Church of God News

Ancient Israel Shown with Tribal Borders

COGwriter

Dutch writer Bert Otten, who was once part of the old Worldwide Church of God (is not part of the Continuing Church of God, but considers himself some type of Messianic) sent me the following yesterday (photos he included did not transfer to WordPress directly and are not included in this post):

Ten Prophetic Clues Concerning Dan – the Irish

There is not much direct history connecting the tribe of Dan to the Irish people. We are talking about one of the lost tribes. Even the Caucasian population of Ireland comes from various backgrounds. One can compare this to Jewry. The Jewish people have known many proselytes, yet, there has been a core of the tribe of Judah (and some of Levi & Benjamin) over the past 2500 years. The core passes on characteristics and genes to the periphery. Looking at the ‘prophetic clues’, one has to conclude, that a core of the tribe of Dan once found its way to Ireland. This core passed its characteristics and genes onto the influx of others. The more fulfilled prophetic clues we find, the stronger our case. What follows is not historic proof, but proof by revelation.

1^st Clue: Father Dan: Ancestor Don

47  And the coast of the children of Dan went out too little for them: therefore the children of Dan went up to fight against Leshem, and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and possessed it, and dwelt therein, and called Leshem, DAN, AFTER THE NAME OF DAN THEIR FATHER.  48  This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families, these cities with their villages (Joshua 19:47-48, AV, unless mentioned otherwise).

And they called the name of the city Dan, AFTER THE NAME OF DAN THEIR FATHER, who was born unto Israel: howbeit the name of the city was Laish at the first (Judges 18:29).

The 12 Patriarchs

And He gave him the covenant of circumcision: and so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the 8th day; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat the 12 patriarchs (Acts 7:8).

The phrase ‘Dan their father’ appears twice in scripture. The Danites were very proud of their forefather, of their ancestor. The names of the other 11 patriarchs do not appear in scripture with ‘father’. Neither did the descendants of the other 11 tribes name cities after their ancestors.

The Irish & Don

Wikipedia, Donn: “In Irish mythology, Donn … is an ancestor of the Gaels and is believed to have been a god of the dead. Donn is said to dwell in Tech Duinn …, where the souls of the dead gather. … A 9th-century poem says that Donn’s dying wish was that all his descendants would gather at Tech Duinn after death: “To me, to my house, you shall all come after your deaths”. … and Harry Roe commented that “to go to the House of Donn in Irish tradition means to die”. This suggests that the pagan Gaels saw Donn as their ancestor and believed they would go to his abode when they died. … The Christian writers who recorded the Lebor Gabála Érenn made Donn into Éber Donn one of the mythical Milesian ancestors of the Gaels. The Milesians invade Ireland and take it from the Tuatha Dé Danann [Tribe of the Danites in Hebrew: Sheveth haDani]. …”.

The Danites had their forefather Dan and the Irish have their forefather Don.

The term ‘father’  has some significance as well. The 5 Danites on their way to Leshem say to the young Levite, Micha’s priest: “And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay thine hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest: is it better for thee to be a priest unto the house of one man, or that thou be a priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel?” (Judges 18:19).

“Father” is a common address to Roman Catholic priests by the Irish.

2^nd Clue: Dan: serpent on the way

… and dwelt therein, AND CALLED LESHEM, DAN, AFTER THE NAME OF DAN THEIR FATHER. (Joshua 19:47).

And the spirit of the Lord first came on [Samson] him in MAHANEH-DAN, between Zorah and Eshtaol (Judges 13:25, BBE).

And they [600 Danites] went up, and pitched in Kirjathjearim, in Judah: WHEREFORE THEY CALLED THAT PLACE MAHANEH-DAN unto this day: behold, it is behind Kirjathjearim (Judges 18:12).

AND THEY CALLED THE NAME OF THE CITY DAN, AFTER THE NAME OF DAN THEIR FATHER, who was born unto Israel: howbeit the name of the city was Laish at the first (Judges 18:29).

Then they came to Gilead, and to the land of Tahtimhodshi; AND THEY CAME TO DAN-JAAN, … (2Sam 24:6).

Dan shall be A SERPENT BY THE WAY … (Gen 49:17a).

The trail of Dan

Danites named towns and rivers after their forefather Dan (Josh 17:49; Judg 18:29). These verses give three clues. Firstly, Dan is the forefather of the Danites and Don is the ancestor of the Irish. Secondly, Dun- has become fort or settlement in Celtic languages and can be found back in many toponyms in Great Britain and Ireland. Thirdly, it also gives us the trail of Dan – Dan is like a serpent – right through Europe, to the British isles. Dan is like the trail of a serpent.

Nachal Dan & Yarden (Jordan)

In Israel there is the brook Dan (Nachal Dan) and also the river Jordan (Yarden). According to some Yarden comes from ‘yared Dan’, ‘descending from Dan’.

Don, Dnjepr, Dnjestr, Danube

When the Celts (Ten Tribes) trekked through Europe, the names of many rivers changed (Danube used to be Ister).

Dan left a trail of names behind: Danube, Dunaj, Dzvina, Don, Donets, Dnjepr, Dnjestr, Dysna, Tana, Dantzig and Danmark.

Some believe the Danes in Danmark to be Danites, but it is more likely that the Danites just passed this place. The Danes (Vikings) did not spread toponyms with the prefixes Dun-, Don- or Dan-, neither in their own country, nor in the rest of Scandinavia.

The trail leads to the British and Irish isles, and from there to the rest of the Anglo-Saxon world (i.e. Australia & Canada).

Big and small rivers with the names Don and Tyne: The river Don is a river in Russia; Don (Vilaine), a river in Brittany; River Don, Lancashire, England; River Don, Tyne and Wear, England; River Don, Yorkshire, England; Little Don River, England; River Don, Aberdeenshire, Scotland; Don River (Ontario), Canada; Don River (Central Queensland), Australia; Don River (North Queensland), Australia; Don River (Tasmania); Don River (Victoria), Australia.

Rivers on maps look like wriggling snakes or serpents.

Dun-, Din-, Don- in Ireland

In Ireland we find the biggest concentration of toponyms with Dun-, Don-, Doon- or Din-.

Hereby a list of Irish towns or villages beginning with Dun-, Don-, Doon- or Din- :

Daingean, Deansgrange, Dingle, Donabate, Donaghmede, Donaghmore, Donegal, Doneraile, Donnybrook, Donnycarney, Doon (Limerick), Doon (Offaly), Doonaha, Doonbeg, Dooniver (Dún Ibhir), Downings (Na Dúnaibh), Dunboyne, Duncannon, Duncormick, Dundalk, Dunderrow, Dundrum (Dublin), Dundrum (Tipperary), Dunfanaghy, Dungarvan (Waterford), Dungarvan (Kilkenny), Dungloe (an Clochán Liath), Dungourney, Dunkineely, Dún Laoghaire, Dunlavin, Dunleer, Dunmanway, Dunmore, Dunmore East, Dunquin (Dún Chaoin), Dunshaughlin.

We do not find toponyms with Dun-, Don-, Doon- or Din- in Denmark.

Dun: Fort – Settlement – Town

The Danites called their new settlements Dan. Most likely it became the name for a settlement, (hill)fort, village or town, in general. Towns are fortified villages and fortresses often became towns. It is very likely that the toponym Dan of the Danites became the hillfort Dun of the Celts.

3^rd Clue: Dan: anger, temper

10  And the son of an Israelitish woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel: and this son of the Israelitish woman and a man of Israel strove together in the camp;  11  And the Israelitish woman’s son BLASPHEMED THE NAME OF THE LORD, AND CURSED. And they brought him unto Moses: (and his mother’s name was Shelomith … OF THE TRIBE OF DAN)  12  And they put him in ward, that the mind of the LORD might be shewed them (Lev 24:10-12).

16  And the 600 men appointed with their weapons of war, which were of the children of Dan, stood by the entering of the gate.  17  And the five men that went to spy out the land went up … and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image …  19  And [the Danites] said unto [the Levite], HOLD THY PEACE, LAY THINE HAND UPON THY MOUTH, AND GO WITH US, and be to us a father and a priest: is it better for thee to be a priest unto the house of one man, or that thou be a priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel? …  25  And the children of Dan said unto [Micah], LET NOT THY VOICE BE HEARD AMONG US, LEST ANGRY FELLOWS RUN UPON THEE, and thou lose thy life, with the lives of thy household (Judges 18).

… and [the Danite Samson] went down to Ashkelon, and slew 30 men of them, and took their spoil, and gave change of garments unto them which expounded the riddle. AND HIS ANGER WAS KINDLED, and he went up to his father’s house (Judges 14:19).

… I [Dan] have proved in my heart, and in my whole life, that truth with just dealing is good and well pleasing to God, and that lying and ANGER are evil … I resolved on the death of Joseph my brother … Now this is the spirit of ANGER that persuaded me TO CRUSH Joseph … And now, my children, behold I am dying, and I tell you of a truth, that unless ye keep yourselves from the spirit of lying and of ANGER … ye shall perish. For ANGER is blindness … For the spirit of ANGER encompasseth him with the net of deceit … For ANGER is an evil thing, my children … And the body of the ANGRY man it maketh its own, and over his soul it getteth the mastery … Understand ye, therefore, the power of WRATH, that it is vain. For it first of all giveth provocation by word; then by deeds it strengtheneth him who is ANGRY, and with sharp losses disturbeth his mind, and so stirreth up with great WRATH his soul. Therefore, when any one speaketh against you, be not ye moved to ANGER … and then being ENRAGED, he thinketh that he is justly ANGRY … be not VEXED; for from VEXATION ariseth WRATH with lying. … And keep His law; Depart from WRATH … Speak truth each one with his neighbour. So shall ye not fall into WRATH and confusion … (The Testament of the Patriach Dan).

Temper & Anger

God uses our good and bad character traits. Likewise with the Danite Samson. He had a temper. But God used that temper, like He also used Samson’s taste for Philistine women.

The son of a Danite woman in Leviticus 24 went into a rage and started cursing. He was to be stoned. The 5 Danites with the 600, who went up to Laish to conquer that town, stole the ephod, the idol and the Levite priest from the Ephraimite Micha. When the latter complained they said: “You’d better watch out! We have some hot-tempered Danites with us!”.

The Patriarch Dan explained to his sons that he hated Joseph and wanted to kill him. He warned his sons for anger and hatred (and also for lying). The subtitle of Dan’s Testament is ‘against anger and lying’.

IRA – Anger & Terror

During the northern Ireland conflict the IRA started a campaign of anger and terror with many bombings. Many innocents were killed. The conflict cost the lives of 3500 people.

Irish Temper

Irish temper and rage are proverbial and cliché. ‘Irish temper’ at google gets 60,000 hits.

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Irish%20temper :

“The stereotypical temper of the Irish, and those of Irish descent. Most often somewhat unexpected, extremely passionate, and very short-lived.”

There are scores of pictures and t-shirts that deal with Irish rage, anger or temper. This ‘cliche’ clue of Dan, we find back among the Irish and not among the Danes from Denmark.

Irish Swearing

‘Irish swearing’ at Google gives 15,000 hits. There are sites with long lists of (funny) Irish curses and swearing. Tempers and cursing can be found back amongst all peoples. The Danites and the Irish are just a bit more known for it, than others.

4^th Clue: Dan: humour, sarcasm, riddles

But if you can’t solve it, you will give me the same things.” They responded, “Tell us your riddle! Let’s hear it!” So Samson said to them,

“From the eater came

something to eat.

From the strong one

came something sweet.”

For three days they couldn’t solve the riddle (Judges 14:13-14, GWV).

So before sundown on the seventh day, the men of the city said to him,

“What is sweeter than honey?

  What is stronger than a lion?”

Samson replied,

“If you hadn’t used my cow to plow,

you wouldn’t know my riddle now.”

(Judges 14:18, GWV).

Samson found the jawbone from a donkey that had just died. He picked it up and killed 1,000 men with it. Then Samson said,

“With a jawbone from a donkey,

            I’ve made two piles of them.

With a jawbone from a donkey,

I’ve killed a thousand men.”

(Judges 15:15-16, GWV).

Her name was Delilah. The Philistine rulers came to her and said, “Trick him, and find out what makes him so strong. …  7  Samson told her, “If someone ties me up with seven new bowstrings that are not dried out, I will be like any other man.” …  10  Delilah told Samson, “Look, you’re making fun of me by telling me lies. Now, tell me how you can be tied up.”  11  Samson told her, “If someone ties me up tightly with new ropes that have never been used, I will be like any other man.” …  13  Delilah told Samson, “You’re still making fun of me by telling me lies. Tell me how you can be tied up.” Samson replied, “Just weave the seven braids of my hair with the other threads in the loom.”  14  So Delilah tied his braids to the loom shuttle. …  But Samson woke up and tore his braids and the threads out of the loom shuttle.  15  Delilah said to Samson, “How can you say that you love me … You’ve made fun of me three times now, but you still haven’t told me what makes you so strong.” (Jdgs 16).

Humour, sarcasm, riddles

Samson the Nazirite is the best known Danite of the Bible. He loved humour, sarcasm and riddles. His humour is often kind of black. Many of Samson’s actions are often comical, as if he wants to play a practical joke on people (see 5th clue).

There are also the 5 Danites, looking for new territory for their tribe. On their way north they stay with a certain Micha in the tribal area of Ephraim. With dark humor they thank him for his hospitality by robbing him of his priest, ephod and idols.

The Danites first conquered and burned Laish and then built it up again. With a kind of humour they named many topographical places Dan, Dun or Don.

Irish Humour: Craic

Wikipedia: “Craic or crack is a term for news, gossip, fun, entertainment, and enjoyable conversation, particularly prominent in Ireland. It is often used with the definite article – the craic – as in the expression “What’s the craic?” (meaning “How are you?” or “What’s happening?”). … Under either spelling, the term has great cultural currency and significance in Ireland. … Now, ‘craic’ is interpreted as a specifically and quintessentially Irish form of fun. … “The craic” has become a part of Irish culture. In a 2001 review … professor Eileen M. Trauth called “craic” an intrinsic part of the culture of sociability that distinguished the Irish workplace from those of other countries. Trauth wrote that even as Ireland transitioned away from a society dominated by agriculture, the traditional importance of atmosphere and the art of conversation – “craic” – remains, and that the social life is a fundamental part of workers’ judgment of quality of life.”

Irish Comedians

https://ireland-calling.com/irish-comedians/ :

“Ireland and its people are renowned for enjoying a laugh and a good time. So it is not surprising that the country has produced so many top class comedians throughout the years. One-liners, storytelling, observational comedy, whacky characters and comical songs … Irish comedians are masters at it all. There is a great range of talents amongst the country’s funnymen and women and whatever your tastes, you are sure to find someone that will have you splitting your sides.”

5^th Clue: Dan: practical jokes

And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, AND SLEW THIRTY MEN OF THEM, AND TOOK THEIR SPOIL, AND GAVE CHANGE OF GARMENTS UNTO THEM WHICH EXPOUNDED THE RIDDLE. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father’s house (Jdgs 14:19).

And Samson went and caught 300 FOXES, AND TOOK FIREBRANDS, AND TURNED TAIL TO TAIL, AND PUT A FIREBRAND IN THE MIDST BETWEEN TWO TAILS. AND WHEN HE HAD SET THE BRANDS ON FIRE, HE LET THEM GO INTO THE STANDING CORN OF THE PHILISTINES, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn … (Judges 14:4-5).

And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a 1,000 men therewith. And Samson said, WITH THE JAWBONE OF AN ASS, HEAPS UPON HEAPS, WITH THE JAW OF AN ASS HAVE I SLAIN A 1,000 MEN (Jdgs 15:15-16).

And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, AND TOOK THE DOORS OF THE GATE OF THE CITY, AND THE TWO POSTS, AND WENT AWAY WITH THEM, BAR AND ALL, AND PUT THEM UPON HIS SHOULDERS, AND CARRIED THEM UP TO THE TOP OF AN HILL THAT IS BEFORE HEBRON (Judges 16:3).

If they bind me WITH 7 GREEN WITHS that were never dried, then shall I be weak … If they bind me fast WITH NEW ROPES that never were occupied, then shall I be weak … If thou WEAVEST THE 7 LOCKS OF MY HEAD WITH THE WEB … (Judges 16).

Dictionary Internet: practical joke:

“a prank or trick played on a person (especially one intended to make the victim appear foolish)”.

Samson & Practical Jokes

It was not enough for Samson to beat his opponents by strength. He also used practical jokes to make fools of them. When he had to pay 30 cloaks to 30 Philistines, he just killed 30 other Philistines. He set fire to the Philistine corn with 300 foxes. He killed 1,000 Philistines with a fresh jawbone of a donkey, as if to say that they were donkeys. Escaping from Gaza was not enough, he ripped up the gate, doors and posts, and carried them to a hilltop. Three times he made fun of Delilah by giving her fake instructions. Even his death is a kind of practical joke. By having the temple collapse on him, he made a powerless fool of Dagon, the god of the Philistines.

Irish & Practical Jokes

Irish have quite a sense of humour and are especially fond of practical jokes. Many can be found on the internet. One of the most extreme pranks I found was by Shay Bradley.

Shay Bradley

https://mashable.com/article/irish-man-pranks-family-at-funeral/?europe=true :

“Funerals are some of the most heartbreaking experiences we go through as humans, but every so often we get a beautiful chance to merge the tragedy with a laughter that eases the tension. Shay Bradley of Kilnamanagh in the south of Dublin, Ireland, passed October 8, but that didn’t mean he was ready to give up his life’s passion of pranking his family. When his coffin was lowered and the bag pipes began playing, something unusual happened – an audio recording of his voice began playing. “Hello? Hello,” starts Bradley’s voice to everyone’s astonishment. “Let me out, it’s dark in here!” Pretty quickly the crowd’s tears turn to laughter as the recording mimics Bradley knocking on the wooden coffin. Bradley’s daughter, Andrea Bradley, posted the video to Facebook. “My dad’s [dying] wish, always the pranksters, ya got them good Poppabear, and gave us all a laugh just when we needed it!! I will love you forever.He would love to know how many people he made laugh!!! He was an amazing character,” Andrea wrote on Twitter. At the end of the video, you can hear Bradley serenading his loving family one last time.”

