cannot get around that point in scripture...Can Mary really save us? Yes...(Becoming Orthodox. Gillquist, pp.115,120).

"...Orthodox honour Mary...because she is Panagia, All-Holy. Among all God's creatures, she is the supreme example of synergy or co-operation between the purpose of the deity and human freedom" (The Orthodox Church. Ware, p.258).

Based mainly on looking a Hebrew scriptures translated as until (and the New Testament was written in Greek), an Orthodox archpriest writes this, "...the word until in Matthew 1:25 does not mean that Joseph and Mary began a sexual union after Christ was born. Such as teaching is found nowhere in Scripture and is contrary to the consistent voice of the entire early Church...Mary and Joseph had no sexual union whatsoever, before or after the birth of Christ" (Gillquist, pp.117-118).

The truth is that there is evidence that Mary had other children, hence the perpetual virginity position is in error. Also, although the Bible says that people will call Mary blessed (Luke 1:48), no scripture says to bless Mary, pray to Mary, etc. And of course, it is the name Jesus (Acts 4:12), and not Mary, that is required to save.

On other matters, RCG claims, "Mr. Owino also includes the truth of events in East Africa. However, the attendance figures he listed now include 46 more people who have left their previous association, bringing our regular attendance there to 298. Others from the same organization have also requested to join RCG."

Since LCG never claimed to have more than 180 or so in Kenya, and still has (of the last report I have seen) over 100 there, it is astounding that RCG can suggest that we lost 298 people to them.

07/31/05 a.m. LCG's Wayne Pyle reports this positive development, "During the Ministerial Conference in May, Evangelist Syd Hull, Regional Director of the work in South Africa, asked us to begin looking for a television station in South Africa.  We proceeded that very day to start the search.  Well, just this very week, our UK agency notified us that a station has become available that reaches six million households in the Republic of South Africa.  We asked the agency to book the time, which was done immediately.  A number of details still need to be worked out, but the first airing is scheduled for August 21.  The station reaches virtually all the major cities in South Africa.  We’ll give more details as we get closer to the start date".

I do not recall any other post-Tkach-era COG having a television presence in South Africa. LCG (and I believe the old GCG) has been on radio off and on for years there.

07/27/05 a.m. In his latest ad in The Journal, COG-ff's Don B. reports, "Just how close are we to seeing this prophecy come to pass? An article on May 29, 2005, from Zenit, in Bari, Italy, revealed that"Pope Benedict XVI hasn’t wasted any time in delineating the fundamental issues of his papacy. The topic of a recent message by the pontiff identifies an issue which conjures images of chilling history and dreadful prophecies."On Sunday, May 29, Pope Benedict XVI nailed his colors to the mast on a primary issue which he sees as fundamental to his papacy. At a mass celebrating the closing of the 24th National Eucharistic Congress, delivered before an audience of some 200,000 in the Italian city of Bari, Benedict declared that fundamental to his mission was the reinforcement of Sunday worship."To students of history, this is chilling stuff. It bespeaks a return to the papacies of old, the papacies of that ever recurring imperial European power, the Holy Roman Empire. In declaring this basic tenet of his papal ideology, the pope is simply publicizing to the world he is bent on a crusade to resurrect that ancient entity...The intensity of the papal commitment to enforcing Sunday worship in Europe, however, was underlined in the pope’s statements as reported by one of Italy’s most popular conservative newspapers. It reported his words as follows:"We cannot live without Sunday. The religious holiday of obligation is not a task imposed from the outside, but a duty of the Christian."Now, that’s profound! That ought to send a chill up the spine of any real student of the history of the Holy Roman Empire. Sunday—we"cannot live without"it, it’s a"holiday of obligation,"it’s a"Christian duty"! The historic facts are that, since Charlemagne, the observance of Sunday within Europe did actually become a matter of life or death. Many actually were put to the sword, burned at the stake, stretched to death on the rack, or met their end by some other horrible (and foul) means at the hands of (those) others who literally declared that citizens could not live without Sunday! These were those declared heretic (and anathema) by Rome, (and) declared martyrs by historians such as the 16th century’s John Foxe. Let us hope this pope, Benedict xvi, did not have this long and agonizing history in mind when he uttered that most unfortunate phrase,"We cannot live without Sunday!"

That is a quite chilling observation.

07/24/05 a.m. LCG's Gerald Weston sends in this, Canadian Update:

"We have seen a leveling off in attendance this quarter, although this is not equal everywhere.  Some congregations have picked up while others have dropped off, but the overall average has stayed about the same.  We continue to see growth in Calgary, and Toronto continues to hold onto the gains made earlier in the year. 

"God continues to pour out His blessings on the Canadian work when it comes to finances.  Income for the year through June stands at 27.4 percent above last year at this time.  This is not to say we are rolling in money as we know much of this will be consumed by the new television station going on line in October.  I talked to Dick Janik and he said the station has about 1.8 million households currently lined up, but they are hoping to bring in another contract that will boost it up to 3.5 to 4 million households by the time the station starts up.  As with Vision TV, this station covers all provinces across Canada. 

"We are seeing a number of letters from people who used to follow Mr. Herbert Armstrong.  Mr. Meredith’s references to him have struck a chord with many people and they are very pleased to know of our connection with him.  I believe this was a very wise decision on Mr. Meredith’s part to let people know where we come from without worshiping a man."

07/22/05 a.m. Wholeworld CG lists this as its third statement of belief, "3. We believe at this end time that we must follow the teachings shown to us in The Bible by the apostle of the Worldwide Church of God as the Philadelphia Era of the church. (REV. 3:7-13)".

This statement is commendable and to some degree is claimed by all (or nearly all) the groups with some origen related to GCG. However, HWA made it clear that the Philadelphia era would place its top priority on proclaiming the gospel to the world as a witness, and would abide by all the 18 truths restored to that era.

It has been my experience that governance has been the hardest single doctrine for the former GCG groups other than LCG to follow. The next difficulty has been that they also seem to not be able to place their top financial priority on proclaiming the Gospel. The priorities of what HWA taught about the Philadelphia era are included in the article Were You Deceived By The First Changes in the Tkach Administration?

Also, those in small groups that do not accept the authority of any of the evangelists that HWA ordained, may wish to read the article with quotes from HWA on Independents.

07/17/05 a.m. LCG's Davy Crockett writes,"We are excited to report that the first telephone calls from the Reader’s Digest advertisement are already coming in. The story of how this idea of the ad came to reality is an interesting one. Mr. Meredith has wanted to advertise in the Reader’s Digest for some time. To do so had been beyond our budget. We decided to run a test advertisement in a major market for the Reader’s Digest and we chose the Dallas/Fort Worth edition with 170,000 subscribers. When the artwork and copy for the ad were done, we called Reader’s Digest to work out the details. The lady with whom we had been dealing with was on vacation, so our call was put through to her supervisor or manager. He agreed to check on the details and to call us back. When he called back, he said, ‘I have something which may be of interest to you. The August issue of the Mature Edition of the Reader’s Digest, which goes out to 4.5 million subscribers nationwide, is finished and ready for printing, but we have a slot for a full page ad.’ The space was offered to us for 31% of the usual rate. We quickly accepted the offer. And, to our surprise, when we got the bill it was for $8,100 less than the amount quoted. Since we booked the ad directly, they gave us credit for an agent’s commission. After the bill was paid, we received an e-mail letting us know that the August edition of the Reader’s Digest is the 1,000^th edition of the magazine and a big promotion would be made for the issue, which should increase our response. We anticipate that millions of people will see our advertisement and that tens of thousands of people will request the booklet on Revelation The Mystery Unveiled and also become subscribers to the Tomorrow’s World magazine.”

