Church of God News

Portion of 2 Corinthians from late 2nd century
Papyrus 46 (photo from Wikipedia)

COGwriter

The Continuing Church of God is pleased to announce this sermon on its ContinuingCOG channel:

2 Corinthians 2:7-9: Be a Philadelphian Giver

In this sermon, Dr. Thiel goes over each verse of the seventh through ninth chapter of the Apostle Paul’s second epistle (letter) to the Christians in Corinth. Various comments from the late Pastor General of the old Radio/Worldwide Church of God are included. Do Christians need to be cleansed from filthiness? Was Paul sorry that he wrote about correction? Was Titus commended or condemned? What about tithes and offerings? Might the Macedonians be remembered for all eternity for their generosity? Do you give according to your ability? Are you an unprofitable servant? Is giving to the poor under the auspices of the church a sign of being Philadelphian? What about the “way of give” and the world’s “way of get”? Is giving a proof of love and faith? Did Herbert Armstrong say, “Unless you want to do more, with your whole heart, you are not going to get into the Kingdom of God”? Did the Apostle Paul encourage those in Corinth and elsewhere to be generous givers. Could supporting the poor be a sign of the ‘Philadelpianus’ of a Church of God? Dr. Thiel goes over those matters and more.

Here is a link to the video sermon: 2 Corinthians 2:7-9: Be a Philadelphian Giver.

Some items of possibly related interest may include the following:

2 CORINTHIANS Comments on the 2nd Epistle to the Corinthians. Here is a links to related sermons: 2 Corinthians 1-2: Church of God Suffering and Open Door; 2 Corinthians 3: The New Covenant, Jews, & Gentiles; and 2 Corinthians 4-5: Guaranteed Immortality; 2 Corinthians 6: Salvation and Persecutions.
1 CORINTHIANS Comments on the 1st Epistle to the Corinthians. Here are links to related sermons: 1 Corinthians 1-2: God’s Spirit & the Ways of the World, 1 Corinthians 3-4: Christianity Requires Repentance, 1 Corinthians 5-6: The Church and Bad Apples, 1 Corinthians 7-8: Sex, Remarriage, and Christian Love, 1 Corinthians 9-10: Authority, Idols, and Love, 1 Corinthians 11-12: Hair, Veils, & Spiritual Gifts, 1 Corinthians 13-14: Love, Prophecy, and Tongues, and1 Corinthians 15-16: Resurrection Hope, Collections, and Love.
What is a True Philadelphian? What is one? Should you be a true Philadelphian? Here are links to two related videos: Be a Real Philadelphian Christian and Be a Philadephian Witness.
Tithing Questions and Some Answers Answers questions about tithing and also addresses some non-biblical arguments against tithing. Should people tithe?Here is a link to a related sermon: Tithes and Tithing. Here is a link to an older sermon: Tithing Answers from the Bible.
Why Holy Day Offerings? This is a slightly updated version of an article originally by WCG evangelist Leroy Neff that was published in the old Good News magazine in September 1983. Here is a link to a related video message: Why Holy Day Offerings?
Is Second Tithe and Third Tithe Still Valid Today? Should you save and use second tithe? Some in the COGs no longer teach payment of third tithe, is this biblically correct?
Continuing Church of God Donations page This has information on how and where to donate as well as how funds received are spent. Here is a link to ta related video: How Does the CCOG Spend Tithes & Offerings?
Ending Your FINANCIAL WORRIES How can people help themselves and others financially? Herbert W. Armstrong wrote this as a booklet on this important subject. A video of related interest would be: Dealing With Financial Worries.
About Baptism Should you be baptized? Could baptism be necessary for salvation? Who should baptize and how should it be done?
Christians: Ambassadors for the Kingdom of God, Biblical instructions on living as a Christian This is a scripture-filled booklet for those wishing to live as a real Christian.Two related sermons are also available:  Living as a Christian and Christians are Ambassadors for the Kingdom of God. Here is a video in Spanish: ¿Qué es un verdadero cristiano?
The Ten Commandments: The Decalogue, Christianity, and the Beast This is a free draft/unedited pdf book explaining the what the Ten Commandments are, where they came from, how early professors of Christ viewed them, and how various ones, including the Beast of Revelation, will oppose them. A related sermon is titled: The Ten Commandments and the Beast of Revelation.
Proof Jesus is the Messiah This free book has over 200 Hebrew prophecies were fulfilled by Jesus. Plus, His arrival was consistent with specific prophecies and even Jewish interpretations of prophecy. Here are links to seven related sermons: Proof Jesus is the Messiah, Prophecies of Jesus’ birth, timing, and death, Jesus’ prophesied divinity, 200+ OT prophecies Jesus filled; Plus prophecies He made, Why Don’t Jews Accept Jesus?, Daniel 9, Jews, and Jesus, and Facts and Atheists’ Delusions About Jesus. Plus the links to two sermonettes: Luke’s census: Any historical evidence? and Muslims believe Jesus is the Messiah, but …
Is God’s Existence Logical? Is it really logical to believe in God? Yes! Would you like Christian answers to give atheists? This is a free online booklet that deal with improper theories and musings called science related to the origin of the origin of the universe, the origin of life, and evolution. Here is a link to a related sermon: Evolution is NOT the Origin of Life. Two animated videos of related interest are also available: Big Bang: Nothing or Creator? and A Lifegiver or Spontaneous Evolution?
Christians: Ambassadors for the Kingdom of God, Biblical instructions on living as a Christian This is a scripture-filled booklet for those wishing to live as a real Christian. A related sermon is also available: Christians are Ambassadors for the Kingdom of God.
Beliefs of the Original Catholic Church: Could a remnant group have continuing apostolic succession? Did the original “catholic church” have doctrines held by the Continuing Church of God? Did Church of God leaders uses the term “catholic church” to ever describe the church they were part of? Here are links to related sermons: Original Catholic Church of God?, Original Catholic Doctrine: Creed, Liturgy, Baptism, Passover, What Type of Catholic was Polycarp of Smyrna?, Tradition, Holy Days, Salvation, Dress, & Celibacy, Early Heresies and Heretics, Doctrines: 3 Days, Abortion, Ecumenism, Meats, Tithes, Crosses, Destiny, and more, Saturday or Sunday?, The Godhead, Apostolic Laying on of Hands Succession, Church in the Wilderness Apostolic Succession List, Holy Mother Church and Heresies, and Lying Wonders and Original Beliefs. Here is a link to that book in the Spanish language: Creencias de la iglesia Católica original.
Hope of Salvation: How the Continuing Church of God Differs from Protestantism The CCOG is NOT Protestant. This free online book explains how the real Church of God differs from mainstream/traditional Protestants. Several sermons related to the free book are also available: Protestant, Baptist, and CCOG History; The First Protestant, God’s Command, Grace, & Character; The New Testament, Martin Luther, and the Canon; Eucharist, Passover, and Easter; Views of Jews, Lost Tribes, Warfare, & Baptism; Scripture vs. Tradition, Sabbath vs. Sunday; Church Services, Sunday, Heaven, and God’s Plan; Seventh Day Baptists/Adventists/Messianics: Protestant or COG?; Millennial Kingdom of God and God’s Plan of Salvation; Crosses, Trees, Tithes, and Unclean Meats; The Godhead and the Trinity; Fleeing or Rapture?; and Ecumenism, Rome, and CCOG Differences.
The MYSTERY of GOD’s PLAN: Why Did God Create Anything? Why Did God Make You? This free online book helps answers some of the biggest questions that human have, including the biblical meaning of life. Here is a link to three related sermons: Mysteries of God’s Plan, Mysteries of Truth, Sin, Rest, Suffering, and God’s Plan, Mystery of Race, and The Mystery of YOU. Here is a link to a video in Spanish: El Misterio del Plan de Dios.
Universal OFFER of Salvation, Apokatastasis: Can God save the lost in an age to come? Hundreds of scriptures reveal God’s plan of salvation Will all get a fair chance at salvation? This free book is packed with scriptures showing that God does intend to offer salvation to all who ever lived–the elect in this age, and the rest in the age to come. Here is a link to a related sermon series: Universal Offer of Salvation 1: Apocatastasis, Universal Offer of Salvation 2: Jesus Desires All to be Saved, Mysteries of the Great White Throne Judgment (Universal Offer of Salvation part 3), Is God Fair, Will God Pardon the Ignorant?, Can God Save Your Relatives?, Babies, Limbo, Purgatory and God’s Plan, and ‘By the Mouth of All His Holy Prophets’.
The Gospel of the Kingdom of God This free online pdf booklet has answers many questions people have about the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and explains why it is the solution to the issues the world is facing. It is available in hundreds of languages at ccog.org. Here are links to four kingdom-related sermons:  The Fantastic Gospel of the Kingdom of God!, The World’s False Gospel, The Gospel of the Kingdom: From the New and Old Testaments, and The Kingdom of God is the Solution.
Where is the True Christian Church Today? This free online pdf booklet answers that question and includes 18 proofs, clues, and signs to identify the true vs. false Christian church. Plus 7 proofs, clues, and signs to help identify Laodicean churches. A related sermon is also available: Where is the True Christian Church? Here is a link to the booklet in the Spanish language: ¿Dónde está la verdadera Iglesia cristiana de hoy? Here is a link in the German language: WO IST DIE WAHRE CHRISTLICHE KIRCHE HEUTE? Here is a link in the French language: Où est la vraie Église Chrétienne aujourd’hui?
Continuing History of the Church of God This pdf booklet is a historical overview of the true Church of God and some of its main opponents from Acts 2 to the 21st century. Related sermon links include Continuing History of the Church of God: c. 31 to c. 300 A.D. and Continuing History of the Church of God: 4th-16th Centuries and Continuing History of the Church of God: 17th-20th Centuries. The booklet is available in Spanish: Continuación de la Historia de la Iglesia de Dios, German: Kontinuierliche Geschichte der Kirche Gottes, and Ekegusii Omogano Bw’ekanisa Ya Nyasae Egendererete.
CCOG.ORG Continuing Church of God The group striving to be most faithful amongst all real Christian groups to the word of God. There are links to literature is about 100 different languages there.
Congregations of the Continuing Church of God This is a listing of congregations and groups of the Continuing Church of God around the world.
Continuing Church of God Facebook page This has news and prophetic information.
Continuing Church of God, Africa, Facebook page This has news and prophetic information.
Continuing Church of God, Canada, Facebook page This has news and prophetic information.
Continuing Church of God, Europe, Facebook page This has news and prophetic information.
CCOG.ASIA We in the Continuing Church of God also have the url www.ccog.asia which has a focus on Asia and has various articles in Mandarin Chinese as well as some in English, plus some items in other Asian languages. 我们在继续神的教会也提供此网址 www.ccog.asia, 关注于亚洲并且有各种各样的中英文文章，其中一些用菲律宾语翻译的文章也正在进行中，准备添加到这个网站中。 Here is a link to our Statement of Beliefs in Mandarin Chinese 继续神的教会的信仰声明.
CCOG.IN This is a website targeted towards those of Indian heritage. It has a link to an edited Hindi translation of The Mystery of the Ages and is expected to have more non-English language materials in the future.
CCOG.EU This is a website targeted toward Europe. It has materials in more than one language (currently it has English, Dutch, and Serbian, with links also to Spanish) and it is intended to have additional language materials added.
CCOG.NZ This is a website targeted towards New Zealand and others with a British-descended background.
CCOGAFRICA.ORG This is a website targeted towards those in Africa.
CCOGCANADA.CA This is a website targeted towards those in Canada.
CDLIDD.ES La Continuación de la Iglesia de Dios. This is the Spanish language website for the Continuing Church of God.
CG7.ORG This is a website for those interested in the Sabbath and churches that observe the seventh day Sabbath.
PNIND.PH Patuloy na Iglesya ng Diyos. This is the Philippines website Continuing Church of God. It has information in English and Tagalog.
CCOG Animations YouTube channel. The Continuing Church of God has some animations to teach aspects of Christian beliefs. Also available at BitChute COGAnimations https://www.bitchute.com/channel/coganimations/
Bible News Prophecy channel. Dr. Thiel has produced hundreds of videos for the BibleNewsProphecy channel. You can find them at them on YouTube at BibleNewsProphecy https://www.youtube.com/user/BibleNewsProphecy, plus also on Vimeo at Bible News Prophecy https://vimeo.com/channels/biblenewsprophecy as well as on Brighteon Bible News Prophecy https://www.brighteon.com/channel/ccogbnp and Bitchute Prophecy https://www.bitchute.com/channel/prophecy/
CCOGAfrica channel. This has messages from African pastors in African languages such as Kalenjin, Kiswahili, Embu, and Dholuo. Also available at BitChute COGAfrica https://www.bitchute.com/channel/cogafrica/
CDLIDDSermones channel. This contains messages in the Spanish language
BibleNewsProphecy Podcast. This has audio-visual podcasts of the Bible News Prophecy channgel. It plays on i-Phones, i-Pads, and Windows devices that can play i-Tunes.
Bible News Prophecy online radio. This is an audio version of the Bible News Prophecy videos. It is also available as a mobile app.
ContinuingCOG channel. Dr. Thiel has produced scores of YouTube video sermons for this channel. Note: Since these are sermon-length, they can take a little longer to load than other YouTube videos. Also available at BitChute COGTube https://www.bitchute.com/channel/cogtube/
Statement of Beliefs of the Continuing Church of God “Contend earnestly for the faith once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3, NKJV), “Let brotherly love (Philadelphia) continue” (Hebrews 13:1) ” & continuing stedfastly in the teaching of the apostles” (Acts 2:42 YLT). So, what does that really mean in terms of specific beliefs–the Statement gives answers? Here is a related link in Spanish/español: Declaración de las Doctrinas de la Continuación de la Iglesia de Dios. Here is a related link in Tagalog: Paglalahad ng Mga Paniniwala ng Patuloy na Iglesya ng Diyos. Here is a related link in Mandarin Chinese ~ç~íy^v„eYOv„OáNðXðf. Here is a related link in Kiswahili: KATIKA LUGHA YA KISWAHILI. Here is a related link in Dutch: Verklaring van geloofspunten van de Continuing Church of God. Here is a related link in Deutsche (German): Glaubenserklärung der Continuing Church of God. Here is a related link in Italiano: Dichiarazione del Credo della Continuing Church of God. Here is related link in the French language: Déclaration des croyances de L’Église Continue de Dieu. Here is a related link in the Chichewa language: ZIKHULUPIRIRO ZA MPINGO WA CONTINUING CHURCH OF GOD. Here is a link in Romanian: Declarația de credințe a continuării Bisericii lui Dumnezeu. Here is a link in Portuguese: Declaração de Crenças da Continuação da Igreja de Deus. Here is a link in Russian: Утверждение верований о продолжении Церкви Божьей. Here is a link to a related English-language sermon: Beliefs of the Continuing Church of God. Here is a link to a booklet titled: Statement of Beliefs of the Continuing Church of God.