6^th Clue: Dan: Irish & the Sea

… AND WHY DID DAN REMAIN IN SHIPS? … (Judges 5:17).

And the seventh lot came out for the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families. AND THE COAST OF THEIR INHERITANCE WAS Zorah, Eshtaol, Irshemesh, Shaalabbin, AJALON, Jethlah,  Elon, Thimnathah, Ekron, Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath, Jehud, BENEBERAK, Gathrimmon, Mejarkon, and Rakkon, WITH THE BORDER BEFORE JAPHO [present-day Jaffa and Tel Aviv] (Joshua 19:40-46).

Deborah’s Song

In Deborah’s Song many tribes are accused of not turning up, when they had to, when the northern tribes fought Sisera.

The tribe of Dan is accused of preoccupation with their ships. At the time the Danites still lived at their original tribal area between Judah and the sea, at present-day Jaffa and Tel Aviv. At the time they had not conquered Leshem in the north yet.

Jaffa, of Yafo, was one of the few ports of Israel and it was in Danite hands. Through this port they had a lot of contact with the Phoenicians. According to the Jewish Encyclopedia Danites had joined Phoenician ships (see Jewish Encyclopedia, Tribe of Dan).

Irish & the Sea

https://aoh.com/2008/09/01/the-seafaring-irish/

The Seafaring Irish, September 1, 2008 By Mike McCormack. “Ireland has the largest percentage of coastline in Europe, in fact, there are few spots in Ireland more than 70 miles from water … The fact is that the early Irish were a seafaring race … That the early Irish were no strangers to the sea is revealed in her ancient manuscripts … Ireland’s settlers came across the seas; from the Fir Bolg, who escaped bondage in Greece in boats made of wood and leather, to the Celts of Iberia, who came in a fleet of ships with which they traded along the coast of Europe … Irish Sail the World. Their seafaring ability brought Celtic sailors to America long before the time of Christ as described in the book America BC by the late Dr. Barry Fell … In the ensuing centuries, seafaring remained a component part of Irish life in both trade and warfare.  However, since the structure of Irish civilization was a collection of independent clans rather than a nation, there was no national navy.  In spite of that fact, Irish sea-raiders remained the most feared pirates along the coast of western Europe.  It was on one of these raids that High King Niall … took the boy Patrick as a slave.  Patrick’s return to Ireland and subsequent conversion of the Irish to Christianity condemned piracy as an occupation, but it did not eliminate the sailing ability of the Irish.  Instead, this now largely religious population took to the sea as missionary monks to spread the nets for God.  They … followed their ancestors across the Atlantic to North America.  Not only did St. Brendan write of sailing to America, but the history of Iceland records the visits of Irish monks to their shores long before the Vikings …”

Irish & the Navy

Many Irish served in the British and US navies:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Irish_sailors_in_the_Royal_Navy &

Curragh

A curragh or currach is a cano-like boat used in the past by Irish monks for long journeys across the north of the Atlantic Oceon.

7^th Clue: Dan: lying & fantasy

If they bind me WITH SEVEN GREEN WITHS THAT WERE NEVER DRIED, then shall I be weak … And Delilah said … Behold, THOU HAST MOCKED ME, AND TOLD ME LIES: now tell me … wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said … If they bind me fast WITH NEW ROPES THAT NEVER WERE OCCUPIED, then shall I be weak … And Delilah said … THOU HAST MOCKED ME, AND TOLD ME LIES: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If thou weavest THE SEVEN LOCKS OF MY HEAD WITH THE WEB. … And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? THOU HAST MOCKED ME THESE THREE TIMES, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth (Judges 16).

[Testament of Dan, also called Testament of Anger & Lying]: The copy of the words of Dan, which he spake to his sons in his last days, … that TRUTH with just dealing is good and well pleasing to God, and that LYING and anger are evil … that unless ye keep yourselves from THE SPIRIT OF LYING and of anger … ye shall perish … and through LYING darkeneth his mind, and giveth him its own peculiar vision. … This spirit [of anger] goeth always WITH LYING at the right hand of Satan, that with cruelty and LYING his works may be wrought. … for from vexation ariseth wrath WITH LYING. Moreover, a twofold mischief is wrath WITH LYING; and they assist one another in order to disturb the heart … And keep His law; Depart from wrath, AND HATE LYING, … (Testament of Dan).

Dan & lying

According to the Testament of Zebulun it was Dan who came up with the idea of dipping Joseph’s coat of many colours into blood: “Dan therefore came to him and said: Weep not, neither grieve; for we have found what we can say to our father Jacob. Let us slay a kid of the goats, and dip in it the coat of Joseph; and let us send it to Jacob, saying: Know, is this the coat of thy son? And they did so. … and they did even as Dan had said.”(Test. of Zebulun).

The Testament of Dan has as subtitle: Dan’s speech about the evil of anger and lying.

Internet about Irish lying

https://entertainment.ie/trending/new-survey-reveals-that-irish-people-tell-an-average-of-four-white-lies-per-day-339268/ :

“We’re nothing but a bunch of filthy, horrible liars.

Ireland has a problem with telling the truth, as a new survey revealed our love for an occasional fib and the odd absolute whopper and/or stonker of a lie, and exactly where we’re bending the truth to fit our needs. 

            It turns out that we tell an average of four white lies a day, while 10% of people admitted that they would tell 10 or more white lies on any given day. For the guys out there, the main topics that they lied about were their sporting prowess, (32%) of those surveyed admitted to making false claims about their athleticism), their salary (21%), having an ability to cook (20%) and having read impressive or high brow books (19%).”

https://www.her.ie/life/14-lies-you-believed-as-an-irish-child-224924

On this site 14 lies are dished up that Irish mothers tell: My favourite one: Irish mother: “Watching food cook in the microwave will give you radiation poisoning!” Whatever magical futuristic beams made your popcorn pop would simultaneously fry your brain/eyesight/senses if you looked directly at them? We still squint through the door in anticipation of disaster.”

Lying & fantasy

Mythology is often made up of fantastic stories, legends and sagas, which are in fact a kind of ‘lie’. Irish mythology and old Irish history often are a range of contrasting stories.

Leprechaun, banshee, aspidochelone, etc.

Wikipedia: “A leprechaun is a type of fairy of the Aos Sí in Irish folklore. They are usually depicted as little bearded men, wearing a coat and hat, who partake in mischief. They are solitary creatures who spend their time making and mending shoes … Leprechaun-like creatures rarely appear in Irish mythology and only became prominent in later folklore.”

Then there are other fantastic beings like the aspidochelone and the banshee.

Irish Literature

All that fantasy has led to an important Irish literature. For a relative small island, Ireland has contributed substantially to world literature. After Greek and Latin literature, it is the third oldest of Europe. Ireland has produced four Noble Prize winners for Literature, William Butler Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, Samuel Beckett and Seamus Heaney.

8^th Clue: Dan: weakness for women

And Samson went down to Timnath, AND SAW A WOMAN in Timnath OF THE DAUGHTERS OF THE PHILISTINES. And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I HAVE SEEN A WOMAN in Timnath OF THE DAUGHTERS OF THE PHILISTINES: now therefore get her for me to wife. Then [they] said unto him, IS THERE NEVER A WOMAN AMONG THE DAUGHTERS OF THY BRETHREN, or among all my people, that thou goest to TAKE A WIFE OF THE UNCIRCUMCISED Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, GET HER FOR ME; FOR SHE PLEASETH ME WELL (Judges 14:1-3)

Then went Samson to GAZA, AND SAW THERE AN HARLOT, and WENT IN UNTO HER. … And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city … And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight … (Judges 16:1-3).

4  And it came to pass afterward, THAT HE LOVED A WOMAN IN THE VALLEY OF SOREK, whose name was DELILAH. 5  And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, ENTICE HIM, and see wherein his great strength lieth … 16  And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death;  17  THAT HE TOLD HER ALL HIS HEART, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite …  19  AND SHE MADE HIM SLEEP UPON HER KNEES; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head … But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza … (Judges 16).

Philistine women

The Danite Samson had a weakness for women. First he married a Philistine woman from Timnath, also situated upon the brook Sorek. Secondly he visited a harlot in the Philistine town of Gaza. And thirdly we read about the worldfamous story of Samson & Delilah. He started living with her in the valley of Sorek. Consequently she seduced and betrayed him.

Drinking & Wenching

The Irish folkband The Dubliners released an album in 1976 called Drinking and Wenching (1976). On it are many songs about ‘wenching’.

https://www.thefreedictionary.com/wenching :

intr.v. wenched, wench·ing, wench·es

To consort with promiscuous women. Used of a man.

Of course all peoples have promiscuous men and women. Whether Irish men are more often womanizers than others, I do not know, but they do sing more about it than others.

Magdelena Laundries

Wenching may sound cute in songs, but in a catholic country like Ireland contraceptives were forbidden. Pregnant women often ended up in Magdalene laundries:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magdalene_Laundries_in_Ireland :

“The Magdalene Laundries in Ireland, also known as Magdalene asylums, were institutions usually run by Roman Catholic orders, which operated from the 18th to the late 20th centuries. They were run ostensibly to house “fallen women”, an estimated 30,000 of whom were confined in these institutions in Ireland. In 1993, a mass grave containing 155 corpses was uncovered in the convent grounds of one of the laundries. This led to media revelations about the operations of the secretive institutions.“

Wenching on the one side and abortion being forbidden on the other side, once led to 7,000 abortions abroad for 58,000 live births.

John F. Kennedy

John F. Kennedy was the first catholic American president. The Kennedy’s were originally from Ireland. John Kennedy and his father Joe were infamous womanizers. JFK is said to have said: “If I don’t have sex every day, I get a headache.’ Sexual escapades of three Kennedy generations can be found on the internet.

9^th Clue: Dan: Celtic Craft

And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,  2  See, I have called by name BEZALEEL the son of Uri, the son of Hur, OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH:  3  And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of WORKMANSHIP,  4  To devise cunning works, TO WORK IN GOLD, AND IN SILVER, AND IN BRASS,  5  And in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of WORKMANSHIP.  6  And I, behold, I have given with him AHOLIAB, the son of Ahisamach, OF THE TRIBE OF DAN: … that they may make all that I have commanded thee;  7  The tabernacle of the congregation, and the ark of the testimony, and the mercy seat that is thereupon, and all the furniture of the tabernacle,  8  And the table and his furniture, and the pure candlestick with all his furniture, and the altar of incense … (Ex 31:1-9).

And he hath put in his heart that he [BEZALEEL] may teach, both he, and AHOLIAB, the son of Ahisamach, OF THE TRIBE OF DAN (Ex 35:34).

And with him [BEZALEEL]  was AHOLIAB, son of Ahisamach, OF THE TRIBE OF DAN, AN ENGRAVER, AND A CUNNING WORKMAN, … (Ex 38:23).

And now I have sent a cunning man, endued with understanding, of HURAM my father’s, THE SON OF A WOMAN OF THE DAUGHTERS OF DAN, and his father was a man of Tyre, SKILFUL TO WORK IN GOLD, AND IN SILVER, IN BRASS, IN IRON, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson; ALSO TO GRAVE ANY MANNER OF GRAVING, and to find out every device which shall be put to him, … (2Chron 2:13-14).

… And HURAM MADE THE POTS, AND THE SHOVELS, AND THE BASONS. And Huram finished the work that he was to make for king Solomon for the house of God … (2Chron 4:11).

Two Danites were involved in making objects for the tabernacle and for Solomon’s temple. They were accomplished gold/silver smiths. So were the Celts in Ireland.

National Museum of Archeology

Wikipedia: “Ór – Ireland’s Gold, The central area of the museum contains one of the finest collections of Bronze Age gold objects in Europe. … most of it probably being jewellery, but with many objects of unknown (possibly ritual) function. In the early Bronze Age most artefacts were made from sheet gold and include sundiscs and crescent shaped collars called lunulae. In the middle Bronze Age new gold working techniques were developed; … a great variety of torcs were produced from twisting bars of gold. Items from the late Bronze Age, starting in 900 BC, include solid gold bracelets and dress-fasteners as well as large sheet gold collars, ear-spools and a necklace of hollow golden balls.” …

Wikipedia: “The chalice ranks with the Book of Kells as one of the finest known works of Insular art, indeed of Celtic art in general, and is thought to have been made in the 8th century AD.”

10^th Clue: Dan & the House of David

For thus saith the LORD; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel … And the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season; Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne … As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant … Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying … If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them (Jeremiah 33:17-26).

European Royal Houses

The last 250 years many empires, kingdoms and principalities have disappeared. Is it just a coincidence that the Lost Tribes nations of north-westeren Europe have kept their constitional monarchies? It is most likely no coincidence and it is very likely a sign that the House of David is still governing part of the House of Israel in north-western Europe.

To my understanding the follwing nations are Lost Tribes nations. With royalty: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Benelux, United Kingdom. The latter with the Common Wealth Nations: Canada, New Zealand and (white) South Africans. Also the republics: Iceland, France, Switzerland, Ireland and the USA.

David – Zedekiah (450 years)

King David and his descendants ruled for about 450 years (ca. 1040-586 BC) in the Kingdom of Judah, 19 generations.

Daughters of Zedekiah

According to the British Israelite Movement Jeremiah and Baruch brought a daughter of king Zedekiah from Egypt to Ireland, where she married the local king. From then onwards the descendants of David ruled over the tribe of Dan. Zedekiah’s daughters had been taken to Egypt: “But Johanan … took all the remnant of Judah … Even men, and women, and children, and the king’s daughters … and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch … So they came to Egypt … (Jer 43:5-7).”

Legend

Revd. F.R.A. Glover, M.A., from London, published in 1861 England, The Remnant of Judah, and the Israël of Ephraim, in which he introduced a daughter of Zedekiah (Tea Tephi) who had come from the east to Ireland to marry the king of Ireland, according to Irish mythology. If true, than this connects the House of David with the Irish, Scottish and English royal houses. If a daughter of king Zedekiah married an Irish king, then descendants of the House of David ruled over (parts of) the Lost Tribes, over the past 2500 years, like it was prophesied in Jeremiah 33.

James VI / James I

Elizabeth I had no children. After her death in 1603 the crown went to the Scottish James VI, who became England’s James I. James VI / I was a descendant of the Irish kings. All present-day royal houses of Europe descend from this king James I of England.

Monarchies and Republics

Glover wrote about his findings in 1861. In those days most countries were governed by dukes, princes, kings and emperors. In other words: a descendant of David could be ruling over Israelites anywhere on the globe. Take Ethiopia, descendants of Solomon (through Menelik I, son of Solomon and the queen of Sheba) were ruling over the falasha’s, black Jews. It could be argued that the Ethiopian emperors were fulfilling Jeremiah 33.

Monarchies disappear

It is noteworthy that Glover stated in 1861 that the royal houses in Europe descended of the House of David … and that these royal houses only remained in north-western Europe and that most other governing monarchs disappeared. The world turned republic! Except in north-western Europe, where we find the Lost Tribes. Ireland has been an important link in that chain. For quite a while the House of David ruled over the tribe of Dan in Ireland.

It is interesting that the only mention of the House of David in ancient archeology is found on the Tel Dan Stele, found in Dan.

While I am not convinced that all listed above are valid ‘prophetic connections’ and I am not about to concur that the Irish have more problems with lying, anger, womanizing, drinking, swearing, etc. than other people, I do believe there is a connection between the tribe of Dan and Ireland.

The Bible prophesies the following about Dan:

16 “Dan shall judge his people As one of the tribes of Israel. 17 Dan shall be a serpent by the way, A viper by the path, That bites the horse’s heels So that its rider shall fall backward. 18 I have waited for your salvation, O LORD! (Genesis 49:16-18)

22 And of Dan he said:
“Dan is a lion’s whelp; He shall leap from Bashan.” (Deuteronomy 33:22)

Notice also the following assertion:

The Irish of today… have characteristics applicable to DAN and Simeon…The forefather of the Danes in Danish tradition was called DAN (Davidy. The Tribes, pp. 432,438).

The old Radio Church of God put out the following by the late Dr. Herman Hoeh in the 1950s:

Dan was originally divided into two parts, one about Joppa, a seaport, and the other in the north of Palestine. Dan refused to fight along side the other tribes against the Gentiles (Judges 5:17). Dan would judge, or stand up to rule, his own people as one of the separate tribes of Israel indicating he would gain self-government in the following manner: “Dan shall be a serpent in the way, a horned snake in the part, that biteth the horse’s heels, so that his rider falleth, backward.”  Ireland has done just that to England. In fact, the symbol of the illegal Irish Republican Army was the coiled snake!

Dan would also be like a young lion leaping forth, an apt description of Denmark, which acquired the Virgin Islands, Greenland, Iceland and other islands in her heyday. Especially unique is the fact that of all the tribes Northern Dan still preserves their father’s name the Danes!

As far as biblical prophecies go, Dan is the only one of the tribes NOT prophesied to be represented by the 144, 000 as it is omitted from the following list:

1 After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, 3 saying, “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” 4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed:

5 of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand were sealed;
6 of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand were sealed;
7 of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand were sealed;
8 of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed. (Revelation 7:1-8)

It has been speculated that the involvement of the tribe of Dan pushing idolatry so much in the Old Testament (cf. Judges 18:14-31) is the reason, though Revelation 7 does not give an explanation for omitting Dan.

The tribe of Dan has been mainly been left out of the genealogies of 1 Chronicles 1-9, though it is mentioned in 1 Chronicles 2:2. But the lack of details in 1 Chronicles 1-9 related to Dan indicates that there was some type of serious difference between it and the other tribes. Some Catholic writers have suggested that Dan was left out because the final Antichrist will be from the tribe of Dan, but scripture does not so state.

(More on the 144,000 can be found in the article When Will the Great Tribulation Begin?)