07/09/05 a.m. At RCG's website, it actually says, "Are You a First-Time Visitor? You have reached the only website on earth that explains the truth of virtually every biblical doctrine—and in extraordinary detail. Thus, it is immense."

Since becoming a self-proclaimed apostle, David Pack is getting more and more into himself. He still has potential, but I believe he is choosing the wrong path.

07/08/05 a.m. CEG reports, "The following article, which was written by Kieren McCarthy, was published on July 1, 2005, on the Internet, titled, "Bush administration annexes internet." The article pointed out:

"An extraordinary statement by the US government has sent shockwaves around the internet world and thrown the future of the network into doubt. In a worrying U-turn, the US Department of Commerce (DoC) has made it clear it intends to retain control of the internet's root servers indefinitely. It was due to relinquish that control in September 2006, when its contract with overseeing body ICANN ended. The decision - something that people have long feared may happen - will not only make large parts of the world furious but also puts ICANN in a very difficult position. The organisation has slowly been expanding out of its California base in an effort to become an international body with overall responsibility for the internet."

The article continued:

"Clearly the internet has entered the Bush administration's vision and the resulting DoC statement - which boldly tells the rest of the world that the US will continue to run the Internet and everyone will just have to lump it - is very in keeping with how the US government is currently run. The big question now is whether the rest of the world will be cowed... The vision of a US-controlled internet infrastructure will be anathema to large parts of the world however and it is a demonstration of the US administration's failure to think globally that it doesn't recognise that there is surprisingly little preventing other parts of the world from creating a second Internet outside of US control. An already fractious situation has just got more difficult.""

The US has been taking many actions which I personally feel violate rights, freedom, and privacy. And I personally believe that once the US is taken over, its enemies will be able to use the data that the government has collected to further takeover Americans who fled the country.

07/03/05 a.m. RCG reports, "MAJOR WEBSITE REDESIGN We have completed the first stage of overhauling our website. It features a striking new interface and some very user-friendly tools that will improve your browsing experience. POSTED: JULY 1/05"

LCG has recently redesigned its Living Church of God and Tomorrow's World's websites.

On Friday, RCG's David Pack correctly reported, "We are left to wonder about the poisonous partisan fight that will surely ensue from the resignation just today of conservative Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor."

This will be a fight, as will most likely the nomination to replace the current chief justice who has enough health concerns that he may not stay that long on the US Supreme COurt.

LCG's Douglas Winnail reports, "Visit to Kenya- Nairobi, Kenya: The visit to Kenya has been very positive.  Upon arrival I conducted a Bible Study for 14 brethren in Nairobi and performed one baptism.  While in Nairobi, we had a very interesting meeting with a publisher who has expressed interest in advertising our booklets.  We then drove to western Kenya for a Sabbath service in Ndhiwa with 70 people in attendance--including representatives from another Sabbath-keeping group in the area that expressed interest in learning about the LCG.  I began counseling a number of people for baptism in Ndhiwa.  We also had a chance to visit a small clinic operated by one of our members who is a doctor in a village by Lake Victoria.  On Sunday we looked at several potential Feast sites in the region and then drove to Rongo for a Bible Study with another group of about 70 people.  This group included our members and also a group of former WCG members who have expressed a desire to join the LCG.  I also began counseling a number of people here for baptism.  We were unable on this trip to meet with another new group in this area that wanted to make contact with us.  This morning Mr. Muthama (our host in Nairobi) and I will fly to Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania to meet with a group that also wants to be part of LCG.  I will then fly on to South Africa for the Sabbath in Johannesburg and then on to Cape Town for a Bible Study and visits with brethren there before returning to the UK".

07/02/05 a.m. From CEG and AP,

"As the Associated Press reported on June 21, 2005, "Pope Benedict XVI rails against Europe in his first book published since becoming pope, chastising a culture that he says excludes God from life and allows innocent lives - the unborn - to be taken from God through legalized abortion."

The article continued:

"Ratzinger takes as a starting point the decision of European Union leaders to exclude a reference to Europe's Christian roots from the preamble of the proposed EU constitution, whose future remains uncertain following its rejection by French and Dutch voters in recent referendums. The Vatican had campaigned to have the reference included, part of its attempts to stem what it sees as a continent of increasingly empty churches that is often hostile to religion. 'Europe has developed a culture which, in a way never before known to humanity, excludes God from public conscience, either by being denied or by judging his existence to be uncertain and thus belonging to subjective choices, something irrelevant for public life,' Benedict writes. He dismisses arguments that inclusion of the reference would have offended Jews and Muslims, saying they are more offended by Europe's attempt to deny a historic fact.

"'It's not the mention of God that offends the followers of other religions, but precisely the attempt to build a human community absolutely without God,' he writes. He says Europe needs more people like St. Benedict of Norcia, the fifth and sixth century monk who is a patron saint of Europe. The Benedictine order that followed his teachings became the main guardian of learning and literature in Western Europe during the dark centuries that followed the fall of the Roman Empire.

"Looking at current culture in Europe, Ratzinger acknowledges it would be easy to resign oneself to the fact that abortion is a legal right in much of Europe. But he concludes that there is no such thing as a 'little homicide' and that when man loses the respect for life, 'inevitably he ends by losing his own identity.'" "

I thought that the Pope would finally come out and blast the EU for not having reference to God in its proposed constitution after the Dutch defeat (a pro-Vatican individual made similar comments after the French defeat). This shows that the Vatican is publicly offering its services to unite Europe. Catholic prophecies all tell of a final revision of what it considers to be the Holy Roman Empire.

06/26/05 a.m. CEG reports this story from AP,

""Pope Benedict XVI said Thursday the search for unity between the Roman Catholic Church and other Christians was 'irreversible,' underlining his desire to improve relations and heal the 1,000-year-old rift with the Orthodox Church. Benedict made the comments in a meeting with... Samuel Kobia, the leader of the World Council of Churches, the fellowship of more than 300 churches from nearly all Christian traditions, including Protestants and the Orthodox. The Roman Catholic Church is not a member, but cooperates with the WCC.

"In his remarks, Benedict repeated his pledge that his 'primary task' as pope would be to work tirelessly to rebuild unity of all Christians with 'concrete gestures' and not just words. 'The commitment of the Catholic Church to the search for Christian unity is irreversible,' Benedict said."