Interfaith slogan (Pixabay)

COGwriter

NPR reported the following:

Parliament of the World’s Religions seeks understanding and action

August 11, 2023

Anila Ali traces her interest in the interfaith movement to scripture.

“God says in the Koran to Muslims,” she says, “I have created you into tribes—different tribes—so that you may get to know each other.” … “Islam came to liberate women. It was a modern, progressive religion. And a lot of the teachings have been stolen.”

Stolen, she says, by religious radicals.

“And I feel that it’s time we set the record straight,” Ali says.

Part of setting the record straight is her participation in this year’s Parliament of the World’s Religions, which begins Sunday in Chicago. …

The Parliament is one of the world’s largest inter-faith gatherings and comes at a time when belief is often seen as a force that divides. But its progressive organizers want to send a different message

Some 10,000 participants from more than 80 countries and 200 religious traditions will convene in Chicago.

The meeting has its origins back in 1893, when the first Parliament of the World’s Religions took place as part of the world’s fair known as the Columbian Exposition. The gathering was held in what is now the Art Institute of Chicago and is viewed as the birth of the modern interfaith movement, which holds that different religions have something to learn from each other and can cooperate for the good of humanity. …

Among this year’s participants is Michael Bernard Beckwith, founder of Agape International Spiritual Center in Los Angeles, part of the New Thought movement. …

This idea of a global ethic has its origins in the work of the Swiss theologian and Catholic priest Hans Küng. …

The theme of this year’s Parliament is “A Call to Conscience: Defending Freedom and Human Rights.” It’s a call close to program chair Phyllis Curott’s heart.

“We are we recognize that we are creating the world as we wish it to be,” she says.

Curott is a Wiccan priestess, … it is sometimes difficult, says Parliament executive director Stephen Avino, for people to see the good that religions do given how people use faith to abridge the rights of others based on race, gender and sexual orientation.

Depending on who wields it, Ali says, religious power can bring destruction or light.

“It is also like fire.” https://www.npr.org/2023/08/11/1192525419/parliament-of-the-worlds-religions-seeks-understanding-and-action

The interfaith movement has many parts. It is good to peacefully cooperate with people, whether or not they share the same religion. However, much of what the interfaith movement pushes is opposed to the Bible as well as it tends to ignore the real God. Many in it, push condoning of sexual and other immorality that the Bible says should not be condoned (cf. Romans 1:18-32).

Despite supposedly preaching tolerance, the interfaith movement wants to shut down aspects of religious and moral speech (e.g. see Interfaith leaders opposing LGBT conversion therapy).

Here is a video about the interfaith movement promoting sexual immorality:

15:05 

Interfaith movement pushing LGBTQ+ agenda

Deutsche Welle reported “LGBT conversion therapy: Religious leaders call for ban to ‘abhorrent’ practice.” 370 religious leaders around the world have declared their support for the LGBTQ+ agenda. They declare their support of the view of the World Health Organization that it is normal to not be cisgender heterosexual. They bemoan “that certain religious teachings have often, throughout the ages” (like those of the Bible) have “caused … offense to those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex.” The Global Interfaith Commission on LGBT+ Lives wants people to tell their religious leaders to sign a supportive “Global Declaration.’ Yet, this is in conflict with scripture. In this video, Dr. Thiel quotes scriptures from the Holy Bible that clearly oppose and condemn homosexuality, lesbianism, transgenderism, and male effeminacy. God is not the author of confusion. Dr. Thiel also quotes passages in the Bible where God warns what will happen to those who despise His statutes, abhors God’s judgments, so that you do not perform all His commandments. Dr. Thiel also points to the totalitarian system the interfaith agenda is moving towards.

Here is a link to the video: Interfaith movement pushing LGBTQ+ agenda.

The interfaith movement tends to favor different commandments. Related to that, we put out the following video:

The Vatican has long been pushing aspects of the interfaith agenda, including the promotion of items that are associated with paganism (see Vatican continues to promote interfaith agenda, including “Amazonian religion’ paganism). The Vatican also is working towards various plans with the Muslims (see ‘The Catholic-Muslim Interfaith Council Created By Pope Francis Announces New Chrislam Headquarters Opening In 2022’). Protestants and many others also are supporting related aspects of this (e.g. CT: Global Church is experiencing an ‘ecumenical emergency’; CNA: Anglicans recognize Pope as ‘father of the Church in the West,’ says archbishop of Canterbury and Pope Francis and WCC pushing interfaith agenda).

A forced religion is to come upon the world per Revelation 13. It, in my view, will have many aspects of the interfaith and ecumenical agenda that the Vatican, the United Nations, and the World Council of Churches has been promoting.

The religious should realize that the Bible opposes the interfaith agenda:

14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? 15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said:

“I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.”

17 Therefore

“Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” (2 Corinthians 6:14-17)

Real Christians are NOT to support the interfaith plans.

Do not be deceived by it or the emerging interfaith agenda.

It will not bring the type of peace and cooperation it publicly hopes for.

For that, we need the return of Jesus and the Kingdom of God.

55 fatalities confirmed amid active Lahaina fire https://t.co/5qDWktNhzl pic.twitter.com/R3G0GLuesx

— County of Maui (@CountyofMaui) August 11, 2023

COGwriter

Here are a couple of reports related to the Maui wildfires:

At least 55 people died on Maui. Residents had little warning before wildfires overtook a town

August 11, 2023

LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — Hawaii emergency management records show no indication that warning sirens sounded before people ran for their lives from wildfires on Maui that killed at least 55 people and wiped out a historic town. Instead, officials sent alerts to mobile phones, televisions and radio stations — but widespread power and cellular outages may have limited their reach.

Hawaii boasts what the state describes as the largest integrated outdoor all-hazard public safety warning system in the world, with about 400 sirens positioned across the island chain to alert people to various natural disasters and other threats.

But many of survivors said in interviews Thursday that they didn’t hear any sirens or receive a warning that gave them enough time to prepare, only realizing they were in danger when they saw flames or heard explosions nearby. https://apnews.com/article/hawaii-fires-maui-lahaina-sirens-c0f3cc5c7718bd41dd54d38479fb29b2

Maui wildfires death toll at 55 as warning sirens’ silence questioned

August 11, 2023

Maui residents who made desperate escapes from oncoming flames, some on foot, asked why Hawaii’s famous emergency warning system didn’t alert them as fires raced toward their homes.

Hawaii emergency management records show no indication that warning sirens were triggered before a devastating wildfire killed at least 55 people and wiped out most of the historic town of Lahaina, officials confirmed Thursday.

The toll is expected to rise as crews search scorched areas for survivors and those who lost their lives. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hawaii-wildfires-maui-lahaina-death-toll-warning-sirens/

The Maui wildfires, which haven’t been fully contained, are the deadliest to occur in the United States since 2018, when 85 people died in northern California’s Camp Fire, the most destructive in the state’s history.

The death toll and damage from the fires in Hawaii were unimaginable, officials said. Hawaii Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke (D) said Lahaina had been “decimated” and “forever changed.” The fires are testing Maui residents “like never before,” Mayor Richard Bissen said. “We are grieving with each other during this inconsolable time.” …

Destroyed Lahaina was once the Hawaiian kingdom’s capital, global trade hub

While wildfires take place every year on the Hawaiian islands, this week’s inferno was uncommon in its ferocity. At least 1,700 structures were destroyed, Green told CNN, while nearly 11,000 people are still without power in Maui, according to PowerOutage.us.

Months of drought set the stage for the fires by drying out vegetation, which has become more flammable in recent decades because of the spread of nonnative grasses. But it was the advent of unusually powerful winds that caused the fires to spread out of control so quickly. Gusts as high as 67 mph were reported in Maui County.

As the fast-moving fires tore through dry grasslands, many of those who evacuated their homes on Maui said they felt lucky to survive. 08/10/23 https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/other/hawaii-s-worst-fires-leave-lahaina-in-ruins-as-death-toll-rises-to-53/ar-AA1f7dIA

Wildfires happen every year. But they have been worsening, noticeably.

Here is some of what the Bible has about God and fires:

11 The Lord said:

“Surely it will be well with your remnant;
Surely I will cause the enemy to intercede with you
In the time of adversity and in the time of affliction.
12 Can anyone break iron,
The northern iron and the bronze?
13 Your wealth and your treasures
I will give as plunder without price,
Because of all your sins,
Throughout your territories.
14 And I will make you cross over with your enemies
Into a land which you do not know;
For a fire is kindled in My anger,
Which shall burn upon you.” (Jeremiah 15:11-14)

12 O house of David! Thus says the Lord:

“Execute judgment in the morning;
And deliver him who is plundered
Out of the hand of the oppressor,
Lest My fury go forth like fire
And burn so that no one can quench it,
Because of the evil of your doings.

13 “Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley,
And rock of the plain,” says the Lord,
“Who say, ‘Who shall come down against us?
Or who shall enter our dwellings?’
14 But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings,” says the Lord;
“I will kindle a fire in its forest,
And it shall devour all things around it.”‘ (Jeremiah 21:12-14)

11 The Lord has fulfilled His fury,
He has poured out His fierce anger.
He kindled a fire in Zion,
And it has devoured its foundations. (Lamentations 4:11)

15 There the fire will devour you,
The sword will cut you off;
It will eat you up like a locust. (Nahum 3:15)

My prayers are with those affected by the fires.

As far as fires go, the Continuing Church of God has the following video related to weather and fires on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel:

Fires and the Wrath of God

Fires have hit many places; Significant wildfires have hit California. Shortly after the start of the Thomas Fire, then California Governor Jerry Brown warned that the US President did not have “the fear of the wrath of God.” Does God use fire to encourage people to change? What are some of the scriptures associated with fire in the Bible? What is sin? What are some of the scriptures associated with the wrath of God in the New Testament? Is Governor Brown being hypocritical here? What happened to Sodom and Gomorrah? Is this relevant now? What did Jesus teach about the time of Sodom and the coming time of troubles? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues and more.

We continue to see troubles in many parts of the world.

That said, consider that various news reports on the fires in Maui suggest that many had almost no warning and that the warning sirens were either not working or loud enough to help. People thought that they we respond to warnings in time, but many did not.

In the 21st century, most real Christians are Laodicean. According to Jesus’ words in Revelation 3:14-18, they think that they are spiritually fine, when they are not.

Most Laodiceans believe that they will see the signs and heed the call to flee when it is time. Yet, according to other passages in scripture, such as Revelation 12:17, they will not.

Unlike those in Maui, scripture says that God’s people should NOT wait until the last minute to flee.

If you are not truly supporting the Philadelphian work at this time, do not deceive yourself that you will know when it is time to flee–Jesus only promised that to the Philadelphians in Revelation 3:7-13.

God inspired the Prophet Zephaniah to also write the following:

1 Gather yourselves together, yes, gather together, O undesirable nation, (Zephaniah 2:1)

Although it has certain misunderstandings, the Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary realized that the gathering together was intended for a religious group or assembly:

Zephaniah 2:1

Gather yourselves together – to a religious assembly, to avert the judgment by prayers, (Joel 2:16, “Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders,” etc.) (from Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright © 1997, 2003, 2005, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)

When are they to gather together?

2 Before the decree is issued, Or the day passes like chaff, Before the Lord’s fierce anger comes upon you, Before the day of the Lord’s anger comes upon you! (Zephaniah 2:2)

The gathering is to take place well before the day of the Lord (which happens about 2 1/2 years after the Great Tribulation of Matthew 24:21 begins) and before some type of decree is issued.

Who does God want to gather together?

The end time Christians. Notice what Jesus stated and something the Apostle Peter wrote:

19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. (John 15:19, NKJV)

9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: 10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. (1 Peter 2:9-10, KJV)

This is a peculiar people. These are people who the world does not desire. These are Philadelphian Christians.

How do we know that Zephaniah 2:1-3 is related to Christians? Because the decree is for the end time and because of what else God inspired Zephaniah to write:

3 Seek the Lord, all you meek of the earth, Who have upheld His justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility. (Zephaniah 2:3a)

The above is a reference to Christians as they are to be the “meek of the earth” (Matthew 5:5) and to Philadelphians who “have upheld His justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility.” These are Philadelphian Christians who understand that church leaders need to have integrity and are willing to be humble enough to accept the authority of a church led by a low-level prophet in the absence of a clear apostle (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:28; Ephesians 4:11-15). They are humble enough to not think that they should remain ‘independent,’ as many who once were part of the old Worldwide Church of God, during this Laodicean time, have done.

Laodicea basically means “people decide” and most Christians in the end time have sadly decided not to follow true church governance for many reasons that they feel are justified, but that goes against what they biblically should do (see also The Bible, Peter, Paul, John, Polycarp, Herbert W. Armstrong, Roderick C. Meredith, and Bob Thiel on Church Government).

Why does God tell them they may wish to be gathered together? So:

3…It may be that you will be hidden In the day of the Lord’s anger. (Zephaniah 2:3b)

Interestingly, the Hebrew words translated as Zephaniah means “Yahweh Hides” or “Yahweh Has Hidden” (Holy Bible: Vine’s Expository Reference Edition, p. 826).

Why have I written that Zephaniah 2:1-3 has to do with Philadelphian Christians?