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Anglo – America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel Are the Americans, Canadians, English, Scottish, Welsh, Australians, Anglo-Saxon (non-Dutch) Southern Africans, and New Zealanders descendants of Joseph? Where are the lost ten-tribes of Israel? Who are the lost tribes of Israel? What will happen to Jerusalem and the Jews in Israel? Will God punish the U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, and other Anglo-Saxon nations? Why might God allow them to be punished first? Here is a link to the Spanish version of this article: Anglo-América & las Tribus Perdidas de Israel. Information is also in the YouTube sermons titled Where are the Ten Lost Tribes? Why does it matter? and British are the Covenant People. A short YouTube of prophetic interest may be: Are Chinese threats against Australia for real?
Will the Anglo-Saxon-Celtic Nations be Divided and Have People Taken as Slaves? Will the lands of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand be divided? What about Jerusalem? What does Bible prophecy teach? Are there non-biblical prophecies that support this idea? Who will divide those lands? Who will end up with the lands and the people? Here is a link to a video titled Will the USA and other Anglo-nations be Divided and Their People Made Slaves? Here is a related item in the Spanish language ¿Serán divididas las naciones anglosajonas?
What Did the Early Church Teach About Idols and Icons? Did Catholic and Orthodox “saints” endorse or condemn idols and icons for Christians? A related sermon is available: The Second Commandment, Idols, and Icons.
Brexit and the fate of Northern Ireland, Gibraltar, the UK, and the USA On April 29, 2017, 27 of the nations of the European Union agreed to certain guidelines for the negotiations with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland which gave its notice to leave on March 29, 2017. These guidelines are contrary to what the UK wants. Does the EU intend the UK to pay a price for leaving the EU? What does Spain want? What does the Republic of Ireland want? Will Northern Ireland and Gibraltar eventually fall under European control? Will the UK and USA be conquered? What does the Bible teach? Dr. Thiel answer these questions and more in this video.
Forbes’ Brexit Monster is the Beast of Revelation Various ones have been properly convinced that there is a plan for a European superstate. Forbes’ writer Tom Worstall wrote that the Brexit vote was about the United Kingdom “not joining the monster of the European Union to come.” The Bible tells of a Beast monster that will arise in the end times in Europe. Dr. Thiel cites news reports, as well as the Old and New Testaments, to show that the monster many fear will arise in Europe, despite the vote by the British to exit the European Union. This is a video.
Will the UK Lose Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands? For many years, the major sea gates of the world were possessed/controlled by the United States (Panama Canal and certain locations in the Pacific ocean) and the British Empire (Straits of Malacca, Singapore, Suez Canal, Bab el Mandeb, Strait of Hormuz, Simon’s Town/Cape of Good Hope, Malta, etc.), and many are no longer under their control. Spain wants Gibraltar and Argentina wants the Falklands (also known as the Malvinas). UK Prime Minister David Cameron says the UK will defend the Falklands Gibraltar. Does the Bible give clues as to what will happen with those ‘sea gates’? Do promises made the Jacob’s mother Rebekah play a role? What about Deuteronomy 28? This is a video.
Post Brexit Prophecy On June 23, 2016, the voters of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK) chose to leave the European Union. Now with this BRitish EXIT (Brexit) vote, what is prophesied to happen to the UK? Will the UK do well or be taken over and made slaves? Dr. Thiel explains from biblical prophecies what is ahead for the UK, Europe, and even the USA, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. This is a video.
Will the UK Lose Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands? Spain wants Gibraltar and Argentina wants the Falklands (also known as the Malvinas). Does the Bible give clues as to what will happen with these ‘sea gates’? A version of the article in the Spanish language would be ¿Perderá el Reino Unido a Gibraltar y las Islas Falkland (Malvinas)?
British are the Covenant People What do ‘British’ and ‘Britain’ mean in Hebrew? Are the descendants of the Anglo-Saxons people of the covenant? Does the British royal family connect to the throne of David? What does the Bible teach? What does history show us? Is there any DNA evidence related to British-Israelism? When did Christianity make it to the British Isles? Could Jeremiah have made it to the British Isles? What type of Christians made it to the British Isles? Did the last King of England believe in British Israelism?
Canada in Prophecy: What Does Bible Prophecy, Catholic Prophecy, and other Predictions Suggest About the Future of Canada? There are prophecies that suggest involvement with Canada. And many are not positive about its future. A sermon of related interest is also available: Canada in Prophecy.
Australia and New Zealand in Prophecy Do biblical prophecies help explain the wealth blessings for Australia and New Zealand? Might cursings from disobedience come in the 21st century? Here is a link to a related sermon: Australia and New Zealand: Origins and Prophecy.
Canada in Prophecy: What Does Bible Prophecy, Catholic Prophecy, and other Predictions Suggest About the Future of Canada? There are prophecies that suggest involvement with Canada. And many are not positive about its future. A sermon of related interest is also available: Canada in Prophecy.
Australia and New Zealand in Prophecy Do biblical prophecies help explain the wealth blessings for Australia and New Zealand? Might cursings from disobedience come in the 21st century? Here is a link to a related sermon: Australia and New Zealand: Origins and Prophecy.
Catholic Prophecies: Do They Mirror, Highlight, or Contradict Biblical Prophecies? People of all faiths may be surprised to see what various Roman and Orthodox Catholic prophets have been predicting as many of their predictions will be looked to in the 21st century.
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. A related sermon is titled: 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.
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 is a link to a video titled: The Future King of the North.
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.
Europa, the Beast, and Revelation Where did Europe get its name? What might Europe have to do with the Book of Revelation? What about “the Beast”? Is an emerging European power “the daughter of Babylon”? What is ahead for Europe? Here is a link to a video titled: Can You Prove that the Beast to Come is European?
Messianic Judaism Beliefs Differ from the Continuing Church of God Both groups keep the seventh-day Sabbath, but have important differences in doctrines and practices. Here is a link to a related sermon: Messianic Jewish Beliefs.
When Will the Great Tribulation Begin? 2020, 2021, or 2022? 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? You can also see the English language sermon videos: The Great Tribulation from the Mount of Olives and Can the Great Tribulation begin before 2020? A shorter and newer video is: Could the Great Tribulation Begin in 2020?
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.
Some Doctrines of Antichrist Are there any doctrines taught outside the Churches of God which can be considered as doctrines of antichrist? This article suggests at least three. It also provides information on 666 and the identity of “the false prophet.” Plus it shows that several Catholic writers seem to warn about an ecumenical antipope that will support heresy. You can also watch a video titled What Does the Bible teach about the Antichrist?

COGwriter

Herbert W. Armstrong, the late Pastor General of the old Worldwide Church of God, wrote the following article of warning:

Some of You May Not Make It Into God’s Kingdom – Does It Mean YOU?

MOST PEOPLE who follow this world’s traditional “Christianity” take it for granted that, if sometime in their life they “accept Christ,” they will go to heaven when they die. But in GOD’S Church we talk about “making it into God’s Kingdom.”

I wonder if YOU really do understand the difference! This world is SATAN’S world — not God’s. Satan is a DECEIVER! This world is DECEIVED! But often I wonder, dear brethren, how many of YOU have really come to see the difference! How many of OUR brethren just substitute “the Kingdom” for going to heaven, and think we “get into the Kingdom” the same way they think they shall go to heaven — just by having somehow professed to have “accepted Christ”!

This deceived world lives the way of “GET.” And “GET” is the way that TRANSGRESSES God’s LAW! They want to “GET” salvation. They “RECEIVE” Christ — they profess to “ACCEPT” Christ. And they think that’s ALL THERE IS TO IT. Once they have declared they “accept” — that is, “GET” Christ — there is nothing more to do. It is all settled. They go to church once in a while and sing that old hymn, “It Was All Settled Long Ago.” They were THEN “saved.” They are never told to REPENT. They are not instructed on what REPENTANCE really is. Instead they are taught that if they obey God’s law they will be “LOST.” Obeying God’s spiritual LAW, they are taught, is “works,” and their preachers quote Ephesians 2:8-9:

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: NOT OF WORKS, lest any man should boast.” But the preachers NEVER read right on the next words, verse 10, which says, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus UNTO GOOD WORKS, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
They MISS God’s whole PURPOSE in saving us. Do NOT SOME OF YOU, ALSO? Just WHAT is this important matter of salvation all about?

The first created man, Adam, disobeyed God. He followed his wife Eve in choosing SATAN’S “GET” way of life, rejecting God’s spiritual LAW, which is God’s WAY OF LIFE love to God and outflowing LOVE to other people!

God had, long before creating Adam, set the super archangel LUCIFER on the THRONE with power to RULE over all the earth. When Lucifer rejected God’s LAW — God’s WAY OF LIFE — he abrogated the GOVERNMENT OF GOD on earth, and he became SATAN THE DEVIL. But it is the law of God’s government over the universe that SATAN must remain on that throne, with SUPERNATURAL POWER OVER ALL THE EARTH, UNTIL the government of God is restored, and CHRIST is sitting on that throne with supreme POWER to rule all the earth — when Satan shall be banished from the earth.

So Satan was still there to deceive Eve and lead Adam into SIN. After the beginning of the New Testament Church, SATAN was still there. The apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian church: “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted” (II Cor. 11:3). Satan is still on that throne today, deceiving, misleading the world. And I have to often wonder, as Paul did in writing the church at Corinth, if Satan is deceiving some of YOU dear brethren? So I appeal earnestly to you to listen and to THINK ABOUT THIS!

Adam cut himself and HIS FAMILY off from God — from God’s LAW — from God’s GOVERNMENT! Now WHAT IS GOD’S PURPOSE? WHY did He create humans and put us humans here on earth? LISTEN! UNDERSTAND THIS! God is reproducing Himself! He is begetting human PEOPLE as HIS very own CHILDREN. His children together with Him and with Christ will become the GOD FAMILY! There will be, in His Kingdom, God the FATHER, Christ the SON and we of the Church as Christ’s WIFE — married to Christ at the time of the resurrection at His Second Coming to earth — at the final making of the NEW COVENANT, which is the NEW Covenant! It will make us of the Church — then made immortal GOD BEINGS composed of immortal spirit — both the children of God and the Wife of Christ — the GOD FAMILY — and called also THE KINGDOM OF GOD!

Now we talk about “making it into the Kingdom.” What do we mean? We mean making it into God’s own FAMILY! We shall be a FAMILY — the GOD FAMILY!

Now to train us to be a part of that divine FAMILY, God made us male and female. God ordained the marriage union and the human FAMILY. God intended us to LEARN HIS KIND OF FAMILY RELATIONSHIP in our own FAMILY LIFE here in this present life! Now keep that in mind. I’m coming back to it. But keep also in mind something else.

Since Adam failed to resist Satan and to restore the GOVERNMENT OF GOD, none of Adam’s children could overcome Satan and qualify to replace Satan on that throne over all the earth and to RESTORE the government of God. So finally God sent His OWN Son, His only-begotten Son, to become human as well as divine. Jesus was GOD in human flesh — God as well as MAN. He was the ONLY human ever able to obey God’s great spiritual LAW perfectly, resist and conquer Satan and QUALIFY to RESTORE the GOVERNMENT OF GOD on earth!

More than that, He was able to set us an example of living THE WAY of God’s spiritual LAW, to die for us, paying for us the penalty of our sins, and to be resurrected by the FATHER, thus making our resurrection and immortal life possible — so that WE may become God’s CHILDREN in GOD’S FAMILY, and born GOD BEINGS.

We together with God and with Christ shall form THE. KINGDOM OF GOD, RULING ALL THE EARTH WITH THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD. Satan then shall be banished.

Now Adam cut himself and HIS family OFF from God and from receiving God’s Holy Spirit. God made Adam’s decision BINDING on Adam’s FAMILY who form the whole world — UNTIL the GOVERNMENT OF GOD is RESTORED and Satan is banished, so Satan cannot lead humanity any longer AWAY FROM GOD! And that means UNTIL the Second Coming of CHRIST and restoration of GOD’S GOVERNMENT by the Kingdom of God.

Meanwhile God made an exception in cutting Adam’s FAMILY off from God. God called Abraham out of Satan’s world, and 430 years later Abraham’s children to become God’s NATION. To them He gave the OLD Covenant — a marriage covenant that made them the wife of Yahweh who was to be born as Jesus later. God gave them His spiritual law but they, like the first Adam, refused to obey it. Only the prophets of Israel obeyed, and only they shall be in God’s KINGDOM WITH GOD’S CHURCH!

Then when Jesus came and QUALIFIED to depose Satan and RESTORE the GOVERNMENT OF GOD and for Himself to sit on that THRONE with power to rule the whole earth, God the Father called certain ones HE chose. He called them to come OUT OF THIS WORLD — out of SATAN’S world — to receive His Holy Spirit. This begat them as His CHILDREN, in His BEGOTTEN FAMILY.

He called us out of the world, to be SEPARATE FROM the world. To Live a FAMILY LIFE to prepare us for the FAMILY LIFE that shall be HIS KINGDOM!

Now UNDERSTAND THIS! I’m afraid many of you have NOT understood it!

The KINGDOM is the divine FAMILY of God. If we cannot live as a FAMILY should live, according to God’s SPIRITUAL LAW, now, while in God’s Church, WE SIMPLY WON’T MAKE IT INTO God’s KINGDOM (which is His divine FAMILY!).
Now PLEASE! PLEASE, dear brethren, HEED THIS! Many of you are NOT living the kind of FAMILY LIFE that is preparing you for God’s Kingdom. And if you DON’T repent, and reorder your whole FAMILY life, YOU SIMPLY WON’T MAKE IT INTO THE KINGDOM! I MEAN THAT! It is LIFE AND DEATH for ALL ETERNITY!
We found at the summer SEP camp at Orr, Minn., that in many cases the children DO NOT EAT WITH THEIR PARENTS AT HOME!

It is reported to me that many of you are LAX in child training and in teaching your little children! You ARE NEGLECTING YOUR FAMILY LIFE. And you may be NEGLECTING SO GREAT SALVATION.
Listen to what God SAYS! “How shall we [we in the Church] escape, if we NEGLECT so great salvation?” (Heb. 2:3).

… many of you are NEGLECTING your very salvation!

God says to YOU: “For the time IS COME that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if… the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” (l Pet. 4:17-18). (Good News, January 1981)

Five years after the above was published Herbert W. Armstrong died.

In the radio broadcast he did, titled End Time Falling Away, Herbert Armstrong taught that the New Testament shows there will be falling away related to the Church of God in Acts 20:28-29, as well as a massive turning aside towards fables for the world in 2 Timothy 4:3 (note, all oral quotes in this document are from my notes and may not always be verbatim but do accurately convey what he taught):

Men to turn away from the truth … Acts 20:29 and 30 … Paul … wanted to meet with the leaders of the church … What church? The Church of God! … “For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.”

See what the prophecy was? Falling away. Departing from the truth!

And then go to second Corinthians eleventh chapter and the 13th, 14th, and 15th verses.

For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. “And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light… Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.” Many false prophets will deceive many…Second Timothy fourth chapter third verse…

For the time will come when they will not endure—THAT’S the PEOPLE the Western world—sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” the world will fall away after fables. (Armstrong HW. End Time Falling Away, HA103A.MP3)

His successor was NOT faithful and led what was perhaps one of the largest ‘falling aways’ in the history of the Church of God (see The Falling Away: The Bible and WCG Teachings).

Thus, Herbert W. Armstrong was correct to warn people who thought they were Christians that they may not make it into the Kingdom of God.

There is a prophecy in Zechariah that may be relevant here. Notice:

7 “Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd,
Against the Man who is My Companion,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
“Strike the Shepherd,
And the sheep will be scattered;
Then I will turn My hand against the little ones.
8 And it shall come to pass in all the land,”
Says the Lord,
“That two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die,
But one-third shall be left in it:
9 I will bring the one-third through the fire,
Will refine them as silver is refined,
And test them as gold is tested.
They will call on My name,
And I will answer them.
I will say, ‘This is My people’;
And each one will say, ‘The Lord is my God.'” (Zechariah 13:7-9)

While the above seems to have other applications, the fact is that two-thirds of those in the old WCG accepted total apostasy after the death of Herbert W. Amrstrong, and about one-third did not, makes the possible application of the Tkach apostasy seem to fit.

Nowadays, most remaining Christians do not accept proper church governance–even though Herbert W. Armstrong emphasized that a lot in his final years on Earth for Philadephian Christians.

He also taught about those who would not fully fall away, but would be Laodicean:

… the final generation of the Church shall be LUKEWARM — not less emotional, but more ‘liberal,’ more secular and less spiritual — less strictly biblical –” “Speaking of the present ‘Philadelphia’ era, it says … because we have kept God’s Word faithfully, not liberalizing nor watering down, God will keep us from the ‘hour of temptation, which shall come upon all them that dwell on the earth’ to try and test them. (Armstrong HW. Personal from Herbert W. Armstrong. Plain Truth, August 1980).

But, the BAD NEWS, as it appears today, my dear brethren, is that we, undoubtedly of the Philadelphian era…are in serious danger of BECOMING also the Laodicean era. I am personally much concerned about that. If YOU are NOT concerned, then indeed we are in mortal DANGER. (Armstrong HW. Personal from Herbert W. Armstrong. Good News, August 1979).

Now, here we find, while it’s pictured as seven churches, it’s really seven stages of the one True Church … in seven successive times. Also, you’ll find every one of the seven conditions in the church at all times but, in the early years, the Ephesus condition dominated and the tail end of it the Laodicean condition is to dominate on the earth and there you are. (Armstrong HW. History of the True Church – Part 4. Radio broadcast, transcript)

Well, now then, I have said that the Laodicean condition will dominate at the tail end. But I have said that all of those conditions—all the way from Ephesus up to Laodicea, all seven—are present at all the time in the Church; but that now, in the Philadelphian Era, we have the Laodicean condition. That’s what I am talking about today. It’s here. (Armstrong HW. Warning To The Church. Sermon, July 1, 1978)

These seven messages DO apply to seven successive church eras. BUT they also apply to the WHOLE CHURCH through ALL eras. In other words, the Ephesus characteristics DOMINATED in the first era, and the Laodicean will dominate in the last, but SOME of these characteristics are found in EVERY era. (Armstrong HW. Human Nature, Did God Create It? 1976)

You may have to give your present life in order to make the Kingdom of God. Are you going to try to live on and save it? Or are you willing…? There is one place in the 12th chapter of Revelation where, after Satan has had the battle in heaven once again and has been sent back down to earth, where the “saints loved not their lives unto death.” And that’s speaking of our time, and our people, and those of the Laodicean Church to follow us almost immediately. And the Laodicean Era of the Church has not yet come, but it will; and I think that we are doing a whole lot to raise it up. (Armstrong HW. Mark of the Beast. Sermon, December 11, 1982)

The Apostle Peter wrote:

10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; 11 for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:10-11)

After Herbert W. Armstrong’s death, not only was there a falling away (see The Falling Away: The Bible and WCG Teachings), it has become clear that the Laodicean era has been upon us.