However, it must be asked what this unity will look like. As the article continued to point out:

"In an interview with the AP ahead of the papal audience, Kobia said he was hoping for progress in one area in particular that has vexed some Protestant members of the World Council. The issue stems from a 2000 document from the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which was headed by the pope when he was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. The document, 'Dominus Iesus,' which Ratzinger signed, framed the role of the Catholic Church in human salvation in an exclusive manner. It suggested that non-Catholic 'ecclesiastical communities' were 'not churches in the proper sense.' 'There are many Protestant churches that are members of the WCC and are concerned that they are defined as "ecclesiastic communities" and not full churches,' Kobia said. He said he wasn't looking for Benedict to renounce the 2000 document, but said he hoped the two sides could 'move beyond it.'"

Of course, nobody expects that the pope will renounce or repudiate the document, as it sets forth accurately the Catholic teaching on the issue. But what is gained by "moving beyond it"? True peaceful unity could never be achieved with the above-described teaching of the Catholic Church in place, UNLESS the Protestant and Orthodox churches give up their stance on the matter and embrace the Catholic Church and the pope as their spiritual leader and religious authority. "

I have been doing some research on the Orthodox Church, which as the Greek Orthodox Church, is the State Religion in Greece (I was in Greece until 6/24/05) and plan to add more about it later.

06/14/05 a.m. COF-ff's Don B. writes, "As we consider the present, it is apparent there are many who have not yet learned from what has taken place over recent years, but are laid-back, and sleeping, while being swept downstream into the Great Tribulation! They are the sleeping virgins that are defined as being of the Laodicean attitude and spirit and will have their part in the Great Tribulation (Revelation 6:9-11). There are also the independent ones, both men and women, deacons, and even local elders, who because of our scattered condition, and there being no chief shepherd anymore, feel they have been given the authority and right to be over and above the true and faithful pastors to either have their own little groups, or be, as some term it,"Patio Christians."Such seek their own recognition and a following with authority over God’s people that Christ never intended for them (I Corinthians 12:28; Ephesians 4:11-16). At the same time there are many others who are very faithful to the true teachings and are only waiting to prove where parts of the true Church yet exists with ALL of the true doctrinal teachings in place, along with having true faithful and caring duly ordained pastors. God led Mr. Armstrong to write about these few true and caring ministers who would be there for the protection and care of His people in this end-time in his book, THE MYSTERY OF THE AGES, Page 262. In this same book and chapter he also wrote about the necessity of ‘the loner’ becoming a learning and contributing member in God’s Church, Pages 270-272. These are serious and sober thoughts along with questions that need to be carefully considered and answered by God’s true people—if we have hope to become a part of the new world that is almost here! We are living in very trying and troublesome times that are often very perplexing, and answers sometimes are not all that easy to come by. And Scripture reveals it will become more intense and difficult before the time to flee and the coming of Jesus Christ! Enduring faithfully unto the end, and then being accepted by Jesus Christ to be among His chosen firstfruits, and then aiding Him in bringing others to salvation in His new world, should be of the highest priority by each one. This should be such an eagerly anticipated, wondrous and joyous goal so as to continually motivate us to endurance without fail! (I Corinthians 2:9-10). "

HWA was not favorably inclined towards those who were 'independent'. Here is an article, Independent Members of the COG: HWA Comments, Plus Questions and Answers

06/10/05 a.m. ECG has an ad in The Journal that stated, "Some churches choose to pass an offering basket every week. Others, desiring to follow the dictates of the Bible, take up this unique offering"three times in a year."What exactly does the Eternal mean when He states that we are to appear before Him and present our offering three times? Do the Scriptures command only three occasions, or does the Almighty want us to give an offering on every Holy Day?"

This is the first ad there from that group that I recall.

CEG reported, "As Timesonline explained on June 4, 2005: "Embattled EU financial leaders spent the day defending the currency, dismissing talk of its break-up as 'absurd'. One senior EU official said: 'Euro notes and coins are for ever, like the euro.'" The EUobserver reported on June 2, 2005, "German analysts have poured cold water on rumours that the European Monetary Union (EMU) might be broken up in the wake of the French and Dutch no votes... 'It [an EMU break up] is not a realistic scenario', Commerzbank economist Christoph Balz told EUobserver. 'But in the current mood of the market, everybody jumped on the news. Even if it was later denied, the market still thought if there is smoke, there is fire'. "Germany's Stern magazine published news on Wednesday (1 June) about a recent meeting between German finance minister Hans Eichel, Bundesbank president Axel Weber and private sector analysts which purportedly discussed Germany's exit from the common currency. Berlin and the national bank both denied the report, while analysts at major German banks indicated that what really happened was that one of the private sector economists at the gathering mentioned a potential EMU crisis and the mere presence of high-ranking officials gave the speculation undue weight." The article also pointed out that in light of the French and Dutch "No"-votes to the EU constitution, the euro fell against the U.S. dollar, but it is expected to rise again by the end of the year. "The weaker euro is also set to boost the fortunes of European exporters, the Commerzbank economist indicated... 'We are probably close to the bottom of the movement. This [the weakening of the euro] is the current mood of the market, but it is not the beginning of a trend', he said." "

The Europeans know that the US dollar is set for a collapse in the future, so as the probable only alternative for being the world's reserve currency, it is not likely that the Euro will be dropped.

06/08/05 a.m. In his Solving the Arab-Israeli Impasse! paper, CG21's Raymond McNair writes, "Some members of the"Churches of God"(including Mr. H.W. Armstrong and others in the WCG) believed that the TURKS were the descendants of"ESAU"or"EDOM, yet it is difficult to find much historical support ever quoted in WCG writings. Although it is difficult to trace the origin of the Turks with any certainty—other than back to Central Asia—this does not necessarily mean, however, that the Truks originated in Central Asia—just as we cannot assume that the Anglo-Saxon-Celtic peoples originated in the Caspian Sea-Black Sea area, because that is where their ancestors once lived. We now know that before they lived in that part of S.W. Asia, they had previously spent over 750 years in the Promised Land (in the"land of Israel"). Is it likewise possible that even though our first historical references to the"Turks"place them in Central Asia (East of the Caspian Sea), it may be that they had previously lived in a land quite distant from the Eastern Caspian region? This study paper reveals that a number of Esau’s descendants once lived in their ancient homeland south of Judah (between the Dead Sea and the Red Sea). Nonetheless, we have shown that in ancient times some of them migrated into Yemen, Iraq, Syria, and the lands around the Persian Gulf. And there are some indications that other Edomites migrated into Central Asia, where we today find men named"Isu"(Esau) and Ismail (Ishmael). So this might indicate that when the Arabs conquered the Middle East—shortly after Mohammed’s death in 732BC, as well as conquering the lands between the Persian Gulf and India—a number of Ishmaelites and Edomites migrated into Central Asia as a result of the Arab conquests of the 700s A.D...Are the Turks descendants of Esau/Edom? We must wait for more historical evidence before we can say with certainty that they are, or are not, Esau’s descendants. Some of the"British Israel"people have also believed that the Turks were Edomites, and have mentioned this in their literature. But they have not given historical proof of the veracity of their statements. It is not clear where Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong received his view that the"Turks"are the descendants of the ancient Patriarch ESAU. Further research will undoubtedly shed more light on the historical connections between Esau and Turkey."