For they are the only ones who will actually ‘gather together’ as they should.

Why?

Because it is they who will lead the final phase of the work and it is only to the Philadelphians that Jesus promises to protect from the coming hour of trial, also referred to as the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord:

7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write,

‘These things says He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens”: 8 “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name. 9 Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie — indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. 10 Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. 11 Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown. 12 He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.

13 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”‘ (Revelation 3:7-13)

Notice that the Philadelphians are doing the work of God, have kept God’s word, have not denied Christ’s name/authority, and are persevering in the truth.

Yet, other churches around at the end, such as the remnants of Thyatira (Revelation 2:18-29) and Sardis (Revelation 3:1-6) are not promised that protection. Nor are the many Laodiceans (Revelation 3:14-22)–even if they are somehow gathered together–as they have gathered together in places that Jesus did not wish them to.

Are not all real Christians going to be protected?

No. The Book of Revelation is clear that after the Philadelphians are persecuted (cf. Daniel 7:25a; 11:29-36), that group will flee to a place of protection, while the rest of the true Christians will not flee and then be subject to severe persecution:

13 Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. 14 But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. 15 So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. 16 But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. (Revelation 12:13-17)

What kind of decree will be issued?

A decree that may allow those who are gathered together and who listen to it an opportunity to be protected (Zephaniah 2:1-3). A decree that the Philadelphians will listen to and flee.

When is a decree to be issued? After an event that Jesus told of that He tied to the writings of the Prophet Daniel:

15 “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), (Matthew 24:15)

14 “So when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not” (let the reader understand), (Mark 13:14a)

What did Jesus say happens next?

16 “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. 19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. (Matthew 24:16-21)

Notice also:

5 Declare in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say:

“Blow the trumpet in the land;
Cry, ‘Gather together,’
And say, ‘Assemble yourselves,
And let us go into the fortified cities.’
6 Set up the standard toward Zion.
Take refuge! Do not delay!
For I will bring disaster from the north,
And great destruction.” (Jeremiah 4:5-6)

The decree to ‘gather together’ will be repeated in the area of Judah just before the time of great destruction.

Why a decree?

Apparently, to make it easier for people who read what Jesus said to better be able to understand that Matthew 24:15 and Mark 13:14 and Daniel 9:27b and Daniel 11:31 had been fulfilled.

By whom will the decree be made?

The Bible says:

7 Surely the Lord God does nothing,
Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.
8 A lion has roared!
Who will not fear?
The Lord God has spoken!
Who can but prophesy? (Amos 3:7-8)

The prophet may make the decree personally and/or pass it on to another authority in the church to make.

Who is the only Church of God in the 21st century to teach all of this?

The Continuing Church of God.

If you are not with the group that is leading the final phase of the work will you not see that you will not be able to flee if you wait until the last moment? While that may be remotely possible for some, remember that God inspired Zephaniah to admonish God’s people to ‘gather together…before the decree is issued.’

Most will discount this and many will scoff. Most COGs do not have anyone considered to be a prophet, and in those other than the CCOG who claim to, have prophets that have been proven to be false (e.g. PCG, CGPFKG, TPM). But the Bible says that there will be prophets in the last days and that God does communicate with them in dreams (see Dreams, the Bible, the Radio Church of God, and the Continuing Church of God and/or watch Dreams, COGs, and One Man Rule).

Most end time Christians do not accept how God truly works. If so, they would accept the last days’ signs that were prophesied, such as those in Acts 2:17-18. To see if the Continuing Church of God has them, check out the article: Does the CCOG have the confirmed signs of Acts 2:17-18?

Jesus taught paying attentions to world events and prophecy is important:

34 “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. 35 For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:34-36)

Notice Jesus said to watch and pray ALWAYS. He was referring to prophetic matters. THIS CAME FROM JESUS, BUT MANY SCOFF AT PROPHECY for differing reasons (cf. 2 Peter 3:1-7)–yet being a prophetic scoffer is a mistake (cf. 2 Peter 3:8-9).

Jesus realized that if people did not pay attention to prophecy and pray always, they would not properly take the steps to “be counted worthy to escape all these things.” Yes, God uses prophecy as a motivator for people. Remember that God used Jonah to warn Nineveh (Jonah 3:1-4) and they repented (Jonah 3:5-9), and they did not get the punishment they were going to get then (Jonah 3:10).

Jesus specifically told the Laodiceans, in a prophecy, that they needed to repent (Revelation 3:19) or face consequences (Revelation 3:14-19, and that they would be rewarded for doing so (Revelation 3:20). The Laodiceans are Church of God Christians “who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Revelation 12:17).

And Zephaniah is clearly telling God’s people to not try to wait until the last minute to flee.

Do not be like those of Siloam or Maui who did not know and then perished.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

There is a Place of Safety for the Philadelphians. Why it May Be Petra This article discusses a biblical ‘place of safety’ and includes quotes from the Bible and Herbert W. Armstrong on this subject–thus, there is a biblically supported alternative to the rapture theory. There is also a video on the subject: Might Petra be the Place of Safety? Here is something related in the Spanish language: Hay un lugar de seguridad para los Filadelfinos. ¿Puede ser Petra?
This is PETRA! This is a 1962 Good News article by the late Dr. Hoeh.
Zephaniah’s ‘Gather Together’ Prophecy Is it safe to be ‘independent’ or in a non-Philadelphian Church of God?  What did God inspire Zephaniah to write?
Independent/Unaffiliated: Independent Members of the COG: Herbert W. Armstrong Comments, Plus Questions and Answers What did Herbert W. Armstrong teach about being independent of the organized Church? Should independents who claim to accept Herbert W. Armstrong’s teachings support the end time Philadelphian work? Here is a link to a related sermon: Church of God Unity. Watch also Zephaniah’s ‘Gather Together’ Prophecy.
Does the CCOG have the confirmed signs of Acts 2:17-18? Does any church have the confirmed dream and prophetic signs of Acts 2:17-18? Should one? Here is a link in the Spanish language: ¿Tiene la CCOG confirmadas las señales de Hechos 2: 17-18? Here is a link in the French language: Est-ce que l’Église Continue de Dieu confirme les signes d’Actes 2:17-18? A related sermon in the English language is also available: 17 Last Days’ Signs of the Holy Spirit.
Weather Blessings and Sorrows Are weather problems a warning? What should be done? Here is a related YouTube video Does God Use Weather?
Fires and the Wrath of God Fires have hit many places; Significant wildfires have hit California. Shortly after the start of the Thomas Fire, California Governor Jerry Brown warned that the US President did not have “the fear of the wrath of God.” Does God use fire to encourage people to change? What are some of the scriptures associated with fire in the Bible? What is sin? What are some of the scriptures associated with the wrath of God in the New Testament? Is Governor Brown being hypocritical here? What happened to Sodom and Gomorrah? Is this relevant now? What did Jesus teach about the time of Sodom and the coming time of troubles? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues and more.
When Will the Great Tribulation Begin? 2023, 2024, or 2025? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? What happens before the Great Tribulation in the “beginning of sorrows”? What happens in the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord? Is this the time of the Gentiles? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord? Who are the 144,000? Here is a version of the article in the Spanish language: ¿Puede la Gran Tribulación comenzar en el 2020 o 2021? ¿Es el Tiempo de los Gentiles? A related video is: Great Tribulation: 2026 or 2027? A shorter video is: Can the Great Tribulation start in 2022 or 2023? Notice also: Can Jesus return in 2023 or 2024? Here is a video in the Spanish language: Es El 2021 el año  de La Gran Tribulación o el Grande Reseteo Financiero.
Church of God Leaders on Prophets Have there been prophets throughout the church age? Are any supposed to be around in the last days? What have COG leaders stated or written about prophets? Here is a link to a related sermon: Church of God Leaders on Prophets.
How To Determine If Someone is a True Prophet of God There are many false prophets. How can Christians determine who is a true prophet? There is also a sermon-length video titled How to determine if someone is a true prophet of God. Here is a related link in Spanish/español: ¿Cómo determinar si alguien es un verdadero profeta de Dios?

Plain Truth magazine August 1965

COGwriter

In an article titled Satan’s Destructive Battle Plan, PCG’s Gerald Flurry had the following:

The Prophet Daniel addressed his end-time book to spiritual Israel, or the Church, and two nations of Israel: America and Britain. … We must watch for an Antiochus-type in both the Church and the nation today. …

Let’s take another look at this pivotal passage in Daniel. “The host of heaven” from Daniel 8:10 is translated “the host of the stars” in the Revised Standard Version. The stars, or the angels of God, help God’s people when they obey. We lose that help when we rebel. A hideous invisible force stamped on God’s own Church “by reason of transgression”—because of the people’s sins! This happened after Mr. Armstrong’s death in 1986. It is happening in America right now. (For more information, request our free booklet America Under Attack.)

The word “host” is a military term. Strong’s Concordance defines it this way: “a mass of persons, especially organized for war; and soldiers; army. The expression also means to muster soldiers for warfare. Host can refer to an army of demons, angels or men.” God has an army of angels and saints; Satan has an army of demons and men, in this case sinning saints turning away from God. This is a real war! Spiritual war is more dangerous than any physical war.

Verse 11 should read, “Yea, he magnified himself even against the prince of the host, and by him the daily … was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.” Satan and his army violently confronted the “prince of the host,” or Jesus Christ! Christ explains the meaning of this prophecy to His loyal remnant.

The end-time religious Antiochus subverted God’s Church from within. “And an host was given him against the daily … by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered” (verse 12). “It,” or the demon army, “cast down the truth to the ground.” Antiochus is a physical man swayed by Satan to overthrow the Church. The real power comes from the demon army. For 1,150 days, God gave no new truth to His people. For 1,150 days, Satan suppressed the gospel message (Daniel 8:14; English Standard Version).

Here’s what I wrote in America Under Attack:

The obvious question arises, why would God allow such a terrible thing to happen? The answer is back in Daniel 8:12. That verse describes this satanic spirit army wreaking destruction within God’s Church. And notice: It says it was “by reason of transgression.” The sins of the people gave Satan his opening. Their prayers to God are not being answered. That is why Antiochus can do all of his dirty work: because there’s so much sin going on inside Israel. … The sin within gave the devil his opening. Once Satan got inside, he went right into the sanctuary, working through the leaders at the top, and cast the truth to the ground! That is how Satan destroyed God’s Church.

chatGPT is becoming a real engineer pic.twitter.com/3aTXYgLki2

— gaut (@0xgaut) May 15, 2023

COGwriter

ChatGPT has many issues, but it is used a lot. Notice some of how it is affecting academia:

Colleges scramble to ‘ChatGPT-proof’ classes as some professors report ‘dozens’ of cheating students

August 10, 2023

College professors across the country are working frantically to “ChatGPT-proof” their assignments as some educators report seeing dozens of students cheating with the tool.

Some professors are planning to return to paper exams after years of conducting them digitally. Others are more drastic and plan to require students to show the draft history on their essay assignments.

Timothy Main, a writing professor at Conestoga College in Canada, saw a seven-fold increase in the number of academic integrity issues he had to log in the most recent semester, rising from eight to 57. …

College students surveyed by College Rover earlier this year reported that 36% of their professors threatened to fail them if they were caught using AI for coursework. …

The study from the survey found that further found that 41% of college students use ChatGPT a few times a week, while 10% of students use the platform once a day and 9% multiple times a day. https://www.foxnews.com/us/colleges-scramble-chatgpt-proof-classes-some-professors-report-dozens-cheating-students

Despite threats against it, many college students are regularly using ChatGPT.

But how reliable is it?

Despite the tweet at the beginning of this post that says, “chatGPT is becoming a real engineer,” notice the following:

ChatGPT answers more than half of software engineering questions incorrectly

August 9, 2023

ChatGPT’s ability to provide conversational answers to any question at any time makes the chatbot a handy resource for your information needs. Despite the convenience, a new study finds that you may not want to use ChatGPT for software engineering prompts.  …

Purdue University study investigated … To find out just how efficient ChatGPT is in answering software engineering prompts, the researchers gave ChatGPT 517 Stack Overflow questions and examined the accuracy and quality of those answers.  …

The results showed that out of the 512 questions, 259 (52%) of ChatGPT’s answers were incorrect and only 248 (48%) were correct. Moreover, a whopping 77% of the answers were verbose. …

The generation of plausible-sounding answers that are incorrect is a significant issue across all chatbots because it enables the spread of misinformation. https://www.zdnet.com/article/chatgpt-answers-more-than-half-of-software-engineering-questions-incorrectly/

Yet, consider that many college students are relying on it more and more. And, that does not count the political and other biases that are programmed into ChatGPT and similar “Artificial Intelligence” programs (e.g., see ChatGPT 4? Has ChatGPT gone woke?).

Hence, more and more leaders will end up further and further from the truth on many matters.

Consider the following prophecy:

1. But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come … 7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. …

13 But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. (2 Timothy 3:1, 7, 13)

Notice an example of how this is being fulfilled with ChatGPT:

PETA Resorts to Extreme Blasphemy, Literally Rewrites God’s Words to Support Their Agenda

May 9, 2023

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, perhaps better known by their acronym PETA, has always just been an eminently dislikable bunch. … This latest “grievance” from PETA, however, is beyond the pale …

You see, PETA thinks that it, for some inexplicable lapse in sanity, has the authority to rewrite the Bible that, according to those loons, is “used to justify all forms of oppression.”

“The Bible has long been used to justify all forms of oppression, so we’ve used ChatGPT to make it clear that a loving God would never endorse exploitation of or cruelty to animals,” PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said in a news release.

Specifically, PETA announced that it was using ChatGPT, the AI chatbot, to give the Book of Genesis a “modern makeover.”

“In the beginning, all animals were treated with respect, according to PETA, which has given the Bible’s Book of Genesis a modern makeover using ChatGPT to send a can’t-be-missed animal rights message filled with vegan teachings,” the release stated. “PETA hopes the new, cruelty-free Story of Creation will appeal to Generation Z, 73 percent of whom identify as animal rights activists.