Sadly, most who did not fall away from Christianity have drifted into Laodiceanism.

Jesus told those Christians to repent:

14 “And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write,

‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: 15 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. 17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’ — and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked — 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. 21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

22 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”‘” (Revelation 3:14-22)

In the end times, MOST true Christians will be Laodicean. It is not that the Laodiceans cannot enter the Kingdom of God, but they have issues that they need to change–and risk severe chastisement in this life if they do not repent.

Do not remain Laodicean.

To answer the question, JUST WHAT IS THE WORK?, Herbert W. Armstrong personally wrote:

But Christ said to His Philadelphia era Church, that because we have but little strength, He would OPEN THOSE DOORS TO US (Rev. 3:8)” (Letter 11/19/76).

The PURPOSE for which Christ built the Church exemplifies its WORK … 1) To ANNOUNCE to the world for its witness the coming Kingdom of God…2) To prepare the people to whom God adds to the Church…God has always worked with humans. He has worked with      O N E  M A N at a time … The WORK consists of proclaiming the Gospel, by radio, by television, in print (Armstrong HW. JUST WHAT IS THE WORK? PASTOR GENERAL’S REPORT – VOL.3, NO.6 February 6, 1981)

God has always, in dealing with humans, worked through ONE MAN at a time — one who believed God! Some in ancient Israel challenged this one-man leadership. Some, like-wise, have challenged it today! …  In founding God’s Church, Jesus worked primarily through one man, Peter, even though He originally chose His 12 disciples. Few have ever noticed how Peter was the real leader. Jesus had told His disciples to go NOT to the gentiles, but to the “lost sheep of the House of Israel.” … Notice now PETER’S preeminence. Few have ever put all these scriptures together as I shall now do. This shows PETER was leader. … And, though there were other apostles, God worked primarily through ONE man –PETER! Has God changed? Or is He the SAME still today? … The Jerusalem conference (Acts 15) showed that PETER was predominant over even Paul, although Paul was the ONE MAN God worked through primarily in the ministry to gentiles. The CHURCH is GOD’S Church. (Armstrong, Herbert W. And NOW Christ Sets Church Back On Track Doctrinally. Good News, April 1979).

Notice that Herbert Armstrong believed that God mainly worked through the leadership of one man at a time to lead various phases of the work. Scripture, shows for example, that the mantle passed from Elijah to Elisha (2 Kings 2:9-15). The ‘mantle’ would currently be with the person/group that truly functioned as the ‘pillar and ground of truth’ (1 Timothy 3:15).

For fifty years in the second century, according to Herbert W. Armstrong, that man was Polycarp:

It is significant that after his release John trained Polycarp elder of Smyrna, a city near Ephesus in the province of Asia. … At neighboring Smyrna, Polycarp presided over the Church of God for half a century after John’s death. Polycarp stood up boldly for the truth while many fell away and began having fellowship with the Catholic bishops of Rome. History relates that following the example of Peter, Paul and John, Polycarp wrote many letters to congregations and individuals, though all these have perished, save one in an edited version. (Armstrong HW. The Church They Couldn’t Destroy. Good News, December 1981)

For over 50 years in the 20th century, it was Herbert W. Armstrong.

And in the 21st century, that one man is not in any of the independent or more structures Laodicean groups (see also Herbert W. Armstrong, the Philadelphia Church, & the Mantle).

Support the remnant of the Philadephian era and God’s work today.

Do not delay (cf. Zephaniah 2:1-3).

COGwriter

In this stressful times of disease, closed businesses, and COVID-19 travel restrictions, remember that Jesus taught:

Yes, many of us are facing various tribulations, but as Christians we need to “be of good cheer.”

That can take faith.

The old Worldwide Church of God published the following by the late Sidney M Hegvold:

Increase Your Faith!

We as Christians can lack strong, godly faith because we question the why and how of what God does.

Will there be any faith in this last generation before Jesus Christ returns? Christ Himself questioned whether there would be! Notice: “Nevertheless,” Jesus asked, “when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8).

What a sobering question! God clearly states that His people — the just — must live by faith (Romans 1:17), and that without faith it is impossible to please Him (Hebrews 11:6). But dynamic, living faith is a rare commodity in this world.

How, then, can one have faith?

The truth is that the kind of faith God desires us to have cannot just be “worked up”: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8, Authorized Version).

God must give us the kind of faith that really works — the kind of faith required for salvation. And certainly we must want to have this faith. Who wouldn’t want to have the faith required to receive God’s wonderful blessings of protection, peace of mind or healing, for example?

John knew full well that Christ had the power to free him from prison. But he may have wondered why Christ didn’t do so.

Now, exactly how does God give us this faith? Romans 10:17, Revised Standard Version, tells us how we receive true, godly faith: “So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ.”

How we receive faith

First, we must believe what God says — trust Him! “For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness'” (Romans 4:3).

This is a major problem for all of us in this materialistic generation, so steeped in evolution. It can be extremely difficult to really believe God.

All true Christians have an earnest desire to live by faith, but there has been such an explosion of materialistic knowledge on every imaginable subject — medicine, psychology, sociology, biology, astronomy, history, geology — that we can find ourselves spontaneously asking why and how to almost every statement or promise God makes in the Bible. And these are faith-killing questions.

Think about it: Why does God let good people suffer and die while evil people often live well and prosper? How could the earth, including Mt. Everest and the Grand Canyon, have been completely covered with water during the Flood in the days of Noah, not even 5,000 years ago — where did all that water come from and where did it go? Where did a fish large enough to swallow Jonah come from, and how did Jonah breathe for three days and three nights while he was in the whale’s belly?

And so the questions go.

Should we just blindly accept and believe, then? Absolutely not! Faith cannot be expressed that way. “But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?” (James 2:20, AV). Faith has to be demonstrated by action — faith must be active, dynamic, living.

The key is the statement made in Romans 10:17. Faith can come only through the preaching of Jesus Christ. Faith is spiritual and has nothing to do with the physical or material.

Not our ways or reasons

Let’s examine some examples of the eroding effect that human reasonings can have on faith.

God knows that we at this time simply could not understand why some things are allowed to happen, so He doesn’t always tell us why. But we still must learn to believe and trust Him. He also knows we could not understand how some things are accomplished by His Holy Spirit. Those are spiritual matters and we are yet physical.

So wondering to excess about why God allowed something or exactly how God did something can cause us to lose faith.

John the Baptist’s imprisonment and his reaction to it is a good example of having to trust and believe without understanding why. Even John the Baptist became confused and upset. His reactions during this severe trial, as they relate to Christ, are quite similar to attitudes and reactions of many of us undergoing trials today.

John knew who Christ was — John twice called Him “the Lamb of God” (John 1:29, 36). Yet, while in prison, John sent two of his disciples to Jesus with the question, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” (Luke 7:19).

John knew full well who Christ was, and that Christ had the power to free him from prison. Was John perhaps wondering why Christ had not done so?

Did you catch it? John’s basic question — a faith-killing question — may well have been why.

Christ pointed out to John’s disciples the works He had been doing — works of which He knew John was well aware. Then He concluded with this statement to John’s disciples: “And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me” (verse 23).

Jesus was telling John — and all of us — that God’s people may not always understand everything at a certain time, but that we shouldn’t reject God and Christ — we shouldn’t lose faith — because of it.

John not only remained in prison, but he was beheaded. Why did Christ allow John to die? He could have prevented it, but He did not. The answer is beyond human reasoning.

A problem that can undermine godly faith is the suffering of trials. Take the example of Job.

The suffering of trials can undermine faith. Job, afflicted and tried, wondered why. The answers aren’t the answers many want.

Job, like John, was sorely afflicted and tried, and he, too, wondered why. It was young Elihu who gave Job some answers. These answers were available to John, as they are available to us today. The problem is, they aren’t the answers many want.

Elihu told Job: “Take heed, do not turn to iniquity, for you have chosen this rather than affliction. Behold, God is exalted by His power; who teaches like Him?” (Job 36:21-22).

Indeed, who else but God can teach through affliction? And sometimes the lessons are of necessity severe, even though humans seldom learn them.

“For God may speak in one way, or in another, yet man does not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, while slumbering on their beds, then He opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction. In order to turn man from his deed, and conceal pride from man, He keeps back his soul from the Pit, and his life from perishing by the sword.

“Man is also chastened with pain on his bed, and with strong pain in many of his bones, so that his life abhors bread, and his soul succulent food. His flesh wastes away from sight, and his bones stick out which once were not seen. Yes, his soul draws near the Pit, and his life to the executioners” (Job 33:14-22).

God uses all these methods as He works with humanity to bring us to His own state of perfection, to literal sonship in His Family.

“Behold, God works all these things, twice, in fact, three times with a man, to bring back his soul from the Pit, that he may be enlightened with the light of life” (verses 29-30).

God allows all these trials so that we “may be enlightened with the light of life” — eternal life.

Too often we lose sight of that awesome goal, but God never does! Losing sight of the goal causes us to lose faith.

We live in an evil world

Undergoing severe trials and losing sight of our goal can erode our faith.

Remember, too, that we live in an evil world and often have to suffer with this world’s society.

Jesus, speaking to God the Father, said, “I do not pray that You should take them [Christ’s followers] out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15). Psalm 34:19 tells us, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous.” So when some tragedy strikes, don’t blame God. Many of our problems occur because we are living in a very evil society.

It often seems that people, if they think of God at all, blame Him for every calamity and tragedy of life. Seldom do they thank Him or praise Him for all the good things He does.

Reasoning humanly, those who write insurance policies often refer to natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes and tornadoes as “acts of God.” Such is humanity’s view of God.

But this is how we should think of our Creator: “Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:16-17).

Faith is often undermined by our wondering, Why, God, did you all0w this to happen to me? John the Baptist probably went to his execution wondering why. But John must have heeded Christ’s instruction not to be offended (Luke 7:23), because Christ said of him, “Among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist” (verse 28).

Faith doesn’t depend on knowing

Jesus, saddened when He heard of John’s execution, wanted to go off by Himself, but a multitude followed Him out into the desert.

Jesus there displayed God’s power by turning five loaves of bread and two fish into enough food for 5,000 men plus women and children. After everyone was fed, 12 baskets of crumbs were collected (Matthew 14:13-21).

Christ’s disciples were certainly impressed with Christ’s miracle- working power, but they, too, had even more to learn regarding real faith.

Consider: A major pitfall in exercising faith is demanding to know how faith works. Faith is spiritual, but the results of faith in our lives are often quite physical and material. For example, the miracle of healing (James 5:13-15), the preservation of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego in the fiery furnace (Daniel 3) and the feeding of the 5,000 are physical consequences of faith. But how such miracles are accomplished is spiritual and inexplicable in physical terms.

How God accomplishes His purposes becomes so important to some people that, when they find they can’t understand, they simply stop believing God or the biblical account.

For example, the theory of evolution is humanity’s attempt to explain how physical things are the way they are in purely physical terms humans can understand. Since people think they have found out how life and the physical world “evolved,” they no longer have to deal with the question of God and their responsibility to Him.

Conditioning your faith on knowing how God’s purposes are accomplished can destroy your faith.

This was a major lesson Christ’s apostles learned when Peter found himself in a situation where the how of a great miracle so plagued him and his physical senses that his faith vanished.

Peter’s walk on water

Remember the incident of Peter walking on the water? It is recorded in Matthew 14:22-31. “Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away” (verse 22). This was just after the miracle of feeding the multitude, and it was still early in the evening (verse 23).

A storm came up and so tossed the boat about that the apostles could make little headway (verse 24). Notice that, as fierce as the storm was, the disciples gave no indication of panic as long as they were in the relative security of the boat.

When they had spent most of the night fighting the heavy seas, Jesus appeared to them in the fourth watch (verse 25). Naturally they were troubled at the sight of Jesus walking on the water — that is, until Jesus talked to them: “But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid'” (verse 27). The apostles were frightened at the unnatural sight of Jesus actually walking on the surface of the water. That was contrary to any experience any of them had had. However, when Jesus spoke to them, they were reassured and comforted. Why?

The unnatural situation of Jesus walking on the surface of the water was still there before their eyes. But they were given a physical assurance that did fit in with their past experience — the familiar voice of Jesus. Although they could not understand how He managed to walk on the water, they were comforted by His familiar voice.

They were also quite aware that Jesus did perform some great miracles. The disciples were growing in faith — they were beginning to believe the things Jesus said.

Peter was so confident that he thought he could walk on the water, too, if Christ were to bid him to do so: “And Peter answered Him and said, ‘Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water'” (verse 28). Peter knew that the feat was possible only if Christ commanded him to do so.

That is an important point in growing in faith: “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him” (I John 5:14-15).

Peter, asked if it were Christ’s will, and on that assurance he had the confidence to step out onto the water. “So He said, ‘Come.’ And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus” (Matthew 14:29).

Peter actually walked on the water! But now something totally alien to any experience Peter had ever had happened, and Peter’s faith departed. What was it? “But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, ‘Lord, save me!'” (verse 30).

Had Peter not been aware of the wind before? He certainly had! He and the other apostles had spent the whole night being tossed about by the waves, but they had been in the relative security of the boat. So what had happened that terrified Peter so much? It was really more a matter of what didn’t happen than what did.

Peter was totally unprepared for how he was held up by faith.

Where was faith supposed to react on Peter’s body to give him that reassuring sensation of physical support? On the soles of his feet, where he felt support when he walked on solid surfaces? It wasn’t there — no feeling of support at all. Was there a feeling of support under his arms, as one would feel support if held up by a harness? No. Was there a feeling of support through his hair, as if he were being held up by the hair? No. Peter could nowhere feel the sensation of physical support. Faith was supporting him. Faith is spiritual — feeling is physical.

Peter’s mind, from long experience in the physical environment, knew of no reason why he could be there on the surface of the water. Peter was unprepared for how faith would hold him up on the water. He reacted to his physical senses — and began to sink.

The lesson? One has to grow in and exercise faith.

Peter’s faith in the person of Christ was still firm, though. “And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?'” (verse 31). In the firm grip of Christ’s hand, Peter made it back into the boat.

There was simply no way that Jesus could have explained to Peter, in terms Peter could have understood, how faith would support him. Peter just had to experience it and grow in faith.

You, too, must grow in faith

You, too, can have faith! You must have faith, for without faith you cannot please God. You can’t qualify for God’s Kingdom without faith.

So, like John the Baptist and Peter, you have to learn to believe God — and without question — through the dynamic faith God will give you as a true Christian.

To develop this faith in God, you must know God, and you can know God through Bible study and prayer. And because you express this faith, God promises to prosper you, heal you, protect you and, yes, even try you at times, for your own good.

When you are sure you have done your part, and you know from God’s Word what God’s will is, “do not turn to iniquity” (Job 36:21) because God does not answer in the way you expect. Trust Him! Believe Him! Continue doing your part patiently and never lose faith.

After all, God reminds us: “‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ says the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts'” (Isaiah 55:8-9). (Hegvold S Increase Your Faith! Good News, September 1984)

For more on faith, check out the free online booklet: Faith for Those God has Called and Chosen.

For more on God’s plan for you and others, check out the free online book: The MYSTERY of GOD’s PLAN: Why Did God Create Anything? Why did God make you?

For some potentially prophetic motivation, check out the latest following video on our Bible News Prophecy program:

10:45

COVID 19 is NOT the End, but could it be TEOWAKI?

The novel coronavirus called COVID-19 is wreaking havoc around the world. Many states of the USA as well as countries in Europe are on lockdown with shelter in place /shelter in residence requirements. In France, a form is required when you are not at your house. In Spain, drones are being used to warn people who are outside to got back to their homes–does that bring up feelings of ‘Big Brother’? Italy, France, and other areas are using police and/or military force to encourage people to stay inside. According to the Bible could this be the end? If not, what has to happen first? Have the second and third of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse started their ride? Could COVID-19 be the fourth horseman? Why or why not? Could we be seeing The End of the World as We Know It (TEOTWAKI) like the R.E.M.’s 1987 single song discussed? Do Christians need to fear? What did Jesus teach? What did the Psalmist teach?

Here is a link to our video: COVID 19 is NOT the End, but could it be TEOWAKI?

Consider also the 23rd Psalm:

1 The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
3 He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (Psalm 23:1-6)

Brethren, trust God, for we are destined to “dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

At risk of repeat, remember that Jesus said “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32).

Have faith.

(From Public Domain Pictures.net)

COGwriter

There are now 100,000 reported cases of COVID-19:

March 6, 2020

The total global number of coronavirus infections bled past 100,000 on Friday, John Hopkins University, which tracks the global spread of COVID-19, said.

The current total around the globe stands at 100,278, as the latest data on its tracker indicates, with a majority of those — 80,556 — concentrated in mainland China, where the virus was first discovered. https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/1583500748-coronavirus-global-cases-total-surges-past-100-000

Some have called what is happening the “Coronapocalypse” suggesting it has to with end time prophecies.

Are there prophetic ramifications of COVID-19?

Yes.

Consider the following from the old Worldwide Church of God:

Epidemics Of The Future

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.

The book of Revelation also underscores the fact that such tumultuous times are yet in store for the future. John’s apocalyptic scenario centers around the events surrounding the Day of the Lord (Rev.1:10). In the sixth chapter we see war, famine and pestilence (the last three of the four horsemen of John’s vision) riding together at this critical juncture in world history.

The Pale Horseman Rides

With both the black horse of famine and the red horse of war riding roughshod over the earth, it is only natural for the pale horse of pestilence to follow hard on their heels. Ezekiel also described the devastating effect this deadly triad can have: “A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee: and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee; and I will scatter a third part in to all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them” (Ezek. 5:12).