He also wrote, "Many are amazed to learn that there are millions of people now living in the Middle East who claim to be descendants of the ancient Assyrians. Some historians believe that the great mass of"Assyrians"migrated in ancient times out of the land of Assyria in S.W. Asia, and moved westward over a period of many centuries, finally settling in Central Europe, Germany and Austria in particular. Worldwide, today there are about 4.5 five million"Assyrians"who know themselves to be descendants of the ancient Assyrians...“The Assyrians are not Arabs, but rather have maintained a continuous and separate identity, language, and culture that pre-dates the Arabization of the Near East. Until today, the Assyrians speak a distinct language, Syriac, the language spoken by Jesus Christ. As a Semitic language, the Assyrian language is related to Hebrew and Arabic but predates both"(Internet, www.aina.org/assyrians.htl)...Is it possible that, in the difficult years ahead, some Iraqis will join with the nations and leaders of the EUROPEAN UNION (or its outgrowth, the biblical"Beast") at the close of this age, thereby helping to bring about the downfall of the Israelis and their allies: America, Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc.?

The above quotes confirmed something I had heard earlier, and that is that Raymond McNair seems to have a different prophetic interpretation than the one he insists is Elijah had. More about Raymond McNair and his (and others) views of HWA being Elijah is included in the article The Elijah Heresies.

06/05/05 a.m. As reported earlier David Pack wrote in RCG's true church booklet, "While Laodicea means"the people rule, judge, decide,"they are still God’s people, but in a weak and confused condition. However, they do not represent His true Church, and are outside His Body."

This is another change from HWA's church taught, which was "the Laodicean era...they are the Church of God...the "Church of Laodicea" (What is the Laodicean Church? Good News, August 1959).

What RCG should consider is that the difference between the remnant of the Philadelphia era of the COG and those in the Laodicean era is that the Laodiceans have a different work than the Philadelphians. It is for this different work that Christ condemns the Laodiceans, "I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth" (Revelation 3:15-16). Christ approves of the work of the Philadelphians (vss. 7-8).

Probably the articles that are most relevant here are Are the Laodiceans the Modern Sadducees and Pharisees? and Why Not the Restored Church of God? and Should the Church's Top Priority be Proclaiming the Gospel or Did Herbert W. Arsmtrong Change That Priority?

06/03/05 a.m. CEG reported, "USA Concerned Over French "No" The EUobserver reported on May 27, 2005, just prior to the French vote against the EU constitution on May 29, that "A possible French 'no' to the European Constitution referendum is causing some US defence industry chiefs concern... The US needs a stronger EU with which it can share the burden of military operations in the world, said a veteran US lobbyist present at the meeting. 'We [the US] are too stretched, and, let's face it, we are going broke', he added. The European Constitutional text [now rejected by France] paves the way for European countries to increase military cooperation by the means of a 'Structured Cooperation Procedure.'" "

The truth is that the US is stretched financially and will probably provide enough techinical military support (sharing of military secrets) with the EU that this will enable and assist them when they ultimately turn against the US.

I went to COGeim's site again this morning, but it has not been updated in a little while. It for example states, "What's New This Week - May 20th, 2005".

Similarly, COG-ff's last update seems to have been May 12, 2005.

RCG's David Pack updated his booklet on the true church. Part of it states, "From the time of Mr. Armstrong’s death in January 1986, this process of destruction lasted approximately nine years. As has been the historical pattern, the vast majority (about 80%) completely departed from the truth, the true Church and the true God. They scattered back into the world or remained where they were, returning to and re-accepting hundreds of false doctrines and practices...The other 20%, who did not accept the direction of the false teachers who captured the visible corporation, also scattered into a variety of organizations that held to varying amounts of the truth we all had learned under Mr. Armstrong’s leadership. Who these groups represent in prophecy will be momentarily explained. ...Mr. Armstrong’s death, 52 years later, paved the way for false leaders to arise within the organization. True Christians were forced to flee. Most of them formed or entered groups, as mentioned above, that do not fully hold fast to the truth and practices of God’s Church. Collectively, it is these groups that form the seventh and last—or Laodicean—era of the Church. While Laodicea means"the people rule, judge, decide,"they are still God’s people, but in a weak and confused condition."

The preceding statements are basically true, though some also became part of Sardis (Sardis is discussed in the article on the Church of God Seventh Day) and Thyatira (please see the article In Search of Thyatira).

David Pack's next statement was "However, they do not represent His true Church, and are outside His Body."

The last statement is simply not true. Since he admits that they are still God's people and are the seventh of the Churches in Revelation 2 & 3, Laodicea is part of the True Church.

Related articles include Are the Laodiceans the Modern Sadducees and Pharisees? , What is a True Philadelphian? , and The Churches in Revelation 2 & 3.

05/31/05 a.m. CGFnw announced, "We are experiencing technical difficulties with the Spokane ISP Antenna. This only effects the live broadcast. A repair crew from Petara Wireless is scheduled to repair the system Tuesday (May 31, 2005). Sorry for the inconvenience."

As of this morning, the above was still there.

05/27/05 a.m. CEG reports, "EU Battle Groups The EUobserver reported on May 23, 2005: "EU defence ministers meeting on Monday in Brussels took some more steps towards the creation of the bloc's own rapid reaction 'battle groups' by deciding to speed up the bloc's notoriously slow decision-making process... Meanwhile Germany signed itself up to two more battle groups with France and Spain as well as with Poland, Slovakia, Lithuania and Latvia with the first to be ready in the second half of 2008 and the second during the first half of 2010." "

The EU keeps taking stepts towards strengthening the Beast power.

05/22/05 a.m. Yesterday, I received an email from yet another person who has left RCG. Anyway, he informed me that he is now happily out of RCG having seen through many inaccuracies there. He is now affiliated with another of the COGs and is confident of his decision to leave RCG.

Throughout the years, quite a few former RCG members have contacted me once they leave RCG.

05/21/05 a.m. COG21's Raymond McNair writes, "God’s Festival of Pentecost is fast approaching, and His people, scattered as they are around this whole earth, are looking forward to that wonderful Feast, when we will be reminded of what this important Festival really pictures in God’s Master Plan of Salvation: 1) God isn’t calling many out of this world now at this time. Only a very few have been called and chosen by our Father to be granted salvation in this age, as God’s precious"firstfruits,"who will be crowned with glory, honor and immortality at Christ’s Second Coming (2 Cor. 15:22-23; Rom. 2:7). 2) Pentecost also reminds us that Jesus Christ founded His Church on the Day of Pentecost, in 31 AD, and that we, the N.T."firstfruits,"are highly privileged to have been granted the"firstfruits of the Spirit"(Rom. 8:23), the very"germ"of eternal life (John 6:47-58; 1 John 2:25; 3:1-9). "

COG, eim's Wayne Carlson's commentary last night begins with, " The book of Ephesians provides a treasure of information to us on how we should conduct ourselves. Ephesians 4:1-3 I therefore, the prisoner of the LORD, beseech you to have a walk worthy of the calling with which you were called. 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. In verse one Paul is pointing out that our calling should be life changing. Our calling should impact our walk (the way we live and conduct ourselves)."