“In THE BOOK: PETA’s Version of the Creation Story, animals are referred to as ‘beings’ rather than ‘beasts’ or ‘creatures’ — and plant fibers, like hemp and bamboo, are used in place of animal skins for clothing, as no one with any fashion or moral sense would wear animal skins in the 21st century.

“Among other new interpretations, in Genesis Chapter 22, Abraham travels to the land of Moriah and befriends a gentle lamb to show his reverence and respect for God’s creation, rather than slaughtering a ram to demonstrate his faith — much as human sacrifice, once a reality, is now outlawed all over the world.”

“It took God only six days to create the entire world, but we realized it would take us years to rewrite the whole Bible, which is why we’ve started with just the first book,” Newkirk added. https://www.westernjournal.com/peta-resorts-extreme-blasphemy-literally-rewrites-gods-words-support-agenda/

Let me add that PETA does not want people to eat meat, so it will not like what Leviticus and Deuteronomy teach –and the New Testament endorses eating animals as well (see also The New Testament Church, History, and Unclean Meats).

Anyway, I did read PETA’s blasphemous ChatGPT rendition of the Book of Genesis. We then put together the following PETA-related video:

Here is a link to our video: PETA’s Preposterous Preaching.

But there are even more ramifications of AI technologies like ChatGPT.

Microsoft’s Bill Gates believes it will change the world (see Bill Gates says ChatGPT ‘will change our world’). And many of those changes will not be good.

Amongst other things, in addition to often being wrong on various topics, ChatGPT censors and holds a view against biblical morality.

It “suppresses the truth in unrighteousness” (Romans 1:18) in many ways–and is an information technology that is actually a censorship tool.

That said, prophetically we know that more censorship is coming:

11 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord God,
“That I will send a famine on the land,
Not a famine of bread,
Nor a thirst for water,
But of hearing the words of the Lord.
12 They shall wander from sea to sea,
And from north to east;
They shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord,
But shall not find it. (Amos 8:11-12)

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Two Horned Beast of Revelation and 666 Who is 666? This article explains how the COG views this, and compares this to Ellen White. Here is a link to a prophetic video Six Financial Steps Leading to 666?
Preparing for the ‘Short Work’ and The Famine of the Word What is the ‘short work’ of Romans 9:28? Who is preparing for it? Will Philadelphian Christians instruct many in the end times? Here is a link to a related video sermon titled: The Short Work. Here is a link to another: Preparing to Instruct Many.
Is a Great Reset Coming? Klaus Schwab of the World Economic Forum has proposed a societal change that has been basically endorsed by the Vatican and many world leaders. Does the Bible prophesy a major reset? Here is a link to a related video: Will there be a “Great Reset”?
United Nations: Humankind’s Last Hope or New World Order? Is the UN the last hope for humanity? Or might its goals end up with sinister results? A related video would be United Nations and Vatican Are Planning the New World Order.
Lost Tribes and Prophecies: What will happen to Australia, the British Isles, Canada, Europe, New Zealand and the United States of America? Where did those people come from? Can you totally rely on DNA? What about other peoples? Do you really know what will happen to Europe and the English-speaking peoples? What about Africa, Asia, South America, and the Islands? This free online book provides scriptural, scientific, historical references, and commentary to address those matters. Here are links to related sermons: Lost tribes, the Bible, and DNA; Lost tribes, prophecies, and identifications; 11 Tribes, 144,000, and Multitudes; Israel, Jeremiah, Tea Tephi, and British Royalty; Gentile European Beast; Royal Succession, Samaria, and Prophecies; Asia, Islands, Latin America, Africa, and Armageddon;  When Will the End of the Age Come?;  Rise of the Prophesied King of the North; Christian Persecution from the Beast; WWIII and the Coming New World Order; and Woes, WWIV, and the Good News of the Kingdom of God.
Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End? Was a 6000 year time allowed for humans to rule followed by a literal thousand year reign of Christ on Earth taught by the early Christians? Does God have 7,000 year plan? What year may the six thousand years of human rule end? When will Jesus return? 2031 or 20xx? There is also a video titled 6000 Years: When will God’s Kingdom Come? Here is a link to the article in Spanish: ¿Tiene Dios un plan de 6,000 años?
When Will the Great Tribulation Begin? 2023, 2024, or 2025? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? What happens before the Great Tribulation in the “beginning of sorrows”? What happens in the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord? Is this the time of the Gentiles? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord? Who are the 144,000? Here is a version of the article in the Spanish language: ¿Puede la Gran Tribulación comenzar en el 2020 o 2021? ¿Es el Tiempo de los Gentiles? A related video is: Great Tribulation: 2026 or 2027? A shorter video is: Can the Great Tribulation start in 2022 or 2023? Notice also: Can Jesus return in 2023 or 2024? Here is a video in the Spanish language: Es El 2021 el año  de La Gran Tribulación o el Grande Reseteo Financiero.

“Germany’s far-Right AfD debated a possible “Dexit” and flirted with Nazi rhetoric at its summer conference this weekend as it continued to make big gains in the polls.”https://t.co/WMEJWhxDmm

— Tony Dowson (@TonyDowson5) July 31, 2023

COGwriter

There are concerns throughout Europe related to Germany’s Alternative für Deutshland (AfD) and other “populous” parties:

August 10, 2023

Populist politicians have exploited public resentments about a range of issues, ranging from the economic crisis to immigration, and formed anti-European parties and movements.

The right unleashed a wave of populism and nationalist identity politics that threatened the very cohesion and future of the EU.

In Germany, the AfD was empowered and it has grown into the largest opposition party. Italy has seen a similar experience recently. In Hungary, Victor Orban based his re-election campaign partly on what has been seen as “anti EU rhetoric.” https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2023/08/10/eu-chief-admits-urgent-need-for-reform-of-27-strong-bloc/

Maximilian Krah … The 46-year-old Alternative for Germany (AfD) politician from the eastern state of Saxony … speaks about the source of his inspiration. “We heard fantastic speeches here yesterday,” Krah says, referring to opening remarks delivered by representatives from other European right-wing parties the previous day.

Krah cites one in particular: “When it comes to our colleague from Bulgaria, you have to say: My goodness. That’s the kind of courage and passion we need to make it happen.”

The “colleague from Bulgaria” in question was Kostadin Kostadinov, head of the ultra-nationalist party Vazrazhdane (Revival) and a member of the Bulgarian parliament. He hates the European Union, …

Speaking at the AfD party convention in Magdeburg last weekend, Kostadinov said that Germany has been “a cornerstone of Europe” for “more than 1,000 years.” In the last century, he continued, Bulgaria and Germany were “allied twice in war,” a reference to World War I and World War II. The AfD delegates applauded loudly.

Unfortunately, Kostadinov continued, Germany is currently “in a political state that is not in accordance with its historical role and importance.” It is, the Bulgarian continued, “high time that your country take its rightful place as a Great Power – and not just in Europe!” 08/04/23 https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/rising-right-the-german-afd-s-constant-drift-toward-extremism-a-4b88b469-e790-47e9-871d-f8f208dd58ba

The AfD wants a strong Germany that unites with others in Europe to become a world power. And it wants Europe to reorganize.

Last weekend, the AfD party held a conference that was reported about here (see AfD rising: Dexit or Revelation 17:12-13?).

Something that came out from its Björn Höcke was, “If you want to hear a populist statement from me … This EU must die so that the real Europe can live.”

Here are a couple of reports related to that:

A few days ago, Björn Höcke, the strong man of the AfD, gave an interview to the TV station Phoenix. The most interesting thing about it was not the phrase that was often quoted afterwards: “This EU must die so that the real Europe can live.” … The sentence before Höcke was more profound, when he said: “If you want to hear a populist statement from me …”. Which makes it clear that the man no longer wants to make his slang socially acceptable. No, he thinks he’s already the salon.

Which in turn means that they are serious about it now. They believe they are “ready for more”. … The missionary superstructure is the rejection of everything foreign, the striving for the nationally pure space. The strategic goals are therefore: away with this EU and probably also with this NATO, https://www.tellerreport.com/news/2023-08-07-the-afd-wants-to-completely-turn-your-life-upside-down-%E2%80%93-column-by-nikolaus-blome.ryfFHct0jn.html

“This EU must die so that the real Europe can live!” declared Höcke, in a variation of the Nazi slogan: “Germany must live, and [even] if we have to die.” Particularly loud applause erupted among the delegates when the Bulgarian right-wing extremist Kostadin Kostadinow referred positively in his greeting to the fact that Germany and Bulgaria were allies in the First and Second World Wars, shouting: “It is high time that your country takes its rightful place as a great power, and not only in Europe.” …

candidates already elected are also there thanks to Höcke’s grace.

The top candidate is the lawyer Maximilian Krah, whom even the Verfassungsschutz (domestic secret service), which is riddled with extreme right-wing forces, classifies as völkisch-nationalist, Islamophobic, xenophobic and “anti-constitutional.”

Krah, who has been sitting in the European Parliament for the AfD since 2019, maintains close contacts with the neo-Nazi ideologue Götz Kubitschek and is an avowed follower of Hitler’s crown jurist Carl Schmitt. …

Siegbert Droese (eleventh position) is also a long-standing member … He reportedly used a blue AfD station wagon with the registration number L-AH1818—the initials of Adolf Hitler—in the 2016 federal election campaign. …

There is a direct connection between the explosion of German militarism, the rise of the AfD and the sharp turn to the right of the entire political establishment. “As in the 1930s, war abroad means dictatorship and fascism at home,” the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (Socialist Equality Party) declares in its election appeal for the European elections. https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/08/04/ccbp-a04.html

Notice that Björn Höcke clearly wants Europe to reorganize. And notice that he was referred to as “the strong man of the AfD.” Notice that there look to be at least some ideological connections to the old Nazi party and Adolf Hitler.

A strong man, even worse than Adolf Hitler, will rise up.

In the future, after various crises and troubles during the “beginning of sorrows” (Mark 13:5-8), he will arise.  Notice some of what Daniel was inspired to write:

25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand. (Daniel 8:25, KJV).

23 And after the league is made with him he shall act deceitfully, for he shall come up and become strong with a small number of people. 24 He shall enter peaceably, even into the richest places of the province; and he shall do what his fathers have not done, nor his forefathers: he shall disperse among them the plunder, spoil, and riches; and he shall devise his plans against the strongholds, but only for a time. (Daniel 11:23-24, NKJV)

So this leader gives people the impression that there will be “peace”and prosperity. Adolf Hitler basically promised prosperity and recovery from war.

In troubled times, strong leaders promising peace tend to gain support.

After two prophesied reorganizations in Europe (Revelation 17:12-13), one the Bible calls “the beast” will gain power.

And he will be in league with the final Antichrist.

Notice something from a Roman Catholic source looking forward to such a leader:

Rudolph Gekner (died 1675). “A great prince of the North with a most powerful army will traverse all Europe, uproot all republics, and exterminate all rebels. His sword moved by Divine power will most valiantly defend the Church of Jesus Christ. He will combat on behalf of the true orthodox faith, and shall subdue to his dominion the Mahometan Empire. A new pastor of the universal church will come from the shore (of Dalmatia) through a celestial prodigy, and in simplicity of heart adorned with the doctrines of Jesus Christ. Peace will come to the world.” (Cited in Connor, Edward. Prophecy for Today. Imprimatur + A.J. Willinger, Bishop of Monterey-Fresno; Reprint: Tan Books and Publishers, Rockford (IL), 1984, p.36).

The above leader sounds a lot like a European leader that the Bible says will arise.

Notice some items from the old Radio/Worldwide Church of God that were published decades ago related to a coming strong man in Europe (bolding mine):

Watch the emergence of a strong man in West Germany (Hogberg G and Walter EM. NATO at the Crossroads. Plain Truth, May 1969)

The attempt to unify Europe as one economic, military and political power bloc restoring the “Holy Roman Empire,” has been the one aim of all the “great” men who dominated European history from Napoleon’s “Waterloo” until now. Mussolini, dominating Eritrea, Italian Somaliland, Libya, and conquering Ethiopia, did officially name his weak “Empire” the “Roman Empire.” But now the dream of a mighty, powerful, resurrected Roman Empire at last is becoming a hard-driving reality.

… nations of United Europe have succeeded in their aim far beyond the wildest dreams of the original signers of the Treaty of Rome. In far less time, at a far greater pace than anticipated, these nations of Europe have risen from the economic chaos of World War II to the dizzying heights of a standard of living never known to them before! With the present success well beyond the proportions of that expected three years ago, with a future success — in a world of peace — sure to produce a near — utopia, Western Europe is more concerned about war than any other economic and political entity on the face of this earth! “This is very probably the last year in which anyone except Europe will be able to negotiate with the Soviet Union for Europe!” (London Sunday Times). These nations are ENJOYING their economic recovery and they will let nothing stand in its way — they will stop at nothing to keep ‘What they have, and, GO ON TO MORE! SO it is that a blueprint has been drawn up by the Six, that demands meetings among themselves to decide the MILITARY AND FOREIGN POLICY questions that come up regarding Europe! …

“Fascism in Europe is about to be reborn in respectable business attire, and the Treaty of Rome will finally be implemented to its fullest extent.. the dream of a Holy Roman, Empire returning to power to dominate and direct the so-called forces of Christian mankind of the Western world is not dead, but still stalks through the antechambers of every national capital of continental Western Europe… IN THE DETERMINATION OF THE LEADERS IN THE COMMON MARKET NATIONS TO RESTORE THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE WITH ALL THAT THAT MEANS!” (Northwest Technocrat, Vol. XXV, No. 205.) United within the ancient boundaries of the Holy Roman Empire; united by the common spiritual bond of universal Catholicism; united in a burgeoning and booming industrial economy that dominates today’s world; united geographically in the most productive and industrial complex of all the earth — at least TEN NATIONS OF MODERN EUROPE WILL MARCH ONTO THE SCENE OF WORLD HISTORY AS THE GREATEST SINGLE HUMAN FORCE EVER SEEN BY MAN! (Hill DJ. What is Germany’s Destiny? Plain Truth, March 1962)

The prophecy of Daniel 11 details events — at that time, still future — from the remaining days of the Medo-Persian empire, through the reign of Alexander the Great and his successors in Syria and Egypt, and on through to the second coming of Christ! Beginning in verse 40 we read of a conflict between two great powers: “And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind….”