Parallel prophecies found in the Old Testament clearly indicate why man will continue to suffer from the ravages of disease. Notice this cause-and­effect relationship as outlined in the 28th chapter of Deuteronomy: “But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God,” warns man’s Creator, “the Lord will make the pestilence cling to you until He has consumed you from off the land, which you go to possess. The Lord will smite you with consumption [wasting, degenerative disease], with fever and inflammation [possibly infectious contagions)…. and the tumors, the scurvy [deficiency disease] and the itch, of which you cannot be healed. The Lord will smite you with madness [mental disorders] and blind-ness and dismay of heart [emotional trauma]” (verses 15, 21-22, 27-28, The Amplified Bible).

Misgovernment, greed and oppression over the course of nearly 6000 years of history have saddled the human race with the unwanted burden of disease. For instance, man’s proclivity to crowd into disease — prone cities is indicative of this problem. And it is interesting to note that Bible prophecy seems to indicate that this crowd-at­all-costs policy will eventually backfire on the human race. Notice Leviticus 26:25: “… And when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you… .” Also Ezekiel 7:15: “The sword is without, and the pestilence and the famine within: he that is in the field shall die with the sword; and he that is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him.” …

In Revelation 6:8, John writes: “And I saw, and behold, a pale horse, and its rider’s name was Death, and Hades [the grave] followed him; and they were given power over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth” (RSV). By today’s head count, that would amount to a mind boggling one billion people. And according to the Olivet prophecy, that is only the “beginning of sorrows” (Matt. 24:8). Much more is to follow as the world moves into the darkest moments of its entire history. Jeremiah called it the “time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jer. 30:7). Christ said there would be “great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world… nor ever shall be” (Matt. 24:21). (4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse – The Pale Horse – Disease Epidemics. Ambassador College Press, 1975)

Here is what the NKJV has in Revelation about the 4th horseman:

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)

So, the opening of the fourth seal is the time that the pale horse of death is apparently increasing death by war, hunger, and pestilences (the beasts of the earth).

In the 21st century, 1/4 of the population amounts to close to 2 billion being killed via the ride of the fourth horseman!

Of course, there are FOUR horsemen of the Apocalypse.

1887 depiction by Victor Vasnetsov

Being the 4th seal, it comes after the first three and before the 5th seal. The opening of the 5th seal (Revelation 6:9-11) coincides with the start of the Great Tribulation (see also When Will the Great Tribulation Begin? 2020, 2021, or 2022?). Jesus told of pestilences as a part of the beginning of sorrows (Matthew 24:4-8) which are the first four seals–this precedes the start of the Great Tribulation (Matthew 24:21-22). Between the start of the beginning of sorrows and the Great Tribulation something will result in Europe having an army and taking militaristic steps (Matthew 24:15, Daniel 11:31).

Regarding those seals, they coincide with Jesus’ words:

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)

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 24:21).

The first horseman has to do with false ecumenical religion (Revelation 6:1-2)–which looks to have started, the second with war (Revelation 6:3-4), and the third with famine (Revelation 6:5-6).

Consider also that COVID-19 has reported killed a little under 4,000 people.

So, is it the final result of the ride of the 4th horseman?

No.

We need to see the ride of the 3rd horseman, famine, first. And that has not happened yet.

But could COVID-19 have prophetic ramifications?

Yes.

Before getting to them, consider that in modern times, the spread of diseases is so much easier than in more ancient times. The old WCG reported:

Jet-Age Germs

The communicable disease problem is further being complicated by the potential hazards brought on by jet-age transport. No longer do nations live in relative isolation, separated by vast oceans or days and weeks of travel. Now a potential disease carrier can infect another country or continent thousands of miles away — all in a matter of hours. A person could carry a disease like yellow fever from the forests of Brazil to the suburbs of New York City and no one would be the wiser. Since the incubation period of such a disease usually amounts to several days, a potential carrier could easily clear customs long before the first telltale symptoms would break out.

In addition, there is the threat of new disease strains which can be sprung on an unsuspecting country like an infectious bolt out of the blue. … Will mankind be engulfed in a tidal wave of disease epidemics that will rival the worst ones of history? Or has the human race seen the last of the grim reaper? (4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse – The Pale Horse – Disease Epidemics. Ambassador College Press, 1975)

No. According to the Bible and 21st century researchers, we can expect more. Notice some comments from the Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) about this related to the 2011 movie Contagion:

The movie tells the story of a novel virus that spreads across the globe rapidly, with scientists and the public following its every move. The idea of a contagion such as this is very real…the plot of a new, deadly virus spreading quickly is quite plausible. In fact, CDC and public health partners identify, on average, one new or emerging infectious disease each year. The movie is a reminder that public health at local, state, national, and global levels must be supported to quickly detect, investigate, and respond to outbreaks and keep Americans safe from health, safety, and security threats arising in this country or anywhere in the world.

The film underscores that we are all connected by the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the water we drink … Contagion shows that fear is also contagious. (Frieden T. CDC Director on ‘Contagion’: Deadly Viruses Could Spread Fast. The Atlantic, September 10, 2011. http://www.theatlantic.com/life/archive/2011/09/cdc-director-on-contagion-deadly-viruses-could-spread-fast/244849/ viewed 09/10/11)

Humankind is at risk. And modern travel and other practices are placing humanity at even greater risk. The ride of the pale horseman of death will result in deaths from pestilences.

I would also like to comment about fear as the Contagion movie apparently emphasizes that. In a recent trip to Europe, I noticed that some Asian-appearing individuals (and only Asians, and then mainly women) were wearing masks to presumably reduce their risk of catching airborne diseases in airports and some other places. Washing hands and wearing masks sometimes do have limited benefit, and it is possible that in times of epidemic that some (though not all) may benefit from these actions.

UPDATE: 03/07/20: Consider something from the CDC:

CDC estimates* that, from October 1, 2019, through February 29, 2020, there have been:

34,000,000 – 49,000,000 flu illnesses …

20,000 – 52,000 flu deaths https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/preliminary-in-season-estimates.htm accessed 03/07/20

COVID-19 has spread to over 90 or so countries so far. And when less than 100,000 were reportedly infected, the World Health Organization warned about cash. Notice the following:

Contaminated cash may be spreading coronavirus, World Health Organization warns

Cash contaminated with the coronavirus may be contributing to the global outbreak that continues to sweep from country to country.

The World Health Organization told The Telegraph that the public should avoid using the paper currency in favor of contactless payments.

The COVID-19 virus may stick to banknotes for several days, potentially increasing the chance of contracting the virus, the WHO said earlier this week.

The public has been warned to immediately wash their hands after handling cash. 03/04/20 https://whdh.com/news/contaminated-cash-may-be-spreading-coronavirus-world-health-organization-warns/

Contaminated cash could spread COVID-19

March 5, 2020

The outbreak continues to impact countries all over the world. It could also impact something we use and touch every day. It’s money.

The World Health Organization tells us the virus can remain on bills days after contact. …

The World Health Organization (WHO) urges people to avoid touching their face when dealing with money and to wash their hands frequently.

There are other ways to pay for items, you can use a card or other forms of electronic payment.

We often get money from ATM’s and bank tellers. CBS 4’s Jeremiah Wilcox called banks throughout the valley.

None of the banks have a procedure to sanitize bills in the bank. However, many keep hand sanitizer at booths for use. 03/05/20 https://valleycentral.com/news/local/contaminated-cash-could-spread-covid-19

So, bank employees who handle cash have access to hand sanitizers. And that electronic forms of payment are being encouraged.

Iran has discouraged the use of cash and some major cultural centers in France stopped taking cash because of fear associated with the coronavirus.

Notice what the US is doing:

March 6, 2020

The U.S. Federal Reserve has begun quarantining physical dollars that it repatriates from Asia before recirculating them in the U.S. financial system as a precautionary measure against spreading the virus, a Fed spokesperson told Reuters. …

According to the CDC, it “may be possible” to transmit the virus through objects that have had direct contact with it, but person-to-person contact is the main means of spreading the disease. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-fed-dollars/fed-quarantines-us-dollars-repatriated-from-asia-on-coronavirus-caution-idUSKBN20T1YT

We have never seen this type of widespread concern about cash. Since many more people die from the flu each year, does this seem a bit extreme? Is COVID-19 worse than we are being told or a false flag excuse to move towards cashlessness?

Moves towards cashlessness was listed as #13 of 20 items to prophetically watch in 2020.

Consider again that the ride of the fourth horseman of the apocalypse will result in death of a quarter of humankind (Revelation 6:8). This will cause MASSIVE FEAR.

How much worse fear will the world have when when a quarter of humanity dies?

Could this lead to a dramatic reduction in the use of cash?

Is that consistent with biblical prophecies?

Yes!

Notice that the Bible prophesies the following:

16 He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, 17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666. (Revelation 13:16-18)

The above prophecies were written over 1900 years ago, and the control of buying and selling was not possibly able to be fulfilled until the 21st century. A century where cash is being replaced by electronic currency that can be fully tracked. And that prophesy is clearly telling of tyranny in such a society.

For years, politicians have pushed for reducing the use of cash and have implemented many reporting requirements involving large amounts of cash.

They have given reasons such as tracking real and potential terrorists, drug dealers, and tax evaders.

But more people still like to use cash for many things.

However, if people think they have a good chance of dying with cash, certainly this will push the public–particularly in Europe–to go cashless.

Yes, fear from disease will be a factor that will lead to 666!

Consider that in Matthew 24:7-8, Jesus warned of pestilences as part of the “beginning of sorrows.” Later in that same chapter, He prophesied the start of the “great tribulation” (Matthew 24:21). Pestilences are also associated with the fourth horseman of Revelation 6–which will cause many to die. Since the “great tribulation” comes AFTER the “pestilences” that start during the “beginning of sorrows,” and the control of buying and selling is in full force DURING the great tribulation (Revelation 13:16-18), the FEAR of the threat of paper cash spreading diseases looks to be part of the justification for the type of ‘Orwellian control’ that 666 will implement (Revelation 13:16-18).

Expect FEAR to be a motivator to move towards cashlessness and the prophesied totalitarian control.

Whether or not there is a greater threat from COVID-19 than the yearly flu or the COVID-19 situation is simply a false flag, the reality is that fears from pestilences are going to be one of many factors to lead to the financial controls of 666.

Either way, the ride of the fourth horseman of the apocalypse will be a factor in 666!

More severe pandemics are prophesied to happen very soon.

The ride of that fourth horseman is getting close.

UPDATE 03/08/20: We just uploaded the following video:

13:55

COVID-19 Leading to 666?

The novel coronavirus of Wuhan, China fame, is now called COVID-19. It has also been called the ‘Coronapocalypse.’ Does COVID-19 have any prophetic ramifications? What did Jesus teach about pestilences and sorrows in the Olivet prophecy in Matthew 24? Could COVID-19 be the ride of the fourth horseman of the Apocalypse? Why was this type of disease expected according to the Old Testament prophecies in Deuteronomy and Leviticus? What has the US Centers for Disease Control warned about? What has the CDC reported about the flu? Were there lessons about fear and infections in the 2011 movie ‘Contagion’? Because of COVID-19, the World Health Organization (WHO), nation of Iran, and certain French locations are telling people not to use cash, but instead electronic forms of payment. The US Federal Reserve is now quarantining money repatriated from Asia to reduce the potential spread of the coronavirus on US currency bills. Is COVID-19 worse than we have been told or could this all be a ‘false flag’ event to encourage people to move towards a cashless society? If the thousands of deaths associated with COVID-19 are pushing parts of the world towards cashlessness, how much more likely will the ride of the fourth horseman and over a billion human deaths motivate people to move to making electronic payments that can be monitored? The Bible tells of a soon coming society that controls buying and selling to force allegiance to a coming European Beast power, known as 666 (Revelation 13:16-18). Does the ‘great tribulation’ begin before ride of the fourth horseman or with the opening of the fifth seal of Revelation 6? Do the words of Jesus helps us better understand the sequence of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse and the start of the Great Tribulation? Will the ride of the fourth horseman help lead to the rise of 666? Is that ride very close? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues and more.

Here is a link to our video: COVID-19 Leading to 666?

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? Some related videos may include Amphibian Apocalypse: Threat to Humans?, Zombie Deer Disease is Here! Are the 10 Plagues on Egypt Coming?, and Biological Warfare and Prophecy. Here is a version of the article in Spanish: El cuarto jinete de Apocalipsis, el caballo pálido de muerte y pestilencia.
20 items to prophetically watch in 2020 Much is happening. Dr. Thiel points to 20 items to watch (cf. Mark 13:37) in this article. Here is a link to a related sermon: 20 Prophetic Items to Watch in 2020.
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse What do each of the four horseman of the Apocalypse represent? Have they began their ride? Did Jesus discuss the any of this? Might their rides coincide with the “beginning of sorrows? Do they start their ride prior to the Great Tribulation? Did Nostradamus or any other ‘private prophets’ write predictions that may mislead people so that they may not understand the truth of one or more of the four horseman? There is also a related YouTube video titled The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Sweden going to ‘666’ cashlessness? Sweden continues to reduce the amount of currency notes and coins in circulation as more and more Swedes turn to digital forms of payments. Even ‘farmers’ markets’ take debit and credit cards. Will this eliminate crime or lead to the rise of the Beast and Antichrist power? Could what is happening in Sweden be a prelude to the control of buying and selling that Revelation 13:16-18 associates with 666? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues from Stockholm, Sweden.
Blockchain, Karl Guttenberg, and 666. American Express just announced a deal with Ripple related to using its blockchain technology. No longer confined to Bitcoin, blockchain technology is moving towards the mainstream. Former German Economic and later Defense Minister, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg has long been an adviser to Ripple and has plans for internationally-expanding the use of blockchain money. Jim Rickards, Doug Casey, and others have expressed concerns that blockchain money will give governments too much control over buying and selling. Could any of this be related to biblical prophecies in the Books of Daniel and Revelation? Could any of this help fulfill the prophecies related to buying and selling and 666 in Revelation 13? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues and more in this video. A related written article is also available: Amex launches blockchain-based business payments using Ripple: Prelude to the Beast and 666?
The End of US Dollar Dominance Is the USA losing its economic status? What about the petro-gold-yuan? A related video is also available: US Dollar being challenged by Gold-Petro-Yuan.
China, Its Biblical Past and Future, Part 1: Genesis and Chinese Characters Where did the Chinese people come from? Japeth, Javan, Magog? Is there evidence that the Chinese peoples must have known about various accounts in the Book of Genesis up until their dispersion after the Tower of Babel? What do Chinese writings and characters help show? What about the Garden of Eden, Noah’s Flood, and the Tower of Babel? Here is a link to a version of this article in Spanish: ¿Prueban los caracteres chinos la exactitud de la Biblia? A related sermon is also available: China’s biblical past and prophetic actions.
China, Its Biblical Past and Future, Part 2: The Sabbath and Some of God’s Witness in China When did Christianity first come to China? What about the Apostle Thomas? Did Confucius say anything to get the Chinese to possibly consider Christianity? Is there early evidence that they observed the seventh day sabbath? What about the Ten Commandments? What type of Church of God witness has there been to China? What has been happening with China that ties it together with prophecies in Revelation? What about the 200 million man army and Armageddon? What about the Belt and Road Initiative and end time Babylon the Great? A related sermon is also available: China’s biblical past and prophetic actions. Watch also China’s Silk Road and Babylon the Great.
Asia in Prophecy What is Ahead for Asia? Who are the “Kings of the East”? What will happen to nearly all the Chinese, Russians, Indians, and others of Asia? China in prophecy, where? Who has the 200,000,000 man army related to Armageddon? Two YouTube video are Is China THE Threat to the United States of America? and China: A King of the East.
Europa, the Beast, and Revelation Where did Europe get its name? What might Europe have to do with the Book of Revelation? What about “the Beast”? Is an emerging European power “the daughter of Babylon”? What is ahead for Europe? Here is a link to a video titled: Can You Prove that the Beast to Come is European?
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 two related videos: The King of the North is Alive: What to Look Out For and The Future King of the North.
The Great Monarch: Biblical and Catholic Prophecies Is the ‘Great Monarch’ of 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.
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.
WTO/TTIP and the Babylonian Beast Will international trade agreements like WTO/TTIP/CETA lead to the fulfillment of end time prophecies concerning the Babylonian Beast power that the Book of Revelation warns against? What does the Bible teach? A related video would be WTO Trade Deal and the Rise of the European Beast Power.
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.
Anglo – America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel Are the Americans, Canadians, English, Scottish, Welsh, Australians, Anglo-Saxon (non-Dutch) Southern Africans, and New Zealanders descendants of Joseph? Where are the lost ten-tribes of Israel? Who are the lost tribes of Israel? What will happen to Jerusalem and the Jews in Israel? Will God punish the U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, and other Anglo-Saxon nations? Why might God allow them to be punished first? Here is a link to the Spanish version of this article: Anglo-América & las Tribus Perdidas de Israel. Information is also in the YouTube sermons titled Where are the Ten Lost Tribes? Why does it matter? and British are the Covenant People. A short YouTube of prophetic interest may be: Are Chinese threats against Australia for real?
Will the Anglo-Saxon-Celtic Nations be Divided and Have People Taken as Slaves? Will the lands of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand be divided? What about Jerusalem? What does Bible prophecy teach? Are there non-biblical prophecies that support this idea? Who will divide those lands? Who will end up with the lands and the people? Here is a link to a video titled Will the USA and other Anglo-nations be Divided and Their People Made Slaves? Here is a related item in the Spanish language ¿Serán divididas las naciones anglosajonas?
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.
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? 2027 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? 2020, 2021, or 2022? 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? You can also see the English language sermon videos: The Great Tribulation from the Mount of Olives and Can the Great Tribulation begin before 2020? A shorter and newer video is: Could the Great Tribulation Begin in 2020?
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.
Armageddon Who is involved and when will this gathering happen? Here is also a video from Dr. Thiel, from Tel Megiddo in Israel: Armageddon. Other videos include: Armageddon Will it come on Trump’s watch?, Iraq, Armageddon, & Prophecy, Freemasonry, Armageddon, and Rome, Is China paving roads to Armageddon?, and Jordan, Petra, and Armageddon.