05/17/05 p.m. UCG reported, "Mr. Kilough announced the results of the balloting: First, he gave thanks to Doug Horchak, who chose to step off the Council of Elders, for his years of service on the Council. The Council members chosen this year are Joel Meeker, Aaron Dean, Jim Franks and Larry Salyer...Richard Pinelli then presented a tribute to Mr. and Mrs. Burk McNair and Mr. and Mrs. George Meeker. Both men were ordained in January 1955 and were celebrating 50 years in the ministry of the Church of God. An audiovisual presentation included photos from the past 50 years and video clips from the honorees."

I reported this here, because Larry Salyer was part of the group responsible for the GCG takeover, now he is part of the UCG leadership. George Meeker also supported the GCG takeover (but not to the same degree). Years ago, some criticized me for suggesting that some involved with the GCG takeover would end up in UCG.

05/06/05 a.m. The May-June 2005 edition of Tomorrow's World arrived this week. It listed 5 new American, 1 new Australian, and 2 new European television stations that are now carrying LCG's Tomorrow's World telecast (plus a new radio station in Colombia). This appears to bring a total of 164 television and 13 radio stations carrying LCG's Tomorrow's World broadcast.

CEG reported, "On April 30, 2005, CNN reported about "mingling human cells with lesser beings." The article explained that "on a farm about six miles outside this gambling town [of Reno, Nevada, there is] a flock of about 50 smelly sheep, many of them possessing partially human livers, hearts, brains and other organs." "

Humanistic science really believes it has no ethical limits.

05/04/05 a.m. In an ad in the Connection's section of the current issue of The Journal, COG-ff's Don Billingsley makes the comment, "If we do not learn from the deaths of these people, martyrs, if you will!"

Martyrs is what LCG's RC Meredith has also called those killed in the Brookfield tragedy.

Also in an ad . COG21's RF McNair wrote, "In mid-March this year, all of God’s people were shocked and profoundly saddened to learn of the untimely massacre in Wisconsin of eight people that occurred during a Sabbath Service! It is very encouraging to see that many in the"Churches of God"have been praying fervently that a loving God will strengthen us all during this severe trial by enabling us never to doubt His omnipotence, mercy, and love toward His people—and toward all mankind (John 3:16)! People have often commented that, at each Passover season, many in the"Churches of God"experience severe trials in their Christian pilgrimage toward the Kingdom of God! This year is no exception. The Churches of God are still MOURNING the traumatic events which recently occurred in one Church of God congregation in Wisconsin...Although numerous reasons have been given, no one really knows for sure why God allowed innocent people to die by the hand of a depressed, mentally disturbed person. And it is unlikely that any person will ever know all the answers to this question!..His Servants Have we forgotten that upright men such as Job, David, and Paul all suffered many sore trials and afflictions? Why does God sometimes allow Satan to afflict or buffet His true servants?"

05/01/05 a.m. LCG's Dr. Doug Winnail sent this report from Kenya, which he received from Mr. Simon Muthama:"My trip to West was very successful. I arrived at Awendo at 6am in the morning of 16th April 2005. I found Silas waiting for me. We took a taxi together with his wife to Opoya. At Opoya we found a group of 13 young men and women of the ages between 20 and 35 years of age waiting for me. We started services immediately we arrived. We started with songs of praise then opening prayer…What amazed me of the group is composed of young men and women who are able to speak English. There was no old man in the group except me but they welcomed me with both hands…I closed the services with a word of prayer at 12 noon…May God bless you as we look forward for the Big Day Passover…"Attendance last Sabbath of 16 April 2005: Nairobi 5 Opoya 20 including Children Ndhiwa 83 including Children"Total attendance in Kenya: 108 —Simon Muthama

This shows that LCG's earlier report (see comments in the 3/13/05 update on this page) that most in Kenya remained with the LCG is correct. LCG only claimed 160-175 in Kenya prior to the departure of Ernest Owino.

A month ago, RCG disputed this is its 'clarification' when it posted, "The total number who actually remained with LCG in East Africa is about 30, or 18 percent of the 170 that comprised LCG’s original official count—by no stretch a"majority"!"

I believe that it is clear that 108 is a majority. And that 108 is more than 'about 30'.

04/29/05 a.m. CEG reports, "The Associated Press reported on April 27, 2005, that "The leaders of France and Germany joined forces Tuesday to try to save Europe's embattled constitution, warning French voters they could set back European ambitions if they reject the charter in a referendum... Chirac said a 'no' would leave France on the sidelines of a Europe it helped to build. 'France would find itself on the edge of the platform as the train went past,' he said. 'If we vote "no," we will be responsible for interrupting 50 years of European construction.' Schroeder promised that his government will do everything possible to back French ratification. 'We will reproach ourselves later if we let this historic opportunity to advance Europe slip by,' Schroeder said. Germany, the most populous EU member with 82 million people, is submitting the charter to lawmakers for approval and does not plan a referendum." On the other hand, even a French "no" would not necessarily mean the end, for the foreseeable future, of a United Europe. As the EUobserver reported on April 22, 2005, "EU member states should press ahead with efforts to ratify the Constitution even if France says 'no' in its 29 May referendum, the European Commission has urged.... Brussels pointed out that an appendix to the draft treaty already contains a mechanism for dealing with ratification problems... 'The declaration [in the appendix] is not legally binding, but it leaves the door open for this Constitution to be approved even if some of the countries reject it,' EU legal expert, Klaus Heeger, commented. In practise, this would lead to a MULTI-SPEED EU, with the new treaty having a legally binding force in some states but not in others." "

04/24/05 a.m. The COGwriter site will no longer by updated at members.aol.com/cogwriter/ngnews.htm

The new URL for the News of those Once Affiliated with the Global Church of God page will be http://www.cogwriter.com/gnews.htm

I have been working with AOL for the past year to get them to stop placing ads on this page and have not gotten anyone who was able to resolve my concerns, so I switched URLs. This decision was made in December 2004, but finally it has happened.

LCG's Wayne Pyle reported, "Our new station in Houston, KHWB, drew 17 calls. Our new station in Memphis, KPTY, brought in seven. We received excellent news from England this morning. Fifty-one calls came in yesterday from Eurobird. Six of the calls were from the 6:30 am airing, and 43 calls from the 10 am airing. Our total count through yesterday is now up to 82. INI’s (Inspiration Network International) advertising is taking effect!"

LCG continues to add television stations. LCG had some difficulty getting on in the UK, but finally this has happened and seeds are being planted.

04/22/05 a.m. CGFNW announced, "NEW A U D I O CD PROGRAM If you would prefer to receive sermons on audio CDs instead of audio cassettes, please contact us as soon as possible. These CDs play in a standard audio CD player as well as a computer."