This is an important “end-time” prophecy. Following the chronological progression of the chapter, it becomes apparent that the phrase “king of the north” had at first referred to Syria under the Seleucid dynasty, and later, in the New Testament times, to the Emperor of the Roman Empire. … Thus, in its final end-time application, the “king of the north” is the prophesied strong man who will lead a coming union of ten European nations — the seventh and final revival of the ancient Roman Empire prophesied by Daniel and in the book of Revelation (see Revelation 17:12-13).

But who is the “king of the south”? In the earlier portions of Daniel 11, the phrase refers without question to ancient Egypt under the rule of the Ptolemaic dynasty, later including Ethiopia which was annexed to Egypt. But in verse 40 we skip to “the time of the end” … Its greater fulfillment is yet future! Just as there is yet to be a final “king of the north” — called in Bible symbolism “the beast” — who will arise as superdictator over an end-time European confederation, there may very well emerge in the same manner a final “king of the south” — an overall leader of an Arab-Moslem confederation, possibly even bearing the very title Mahdi! And these two individuals will eventually find themselves in a head-to-head confrontation — possibly over oil — which will ultimately lead to devastating war in the Middle East!

King David of ancient Israel, in a prophetic psalm (Psalm 83) provides additional insight into the coming Mideast picture. Germany (Assyria in Bible prophecy) and perhaps the rest of Europe will be in league in the future with a union of Arab nations — a vast confederacy bound together in an effort to crush out the name “Israel” from the face of the earth! This Arab-Moslem confederacy may very well be the previously mentioned “king of the south” of Daniel 11 — a sphere of power encompassing vast portions of the Islamic world. …

But in the end, this European-Arab alliance will prove short-lived. As shown earlier, the “king of the north” of Daniel 11 — the leader of the German-led European union — will ultimately turn against the Arab “king of the south,” with disastrous consequences for the entire Middle East — both Jew and Arab alike. The entire region will be subjected to armed invasion! …

The Arab-Moslem Confederation will, of course, be thrown into chaotic disarray in the face of invasion. Some of its component countries will be directly occupied by European troops. However, as revealed in Daniel 11:41, Jordan (the present-day descendants of Moab and Ammon) and Turkey (Edom) will escape occupation. Other Arab countries may also avoid full occupation, possibly remaining in some sort of limited alliance with United Europe. “Libya” (or Put, the North African Arabs) along with ” Ethiopia” (or Cush, certain black African nations) shall be “at his [the king of the north’s] steps” — or “following him” as some translations render it. (Stump K. THE ARAB WORLD IN PROPHECY. Plain Truth, December 1979)

And the Bible?

The Bible clearly shows that a reorganization will come to Europe and power will be given to a dictator:

12 “The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. 13 These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. (Revelation 17:12-13)

(More on the reorganization is discussed in the article: Must the Ten Kings of Revelation 17:12 Rule over Ten Currently Existing Nations?)

Europe will one day support a dictatorial strongman. The Bible calls him the Beast of the Sea (Revelation 13:1-10) and the King of the North (Daniel 11:40).

What about the view of some Worldwide Church of God writers that this dictatorial leader will be German?

Well, people are starting to notice that Europe is already being dominated by Germany (see ‘Undemocratic’ European Union has become a German empire).

Notice something else that the old Worldwide Church of God published in 1980:

Finally feeling the chilling embrace of Moscow, the German people may yet call for the Bavarian strongman — the one they feared in good times — to rescue them from their impending doom. (Hogberg G. WHERE Is WEST GERMANY Headed? Plain Truth, December 1980).

A Bavarian strongman would be someone from Bavaria in Germany. The one that Gene Hogberg had in mind back in 1980 (Franz Joseph Strauss) died. Yet, let me add that there is another Bavarian strongman who I have kept my eye on who may one day rise up. His name is Karl-Theodor zu-Guttenberg (see Might German Baron Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg become the King of the North?). A reader sent me a link a while back to a presentation that Herr Guttenberg gave in May of 2016 where he called for more passionate leaders in Europe. One such leader will arise.

When the time comes for the final Beast leader to arise, he will most likely be at least partially German, as all the leaders of the old Holy Roman Empire were as well.

Germans and other Europeans will get sufficiently frustrated with democracy (as well as will be deceived by various signs and lying wonders–2 Thessalonians 2:8-12) that they will support a dictatorial leader over Europe.

Anyway, Europe needs repentance and the Kingdom of God.

But it is prophesied to move to become a dictatorship first.

While the AfD has its own problems, its rise is demonstrating that Germans are becoming less tolerant of democracy than many thought.

We also have the following video:

14:22

AfD: Prelude to a Hitler Beast?

Germany’s Alternative für Deutshland (Alternative for Germany in English) party celebrated its 10th anniversary on February 6, 2023.

It objects to:
❌More illegal migration
❌More asylum abuse
❌More crime
❌More housing shortage
❌More Cancel Culture

The AfD also asserts, “Now it’s time to change that. And that’s only possible with us.” Many are concerned that the AfD’s growing political influence will impact Germany. Can a strong man worse than Adolf Hitler, that the Bible calls the Beast rise up from Germany? Could Europe reorganize with a small backing to put this leader into place? Does the AfD want to make a deal with Russia? Will Germany make a future deal with Russia that would be opposed to the USA? Does the AfD want religion involved to meet its objectives in such a way that it could support the coming King of the North Beast power that the Bible warns will arise in Europe? Could Europe unite under such a leader according to scripture? Steve Dupuie and Dr. Thiel go over these matters.

Here is a link to our video: AfD: Prelude to a Hitler Beast?

The rise of AfD reminds more and more of pre-WWII Germany.

We are getting closer and closer to WWIII.

Several items of possibly related interest may include:

Europa, the Beast, and the Book of Revelation discusses the largest church since the second/third century, which in a real sense is the eighth church mentioned in the Book of Revelation (it also endorses “eighth day” worship). What church would support the Beast? Here is a link to a video titled: Can You Prove that the Beast to Come is European?
Germany in Biblical Prophecy Does Assyria in the Bible equate to an end time power inhabiting the area of the old Roman Empire? What does prophecy say Germany will do and what does it say will happen to most of the German people? Here are links to two sermon videos Germany in Bible Prophecy and The Rise of the Germanic Beast Power of Prophecy.
War is Coming Between Europeans and Arabs Is war really coming between the Arabs and the Europeans? What does Bible prophecy say about that? Do the Central Europeans (Assyria in prophecy) make a deal with the Arabs that will hurt the USA and its Anglo-Saxon allies? Do Catholic or Islamic prophecies discuss a war between Europe and Islam? If so, what is the sequence of events that the Bible reveals? Who does the Bible, Catholic, and Islamic prophecy teach will win such a war? This is a video.
Will Islam be Pushed Out of Europe? On June 8, 2018, Austria’s Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced the closing of seven Islamic mosques in an effort to reduce “political Islam.” In the past several years, at least 6 European nations have banned the wearing of a commonly used garment by Islamic females. Heinz-Christian Strache (later Vice Chancellor of Austria) has declared that Islam has no place in Europe. Did Germany’s Angela Merkel call multiculturalism a failure? Will there be deals between the Muslims and the Europeans? Will a European Beast leader rise up after a reorganization that will eliminate nationalism? Will Europe push out Islam? What does Catholic prophecy teach? What does the Bible teach in Daniel and Revelation? Is Islam prophesied to be pushed out of Europe? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues and more in this video.
Can the Final Antichrist be Islamic? Is Joel Richardson correct that the final Antichrist will be Islamic and not European? Find out. A related sermon is titled: Is the Final Antichrist Islamic or European? Another video is Mystery Babylon USA, Mecca, or Rome?
Persecutions by Church and State This article documents some that have occurred against those associated with the COGs and some prophesied to occur. Will those with the cross be the persecutors or the persecuted–this article has the shocking answer. There is also a YouTube video sermon you can watch: The Coming Persecution of the Church. Here is information in the Spanish language: Persecuciones de la Iglesia y el Estado.
World War III: Steps in Progress Are there surprising actions going on now that are leading to WWIII? Might a nuclear attack be expected? Does the Bible promise protection to all or only some Christians? How can you be part of those that will be protected? A related video would be Is World War III About to Begin? Can You Escape?
Might German Baron Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg become the King of the North? Is the former German Defense Minister (who is also the former German Minister for Economics and Technology) one to watch? What do Catholic, Byzantine, and biblical prophecies suggest?
Germany’s Assyrian Roots Throughout History Are the Germanic peoples descended from Asshur of the Bible? Have there been real Christians in Germanic history? What about the “Holy Roman Empire”? There is also a You-Tube video sermon on this titled Germany’s Biblical Origins.
Must the Ten Kings of Revelation 17:12 Rule over Ten Currently Existing Nations? Some claim that these passages refer to a gathering of 10 currently existing nations together, while one group teaches that this is referring to 11 nations getting together. Is that what Revelation 17:12-13 refers to? The ramifications of misunderstanding this are enormous. A related sermon is titled Ten Kings of Revelation and the Great Tribulation.
The ‘Peace Deal’ of Daniel 9:27 This prophecy could give up to 3 1/2 years advance notice of the coming Great Tribulation. Will most ignore or misunderstand its fulfillment? Here is a link to a related sermon video Daniel 9:27 and the Start of the Great Tribulation.
Who is the King of the West? Why is there no Final End-Time King of the West in Bible Prophecy? Is the United States the King of the West? Here is a version in the Spanish language: ¿Quién es el Rey del Occidente? ¿Por qué no hay un Rey del Occidente en la profecía del tiempo del fin? A related sermon is also available: The Bible, the USA, and the King of the West.
Who is the King of the North? Is there one? Do biblical and Roman Catholic prophecies for the Great Monarch point to the same leader? Should he be followed? Who will be the King of the North discussed in Daniel 11? Is a nuclear attack prophesied to happen to the English-speaking peoples of the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand? When do the 1335 days, 1290 days, and 1260 days (the time, times, and half a time) of Daniel 12 begin? When does the Bible show that economic collapse will affect the United States? In the Spanish language check out ¿Quién es el Rey del Norte? Here are links to three related videos: The King of the North is Alive: What to Look Out For. The Future King of the North, and Rise of the Prophesied King of the North.
The Great Monarch: Biblical and Greco-Roman Catholic Prophecies Is the ‘Great Monarch’ of Greco-Roman Catholic prophecies endorsed or condemned by the Bible? Two sermons of related interest are also available: Great Monarch: Messiah or False Christ? and Great Monarch in 50+ Beast Prophecies.
Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End? Was a 6000 year time allowed for humans to rule followed by a literal thousand year reign of Christ on Earth taught by the early Christians? Does God have 7,000 year plan? What year may the six thousand years of human rule end? When will Jesus return? 2031 or 20xx? There is also a video titled 6000 Years: When will God’s Kingdom Come? Here is a link to the article in Spanish: ¿Tiene Dios un plan de 6,000 años?
The Times of the Gentiles Has there been more than one time of the Gentiles? Are we in it now or in the time of Anglo-America? What will the final time of the Gentiles be like? A related sermon is available and is titled: The Times of the Gentiles.
Lost Tribes and Prophecies: What will happen to Australia, the British Isles, Canada, Europe, New Zealand and the United States of America? Where did those people come from? Can you totally rely on DNA? What about other peoples? Do you really know what will happen to Europe and the English-speaking peoples? What about Africa, Asia, South America, and the Islands? This free online book provides scriptural, scientific, historical references, and commentary to address those matters. Here are links to related sermons: Lost tribes, the Bible, and DNA; Lost tribes, prophecies, and identifications; 11 Tribes, 144,000, and Multitudes; Israel, Jeremiah, Tea Tephi, and British Royalty; Gentile European Beast; Royal Succession, Samaria, and Prophecies; Asia, Islands, Latin America, Africa, and Armageddon;  When Will the End of the Age Come?;  Rise of the Prophesied King of the North; Christian Persecution from the Beast; WWIII and the Coming New World Order; and Woes, WWIV, and the Good News of the Kingdom of God.

Herbert W. Armstrong

COGwriter

A while back, a reader sent me a pdf file that consisted of an article put together by Brian Davis and published by PCG in the July-August 2020 edition of Royal Vision.

Here is a link to the article: Charges Against Herbert W. Armstrong – DISPROVED!

The file format is such that I cannot copy text in the normal way, which is one reason why the link above is provided. Let’s start with an image of how the article begins:

Yes, for decades, various accusations have been made against the late Pastor General of the old Worldwide Church of God, Herbert W. Armstrong.

One of the most outrageous is the accusation of incest.

The Bible admonishes us to:

21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. (1 Thessalonians 5:21, KJV)

So, related to the accusations I had heard about Herbert W. Armstrong, I also strove to do so.

Back in the February 28, 2003 edition of The Journal: News of the Churches of God, I had an article published titled: Consider candid responses to 15 accusations about Herbert W. Armstrong. The Journal’s editor, Dixon Cartwright, found the incest charge so offensive that he edited the word incest out of my original submission.

Later, I posted an article titled 17 Accusations and Truthful Responses About Herbert W. Armstrong where a summary of my investigation into this was included.

Here is what that article currently has on this:

Gross impropriety

Accusation No. 4: Herbert W. Armstrong was guilty of gross sexual impropriety (incest) when younger.

After reviewing the details of one particular allegation regarding sex and what I uncovered, Dixon Cartwright, The Journal’s publisher, asked me to remove them from this article because of the lack of proof and because certain parties are not alive to defend themselves and because The Journal is a family publication.

Various versions of this accusation are extant, most of which seem to be based on a chapter of David Robinson’s 1980 book Herbert W. Armstrong’s Tangled Web. (A version of the accusations appears in Tuit’s book as well.)