Logo of Grace Communion International

COGwriter

An email received from GCI (Grace Communion International, essentially the group that originally ran the new and changed Worldwide Church of God), it had a link to an article from its president Greg Williams that contained the following:

Grace Communion International’s vision is “Healthy Church.” We began this journey when I became President in October 2018. We arrived at this part of our journey based on the miraculous works that the Lord had been performing in us for over two decades.

God has gifted GCI with: …

Revealing to us the significance and depth of his triune nature. We have come to learn that the doctrine of the Trinity is the crown doctrine from which all other beliefs flow. The “one and three” Father, Son and Spirit are relational and have drawn us into loving, eternal communion.

No, the God of the Bible did NOT reveal the significance and depth of the trinity. GCI came to accept the triune deity because most Protestant churches did.

It most certainly did not come from the Bible.

And since God is NOT a trinity, the true God did not reveal it.

Regarding the New Testament, even a trinitarian scholar has admitted that the Bible promotes a binitarian view, and does not teach what is now considered to be the trinity:

The binitarian formulas are found in Rom. 8:11, 2 Cor. 4:14, Gal. 1:1, Eph. 1:20, 1 Tim 1:2, 1 Pet. 1:21, and 2 John 1:13…No doctrine of the Trinity in the Nicene sense is present in the New Testament…There is no doctrine of the Trinity in the strict sense in the Apostolic Fathers…(Rusch W.G. The Trinitarian Controversy. Fortress Press, Phil., 1980, pp. 2-3).

The terms trinity, threeness, or trinitarian are not found in the Bible. The Protestant reformer Martin Luther himself taught:

It is indeed true that the name “Trinity” is nowhere to be found in the Holy Scriptures, but has been conceived and invented by man. (Luther Martin. The Sermons of Martin Luther, Church Postil, 1522; III:406-421, PC Study Bible formatted electronic database Copyright © 2003, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)

According to Roman Catholic sources, the term trinity, in relation to the Godhead, did not come until the late second/early third century. Yet, the idea of the trinity was apparently voiced by the heretic Montanus and developed by a famous Gnostic heretic named Valentinus in the mid-2nd Century. One of the so-called Montanist Oracles, spoken by Montanus was:

“I am the Father and the Son and the Paraclete.” (Didymus, De trinitate iii. 41. 1.) (Assembled in P. de Labriolle, La crise montaniste (1913), 34-105, by Bates College, Lewston (Maine) http://abacus.bates.edu/Faculty/Philosophy%20and%20Religion/rel_241/texts/montanism.html 01/31/06).

This is one of the first references to a trinitarian view of the Godhead (the other earliest one was from the heretic Valentinus–it is unclear which was first). The paraclete is a term used to signify the Holy Spirit (it is from the Greek term parakletos). Eusebius records (Eusebius. Church History, Book V, Chapters 18-19) that church leaders in Asia Minor and Antioch, such as Apollonius of Ephesus, that Serapion of Antioch, Apollinaris of Hierapolis, and Thraseas of Eumenia opposed the Montantist heresies (Apollinaris of Hierapolis and Thraseas of Eumenia were Quartodecimans, and Apollonius likely was as well). And Irenaeus recorded that Polycarp denounced Valentinus.

Neither the Bible nor any faithful early Christian leader taught the trinity.

From a historical perspective, scholars admit that it was not even officially adopted by the Greco-Roman churches until the Council of Constantinople in 381 A.D.

GCI decided to accept that decision instead of scripture. The God of the Bible most certainly did not reveal the non-existent trinity to GCI.

Some items of related interest may include:

Binitarian View: One God, Two Beings Before the Beginning Is binitarianism the correct position? What about unitarianism or trinitarianism?
Hope of Salvation: How the Continuing Church of God differs from most Protestants How the real Church of God differs from mainstream/traditional Protestants, is perhaps the question I am asked most by those without a Church of God background. As far as some changes affecting Protestantism, watch the video Charismatic Kenneth Copeland and Anglican Tony Palmer: Protestants Beware! [Português: Esperança do salvação: Como a igreja do deus difere da maioria de protestantes]. Several related sermon are also available: Protestant, Baptist, and CCOG History, The First Protestant, God’s Command, Grace, & Character, The New Testament, Martin Luther, and the Canon, and How Does the Church of God Differ from Protestantism?
Beware: Protestants Going Towards Ecumenical Destruction! What is going on in the Protestant world? Are Protestants turning back to their ‘mother church’ in Rome? Does the Bible warn about this? What are Catholic plans and prophecies related to this? Is Protestantism doomed? See also World Council of Churches Peace Plan.
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 … These videos cover nearly all of the book, plus have some information not in the book.
Is The Father God? What is the view of the Bible? What was the view of the early church?
Jesus: The Son of God and Saviour Who was Jesus? Why did He come to earth? What message did He bring? Is there evidence outside the Bible that He existed? Here is a YouTube sermon titled Jesus: Son of God and Saviour.
Jesus is God, But Became Flesh Was Jesus fully human and fully God or what? Here is information in the Spanish language¿Es Jesucristo Dios?.
Virgin Birth: Does the Bible Teach It? What does the Bible teach? What is claimed in The Da Vinci Code?
Why Does Jesus Have Two Different Genealogies listed in Matthew 1 and Luke 3? Matthew 1:1-16 and Luke 3:23-38 seemingly list two different genealogies for Jesus. Why?
Did Early Christians Think the Holy Spirit Was A Separate Person in a Trinity? Or did they have a different view?
What is the Holy Spirit? This is an article by Rod Reynolds.
Did the True Church Ever Teach a Trinity? Most act like this is so, but is it? For a related sermon, watch: Trinity: Fundamental to Christianity or Something Else? Here is an old, by somewhat related, article in the Spanish language LA DOCTRINA DE LA TRINIDAD. A brief video is also available: Three trinitarian scriptures?
Was Unitarianism the Teaching of the Bible or Early Church? Many, including Jehovah’s Witnesses, claim it was, but was it?
Binitarianism: One God, Two Beings Before the Beginning This is a longer article than the Binitarian View article, and has a little more information on binitarianism, and less about unitarianism. A related sermon is also available: Binitarian view of the Godhead.
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?
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, French: L Histoire Continue de l Église de Dieu and Ekegusii Omogano Bw’ekanisa Ya Nyasae Egendererete.
Valentinus: The Gnostic Trinitarian Heretic He apparently was the first Christ-professing heretic to come up with the idea of three hypostases.
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?

COGwriter

In its latest public email, Grace Communion International (the current name of the Protestant group that took over and changed the old Worldwide Church of God) had the following:

GCI President Greg Williams gives an update on Grace Communion International. He shares our focus on Hope for 2020. This will also be the theme of our Denominational Celebration this summer. May we remember throughout this year that Jesus is our hope.

What type of hope?

Which Jesus?

GCI is focused on being and appearing to be Protestant to the world.

Its cross-containing logo (see picture at the beginning of this post) was intended to do that.

They certainly did not get that from the Bible or the practices of original Christians (for proof, check out the article What is the Origin of the Cross as a ‘Christian’ Symbol?).

Protestant groups like GCI do not share the biblical hope of salvation.

According to their theology, most of the people who ever lived will not be saved, but will be tormented throughout eternity.

But that is NOT what the Bible teaches (for scriptural details, check out the free online book Universal OFFER of Salvation, Apokatastasis: Can God save the lost in an age to come? Hundreds of scriptures reveal God’s plan of salvation).

The ‘Jesus’ that GCI claims to have its hope in, is just not the “God of salvation” that we in the Continuing Church of God worship.

Here is something from our book, Hope of Salvation: How the Continuing Church of God differs from most Protestants:

The Bible teaches that all of God’s commandments are righteousness (Psalm 119:172), not something to be set free from.

Notice a statement from a Protestant minister related to a Protestant preacher:

A preacher once said …, pointing to the Ten Commandments hanging on the wall …: “They are an offence to me. Jesus kept them for me. I don’t want to have anything to do with them.” (Murray W. What Is The True Christian Religion? New Age Press, 1947, p. 24)

Yes, Jesus did keep the commandments for He said, “I have kept My Father’s commandments” (John 15:10). The Bible teaches “All Your commandments are faithful” (Psalm 119:86). Yet, God’s Ten Commandments are not an offence to real Christians. Furthermore, Jesus did not say He kept them so others would not need to strive to do so.

Notice that the Apostle Paul wrote:

¹ Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:1)

Like Jesus, the Apostle Paul also kept the commandments (cf. Philippians 3:5-6).

While many Protestants like to make statements such as “It’s all about Jesus,” it is only about their version of Jesus, not actually trying to imitate how He lived.

According to Jesus, it’s actually ‘all about love’ (cf. Matthew 22:37-39; John 13:34-35) and while Jesus is certainly part of that (cf. John 3:16-17, 15:9-17), He also taught that the commandments were aspects of that love (Matthew 22:37-40). While the Apostle Paul specifically taught that love was the purpose of the commandments (1 Timothy 1:5).

Christians imitate Jesus and the Apostle Paul by striving to keep the Ten Commandments. Many Protestants do not understand that. They also do not understand the statement by Peter and the other apostles that God’s Holy Spirit is “given to those who obey Him” (Acts 5:32). Those who say Jesus is Lord, but practice lawlessness, will not be in His Kingdom if they do not truly repent (Matthew 7:21-23).

Those who strive to obey the Ten Commandments are those who properly will acquire the fruits of the Spirit:

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, ²³ Meekness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ²⁴ But those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts. ²⁵ If we live by the Spirit, we should also be walking by the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-25)

However, some Protestants teach that it is ‘Pharisaical’ to try to keep the Ten Commandments. Many improperly teach that is why Jesus condemned the Pharisees. Yet, the Pharisees were condemned for their hypocrisy by Jesus because they did not properly keep the Ten Commandments (cf. Matthew 15:3-9; 23:13-29)—not because they actually did.

The view on the law remains one of the differences between many Protestants and the Continuing Church of God today. …

For example, the Apostle Paul wrote and warned:

¹¹ For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, ¹² teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, ¹³ looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, ¹⁴ who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. (Titus 2:11-14)

¹ We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain.  (2 Corinthians 6:1)

Christians are to live differently once they have repented, accepted Jesus, and been baptized as they are “not to receive the grace of God in vain.”

Real Christians have repented, been baptized, and received the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38).

Here is essentially the biblical definition of who is and who is not a real Christian:

⁹ But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. (Romans 8:9)

A real Christian has the Spirit of Christ, no one else is a true Christian.

Who receives that Spirit?

Only those who obey are given the Spirit of Christ (Acts 5:32). …

Gospel of the Kingdom

Contrary to what some critics seem to feel, the message of the Continuing Church of God is one of hope for all humankind.

The message of the Bible includes the hope of the resurrection and the promises God made (Acts 26:6-8). It is the gospel, the GOOD NEWS, that God will intervene in world affairs and establish His kingdom on the Earth (Mark 1:14; Acts 20:25; Revelation 11:15):

³ And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴ And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

⁵ Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.” (Revelation 21:3-5).

The Protestants (in general) and the Continuing Church of God accept this plain teaching from Revelation 21, but tend to understand some of the ramifications of the Gospel of the Kingdom differently.

Lutherans essentially teach that the Gospel is about personal salvation in this age:

Lutherans showed how the Gospel of Jesus Christ is always the vibrant, beating heart of the biblical and historic Christian faith and life. (What Lutherans Teach about The Gospel. Concordia Publishing House, November 23, 2015)

There is no Gospel but the Lutheran Gospel … It’s Still All About Jesus (There is no Gospel but the Lutheran Gospel by Dr. Matthew C. Harrison, president of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. YouTube, uploaded October 2, 2017)

In the Greek New Testament, the noun euangelion (‘gospel’) appears just over seventy times. … The word gospel most simply means ‘good news’. … In examining these texts, we discover that sometimes the word gospel refers broadly to all aspects of the salvation and new life that Jesus gives His people, and sometimes it is used narrowly to refer to what Jesus does for us outside of us. In other words, sometimes the term gospel refers broadly to Jesus’ work of justification and sanctification for and in His people, and sometimes it refers narrowly to Jesus’ work of justification. (Godfrey WR. What Is the Gospel? Ligonier Ministries, April 12, 2019)

Yes, personal salvation for those called in this age is an important part of the gospel—but it is not the only part.

Lutherans repeatedly neglect that the focus of Jesus and His early disciples was on the good news of the Kingdom of God. That message was one that showed that human civilization would be replaced and God’s government implemented. A government based on the laws of God (cf. Isaiah 2:3; Micah 4:2).

Here is a link to our free online book: Hope of Salvation: How the Continuing Church of God differs from most Protestants.

The truth is that GCI’s religion is not based upon enough of the Bible nor did early Christians practice it. GCI does not understand the true hope. The book, Hope of Salvation: How the Continuing Church of God differs from most Protestants, goes into not only history, but numerous doctrinal truths that Protestants like GCI do not hold to–but instead teach against.

The “consequence” of being Protestant is that most who consider themselves will hear words from Jesus that they will not want to hear (Matthew 7:21-23).

As far as church history goes, you can also check out our free online book: Continuing History of the Church of God.

Now, perhaps it should be pointed out that God’s plan is actually a mystery to almost everyone–irrespective of the religions they do or do not follow.

We produced a book on that as well.

Here is a link to our free online book: The MYSTERY of GOD’s PLAN: Why Did God Create Anything? Why did God make you?

If groups like GCI would actually focus on the word of God and act on it, they would better understand the real hope that Jesus offers.

Anyway, my hope for any still part of GCI is that they will study God’s word, agree to truly live by it, and pray that Jesus would set them free (cf. John 8:32) from Protestant errors and support the most faithful church.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Hope of Salvation: How the Continuing Church of God differs from most Protestants How the real Church of God differs from mainstream/traditional Protestants, is perhaps the question I am asked most by those without a Church of God background. As far as some changes affecting Protestantism, watch the video Charismatic Kenneth Copeland and Anglican Tony Palmer: Protestants Beware! [Português: Esperança do salvação: Como a igreja do deus difere da maioria de protestantes]. Several related sermon are also available: Protestant, Baptist, and CCOG History, The First Protestant, God’s Command, Grace, & Character, and How Does the Church of God Differ from Protestantism?
Is God Calling You? This booklet discusses topics including calling, election, and selection. If God is calling you, how will you respond? Here is a link to a related sermon: Could God be Calling You? A short animation is also available: Is God Calling You?
What is the Origin of the Cross as a ‘Christian’ Symbol? Was the cross used as a venerated symbol by the early Church? Two related YouTube videos would be Beware of the ‘Ecumenical Cross’, The Chrislam Cross and the Interfaith Movement, and Origin of the Cross.
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? Here is a link to a short animation: Which Church would Jesus Choose?
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, French: L Histoire Continue de l Église de Dieu and Ekegusii Omogano Bw’ekanisa Ya Nyasae Egendererete.
Beware: Protestants Going Towards Ecumenical Destruction! What is going on in the Protestant world? Are Protestants turning back to their ‘mother church’ in Rome? Does the Bible warn about this? What are Catholic plans and prophecies related to this? Is Protestantism doomed? See also World Council of Churches Peace Plan.
Being Separate: What Did Herbert W. Armstrong and the Bible Teach About Where Not to Fellowship? Some believe that it is acceptable to attend groups called COG, but who are not actually. What did Herbert W. Armstrong and the Bible teach about this?
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. Here is a link to two related sermons: Mysteries of God’s Plan and Mysteries of Truth, Sin, Rest, Suffering, and God’s Plan.
The Sabbath in the Early Church and Abroad Was the seventh-day (Saturday) Sabbath observed by the apostolic and post-apostolic Church? Here is a related sermon video The Christian Sabbath and How and Why to Keep It.
COGwriter Position on Other Churches and Religions What is the fate of those who do not know Christ? What about those who profess Christ outside the Church of God?
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’.

COGwriter

A reader sent me a link to the following from Curtis Dahlgren:

On “Saving the Planet”; some things that “just came to me” …

A LOT OF BAD, SAD, THINGS HAVE HAPPENED to this world since the end of the Happy Days, the 1950s. But as people grew “worse and worse,” Billy Graham and Herbert Armstrong were the big guns for God. One with in-person evangelism and one over the airwaves. Never mind that one kept Sunday and one kept “Saturday”; I prefer to believe that the Lord was working with them, promoting a basic better Way of Life – the “Two Great Commandments.” In their heyday, those were probably the Latter Days; these could be the “LAST” Days. Whatever the day, we are all the enemy of evil, angry, forces.

The prophet Malachi predicted a “curse” would be falling on the earth, but it’s not the one the Left predicts – that the oceans are going to be the next Deluge. God says He sets the boundaries of the seas. They say “anything goes, whatever” in the “new” morality; the Lord says “Ain’t no WAY!” and you can quote that one. But He also promised to work a Great Short Work, a renewal. I also prefer to believe that we could have a “bit part” to play in that Work. 01/21/20 http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/dahlgren/200121

Yes, Billy Graham and Herbert W. Armstrong were loud voices in the 20th century. While Billy Graham seemingly wanted to cooperate with Herbert W. Armstrong, Herbert W. Armstrong did not wish to. When it came to the work, he remained separate from Protestants and Baptists in accordance with 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 (to see more as to WHY the Church of God is not Protestant, check out the free online book: Hope of Salvation: How the Continuing Church of God differs from most Protestants).

(Information on Billy Graham and his ecumenical stance can be found in the article Billy Graham dies: What was his real legacy?)

That being said, yes, we are in the last days and we are seeing rising immorality.