It also announced that its one sponsored FOT site will be in Tucson.

CEG reports, "Der Spiegel Online published an interesting article about the German popes -- pointing out that none of Ratzinger's predecessors were too fortunate on the Roman Catholic throne. Gregory V (996-999), the first German pope, had to flee from Rome naked and without financial means. Shortly after he returned, he died of Malaria. Clemens II (1046-1047) died of poisoning within a year. Damasus II (1048) died within 23 days of Malaria. Leo IX (1049-1054) was captured by the Normans, and under his rule, the Catholic Church split into the Eastern and Western Churches. Victor II (1055-1057) was compelled by the emperor to become pope, but he never gave up his office of bishop in Germany. Stephen IX (1057-1058) died within eight months, while traveling. Finally, Hadrian VI (1522-1523) was unable to prevent the Reformation under Martin Luther. The future will show how close we have now come to the return of Jesus Christ. Surely, tumultuous and frightening times are ahead of us."

04/15/05 a.m. CEG reports, "U.S. Trade Deficit at All-Time High The Associated Press reported on April 12, 2005, that "The U.S. trade deficit... soared to an all-time high of $61.04 billion in February... Trade deficits of this magnitude have raised worries among economists about America's ability to continue to attract the foreign financing needed to cover the shortfall between exports and imports.... Demand for foreign petroleum products shot up 10.3 percent to $18.2 billion, the second highest level on record, surpassed only by $19.6 billion in imports of petroleum last November. The February increase reflected higher prices as crude oil climbed to $36.85 per barrel, compared to $35.25 in January, offsetting a drop in the volume of oil imports. Analysts said America's foreign oil bill is likely to climb even further in months ahead, reflecting further increases in global oil prices.""

On other matters, I received what looks to be an open letter mainly regarding allegations about Ernest Owino from "Church of God Writer, Africa" with a return email address of cogwriter@yahoo.com

I should state that I do not know who this individual is, he or she has no affiliation with me, and should not be using the trademarked term 'cogwriter' (and was so informed). Since this individual is apparently sending this out to many, I feel I do need to clarify that that the public email has no connection to me.

03/22/05 a.m. Although I have seen nothing from him regarding the Wisconsin shooting, CG21's Raymond McNair wrote this about four weeks before the shooting, "We live in very sobering times! The Bible refers to these "perilous times" as the "GREAT TRIBULATION" (Mt. 24:21-22), which will be followed by the terrifying, dramatic events to occur during the "DAY OF THE LORD" (vv. 29-31; Joel 2:30-31). The GREAT TRIBULATION which constitutes Satan's wrath, whereas the "DAY OF THE LORD" is GOD'S PUNISHMENT which will fall on the heads of all of the wicked, God-defying peoples of this earth at the end of this evil age! Let us not be "ignorant of Satan's devices" (Cor. 2:11), or of his wicked, crafty plans concerning what he is seeking to accomplish toward the destruction of mankind, especially God's people, here on this earth: 1) Firstly, Satan wants to destroy God's Church (Rev. 12:7-17), which now constitutes the true "Israel of God" (Gal. 6:16)—but, thankfully, he will miserably fail (Mt. 16:18; Heb. 2:14; 1 Cor. 15:24-28)!"

Just a few seconds before I learned of the Wisconsin shooting, I read a letter from a former WCG member who told me that Satan was going to try to kill as many of God's people as he could.

R. McNair also reported, "I wish to mention that I have been working with various ministers for some time. Two of these ministers are Messrs. Ronald Laughland and Daniel J. Cafeo. I have found them to be completely loyal to God and His Word, and both are determined to diligently serve God's brethren."

03/18/05 p.m. CEG reports, ""Aside from the mental and emotional impact of the accounts of the LCG killings [during a Church service of the Living Church of God in Wisconsin] and the realization that it could have been us, it is obvious that Satan is behind all of this, not only to destroy God's people one by one, but also to leave in his wake a very negative slant on any professing Churches of God. As we here in CEG become stronger in our commitment and ability to spread the truth, Satan is working harder in laying the groundwork for a very negative reception of that message, as evidenced even by the future efforts of the two witnesses to proclaim the gospel. It's easy to see how friends and relatives will soon 'turn us in' for our 'strange' beliefs, especially those who once knew the truth and turned away from it themselves. "In the meantime, we really need to bolster ourselves to continue to move forward as God provides the way, no matter the cost. These are very sobering times. "Our prayers are with all of God's people..."

03/17/05 a.m. In part 2 his sermon titled 21st Century Apostle, RCG's David Pack states, "All of this literature...I was literally driven to do what others would not...I was driven because I was sent...A miraculous energy was put in me...Vastly more {literature writing}than any servant that God has ever used before...I just know that God has done that...Why so much literature? And why no one else? The answer is that they were not sent...So nowhere else, other than this church, have all things been prepared for the church to go forward to fulfill the fullness of Matthew 29:19,20...So who is going to all nations?...Why would...listing apostles first not include me? Would Christ expect me to ignore that?...The responsibilities Christ expects me to do...While I have apostolic authority, I will still not change any restored doctrines, not one. Nothing changes...Mr. Armstrong was a watchman, he trained me to be a watchman...Mr. Armstrong was a messenger to the 6th era. And even revealed that there are such men, 7 of them. He trained me to do the same. Mr. Armstrong was a Apostle. Yes brethren I hold that office. I do...Either this work is fraudulent because an unauthorized man is doing things soley given to the highest office above him or something else has occurred. If it is a fraud, here's what it means, everything comes to an end...If the highest office in RCG is not an apostle...then I was not sent by Christ".

He also states that RCG has had a tremendous amount of miracles (healings, casting out of demons, receipt of $10,000). He also says that he thought a lot about what would happen to RCG if a HWA ordained evangelist joined RCG--this would cause a problem for D. Pack who was not so ordained, so apparently in David Pack's mind he had to hold a higher office.

Oddly, he suggests that Joseph Tkach claimed to have apostolic authority and was open about his changes and credited his open honesty. David Pack's recollections are different than mine.

I would also add that Herbert Armstrong ordained RC Meredith as an evangelist. RC Meredith is the only one of the first 'batch' of evangelists that HWA ordained that God has allowed to remain alive. RC Meredith has not taken any title flattering title. Although one in another group told me that it had circulated that RC Meredith called himself "Pastor General", that is simply inaccurate. RC Meredith has the spiritual title of evangelist, and the administrative title of presiding evangelist.

03/16/05 a.m. In his sermon titled 21st Century Apostle, RCG's David Pack states, "What is my office? What is my office?...What authority do I have to make administrative judgments different from Herbert Armstrong?...Who is permitted to bind and loose in this age?...Pastors are stationary...It really doesn't apply because I had my reasons...If you know who you are in the body, then it makes sense that the human leader of the church knows his place...of course he knows...now my rank...bad news, evangelists don't do this, they bring good news...Apostle...it means a delegate...with miraculous powers" (part 1).