I investigated four allegations related to this specific accusation and concluded that unless certain alleged Lochner audiotapes (which have never been made public, and I requested them and even spoke to one who had claimed to hear them–Art Mokarow–he finally admitted to me that he actually had not heard them) surface (and I made diligent inquiry to attempt to find them, including dozens of phone calls, plus E-mails through late February 2003, and even later after this article was originally published), the accusations are not provable and aspects of the accusations are indeed disprovable.

Perhaps I should mention that since one aspect of these accusations is commonly attributed to a comment supposedly made by Herbert W. Armstrong’s son Garner Ted Armstrong (GTA) concerning his dad and another relative. I personally called Garner Ted Armstrong’s office on Dec. 12, 2002 to inquire about this particular accusation. I was not able to speak with GTA directly, but a key employee of the Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association discussed it with him and got back with me. Through his spokesperson, GTA declined to comment except to pass on the message that:

“everything you really need to know about my father is contained within the Autobiography (of Herbert W. Armstrong).”

Thus GTA would not stand by a statement attributed to him on this matter–so how can any believe this?

In December 2006, I saw a post at an anti-Church of God website that stated that Dibar Apartian supposedly confirmed that he felt that Herbert W. Armstrong was guilty of incest. On January 3, 2007, I spoke with Dibar Apartian about this. He knew Herbert W. Armstrong for the past 30 plus years of Herbert W. Armstrong’s life. Dibar Apartian clearly and flatly denied the claim someone made that Dibar Apartian said he felt that Herbert W. Armstrong was guilty of incest.

Every single time I have gone to the alleged sources of information on this incest matter, none of these “sources” have ever stood by the statements that the anti-Herbert W. Armstrong critics have claimed were made. I would like to add that at that time Dibar Apartian was 88 1/2 years old and he specifically told me that it should be clear to everyone that he had nothing to gain by denying this. Dibar Apartian also told me that he has never once made a statement confirming any of Herbert W. Armstrong’s alleged personal faults, and specifically that he never stated that he thought Herbert W. Armstrong was guilty of incest. Others have different opinions, but if HWA is guilty of this, no strong facts have emerged (another article related to this that someone else wrote would be Herbert W. Armstrong Did NOT Commit Incest!).

In his Tangled Web book, the late D. Robinson wrote that “like the Wizard of Oz, Herbert Armstrong is operating on image. When his hand is called, there is no substance there. Like the Wizard, he is just a lot of bluster.”

Based on my experience in trying to track down credible sources for this accusation, all I find–including a whole chapter in Robinson’s book–is “just a lot of bluster.” Actually, it appears to me that no one who has made or repeated most of the accusations against Herbert W. Armstrong actually has any real proof for most of them–no one seems to have checked with either the primary (those involved) or secondary sources (those with proof), but instead relied on accusation and rumor–simply stating a false charge does not make it true, no matter how many times it may be repeated.

Let me add that since I wrote this, various ones on and off the internet have indicated that they have ‘proof’ on the incest matter, yet none have produced the Lochner tapes or any actual proof that I have heard. Speaking of late additions, here is something from an email I received about this on November 26, 2014.

HWA & “incest.”

I tend to disbelieve this one. Here’s why: I worked full time at AC after graduation. Was put in charge of the Shipping & Receiving Dept. Because of that I had to deal directly with Vern Mattson. He had to sign checks I needed for shipping items through LA airport and customs. One day, sitting alone with him at his desk he said this to me while writing checks for credit card invoices. “Charles Hunting spends God’s money like there are no limits to it.” I don’t think he would say “God’s money” and use,”God’s work” like he did in private, and off the cuff, if his wife was abused like the critics claim. If any one would have known what happened by then, he would have. Don’t know if you need info like this on the subject, but just info in passing.

Robert Petry

Vern Mattson was Beverly’s (HWA’s daughter) husband at the time of the above. Again, I am not saying there is no possibility of guilt, but too much goes against it.

Furthermore, as far as Robertson’s book goes, consider the following from HWA’s longtime aide Aaron Dean who commented on it in 2018:

Yes I read Dave Robinsons book. I worked for HWA 12 years and he never told me anything that HWA was supposed to tell him in a half hour walk one morning at the feast as we flew from site to site. I was listening in circumstances where this should have come up, but didn’t. It seems he created a lot from other sources.

He had a bit of an axe to grind, and did Marion McNair. There was a lot of fighting for positions in the earlier years of the church. Bad information and lies created many bad decisions. Many people said things, and HWA knew that trying to answer or refute really solved nothing except to keep the issue alive. (Aaron Dean. Post 02/11/18 12:30 PM #7895)

The Robertson book was not based on first-hand or probably second-hand information. But many seem to want to believe it anyway.

For more testimony and comments against the incest charge, check out the following link: Charges Against Herbert W. Armstrong – DISPROVED!

The Royal Vision article cites my research, Mel Olinger, Aaron Dean, Steve Szabo, Loretta Olinger, and Norbert Link. Here are some more images from the article Charges Against Herbert W. Armstrong – DISPROVED!:

The evidence for the allegation is simply not there.

Notice also the following related to Herbert Armstrong’s daughter Dorothy:

Notice also:

Of course, despite research into the truth about this, some people do not care about the truth.

Many have not truly wanted to “prove all things” or “hold fast to what is good”. There still has not arisen any verified proof of the incest charge.

In the last chapter of the last book of the Bible, the Apostle John was inspired to write:

14 Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. 15 But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie. (Revelation 22:14-15)

Sadly, there are many corrupt and bitter people who prefer to believe, love, and push lies about this, as well as others in the COGs.

Please, do not be one of them.

Note: Posting the images that I did does NOT mean I agree with everything PCG and that article teach about Herbert W. Armstrong. The images put up were to show that this incest allegation had many flaws and should not be accepted as a fact.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Who Was Herbert W. Armstrong? How is He Viewed Today? Includes quotes from the 1973 edition of The Autobiography of Herbert W. Armstrong and explains who he was and how he should be viewed today.
What is Armstrongism? Did Herbert W. Armstrong raise a new faith or promote the original Christian faith? Here is a link to a related video: What is Armstrongism? Are Some Dismissive of Original Christianity?
17 Accusations and Truthful Responses About Herbert W. Armstrong He, even after his death, keeps being improperly maligned–here is the truth on these matters.
The Elijah Heresies Does the Bible teach that there will be a future Elijah? Must it be Herbert W. Armstrong? Two related sermons are available Elijah: Prophecies and Heresies and Elijah, Herbert W. Armstrong, and CCOG.
The Bible, Peter, Paul, John, Polycarp, Herbert W. Armstrong, Roderick C. Meredith, and Bob Thiel on Church Government What form of governance did the early church have? Was it hierarchical? Which form of governance would one expect to have in the Philadelphia remnant? The people decide and/or committee forms, odd dictatorships, or the same type that the Philadelphia era itself had? What are some of the scriptural limits on ecclesiastical authority? Do some commit organizational idolatry? Here is a Spanish language version La Biblia, Policarpo, Herbert W. Armstrong, y Roderick C. Meredith sobre el gobierno de la Iglesia. Here is a link to a sermon titled Church Governance.
Herbert W. Armstrong, the Philadelphia Church, & the Mantle Herbert Armstrong claims God had him raise the Philadelphia up. Are there reasons to believe that the Philadelphia mantle in now within the CCOG? Here is a link to a related sermon: Herbert W. Armstrong and the Philadelphia Mantle.

Eris: the new COVID variant spreading in the U.S. and U.K. #CGTNAmerica https://t.co/9NHlMYjdUP

— CGTN (@CGTNOfficial) August 8, 2023

COGwriter

There is another COVID variant that has been detected:

New Covid-19 variant detected: What we know so far about EG.5.1

August 9, 2023

A new Covid-19 variant, EG.5.1, has been linked to an uptick in hospitalisations in the US and UK. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has added the Omicron subvariant, nicknamed Eris, to its monitoring list while health agencies and experts around the world are keeping a watch on the spread of the virus.
EG.5.1 is a subvariant of the Covid-19 Omicron virus (B.1.1.529). Eris is not its official name but has been suggested by users and health experts on social media. The WHO has included it in its “variants under monitoring (VUMs)” list but has not categorised the virus as a variant of concern or interest yet.

According to Stuart Turville, virologist, researcher, and associate professor at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, the EG.5.1 variant is “a little bit more slippery” and “competitive” than its counterparts since it’s able to “navigate better the presence of antibodies” produced by vaccines,..

EG.5.1 was then officially classified as a variant on July 31 “due to the increasing number of genomes in UK data, and continued growth internationally”. …

In the US, Eris has become the most prevalent Covid-19 variant. It had a prevalence of 17.3 per cent in the two-week period ending on August 5, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). https://www.zawya.com/en/special-coverage/covid-19-updates/new-covid-19-variant-detected-what-we-know-so-far-about-eg51-daz4141w

August 8, 2023

“As seasons are changing and Covid virus continues to spread, newer variants continue to emerge worldwide. One of the recent variants that has been identified is Eris variant which has recognized to be come out of UK where it has been known to cause 1 in 10 of the Covid cases. This is showing an increase in number of cases in UK, with a somewhat higher levels of hospitalization for people who are seniors even if they are vaccinated. So, it is something which we need to keep an eye on. This is strain of the Omicron variant which itself was significantly mutated compared to the original Covid-19 virus that came in 2019,” says Dr Pavithra Venkatagopalan, corona-virologist and Covid awareness specialist at Rotary Club of Madras NextGen.

Dr Pavithra says that there are a few symptoms to Eris that are oddly similar to the common cold.

• Running nose
• Sneezing
• Cough
• Fever
• Fatigue (mild or severe depending on the person’s composition) https://www.sgtreport.com/2023/08/eris-the-new-covid-variant/

Instead of promoting improving diet and health, the government and pharmaceutical industry are working on more vaccines and may push one for the Eris variant as well. For me telling people how to eat better for such in the past, YouTube censored and removed a video I put out (but it is still available on another platform: COVID-19: Eat what is good!).

The YouTube censored video went over much of the following:

1. People should decrease their consumption of junk food. Instead that has increased and many Americans have gained unhealthy weight (see Using scale for weight loss? Americans gain weight during COVID-19 shut downs) which will not bolster their innate or adaptive immune systems.
2. Exercise is beneficial for the immune system (watch The Plain Truth About Exercise), yet during the corona/COVID lockdowns, many have gotten less exercise. Some because of fear of going outside and some because many gyms have been closed by government orders. Yet, the Bible teaches ‘bodily exercise profits a little’ (1 Timothy 4:8).
3. Avoiding smoking (see also Should Christians Smoke Tobacco or Marijuana?) and polluted air (watch Air Pollution, Autism, and Prophecy) help the immune function. Yet, cigarette purchases in the USA went up last year during the COVID lockdowns.
4. People should increase their consumption of high vitamin C fruits (like citrus and berries) and vegetables (like tomatoes and bell peppers) as vitamin C is proven to bolster the immune system, help protect tissues (like lungs), and fight viruses (see also COVID-19 and Vitamin C: The truth, the myth, and the hype). Many also contain fruits and vegetables supply betacarotene, which also supports the immune system.
5. Eleven years ago it was reported in a scientific journal that zinc was effective against coronaviruses to reduce their replication (see‘CDC Triples Number of Possible CCP Virus Symptoms;’ Don’t swallow Lysol to fight COVID-19! What about Zinc? Bloodclots?). Various foods, like pumpkin seeds, contain zinc.
6. Selenium may also be helpful. Eating a couple of Brazil nuts per week can supply adequate amounts of selenium.
7. Substances like methylene blue and hydroxychloroquine help improve zinc absorption (see also Donald Trump taking zinc and hydroxychloroquine to prevent COVID-19: Mainstream media aghast! Vitamin D? Vitamin C?).
8. Sunlight helps convert cholesterol into vitamin D and vitamin D looks to be helpful for those facing the coronavirus (see Donald Trump taking zinc and hydroxychloroquine to prevent COVID-19: Mainstream media aghast! Vitamin D? Vitamin C?). Even the CDC’s Dr. Fauci has admitted that vitamins D and C can be helpful (see COVID interview: Dr. Fauci takes isolated vitamin D and synthetic vitamin C).
9. Many herbs can help with viruses (see ‘Ghanaians Look to Herbal Remedies for COVID-19’ ‘Enti wobԑdi Onyankopↄn Nna Kronkron anaa Ahonhommↄnee Ahomegyeԑ Nna?’).
10. Jesus said His followers would fast (Mark 2:20). Fasting boosts the immune system (see Reuters: Why is New Orleans’ coronavirus death rate seven times New York’s? Obesity is a factor; BNP: ‘How to Change Your Life in 5 Seconds’). Fasting, for those who can, can truly help the immune system (see Fasting aids longevity and provides other benefits).
11. Blood clots can be destructive and even deadly with COVID-19, hence people who get COVID-19 may wish to take nattokinase (see ‘CDC Triples Number of Possible CCP Virus Symptoms;’ Don’t swallow Lysol to fight COVID-19! What about Zinc? Bloodclots?).
12. Lung tissue damage is associated with COVID-19 and bovine lung tissue helps support healthy lungs (see CBS: Blood types may play role in which COVID patients get sickest; Isaiah: Eat what is good.).
13. People should avoid consuming biblically unclean meat (see The New Testament Church, History, and Unclean Meats), which look to have been implicated in the cause of COVID-19 (see NPR: Where Did The Coronavirus Originate? Virus Hunters Find Genetic Clues In Bats; WND: Biblically unclean animals responsible for pandemics and Clean and unclean meat arguments, COVID-19, and the Bible).
14. Humans can help maintain healthy kidneys and other organs with bovine kidney and other organ tissues (see https://doctorsresearch.com/articles/2759/the-truth-about-glandulars-in-nutritional-supplements/). Plural glandular supplements can be helpful.
15. Even vaccine advocates think that the rushed vaccine will have safety risks (e.g. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/22/trump-circle-pressure-fda-rush-covid-19-vaccine-election)–hence caution and wisdom are advised.

All the above have the potential to help support one’s innate immune system, which helps the body fight many types of pathogens–not just one.

It is not wrong to tell people ways to consider to improve their health.