Rising immorality should be denounced (cf. Isaiah 58:1), and we do that in the Continuing Church of God. We have produced articles, posts, and internet videos on many of the sins prevalent in the 21st century:

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? Two related videos include UN’s ‘New Universal Agenda’ is a False Gospel! and United Nations and Vatican Are Planning the New World Order.
Orwell’s 1984 by 2024? Are we getting closer to enter an Orwellian surveillance society? Might this happen next decade?
Canadian censoring of the Bible  Are you aware that Canadian government officials do not want parts of the Bible quoted? This is does not bode well for Canada and those in many other lands.
Internet Control, Famine of the Word, and 666  Is the internet going to be used to suppress the teaching of the word of God?
Is the USA a ‘better, stronger place’? Did Barack Obama make the USA a better, stronger, place as he claimed on the way out?
Trade Wars: Are COG warnings coming to pass?  Are steps in the USA and Europe leading to trade wars?
Is American Football Evil? Is the most popular spectator sport in the USA something that Christians should watch? What do the Bible and early writings show? There is also a YouTube video available titled Should Christians watch American football?
Gambling and Sin: Is it a Sin for Christians to Gamble? What does the Bible reveal? A related video is Gambling: A Covetous Sin?
Tattoos: History and Biblical Teachings Would you like to know more about the history of tattoos, social concerns about tattoos, health risks of tattoos, and what the Bible teaches about them? Here is a related video titled Should Christians Get a Tattoo?
GMOs and Bible Prophecy What are GMOs? Since they were not in the food supply until 1994, how could they possibly relate to Bible prophecy? Do GMOs put the USA and others at risk? Here are some related videos: GMO Risks and the Bible and GMOs, Lab meat, Hydrogenation: Safe or Dangerous?
Chimeras: Has Science Crossed the Line? What are chimeras?  Has science crossed the line? Does the Bible give any clues? A video of related interest is Half human, half pig: What’s the difference?
World Council of Churches’ agenda will result in disaster for the Vatcian  The ecumenical agenda will prove to be disastrous.  Be separate like the Bible teaches.
Fires and the Wrath of God Could God sometimes use fires to punish sinners?
Hurricanes and Prophecy Does God ever use weather to warn or punish?
What is the Unpardonable Sin? What is it? Can you repent of it? Do you know what it is and how to avoid it? Here is a link to a related sermon video The Unpardonable Sin and the Prodigal Son. Here is a link to a shorter video The ‘Unpardonable Sin’ and ‘Climate Change’?
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 video sermon Tithing Answers from the Bible.
Is Evolution Probable or Impossible or Is God’s Existence Logical? Part II This short article clearly answers what ‘pseudo-scientists’ refuse to acknowledge. Here is a link to a YouTube video titled Is There Another View of Evolution? and another titled Quickly Disprove Evolution as the Origin of Life.
God’s Grace is For All Is being Jewish a hindrance to salvation? What about not being a descendant of Israel? What does the Bible really teach? Here is a link to a related sermon titled Race and Grace; Do you view race as God does?
Health Benefits of Circumcision Various studies show health benefits for male circumcision. Have Christians observed circumcision throughout history? Here is a link to a related video: Circumcision: Good or Bad?
Abortion, the Bible, and a Woman’s Right to Choose Do you know what the Bible teaches on this? Has the Roman Catholic Church allowed abortions? What about the real Church of God? Some may also, or instead, wish to view the YouTube video Abortion, the Bible, and US Debt.
Land of ‘Free’ Abortions and Debt Is there any link between abortions and US debt?
Cross-dressing and other assaults against your children.What should you do? Is there an agenda to turn your children and/or grandchildren away from biblical morality and towards practices promoted by homosexuals? What does the Bible teach about cross-dressing? What should parents do? If there is an agenda, what has been going on?  There are also three YouTube videos related to this, titled Transgender ‘Woe to those who call evil good’ and Cross dressing and Other Assaults Against Your Children and USA pushing gender confusion.
The Bible Condemns Homosexuality “Same-sex marriage” for “gays” and lesbians is becoming more acceptable to many. What does the Bible teach about homosexuality and the LGBTQ agenda?  Can homosexuals change? A related video sermon is titled: What Does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality? A short video is available titled: Gay Gene? Born That Way?
Pornography: A scourge on society Is pornography harmless fun? Does the Bible teach anything about it? What are the views of some involved with it? Here is a link to a YouTube video Pornography: Harmless Fun or a Scourge on Society?
NBC: ‘Exposed in Ashley Madison Hack? Here’s What to Do Now’. The pro-adultery ‘Ashely Madison’ website was hacked and information released on many of its claimed 37 million registered members. Ashley Madison claimed that ‘life is short, so have an affair’ and that it was confidential. The vast majority of registered members were male). NBC offered tips for those whose identities are being released. What does the Bible teach about adultery or even seriously considering it? Is adultery wicked? The Bible warns that in the last times people will be inventors of evil things and whisperers like Ashley Madison promotes. Is adultery grounds for divorce? What did Jesus teach about this? Here is a link to our video: Ashley Madison: Your Sins Will Find You Out.
Should Christians Smoke Tobacco or Marijuana?  Is smoking a sin? What does the Bible teach? What have COG leaders written? Can smokers change? What about marijuana? Here is a link to a related video: Should You Smoke? Would You Like Help to Quit?
Marijuana: Should a Christian Get High? There is increasing acceptance of the use of marijuana. How should Christians view this? Here is a related video titled How Should a Christian View Marijuana?
Opioid Crisis (video) Since 1997, over 700,000 Americans have died related to opioids. What are opioids? What does the National Institute on Drug Abuse teach about them? Why do people use them? Are they effective? Can they be addictive when medically-prescribed? Does the UK have a problem with opioids? Did Great Britain force China to accept opioids in the 19th century? Has pharmaceutical greed been a factor in the opioid crisis? What is the dilemma of drugs? Is switching to non-opioid substances like marijuana the answer? Does the Bible provide insights related to mind altering substances? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues and more. A written article of related interest is available titled “Opioid Crisis Leaves 700,000 Americans Dead.”
Should Christians Exercise? What does the Bible teach? What are some of the benefits and risks of exercise? Here is a link to a related video: The Plain Truth About Exercise.
The Sabbath in the Early Church and Abroad Was the seventh-day (Saturday) Sabbath observed by the apostolic and post-apostolic Church? Here is a related sermon video The Christian Sabbath and How and Why to Keep It.
A Children’s Book of Demons? was released–which encourages children to summon demons for help and to have fun. Is this wrong?
Blessing of Children or Infant Baptism? Which does the Bible endorse? Two videos of related interest are available: Infant Baptism Scripture and History and The Blessing of Little Children Ceremony.
Five Rules for Effective Parenting Do you know that there are five simple rules that can make you a more effective parent? Here is a link to a version in Mandarin Chinese 五条简单有效的子女养育规则. There is also a 12 1/2 minute English language YouTube video on this, also titled Five Rules for Effective Parenting.
Why Terrorism? Is Terrorism Prophesied? What does the Bible teach? Which nations may be affected? Here is a link to a related sermon: Terrorism, Christianity, and Islam.
The Ten Commandments Reflect Love, Breaking them is Evil Some feel that the ten commandments are a burden. Is that what Jesus, Paul, Peter, James, and John taught? For a more detailed discussion of the first four commandments, please see the video The Ten Commandments: Loving God. For a more detailed discussion of the last six commandments, please see: The Ten Commandments: Loving Your Neighbor. Here is a link to a related article in Mandarin Chinese 十条诫命显示爱，违反诫命的就是邪恶的
What is the Origin of the Cross as a ‘Christian’ Symbol? Was the cross used as a venerated symbol by the early Church? Two related YouTube videos would be Beware of the ‘Ecumenical Cross’, The Chrislam Cross and the Interfaith Movement, and Origin of the Cross.
False Conversion  Is there such a thing as false conversion? Are you really converted?
Is January 1st a Date for Christians Celebrate? Historical and biblical answers to this question about the world’s New Year’s day. A video of related interest is also available: God’s or Satan’s New Year?
Is Halloween Holy Time for Christians? Here are some historical and biblical insight on this question. There are many cultures that have celebrations and observances that are similar to some associated with Halloween. What did the Druids do? Is Halloween one of the most important holidays for Satanists? Do the Japanese, Indians, and Chinese have any practices that are similar to some associated with Halloween? Does the Bible endorse or condemn practices that are associated with Halloween? Here are links to two related sermonette length videos: Halloween: Are there 7 reasons for Christians to celebrate it? and International ‘Halloween’ Should Christians observe Halloween?
Valentine’s Day: Its Real Origins Christianity Today suggests that Valentine’s Day is good for Christians to observe. Is this true? There is also a YouTube titled Should Christians Observe Valentine’s Day? A more detailed sermon is available and titled Valentine’s Day, Christianity, and Islam.
Mardi Gras: The Devil’s Carnival? Is Mardi Gras Christian? Do you know that in Bolivia the carnival/Mardi Gras time is part of a celebration known as the Devil’s Carnival? Where did it come from? There is also a related YouTube video Mardi Gras & Carnaval: Are they for Christians?
Why The Continuing Church of God Does Not Wear Green on St. Patrick’s Day Should non-Catholics observe a Catholic holiday? What did Patrick write and stand for? A related video is also available: Should Christians Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day?
The Bible and Astrology Should Christians avoid participating in astrology or did God inspire it? Does the Bible encourage astrology? What does the Bible actually teach? What is astrology? How does astrology differ from astronomy? A related video would be Should Christians Be Involved In Astrology?
NBC: ‘Exposed in Ashley Madison Hack? Here’s What to Do Now’ Adultery is wrong. A related video would be Ashley Madison: Your Sins Will Find You Out.
Should a Christian Vote? This article gives some of the Biblical rationale on this subject. Would Jesus vote for president/prime minister? Is voting in the Bible? This is a subject Christians need to understand. A video of related interest is available titled: Should Christians Vote? Another video is 10 Reasons Not to Vote for Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton.
Crime can be stopped…here’s how! This was a booklet that was edited with some updates by Dr. Thiel. Here is a link to a related sermon: Crime and How it Will be Stopped!
Taxes What caused the descendants of Israel to pay taxes? Should Christians pay taxes? If you prefer, or additionally, you could watch the video Should Christians Pay Taxes?
Alcohol: Blessing or Curse? This is an article from the old Good News magazine that attempts to answer this question.
Binge Drinking, Health, and the Bible Many college students and others overindulge in alcohol. Are there health risks? What does the Bible teach? A related video is also available: Binge Drinking and the Bible.
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.
Obesity, processed foods, health risks, and the Bible Does the Bible warn about the consequences of being obese? Is overeating dangerous? Is gluttony condemned? What diseases are associated with eating too much refined foods? A related video would be Eating Right, Eating Too Much, and Prophecy.
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.
The Bible, Christians, and the Environment How should Christians view the environment? Does the Bible give any clues? What are some of the effects of air, water, and land pollution? Is environmental pollution a factor in autism and death? Do pollutants seem to double the autism risk? What will Jesus do? A YouTube video is available titled Air Pollution, Autism, and Prophecy.
Another ‘Mary’ that is Contrary to the Bible  Is there another ‘Mary’ that is not endorsed by the Bible that religious leaders are pushing?
Pope Francis’ Tolerance of Immorality is Not Biblical Would the Bible condone Pope Francis’ tolerance of immorality?
Laudato Si: Will Pope Francis’ economic actions match his words? Pope Francis’ plans are misleading many. A related video is titled Laudato Si: Pope’s Agenda or Kingdom of God?
Beware: Protestants Going Towards Ecumenical Destruction! What is going on in the Protestant world? Are Protestants turning back to their ‘mother church’ in Rome? Does the Bible warn about this? What are Catholic plans and prophecies related to this? Is Protestantism doomed? See also Charismatic Kenneth Copeland and Anglican Tony Palmer: Protestants Beware!
Will the Interfaith Movement Lead to Peace or Sudden Destruction? Is the interfaith movement going to lead to lasting peace or is it warned against? A video sermon of related interest is: Will the Interfaith Movement lead to World War III? and a video sermon is also available: Do You Know That Babylon is Forming?
Prophecies of Barack Obama? Reasons why Barack Obama is apocalyptic and reasons why Barack Obama is not the Antichrist. This article includes many biblical and non-biblical prophecies, from around the world, that seem to discuss Barack Obama. Did Nostradamus predict Barack Obama dealing with the Antichrist? Might Barack Obama set the stage for the kings of the North and South as at least one Shiite prophecy suggests? Read it and decide for yourself if President Obama seems to be fulfilling various prophecies. Watch also the YouTube Barack Obama and the State of the Apocalypse.
Hillary Clinton in Prophecy Prophecy, Hillary Clinton? Are there prophecies that Hillary Clinton may fulfill? Are there any prophecies that she has already helped fulfill? Could Hillary Clinton be apocalyptic? Could Hillary Clinton be the final Antichrist? A video of related interest is titled Hillary Clinton and Bible Prophecy.
Donald Trump in Prophecy Prophecy, Donald Trump? Are there prophecies that Donald Trump may fulfill?  Are there any prophecies that he has already helped fulfill?  Is a Donald Trump presidency proving to be apocalyptic?  Two related videos are available: Donald: ‘Trump of God’ or Apocalyptic? and Donald Trump’s Prophetic Presidency.
Trump Presidency Magic 8 Ball or Bible Prophecy? BBC reported that one might as well use a ‘Magic Eight-Ball’ to try to predict what will happen in the remaining time of Donald Trump’s presidency. What is a ‘Magic Eight-Ball’? Dr. Thiel not only explains that, but also briefly goes over 10 biblically-based warnings he wrote would happen if Donald Trump were elected that have already began to come to pass. He also goes over something he wrote back in 2008 that the Trump presidency is also helping lead to fulfillment. Should you trust Bible prophecy or not? Dr. Thiel says that Bible prophecy can be trusted, despite the view of skeptics and others that either overlook or despise the Bible. This is a video.
The Bible, Church History, and Sacred Names What are ‘sacred names’? What is Jesus’ Old Testament name? Is the use of sacred names a subject of salvation or a false gospel? Must we refer to our Saviour as Yahweh or Yashua? A short video is available: Must Christians use ‘Sacred Names’? A more detailed sermon is also available: Sacred Names: True or False Gospel? A related article in the Spanish language is La Biblia, la historia de la Iglesia, y los nombres sagrados.

So, yes, we have been crying aloud.

Now, let me state that although the Bible says God will no longer destroy the entire earth, there will be roaring and rising seas (Curtis Dahlgren had not pointed to that):

25 And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; 26 men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven will be shaken. 27 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. (Luke 21:25-27)

12 I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. 13 And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. 14 Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. (Revelation 6:12-14)

17 Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18 And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth. 19 Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. 20 Then every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 21 And great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent. Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great. (Revelation 16:17-21)

Now, what about a “Great Short Work”?

Yes, that is prophesied, but it is NOT a renewal like Curtis Dahlgren is hoping for:

27 Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel:

“Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea,
The remnant will be saved.
28 For He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness,
Because the Lord will make a short work upon the earth.”

29 And as Isaiah said before:

“Unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed,
We would have become like Sodom,
And we would have been made like Gomorrah. (Romans 9:27-29)

The short work is to be done by a small number of people–a remnant, a seed. It is not like a renewal/revival by related to fulfilling Matthew 24:14 (see also The Gospel of the Kingdom of God), the Ezekiel Warning, and Romans 11:25 (see also What About Romans 11:25 and the Full Number of the Gentiles?)–see also: Preparing for the ‘Short Work’ and The Famine of the Word.

In the Continuing Church of God we are right now working and preparing to be ready for our part in the short work. This is something that ALL Philadelphians and those who wish to be Philadelphian should have their part in supporting.

While I am not sure what Billy Graham may have taught about the short work, Herbert W. Armstrong wrote about the ‘short work’ of Romans 9:28. Here is one of those writings:

Just as Jesus said God will cut short the days of the Great Tribulation, so He tells us through the Apostle Paul He will CUT SHORT THIS WORK! Listen! Read it carefully! “For He will finish the Work, and CUT IT SHORT in righteousness: because a SHORT WORK will the Lord make upon the earth.” (Romans 9:28.)…

Co-Workers, WE NEED TO WAKE UP! It is FAR later than we think! There is precious little time left! We need to be stirred — to be frightened just enough to realize the SERIOUSNESS of the TIME — and the SERIOUSNESS of THIS WORK! This is GOD’S DOING! — not mine! YOU are privileged, as well as I, to have A PART in it! We need to dedicate ourselves to it, as the MOST IMPORTANT THING IN OUR LIVES, by far! (Armstrong HW. Co-worker letter, July 29, 1968)

Here is some of what he wrote about the short work in three letters in 1979:

In Revelation 7 is the prophecy of God HOLDING UP — DELAYING — world events until the sealing of the 144,000 and the other innumerable multitude out of all nations. But God says also: “For He will FINISH THE WORK, and CUT IT SHORT in righteousness, because A SHORT WORK will the Lord make upon the earth” (Rom. 9:28). From now on, things may happen SUDDENLY, RAPIDLY, to finish the Work God has called us to do. (Armstrong HW. Co-worker Letter, August 20, 1979)

God was HOLDING UP world events in Satan’s world, to give His Church more time to FINISH THE WORK, and be PREPARED ourselves for His coming. But now many evidences are appearing that prophesied world events are readying to move swiftly, bringing on the DAY OF THE LORD, and Christ’s divine interference preparing for His coming. Jesus has said “…He will finish the Work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short Work will the Lord make upon the earth” Rom. 9:28).

How near finished is the Work NOW?

Remember this: Christ has not called us to reach every living person, even in the United States, which we know is the nation which sprang from Manasseh, jointly with Ephraim (the British people), who comprise together the Birthright tribes of ISRAEL.

God’s Message for OUR day is: “And this Gospel OF THE KINGDOM shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the END come” (Matt. 24:14). (Armstrong HW. Co-worker Letter, October 26, 1979)

Almighty God has been HOLDING BACK the progress of prophesied world events. There is a time, foretold in Revelation 7, when He will do this again.

But then, again, “He will finish the Work, and cut it short in righteousness; because a SHORT WORK will the Lord make upon the earth”! (Armstrong HW. Co-worker Letter, November 9, 1979)

So, he felt then that a short and important work would later happen, but felt in 1979 that it was being held up.