He contradicts HWA's teachings twice here. The first that he was a pastor, but not stationary (also see the Mystery of the Ages, page 245). Hence, D. Pack exceeded his authority per HWA's teachings.

The second is that HWA clearly had evangelists give not only good news, but the warning message (see almost any issue of the old Plain Truth).

Also note what Paul wrote about an evangelist in 1 Corinthians 16:10, "Now if Timothy comes, see that he may be with you without fear; for he does the work of the Lord, as I also do."

Both Paul and HWA had evangelists do the same work they were doing. Neither restricted their teachings or forbade them from giving the warning messages, which D. Pack referred to as the bad news.

Surely, those associated with RCG should start to see what is happening there.

03/15/05 a.m. This morning, I received two reports that RCG's David Pack is now claiming to be an apostle. After he took upon himself the titles of 'Watchman" and "Messenger" (see 2/15/05 a.m. update, this page), this seemed possible, but I really doubted that he would go this far (at least not this soon).

One report I received stated, "• New Sermon: "21st Century Apostle" ... 2 part sermon.. he posted on his web site this past Saturday ... First part is 2 hours 10 minutes and 40 seconds, long.. I am downloading the second part now, This is a very BAD sermon.. awful.. He has twisted Mr.Armstrong's words around to suit himself, and to bring his own Rank up as an Apostle now.. I don't know what is on the second part.. I will listen to it as soon as I get it downloaded".

The other report I received stated, "I feel the need to bring to your attention a recent sermon posted on RCG's site ("21st Century Apostle"), where Mr. Pack has given himself the role of an apostle. I kid you not. He has said that he is an apostle. A role that took Mr. Armstrong so many, many years to come to terms with, Mr. Pack has seized in only a few short years of leading RCG. His reasons for his apostleship range from website statistics of RCG's websites and the books/booklets RCG has written."

This saddens me. I have always felt that David Pack was a talented, but misguided, writer with potential. I continue to pray for his repentance.

03/13/05 a.m. LCG's Doug Winnail reported, "My recent trip to Kenya (following the departure of our minister there) was both informative and encouraging. It appears that a majority of the brethren in Kenya and Tanzania are determined to remain with the Living Church of God. Upon arrival in Nairobi I spent several days meeting with brethren and listening to their questions and concerns—in addition to dealing with various business and legal arrangements that needed attention. On the Sabbath I gave a sermon entitled"How to Avoid being Deceived".

A timely topic for those recently exposed to RCG teachings.

When on 2/5/05 RCG posted, "RCG WELCOMES LCG PASTOR: We wish to welcome a pastor who has resigned from the Living Church of God (LCG). So far, over 300 in his pastorate have joined him in his decision", I knew that was inaccurate.

On this particular point, I do not believe that RCG or E. Owino were being intentionally deceptive, it just occurred to me that they were a bit like Dan Rather and CBS in that they were less interested in checking the facts than they were to get out a story they preferred to believe was true. Anyway, that inaccurate post is still at RCG's website (it took CBS a while before it decided to distance itself from the inaccurate reporting of "rathergate' as well).

Speaking of RCG inaccuracies, both David Pack and Ernest Owino must have known that their two posts last month, on LCG/RCG differences and the Open Letter respectively, were full of inaccuracies about LCG teachings.

As I mentioned in my 2/05/05 post on the previous news of this page, several of the alleged changes were not true and both David Pack and Ernest Owino must have both known this. While it is true that most of the people can be fooled most of the time, it is also true that the true Philadelphians cannot be fooled all of the time (Matthew 24:24; Revelation 3:10-11).

03/11/05 a.m. From CEG, "On March 10, 2005, www.wsws.org published a remarkable article, titled, "German Chancellor Schröder's business trip to the Gulf States." The article pointed out: "US President George W. Bush had hardly finished his four-day European tour when German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder began a seven-day tour of the Arabian peninsula. He travelled to seven Gulf States, five of which had never before received a visit from a German head of government. Schröder's journey casts into sharp relief the reasons for the INCREASING TENSIONS between the US and Germany, which were barely concealed during Bush's stop in Mainz. At stake are naked ECONOMIC and STRATEGIC interests -- not peace, stability, liberty or democracy, as the official propaganda of both sides would have one believe. "The Gulf possesses the world's largest supplies of oil, the most important strategic raw material for the economy of the twenty-first century. Moreover, thanks to the billions of dollars that flow into their coffers as a result of the high price of oil, those in power in the Gulf States are among the biggest international investors and purchasers of Western products. Schröder's journey was aimed at cashing in on German reservations towards the Iraq war and US policy in the Middle East. To some extent, the German chancellor was acting as a poacher in what is usually considered Washington's preserve -- a region that the US endeavours to keep firmly under its influence economically and politically. The billion-dollar contraccts for the reconstruction of war-torn Iraq went nearly exclusively to American companies and, to a lesser degree, British firms... According to Ulrich Schäfer, writing in the Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Schröder's message read: 'Our vacuum cleaner can do everything. The German economy sucks up everything.' "

03/04/05 a.m. In an ad in the Connections section of The Journal, CG21's RF McNair wrote, "Those who believe a"Temple [naos] of God"will be built in Jerusalem before Christ’s Return, often point to Revelation 11 and 2 Thessalonians 2 in support of their belief. But other students of Bible prophecy point out that the New Testament clearly refers to the true"CHURCH"as a"TEMPLE [naos],"according to Ephesians 2:20-22. Those who believe a literal"Temple [naos]"is implied is Revelation 11:1-2, seem not to have noticed that God sometimes uses a"measuring rod"in a symbolic sense, to indicate God’s spiritual judgment (or measurement) of humans (Heb. 3:16; 2 Cor. 10:12- 18). Some people believe Revelation 11:1-2 could indicate, symbolically, that God will"measure . . . those who worship"in"His spiritual Temple"(the"Church,"or"Body of Christ"), rather than implying a physical"Temple"will exist in Jerusalem during the 31/2-year ministry of God’s two"prophets,"called His"TWO WITNESSES"(Rev. 11:3). Apparently, those who believe the"TEMPLE [naos]"mentioned in 2 Thes. 2:3-4 is a literal"temple"have not considered that the"Man of Sin"(the"Son of Perdition") who will sit in the"TEMPLE of God"could refer to some person who will claim to be a converted child of God, and like Simon Magus (Acts 8), will do his insidious, deceitful work inside the true Church of God, the very Body of Jesus Christ! If this"Man of Sin"refers to a great religious leader in Rome, as some have thought, then how can one conclude that this"son of perdition"could"fall away"(or"apostatize") from the Truth—because the context of this text indicates that the Man of Sin will neither understand, nor obey, God’s Truth, as revealed in His Word!"