Furthermore, the Bible teaches:

2 Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good (Isaiah 55:2).

Information on how to do so should not be suppressed.

Anyway, COVID variants are not the only pestilential risk right now. A reader sent me a link to the following:

A new report from Harvard Law School and New York University argues that the next global pandemic could originate from the U.S. meat supply.

“Covid has infected more than 100 million Americans and killed over a million of them. But the next pandemic may be far worse and might happen sooner than we think,” Ann Linder, one of the report’s lead authors, said in a statement. “The stakes are simply too high for the problem to be ignored.”

In the past decade, many diseases — including HIV/AIDS, Ebola, Zika, and COVID-19 — have originated from animals. 07/23/23 https://truthout.org/articles/harvard-report-us-meat-supply-could-start-the-next-global-pandemic/

The animals that the above originated in, were all biblically unclean ones. But the bulk of those in public health will not come out against the consumption of unclean animals.

Now, the report from Harvard focused, however, on meat production. Here are some excerpts:

A number of observations about existing policy emerged from our research that cut across and color multiple markets, helping to illuminate the institutional, informational, behavioral, and enforcement challenges that characterize U.S. regulatory postures. At the end of this discussion, we are left with the uneasy but unavoidable conclusion that, at present, the United States has no comprehensive strategy to mitigate zoonotic risk. …

Over 98% of U.S.-produced livestock comes from 21,000 highly-concentrated factory farms.43 44 45 A single facility can contain more than five million animals, a headcount greater than the human population of 27 of the 50 states.46 While this model of animal production limits some aspects of disease risk, it amplifies others. Disease outbreaks at these facilities can happen regularly—and on an immense scale.  …

Livestock operations of all sizes contribute to the nation’s risk of zoonotic outbreaks. While smallscale producers may offer animals better welfare and more space, they often have lower biosecurity and amplify risk by aggregating multiple species at the same location. By contrast, industrial animal agriculture, which focuses on a single species, may have higher biosecurity, but presents a much larger risk in terms of both scale of production and the production practices employed, putting workers and surrounding communities at risk. …

Pathogen Danger: How dangerous are the types of pathogens that might be present in the market given the species of animals they contain? Certain species of animals are known to harbor certain types of pathogens. The danger posed by a pathogen is a reflection of its virulence but also its “pandemic potential,” which reflects how likely the pathogen is to become highly transmissible and spread human-to-human on a large scale. Of greatest concern for pandemic risk are single-strand RNA viruses, such as coronaviruses and influenza viruses, which are infamous for their ability to spread and change rapidly to generate new forms.

Intensity of Confinement: How closely confined are animals housed in the market? Are they densely packed together with many others? Housing a large number of animals in a small space enables pathogens to transmit more effectively between the animals, while allowing more space between animals does the opposite. Close confinement also creates stress for the animals which can make them more susceptible to disease. https://animal.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/Animal-Markets-and-Zoonotic-Disease-in-the-United-States.pdf

The Harvard report seems to be another attempt by those who want more governmental controls to reduce meat consumption.

That said, biblically, we know that pestilences are coming, and historically many have involved animals (watch also COVID, Pandemics, and Unclean Meat). We also have the issues of humans intentionally producing biological weapons that can cause pestilences (watch: Biological Warfare and Prophecy).

Now notice something published by the old Worldwide Church of God decades ago:

4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse – The Pale Horse – Disease Epidemics

In the book of Revelation we find a disturbing vision of four fearsome horsemen (Rev. 6:1-8). Each of these horsemen is a symbol of the four major punishments to be inflicted upon a rebellious mankind — probably in the not-too-distant future! …

Over the entire course of history, disease has undoubtedly been man’s greatest enemy in terms of sheer loss of life. According to Folke Henschen, a leading Swedish pathologist: “Infectious diseases… have probably been the most dangerous enemies of mankind, much more so than war and mass murder. …

Hans Zinsser, writing in Rats, Lice, and History, like wise explained: “Swords and lances, arrows, machine guns, and even high explosives have had far less power over fates of the nations than the typhus louse, the plague flea, and the yellow fever mosquito…. War and conquest and that herd existence which is an accompaniment of what we call civilization have merely set the stage for these more powerful agents of human tragedy.” …

Infectious disease is neither a respecter of men nor nations. No part of the world is immune. For example, in the United States malaria cases have cropped up in California, Alabama and Texas in the last few years. Tuberculosis is widespread among Latins and Asians in Los Angeles County, and a strain of typhoid fever currently resistant to antibiotics is being imported into the United States by illegal aliens from Mexico. …

The Roman Empire also had its share of pestilential woes. During the first century B.C., a severe attack of malaria resulted in a drastic drop in the native birthrate. Rome was forced to augment its armies with foreign mercenaries. …

But by far and away the most devastating disease ever to hit the human race was the Black Plague. It was the greatest of all pandemics and was perhaps the worst single disaster the world has experienced since Noah’s Flood. The exact toll it took remains a mystery, but various estimates place it at anywhere from 40 to 60 million souls. …

Disease, rather than superior numbers or generalship, often decided the outcome of many a battle. In 1528, during the pivotal siege of Naples, the French army was destroyed not by the enemy, but by an outbreak of typhoid fever. Thanks to this timely epidemic, Charles V of Spain was able to be crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. …

The world has yet to see the last of widespread disease epidemics. That, in effect, was what Jesus Christ told His disciples in the pivotal Olivet prophecy recorded in Matthew 24 and Luke 21. Right along with wars and famine came pestilence: “For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places” (Matt. 24:7). These were some of the prophetic signs that Christ listed in answering the question, “What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world [age]?” (Verse 3.) Granted, pestilence, famine and war have been ongoing problems that have plagued mankind ever since the dawn of history. But the main thrust of Christ’s message is futuristic. The overall context of the Olivet prophecy readily attests to this fact. In verses 21 and 22 of Matthew 24, Christ referred to a time when the total annihilation of human life would be a distinct possibility. Only with the recent development of multiple-megaton nuclear weaponry could such an event have become a reality. (Ritter G. 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse – The Pale Horse – Disease Epidemics. Worldwide Church of God (c) 1975, Ambassador College Press)

Since the above booklet related to the fourth horseman was published, human beings are directly causing antimicrobial resistance and other problems with not only how animals are raised, but also by consuming unclean ones.

For example, because of overuse of antibiotics, many now realize that the USA and many other parts of the world are setting themselves up for the possibility of getting infections from bacteria that are resistant to various antibiotics (yet, the Europeans and their animals are not quite in the same situation). I have warned about this for many years and even made a YouTube video about that: Are Americans & Asians setting themselves up for destruction from antibiotic use?

Gustave Doré’s The fourth Horseman, Death on the Pale Horse (1865)

The Bible teaches that famines and pestilences will happen PRIOR to the start of the Great Tribulation:

4 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. (Matthew 24:4-8)

As far as the fourth horseman of the Apocalypse goes, the Apostle John was inspired to write the following:

7 When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.” 8 So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth. (Revelation 6:7-8)

A fourth of the earth–that is something in the neighborhood of 2,000,000,000 people–a huge amount. Some will die from war, but others from diseases.

Since this horseman’s ride begins prior to the start of the Great Tribulation, it is likely that the USA and at least some of its Anglo-Saxon dominated allies would be affected–which are end time descendants of Israel, and also sometimes prophetically referred to as Israel (cf. Genesis 48; see also Anglo – America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel). They will also be affected AFTER the start of the Great Tribulation.

Ezekiel was inspired to write the following:

2 “And you, son of man, thus says the Lord God to the land of Israel:

‘An end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land. 3 Now the end has come upon you, And I will send My anger against you; I will judge you according to your ways, And I will repay you for all your abominations. (Ezekiel 7:2-3)

5 The sword is outside,
And the pestilence and famine within.
Whoever is in the field
Will die by the sword;
And whoever is in the city,
Famine and pestilence will devour him. (Ezekiel 7:15)

12 One-third of you shall die of the pestilence, and be consumed with famine in your midst; and one-third shall fall by the sword all around you; and I will scatter another third to all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them. (Ezekiel 5:12)

Why should Ezekiel’s warning to ‘Israel’ include the USA and its Anglo-Saxon allies?

Well in addition to prophecies in Genesis 48 & 49, consider that Ezekiel 7:2 points to problems in the “four corners of the land.” While some may point to the tiny nation called Israel, consider that the USA, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand are spread around the corners of the earth.

It is apparent, that like others in the past, the USA and at least some of its Anglo-Saxon allies will be weakened by pestilences before they are finally taken over (cf. Daniel 11:39; 8:24-25; see also USA in Prophecy: The Strongest Fortresses) by the final ‘revival’ of the old ‘Holy Roman Empire’ (watch also Europe and the ‘Holy Roman Empire’).

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse What is the pale horse of death and pestilences? What will it bring and when? Here is a link to a related sermon: Fourth Horseman, COVID, and the Rise of the Beast of Revelation. Here is a version of that sermon in Spanish: El Cuarto Caballo, El COVID y El Surgimiento de la Bestia del Apocalipsis. Some shorter related videos may include Amphibian Apocalypse: Threat to Humans? and Zombie Deer Disease is Here! Are the 10 Plagues on Egypt Coming? Here is a version of the article in Spanish: El cuarto jinete de Apocalipsis, el caballo pálido de muerte y pestilencia.
The New Testament Church, History, and Unclean Meats Are foods considered to have been unclean in the Old Testament considered to be food in the New Testament? This article discusses this from the perspective of the New Testament. It also has a list of clean and unclean animals. It also answers the question, is pork healthy or is pork dangerous? There is also a sermon-length video on this: Christians and Unclean Meats; two short videos are also available: Did Jesus declare all animal flesh food? and COVID, Pandemics, and Unclean Meat.
Biological Warfare and Prophecy Is biological warfare possible? Was it prophesied? Scientists have long warned that pathogenic organisms like the coronavirus could be weaponized. Furthermore, back in 2017, there were concerns that the biological research facility being constructed in Wuhan, China was risky and that a coronavirus from it could be released. On January 25, 2020, China’s President Xi Jinping publicly stated that the situation with the Wuhan-related strain of the coronavirus was grave. Did Church of God writers like the late evangelist Raymond McNair warn that engineered viruses (the “Doomsday bug”) were consistent with prophecies from Jesus? Did a warning from CCOG leader Bob Thiel warn about risks of genetically-modified (GMO) mosquitoes come to pass? Could human research and/or the consumption of biblically-unclean animals such as bats and snakes be a factor in current outbreaks or coming future pestilences? What about famines? How devastating have pestilences been? How devastating are the prophesied ones going to be? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues and more in this video.
Are Americans & Asians setting themselves up for destruction from antibiotic use? In the Spring of 2015, a study came out highlighting the increasing use of antibiotics fed to livestock in order to decrease production costs. This was mainly affecting livestock in the Americas and Asia, but not in Europe. Excessive antibiotic use increases the risks of ‘super bugs’ and presents health risks to humans and livestock. Could those in the USA, Canada, UK, Russia, China, India, Brazil, and South Africa be setting themselves up for pestilence and/or famine? Could Europe miss some plague because of this? What does the Bible prophesy?
Ten Simple Rules that Lead to Health Herbert Armstrong gives his opinions on this.
Lost Tribes and Prophecies: What will happen to Australia, the British Isles, Canada, Europe, New Zealand and the United States of America? Where did those people come from? Can you totally rely on DNA? What about other peoples? Do you really know what will happen to Europe and the English-speaking peoples? What about Africa, Asia, South America, and the Islands? This free online book provides scriptural, scientific, historical references, and commentary to address those matters. Here are links to related sermons: Lost tribes, the Bible, and DNA; Lost tribes, prophecies, and identifications; 11 Tribes, 144,000, and Multitudes; Israel, Jeremiah, Tea Tephi, and British Royalty; Gentile European Beast; Royal Succession, Samaria, and Prophecies; Asia, Islands, Latin America, Africa, and Armageddon;  When Will the End of the Age Come?;  Rise of the Prophesied King of the North; Christian Persecution from the Beast; WWIII and the Coming New World Order; and Woes, WWIV, and the Good News of the Kingdom of God.

COGwriter

Michael Snyder posted the following:

Is America Doomed?

Is time running out for America?  Throughout human history, great civilizations have risen and fell, and many believe that the U.S. will be no exception.  At this point, we have already drifted so far from our core values that our founders would not even be able to recognize the Republic that they once established if they were alive today.  Of course most Americans realize that something has gone horribly wrong, but most of them also believe that sending the right people to Washington is the answer.  But is that really the solution to what ails us?

According to a brand new Rasmussen poll that was just released, 40 percent of likely U.S. voters believe that Joe Biden must win the next presidential election “or the United States is doomed”…

The same poll also found that 45 percent of likely U.S. voters believe that Donald Trump must win the next presidential election “or the United States is doomed”…

I am assuming that there is no overlap between those two groups.

If that is true, that means that 85 percent of likely U.S. voters believe that our nation is “doomed” if the candidate that they are supporting does not win the next presidential election. …

I write a lot about our rapidly growing economic problems, but the moral decay that is eating away at the foundations of our culture is an even bigger crisis.

We can see this moral decay in major cities from coast to coast, and we can also see it in rural areas.  …

The truth is that our entire society is deeply sick.  It is being reported that Pornhub is visited 115 million times a day, and many of those visitors are young adults and children…

Just about every form of evil that you can possibly imagine is exploding all around us, and if we don’t find a way to turn things around America really is doomed. http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/is-america-doomed/

The USA needs national repentance–without it is is doomed–and it will end fairly soon.

Nancy Pelosi, former US Speaker of the house thinks if Donald Trump is re-elected the USA is doomed:

Nancy Pelosi Declares America Will Cease To Exist If Trump Becomes President Again

August 8, 2023

When asked about the possibility of another Trump presidency, Pelosi commanded the reporter “Don’t even think of that.”

“Don’t think of the world being on fire,” she continued, adding “It cannot happen, or we will not be the United States of America.”

“If he were to be president, it would be a criminal enterprise in the White House,” she added, without a hint of irony.