In another ad, CG-FF's Don Billingsley wrote, "Some few years ago we saw pictures in the Plain Truth of huge piles of wheat piled high in the streets of towns due to the elevators being full and running over. Recently, to my shocking surprise, I learned this huge reserve storage of grain no longer exists! Read it for yourself: The Western Times, Sharon Springs, Kansas, December 30, 2004:"Dear Editor, My jaw nearly hit to the floor when I examined a copy of the November 1, 2004 inventory list of U.S.D.A. Commodity Credit Corporation [C.C.C.] owned stocks. There is no doubt the levels are at AN ALL TIME LOW."I find it difficult to imagine in a time of war, we would allow ourselves this vulnerability. The current C.C.C. inventory is as follows: corn—100,000 bushels, barley—100,000 bushels, oats—100,000 bushels, wheat . . . 2,300,000 bushels, non-fat dry milk . . . 3,700,000 pounds, cheese . . . 1,100,000 pounds."The C.C.C. owned inventories are ZERO for the following commodities: butter, soybeans, sorghum, rice, honey, peanuts, canola, flax seed, sunflower oil and seed, dry peas and lentils."Do the math! Total these figures and divide them by current U.S. Population [293,027,571 as of 7-1-04] and you discover our food reserves can be measured in ounces! Imagine less than one pound of commodity per citizen. ‘THE CUPBOARD IS BARE.’"In fact, the entire nation’s non-committed C.C.C. grain stocks could be stored in Pawnee County, KS elevators utilizing less than 50% of storage capacity! . . ."There is no surplus of food in our world, or for that manner, in this country. Stocks of food and fiber must be viewed as an asset, not a liability. The fact of the matter is the United States now operates with ‘a trade deficit’ with regard to agriculture. So much for the old slogan,"we feed the world."THE WORLD NOW FEEDS US!"

The US is setting itself up for a major fall with its financial house of cards and its agricultural policies. This is so well documented that it is hard to believe that most ignore it. I should probably add that Canada is in a similar predicament.

On a related note, today CEG reported, "The "Executive Intelligence Review" reported on February 25, that "A series of international conferences... has led to the open airing of panic within the international financial elite. Top on the agenda is concern over the U.S. dollar, which declined about 30% between early 2002 and early 2004, but, equally importantly, the debt-drowned condition of the U.S. economy, which an increasing number of bankers believe cannot be sustained.""

02/18/05 a.m. CEG reports, "As RFE/RL reported on February 14, 2005, "German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder surprised participants at an international security conference over the weekend by suggesting the NATO alliance is outdated. Speaking through Germany's defense minister [Peter Struck], Schroeder [who did not attend the meeting] told the meeting in the German city of Munich that NATO no longer is the main vehicle for setting trans-Atlantic strategy... '[NATO] is no longer the primary place where trans-Atlantic partners consult and coordinate their strategic ideas,' Struck said. 'The same goes for the dialogue between the European Union and the United States, which in its present form does not correspond with the growing weight of the alliance or the new challenges of trans-Atlantic cooperation.'"

There will be various strains in the military alliance between the US and the EU, probably right up until the US no longer is a military power.

02/15/05 a.m. David Pack wrote this about his sermon Foretold: Watchman to Israel—Messenger to Laodicea!, "This is the most important sermon that I have ever given. If you have never heard one of my sermons, start with this one. If you never hear another, listen to this one".

The following is from a partial transcript by Gary Scott of that RCG sermon:

"You can’t point to an ordination service [for authority.] That becomes a problem, doesn’t it? If there was an ordination service, and [...] the Watchman is ordained right there in front of everybody, then it would be real clear, as long as you knew the man over him was true and had the authority to do it...There will be people hopping mad when they hear me claim this. I believe I was selected as early as 1993. That’s why I was the first pastor in the world who was fired."

Apparently, David Pack is saying that he is the Watchman and Messenger because he was the first pastor to be fired. I do not believe he was the first pastor ever fired, so apparently he meant something else.

In the second part of that sermon (it was a two-parter) David Pack states,"We’ve got nowhere near fifteen years left...there was no way that the"Short Work"will last even ten years."

What is most astounding to me about the above comment is that in his open letter, Ernest Owino stated, "Then there is the prevailing, but ridiculous idea, promoted by LCG’s leader, that Christ could likely return in 2017!"

Actually, LCG teaches that it is likely that Christ will return by, not in, 2017. So why this is a reason he gave for supporting RCG (especially in the context of David Pack's comments) astounds me. Certainly, any with eyes to see and ears to hear can tell that nothing about the E. Owino departure seems right.

02/13/05 a.m. Apparently (according to one with affiliation with RCG as I do not receive RCG's co-worker letters) on February 7, 2005, RCG' David Pack sent out his co-worker letter containing these comments, "Obviously, as would be expected, Mr. Owino’s letter and the "LCG Changes" list have brought the beginning of what I think will be a rolling explosion. There is no question that it brought an initial explosion, and this included the very predictable personal attacks and innuendos against Mr. Owino, including carefully contrived outright lies about his actions from the "usual suspects" in these matters. People who professed sincere love for him just the day before are publicly slandering Mr. Owino as of yesterday. But such is the hypocrisy and deceit of our time."

As far as know, I was the only one to publicly address Ernest Owino's letter on February 6, 2005, thus I must assume this cowardly attack is to a major degree addressed to me.

So, let me state that because I knew about the accusations against Ernest Owino for perhaps a year prior to his departure, I never publicly defended him (hence did not publicly profess the type of sincere love that DP is alluding too). I did however, pray about his situation (and that demonstrating of sincere love was not public), but until last Sunday saw no reason to mention anything about him publicly. David Pack must have asked Ernest Owino by now what he was being investigated for (and he can ask Ernest Owino if he still has not done so), so there is no reason to go into that further here.

As Jesus taught, "And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God" (John 3:19-21).

Now, for the benefit of those who do not receive the Living Church News, let me quote from Ernest Owino's article on page 14 of the Jan-Feb 2005 edition, "The foundation that has so far been laid in East Africa appears firm enough to withstand any spiritual hurricane. During my ministerial visits with the congregations in East Africa, I have tried to help our brethren to be constantly on guard against spiritual onslaughts and innumerable false prophets...our prayers are with the Church leadership in Charlotte."

Note that Ernest Owino is stating that he is encouraging his flocks to support LCG's leadership in Charlotte. Any who wish to verify Ernest Owino's statement can go to www.cogl.org and call up the Living Church News and read it for themselves.

My question remains, what doctrinal change occurred since he wrote this (and the article itself shows that he wrote it after the Feast of Tabernacles 2004) that made Ernest Owino change his public opinion?

As far as I can tell, not one of the so-called changes his open letter referred to happened during that time frame.

I simply suspect that David Pack does not like light on his writings and actions, and hence the attacks.

Perhaps I should add here that on Friday I received emails from three unrelated people who were affiliated with RCG, who now tell me that they are leaning towards LCG. One of whom told me that David Pack specifically does not like RCG members going to the COGwriter website (I presume he does not care for the light shown here).

I urge those still with RCG to open their Bibles and read my recent article titled The Elijah Heresies as I believe they make clear that RCG is not being faithful to the word of God on this subject.

Click here for the previous news of those once affiliated with GCG

Bob Thiel, 2005

Click here for the previous news of those once affiliated with GCG

COGwriter, 2005