The “irony” is that the Biden family has corruption, and that if Joe Biden is re-elected the USA may cease in his next term, should he live and stay in office long enough. https://summit.news/2023/08/08/nancy-pelosi-declares-america-will-cease-to-exist-if-trump-become-president-again/

Many will say that the US has been promoting sin and increasing debt for decades, without problems, thus since it has the strongest military, etc., nothing will change.

Consider the following scriptures:

11 Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. 12 Though a sinner does evil a hundred times, and his days are prolonged, yet I surely know that it will be well with those who fear God, who fear before Him. 13 But it will not be well with the wicked; nor will he prolong his days, which are as a shadow, because he does not fear before God. (Ecclesiastes 8:11-13)

Yes, under the Obama and Trump Administrations, total US debt greatly increased.

And yes, this is an evil that many think has no cost.

The Bible says that is a wrong view to take (cf. Habakkuk 2:6-8). It also shows that the power in the end time with the strongest military will be taken over (cf. Daniel 11:39; see also USA in Prophecy: The Strongest Fortresses).

The Biden-Harris Administration has increased debt.

We are now seeing inflation, which is something I have warned for years would happen.

The USA WILL NOT LAST LONG!

Do not think that the USA will continue as it has.

The Apostle Peter warned:

3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:3-9)

Yes, there are reasons for the delays, but the end is coming (cf. Matthew 24:46-51).

Notice something from my book Biden-Harris: Prophecies and Destruction:

Like many politicians, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, do not meet the following leadership criteria:

²¹ Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; (Exodus 18:19)

³ The God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spoke to me: ‘He who rules over men must be just, Ruling in the fear of God. (2 Samuel 23:3)

This does not bode well for the U.S.A.

Furthermore, the Bible warns against the type of moral decline that is occurring in the U.S.A.:

¹² Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel: “Because you despise this word, And trust in oppression and perversity, And rely on them, ¹³ Therefore this iniquity shall be to you Like a breach ready to fall, A bulge in a high wall, Whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant. (Isaiah 30:12-13)

But how can this happen to the U.S.A.? It will likely happen with a combination of events. Notice:

⁵ “Moreover the multitude of your foes Shall be like fine dust, And the multitude of the terrible ones Like chaff that passes away; Yes, it shall be in an instant, suddenly. ⁶ You will be punished by the Lord of hosts with thunder and earthquake and great noise, With storm and tempest and the flame of devouring fire. (Isaiah 29:5-6)

The debt situation of the U.S.A. is putting it at risk of being unable to recover should it be hit by weather problems, terrorist acts, war, riots, solar flares, severe earthquakes, civil unrest, devastation of their genetically-modified food supplies, food shortages, and/or various pestilences–an intensity of “sorrows” such as Jesus discussed in Matthew 24:4-8 leading up to the time of the Great Tribulation. Political issues, climate change, trade policies, communication’s deals, and other events are pushing the U.S.A. to a position that will encourage its takeover someday. Disasters, especially if there is an ElectroMagnetic Pulse (EMP) attack, a severe solar flare storm, devastating hurricane (s) something like a massive volcanic eruption and/or massive earthquake could be part of a so-called “perfect storm” of events that could set up the U.S.A. for destruction.

Consider the devastation of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina. Multiply that by other disasters. The U.S.A. is at risk. Notice, also, the following related to Dr. Michio Kaku’s assessment of Yellowstone:

Scientists assure us that one day the absolutely massive Yellowstone supervolcano will once again experience a Category 8 eruption, and if it happened today it would “literally tear the guts out of the United States of America” … “Instead of having 50 states of the Union, we would have 30 states of the Union.” (Snyder M. As Yellowstone Awakens, Dr. Michio Kaku Warns That It Could “Literally Tear The Guts Out Of The United States Of America”. Economic Collapse Blog, February 2019)

A ‘perfect storm’ of disasters, internal strife, and misplaced confidences will make the U.S.A. a nation that can be defeated.

Many sorrows that the U.S.A. will face, like severe weather problems, diseases and earthquakes, will happen in the future, irrespective of who is in the White House (Amos 4:7-10; Luke 21:11). Joe Biden and Kamala Harris look to hasten the day of destruction. (Thiel B. Biden-Harris: Prophecies and Destruction. Nazarene Books, January 2021)

While we are not to that point yet, there are prophecies that point to the USA being gone by 2028. Related to that, we put out the following video:

Here is a link to the video: Is the USA prophesied to be destroyed by 2028?

If, instead of Jesus being killed in 31 A.D., it was 33 A.D., then there would be an additional two years. But, even if so, time is getting short and the days of the USA existing are short.

One thing that Michael Snyder did not mention had to do with immoral political moves, such as abortion funding and the LGBTQ+ agenda, which will end in destruction per Habakkuk 2:6-8 and Romans 1:18-32 respectively.

Yes, the days of the USA are numbered–the USA may well no longer exist as a nation before the end of 2027. For prophesies related to that, check out the video: Is the USA prophesied to be destroyed by 2028?

Regarding the end times, Jesus warned:

12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. (Matthew 24:12)

Yes, lawlessness and hypocrisy is abounding without real love.

God inspired Isaiah to write:

8 Now go, write it before them on a tablet,
And note it on a scroll,
That it may be for time to come,
Forever and ever:
9 That this is a rebellious people,
Lying children,
Children who will not hear the law of the Lord;
10 Who say to the seers, “Do not see,”
And to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us right things;
Speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits.
11 Get out of the way,
Turn aside from the path,
Cause the Holy One of Israel
To cease from before us.”

12 Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel:

“Because you despise this word,
And trust in oppression and perversity,
And rely on them,
13 Therefore this iniquity shall be to you
Like a breach ready to fall,
A bulge in a high wall,
Whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant. (Isaiah 30:8-13)

The above is applicable to much of the USA.

More and more are despising the word of God and trusting in perversity–remember that both Joe Biden and Donald Trump promote aspects of the perverse LGBTQ+ agenda.

Destruction is coming to the USA.

Some items of related interest may include the following:

Biden-Harris: Prophecies and Destruction Can the USA survive two full presidential terms? In what ways are Joe Biden and Kamala Harris apocalyptic? This book has hundreds of prophecies and scriptures to provide details. A Kindle version is also available and you do not need an actual Kindle device to read it. Why? Amazon will allow you to download it to almost any device: Please click HERE to download one of Amazon s Free Reader Apps. After you go to your free Kindle reader app (or if you already have one or a Kindle), you can go to: Biden-Harris: Prophecies and Destruction (Kindle) to get the book in seconds.
Might the U.S.A. Be Gone by 2028? Are there prophetic reasons to believe that the USA will not last two complete presidential terms? Yes. There is a tradition attributed to the Hebrew prophet Elijah that humanity had 6,000 years to live before being replaced by God’s Kingdom. There are scriptures, writings in the Talmud, early Christian teachings that support this. Also, even certain Hindu writings support it. Here is a link to a related video: Is the USA prophesied to be destroyed by 2028?
Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End? Was a 6000 year time allowed for humans to rule followed by a literal thousand year reign of Christ on Earth taught by the early Christians? Does God have 7,000 year plan? What year may the six thousand years of human rule end? When will Jesus return? 2031 or 20xx? There is also a video titled 6000 Years: When will God’s Kingdom Come? Here is a link to the article in Spanish: ¿Tiene Dios un plan de 6,000 años?
When Will the Great Tribulation Begin? 2023, 2024, or 2025? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? What happens before the Great Tribulation in the “beginning of sorrows”? What happens in the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord? Is this the time of the Gentiles? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord? Who are the 144,000? Here is a version of the article in the Spanish language: ¿Puede la Gran Tribulación comenzar en el 2020 o 2021? ¿Es el Tiempo de los Gentiles? A related video is: Great Tribulation: 2026 or 2027? A shorter video is: Can the Great Tribulation start in 2022 or 2023? Notice also: Can Jesus return in 2023 or 2024? Here is a video in the Spanish language: Es El 2021 el año  de La Gran Tribulación o el Grande Reseteo Financiero.
USA in Prophecy: The Strongest Fortresses Can you point to scriptures, like Daniel 11:39, that point to the USA in the 21st century? This article does. Two related sermon are available: Identifying the USA and its Destruction in Prophecy and Do these 7 prophesies point to the end of the USA?
Who is the King of the West? Why is there no Final End-Time King of the West in Bible Prophecy? Is the United States the King of the West? Here is a version in the Spanish language: ¿Quién es el Rey del Occidente? ¿Por qué no hay un Rey del Occidente en la profecía del tiempo del fin? A related sermon is also available: The Bible, the USA, and the King of the West.
Should the Church Still Try to Place its Top Priority on Proclaiming the Gospel or Did Herbert W. Armstrong Change that Priority for the Work? Some say the Church should mainly feed the flock now as that is what Herbert W. Armstrong reportedly said. Is that what he said? Is that what the Bible says? What did Paul and Herbert W. Armstrong expect from lower level leaders? Two related sermons are available The Work per HWA and the Bible and Priority of the Philadelphia Work.
Preparing for the ‘Short Work’ and The Famine of the Word What is the ‘short work’ of Romans 9:28? Who is preparing for it? Here is a link to a related video sermon titled: The Short Work.
There is a Place of Safety for the Philadelphians. Why it May Be Near Petra This article discusses a biblical ‘place of safety,’ Zephaniah 2 to ‘gather together,’ and includes quotes from the Bible and Herbert W. Armstrong on fleeing to a place–thus, there is a biblically supported alternative to the rapture theory. Two sermon-length videos of related interest are available Physical Protection During the Great Tribulation and Might Petra be the Place of Safety? Here is something related in the Spanish language: Hay un lugar de seguridad para los Filadelfinos. ¿Puede ser Petra?
The Gospel of the Kingdom of God This free online pdf booklet has answers many questions people have about the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and explains why it is the solution to the issues the world is facing. Here are links to three related sermons: The World’s False Gospel, The Gospel of the Kingdom: From the New and Old Testaments, and The Kingdom of God is the Solution.

COGwriter

The Catholic Encyclopedia article on the New Testament asserts the following:

The idea of a complete and clear-cut canon of the New Testament existing from the beginning, that is from Apostolic times, has no foundation in history. (Reid G. Canon of the New Testament. The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 3., 1908)

The above is only true if one considers that the Vatican has always represented the true Christian church.

If, however, one believes the Bible and considers the fact that the Church of Rome was not dominating all of Christendom in the first and second centuries—which their own scholars recognize (Duffy E. Saints & Sinners: A History of the Popes. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, 2002, pp.2,6; Sullivan F.A. From Apostles to Bishops: the development of the episcopacy in the early church. Newman Press, Mahwah, NJ, 2001, pp. 13-15,147)— then the idea that the true Christians’ Church knew the books from the beginning does have a foundation.

Yet, contemporary Protestant scholars often take the Roman Catholic view:

The canon of the NT, as commonly received at present, was ratified by the third council of Carthage (A.D. 397.) (Unger M. The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary. Moody Press, 2009, p. 204)

But the view of early Christians, including Greco-Roman Catholic ones, was that the New Testament canon was known at the time of the apostles.

Consider this from Augustine of Hippo:

In order to leave room for such profitable discussions of difficult questions, there is a distinct boundary line separating all productions subsequent to apostolic times from the authoritative canonical books of the Old and New Testaments. The authority of these books has come down to us from the apostles through the successions of bishops and the extension of the Church. (Augustine. Contra Faustum, Book XI, chapter 5)

Augustine is acknowledging that the canon came from the apostles, that bishops/overseers confirmed this, and thus what he considered to be the church accepted it. He did not indicate that the books were unknown and that a council was needed to determine the books.

Bishops, like Polycarp of Smyrna and Serapion of Antioch, who had succession from the apostles, confirmed that they knew the writings handed down from the apostles.

The late Dr. Ernest Martin wrote:

Some historians would have people believe that the church of the early 2^nd century (or even the 3^rd or 4^th century) probably formulated the final New Testament. There has always been a problem with this appraisal because there is not a sliver of evidence that such a thing took place. The truth is, when the early church fathers began to talk about the canon of the New Testament near the end of the 2^nd century, it is assumed that it was already in their midst. The first recorded discussion among Catholic scholars about the books of the New Testament only concerned whether certain books in the canon were of lesser rank, not which books were needed to form the official canon. (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History III.25) (Martin E. Restoring the Original Bible. A.S.K. 1994, p 295)

If you read Dr. Martin’s reference to Eusebius, you will see that Eusebius did not refer to the Church of Rome in that chapter, but that some people had doubts about the Book of Revelation as well as other books.

Consider that Jesus is identified as “the Word” four times in the first chapter of John’s Gospel (1:1,14). This fact alone should give us pause to consider that the word of God is something that God wanted all to highly value.

Between them, the Apostles Peter, John, and Paul wrote 21 of the 27 books of the NT (plus, between them, they personally knew all the other NT writers). The Bible also suggests that Peter, John, and Paul all had roles in the process of finalizing the NT canon. Even though many Roman Catholics believe that their church ‘gave the Bible to the world,’ the Church of Rome admits that it wrote none of the books of the NT (though as it includes all the writers as theirs, they would in that sense).

Peter wrote:

¹⁵ Moreover I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease. …

¹⁹ And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; ²⁰ knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, ²¹ for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:15, 19-21)

Thus, the Bible teaches that God gave scripture to humans. 2 Peter 1:15 demonstrates that Peter intended for God’s teachings to be remembered — and since he was writing at the time, this (as well as common sense) suggests that properly preserving canonical writings would be the way to accomplish this.

Since the Bible, in 1 Peter 1:25, teaches, “But the word of the LORD endures forever,” it would not seem to be biblically correct to believe that portions of it were lost for centuries — which is the prevailing view that the world’s scholars hold to!

The Continuing Church of God put together the following chart, which is also in its new book Who Gave the World the Bible? The Canon: Why do we have the books we now do in the Bible? Is the Bible complete?:

For more details, here is a link to the free online book: Who Gave the World the Bible? The Canon: Why do we have the books we now do in the Bible? Is the Bible complete?