He seemed to have a similar view in 1983 as the following transcription from one of his sermon’s states:

God has delayed certain events, but He says that He will make a short work and cut it short suddenly. Jesus gave us the expression of how it will come when it is least expected. And like a rat getting caught in a trap that snaps, when it didn’t even know it, until it is caught. And that’s how suddenly things are going to happen very, very soon. How much longer God will delay before He does that, I don’t know. (Armstrong HW. Success Based On God’s Law Sermon Date: July 30, 1983 http://www.hwalibrary.com/cgi-bin/get/hwa.cgi?action=getsermon&InfoID=1330874371&SearchWhat=KeyWord&SearchFor=god%27s%20true%20church&page=97&return=search#.Ug-Q6T_NvXA)

Yes, there was a delay, and that delay continued for decades after he died. Jesus warned that many, including Christians, would not expect what is happening and warned that we need to pray to be counted worthy (Luke 21:34-36).

Here is something Herbert W. Armstrong wrote in a letter dated September 17, 1982:

It is written in Romans 9, concerning this very END TIME, “For he (Christ) will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth” (verse 28).

While we were not in the very end time then, we are much closer to it now. In a letter dated October 18, 1983 he wrote that he realized that the ‘short work’ was for the future:

I feel God will move swiftly soon to make a short work preparatory to Christ’s coming.

The short work most definitely involves preparation now. This is part of why more materials, literature, articles, books, booklets, and websites are being developed and/or added to.

Here is what was in Herbert W. Armstrong’s last letter:

The greatest work lies ahead … Never before in the history of the Church has it been possible to reap so great a harvest. It has only been made possible through modern technology, beginning with the printing press, radio, television. … Each of you must commit yourself to support God’s Work … God’s work must push ahead as never before. God is opening up new doors in television (Letter, 1/10/86).

Presuming he was correct that the greatest work lies ahead, that is consistent that more needed to happen to fulfill Matthew 24:14. New doors, like internet television have been opened during the 21st century (we in CCOG are on four different platforms and have multiple ‘channels). And we in CCOG do use various forms of radio (see Does the CCOG go through the ‘door’ of radio to reach the world?).

Dale Schurter, a former WCG minister, reported that Herbert W. Armstrong stated the following in 1984/1985 (shortly before he died in January 1986). Here are two accounts of this:

“A few months before Mr. Armstrong’s death, my wife and I had the opportunity to spend several hours with Mr. Armstrong in his home in Pasadena. He spoke freely of the mighty work God had commissioned him to accomplish, and related certain heartfelt comments: ‘I can say that I have finished the work God has given me to do, and am at peace about it. I have preached and taken the Gospel of the Kingdom of God into all the world as a witness to all nations.’

“Mr. Armstrong went on to say, ‘I have come to realize there will be an even greater work to follow—to go again, to “prophesy again” to all nations tongues and peoples (Rev. 10:11) before the work of the two witnesses—but with more power and with a stronger warning message. But that will be for others to do.’ He continued, ‘It will be a short work (Rom. 9:27-29), compared with the longer time to complete the work I was given, and it will be cut short. That’s when the Great Tribulation will begin, as will the work of the two witnesses. These will last for three and one-half years, at the end of which Christ will return in glory.’” (“The Greatest Work Lies JUST Ahead…” as stated in RCG letter of May 31, 2013)

When Mr. Armstrong was age 91 — about 1984 — Mona and I had opportunity to spend several hours with him in his home in Pasadena to visit and further report on work he had commissioned us to do. We were to report directly back to him. He talked freely of the mighty work God had given him to accomplish. He went on to tell us there was yet a bigger work still to be done, to go again and repeat what has been done, but with more power and with a stronger warning, just before the work of the two witnesses would begin. He said it would be a “short work” (Rom. 9:27-29) compared with the longer time to complete the work he had been given, and that it would be “cut short.” That’s when the great tribulation would begin, as would the work of the two witnesses. These would last for three and one-half years. (January 7, 2012 Dale Schurter Speaks Out: UCG Resignation Letter http://www.rcgtruth.com/2012/01/dale-l-schurter-resignation-letter_06.html)

Herbert W. Armstrong’s part of the work lasted over 50 years, and he seemingly felt that the “short work” would be much shorter than his work. And that is correct.

Herbert W. Armstrong’s wife Loma had a dream, which had two parts pertaining to the proclamation of the gospel. Herbert Armstrong believed that it was a dream from God and that he fulfilled the first part of that dream (see Dreams, the Bible, the Radio Church of God, and the Continuing Church of God). But that left the second part to be fulfilled after his death–and that is related to the short work.

Notice something else that Herbert W. Armstrong wrote in 1985:

In these last days, according to biblical prophecy, knowledge, spiritual as well as material, was to be increased. The true Church of God was to be set back on the track, restoring the glorious knowledge of the faith once delivered to the saints in the days of the original apostles. (Armstrong HW. Mystery of the Ages, 1985)

The above is precisely what the Continuing Church of God has done.

The following books (and videos) have restored many details on doctrine, prophecy, and church history:

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, French: L Histoire Continue de l Église de Dieu and Ekegusii Omogano Bw’ekanisa Ya Nyasae Egendererete.

Hope of Salvation: How the Continuing Church of God differs from most Protestants How the real Church of God differs from mainstream/traditional Protestants, is perhaps the question I am asked most by those without a Church of God background. As far as some changes affecting Protestantism, watch the video Charismatic Kenneth Copeland and Anglican Tony Palmer: Protestants Beware! [Português: Esperança do salvação: Como a igreja do deus difere da maioria de protestantes]. A sermon is also available: How Does the Church of God Differ from Protestantism?

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, and The Mystery of YOU.

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 … These videos cover nearly all of the book, plus have some information not in the book.

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 above books are part of the preparation for the ‘short work.’

Treasury building in Petra

COGwriter

Back in April 1962, the old Radio Church of God published the following from the late Dr. Herman Hoeh:

Let’s open our Bibles to see why Petra has puzzled scholars and Bible students for centuries.

The true Church of God is pictured in Revelation 12. It is symbolized by a woman-the bride of Christ. But it is a persecuted woman-a Church hated by the world. According to verse 6 the Church fled the first time from her persecutors for 1260 years – during the Middle Ages. But verse 14 unveils another flight of the Church-in the very last days. This time the duration is only 3 1/2 years! “And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle”-supernatural deliverance-“that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time”–3 1/2 years.

This prophecy has never been understood by the world because the world cannot understand to whom this prophecy refers. It does not recognize who are the true Church. It sees only the false churches, described in Revelation 17.

But consider now the special time of this prophecy about protection in a mysterious wilderness. Notice exactly which period in the history of God’s Church the escape shall occur. Turn to Revelation 3:7-13. This is addressed to the Philadelphia Era of God’s Church -the Church before whom Christ opens the door to preach His gospel around the world (verse 8). Because this Church has kept Gods word, Jesus promises: “I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation”-the time of trial–“which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth’ (verse 10). Here is a world-wide terror to come upon all nations. This is not for the slow-moving past. It is a prophecy for the pulsating present the last days of human history–just before God intervenes to set up His Kingdom to bring peace at last.

Here is a prophecy for this generation- at the very time God’s Church is preaching and publishing the Gospel of the Kingdom of God world-wide. This prophecy is about us!

But how will Jesus keep us from the coming trial and persecution? We just read the answer from Revelation 12! There is a place of safety, in a wilderness, for the people of God.

But where is that wilderness?

That is the mystery that has puzzled so many for so long! God has kept it a mystery so the world would not know. He has even kept it hidden from God’s Church in the past so His people would have their minds on their work! It is only those who are having a part in the work of God-who have their minds on the Kingdom of God, not some physical place of protection–who will escape. That escape cannot be planned for in advance. It is a supernatural escape!

Remember, if the Christians in Jerusalem in apostolic days had quit their work and prematurely escaped to Pella before A.D. 69, they would have been destroyed by the Roman armies who devastated the city. It was only those who completed the work of God who reached safety in A.D. 69 after the Romans destroyed Pella!

That is why God has veiled the exact place of escape from human eyes all these years. But as the days draw closer to the time of the end, the light of prophecy shines ever more clearly! When the moment comes that we need to know where that place of safety is, Christ will make it known. Meanwhile we need to keep our eyes open and our minds yielded-drinking in the implications of prophecy for this Church today! But where does Petra fit in all this?

An Old Testament Prophecy

Turn to Isaiah 42:l0-13. Here is a prophecy for today-a time of divine intervention, verse 14. Now read verse 11 from the Jewish Publication Society translation according to the original inspired Hebrew:

“Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit”–the descendants of Kedar are the Bedouin Arabs who dwell throughout the Middle East in black tents. Here we have a wilderness located in the Arab world! But continue reading: “Let the inhabitants of Sela exult. Let them shout from the top of the mountains.” The inhabitants of Sela? Who are they? And where is Sela? (In the King James Version the word for Sela is translated “rock.”)

Any Bible student knows that Sela is the Hebrew name of Petra! Sela means Rock–in Hebrew; Petra means Rock in Greek! But Sela or Petra is fundamentally uninhabited today, save for a few dozen wandering Bedouin. These are not the inhabitants in this verse, for notice verse 12: “Let them’’–the inhabitants of Petra or Sela–“give glory unto the Lord”–the Bedouin do not know God, they are Mohammedan–“and declare His praise in the islands.”

Which islands? The islands which Israel inhabits–Isaiah 41:1 and 8. God is certainly not going to use a few uneducated, ignorant Mohammedan Bedouin to declare His glory in the islands and coastlands of Northwestern Europe -where Israel is today! This prophecy resurrection and the return of Christ in power and glory. Christ is going to use His servants–now immortal in the Kingdom of God–to proclaim His intervention and the establishment of His Kingdom over all the earth. He is going to use the very ones whom He is now using to proclaim His message. Then they will finally heed!

Isn’t this prophecy a clear indication that the place of safety for the people of God who are now doing the work of God–and broadcasting to the islands and coastlands of Northwestern Europe–is in an Arabian wilderness, where the Bedouin dwell and is probably at Sela, or Petra?

Supernatural Protection

Turn now to another parallel passage, this time Isaiah 33. Read especially verses 13-17. Notice the time setting. It is when the worlds ambassadors, who seek to make peace, suddenly find the world caught up in frightful destruction (verses 7-8).

Beginning with verse 13 God warns the House of Israel-the “sinners in Zion”-of their sins (verse 14). “Who will be able to live through the endtime fiery atomic and hydrogen warfare?” God asks (verse 14). Those who obey Him, declares verse 15. But where will they go?

Verses 16 and 17 answer! “He shall dwell on high: his place of defense shall be the munitions of rocks.. .” This verse is poorly translated in most versions because the translators did not understand the prophecy. The true meaning has been hidden. The place of protection shall be, not munitions of rocks, but the “strongholds of Sela!” The original, inspired Hebrew, mistranslated “munitions,” is metsad, and means a stronghold or a castle or a fort. And the word for “rock” in this verse is Sela, the name of Petra in the Hebrew language!

Petra is a dry, barren area. It hardly provides a few dozen Bedouin sufficient sustenance. How are all of the faithful people of God to be provided for? Continue with the end of verse 16: “…his bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.” Here also is supernatural provision! Remember what happened to the children of Israel in the Sinai wilderness? God supernaturally provided them food and water nearly 40 long years! God can do the same today! It is not those who heap up provisions that shall escape! It is those who obey God, who do His work, and who trust Him to provide the necessities and the divine protection when that time arrives!

Verse 17 completes the picture: “Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off’-or “they shall behold a land stretching afar,” according to the Jewish translation. We shall see Him as He is (I John 3:2). Notice also that those in safety see “the land”-Palestine, the promised land stretching into the distance. Surely here is another indication of the high rocky crags of Petra from which one may look northwest to the promised land.

Place of Safety

Perhaps the most commonly quoted verses about Petra are found in Isaiah 16. The prophecy is found in verses 1 to 5. It is a message to Moab-modern Jordan, in whose territory Petra or Sela is presently located. Verse 1 should read: “Send ye the lambs for the Ruler of the land from Sela that is toward the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion” (compare the KJV with the JPS translation).

The time setting of this prophecy is the return of Christ to rule the nations. He is the King of the land. The Moabites are commanded to seek Him, to send Him an offering as a token of their submission. The offering comes from Sela. But why are the Moabites found in Sela, when only Bedouin dwell there today? The succeeding verses answer: “For it shall be, that, as a wandering bird cast out of the nest, so the daughters”– and‘ descendants–“of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon.” Other prophecies picture hordes from the east capturing the land east of the Jordan. (See Ezekiel 25:l0.) As these Communist hordes plunge toward Palestine, slaughtering as they go, a pitiful remnant–described in Jeremiah 48:1-25–escapes at the Arnon (a stream running into the Dead Sea). The Moabite refugees flee southward for protection. Why? Is it perhaps because they have known of others already there in a place of safety? Now look at verse 4. God is addressing Moab: “Let Mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler.”

So there are others there already. “Mine outcasts,” God calls them. God’s people, who flee from the world, refugees or outcasts!

The fleeing Moabites are not to betray where they are. This makes verse 3 much clearer. The Moabites are commanded to “Give counsel, execute justice; make thy shadow as night in the midst of the noon day; hide the outcasts; betray not the fugitive” (JPS trans.). Their flight is not to reveal where God’s own outcasts are. Their movements are to be as invisible as if it were in black night!

Now compare this prophecy with Jeremiah 48:28, “O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock”–Sela, in Hebrew–“and be like the dove that makes her nest in the sides of the holes mouth”! A perfecr description of Petra, with its caves!

Isaiah 16:5 then reveals the very next prophetic event to occur: “And a throne is established through mercy, and there sitteth thereon in truth, in the tent of David, One that judgeth, and seeketh justice, and is ready in righteousness” (JPS trans.). Christ is now pictured as seated on the throne of David! Surely this indicates that God‘s outcasts in Isaiah 16 are the same as those mentioned in Revelation 12 who escape to the wilderness-shortly before the return of Christ!

In the New Testament, while not all Christians are promised physical protection, the Philadelphian Christians are promised to be protected from the Great Tribulation and this place of protection is in the wilderness according to the Book of Revelation:

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. (Revelation 3:7-10)

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)

Notice that Revelation 12:17 shows that there are two groups of Christians, and only one group is protected in the wilderness.

While Petra may not be the place, it is a place to be considered.

I should probably mention that some have alleged that the idea of Petra and the ‘place of safety’ were non-biblical inventions of Loma and/or Herbert W. Armstrong. This is not the case. The idea of the biblical cave-containing area of Sela (the area currently known as Petra) being a place of protection during the tribulation predates the Armstrongs mentioning it (probably by at least a century).

It should also be understood that Catholic writers such as Irenaeus and Hippolytus also believed that there was a physical place to flee to (see Is There A Secret Rapture for the Church? When and Where is the Church Protected?). Also, later Catholic writers have confirmed this. Notice the following from a 20th century priest commenting on Revelation 12:14:

Verse 14…

She is given “two wings” of a Great Eagle. This intimates a rescue by airplane. …

The “Great Eagle” may send or have present a powerful airplane to bring its citizens home … God promises that those who trust in Him shall take “wings as eagles”. The “wings” of the great eagle will enable the woman to fly into the wilderness. This wilderness is a heathen nation …

The great eagle therefore, as a nation, has never been Catholic. The word “eagle” suggests that the nation may have become great by conquest. This eagle will protect and shelter the Church during the reign of the Beast. The place of safety for the woman … will refuse to join Antichrist and will protect the Church during his domination of the world…

The time is stated in three different ways, in years, months and days to make the literal meaning unmistakably certain. Evidently it is three and a half years actual time. The time given in verse 14 is indefinite, similar to that of Daniel (XII. 7); But since in Daniel (XII. 11) it seems to mean 1290 days, so here it evidently synchronizes with the 1260 days of verse 6 and the same period in chapter eleven. (Kramer H.B. L. The Book of Destiny. Nihil Obstat: J.S. Considine, O.P., Censor Deputatus. Imprimatur: +Joseph M. Mueller, Bishop of Sioux City, Iowa, January 26, 1956. Reprint TAN Books, Rockford (IL),pp. 296-297)

Thus, the idea of a physical place of safety was not a new invention of one of the Armstrongs. Additionally, even the Rheims New Testament commentary admits that the Bible teaches that there is a place in the desert for the true church to flee:

The Church shall flee as to a desert in Antichrist’s time, but not decay or be unknown, no not for so short a time. (p. 556).

Furthermore, it is my opinion that the demons themselves know about this place (recall that even Satan quoted scripture to Christ, see Matthew 4).

Notice that the power behind the “secret society” is expected to be hidden in a cave:

Anne Catherine Emmerich (October 1820): I saw the secret society undermining the great church and near them a horrible beast … concealing itself in a cave (Emmerich AC. The Life and Revelations of Anne Catherine Emmerich, Volume 2, p.290).

I also believe that somehow demons influenced a mystic Catholic saint and prophetess named Hildegard to warn that those in a place with caves worked for the devil and were an advanced group that support the Antichrist. Notice what she wrote in the 12th century:

And fly from those who linger in caves and are cloistered supporters of the Devil. Woe to them, woe to them who remain thus! They are the Devil’s very viscera, and the advance guard of the son of perdition.

Therefore, O you My beloved children, avoid them with all devotion and with all the strength of your souls and bodies. For the ancient serpent feeds and clothes them by his arts, and they worship him as God and trust in his false deceptions…Because they are afraid of My people, they do not openly resist these institutions of Mine, but in their hearts and their deeds they hold them as nothing. By devilish illusion, they pretend to have sanctity; but they are deceived by the Devil, for if he were to show himself to them openly they would understand him and flee him. By his arts he shows them things he pretends are good and holy, and thus deludes them. O woe to those who persevere in this death!

But because the Devil knows he has only a short time for his error, he is not hastening to perfect infidelity in his members; you, you evil deceivers, who labor to subvert the Catholic faith. (Hildegard of Bingen. Scivias. Paulist Press, Mahwah (NJ), pp. 301-302).

Since I believe that the mystic was demonically-influenced, she is actually warning against supporting the true Christians who will be protected who she is claiming are the “supporters of the Devil” (probably because they will oppose the Catholic Church). Since she calls them the advanced guard “of the son of perdition,” she seems to be referring to a group of people who will be protected in caves just before Christ returns (I stated that because certain Catholic prophecies seem to refer to the returning Christ as the “antichrist”, who is also sometimes referred to as “the son of perdition”—for more on this, please read the article Do Certain Catholic Prophecies About Antichrist Warn Against Jesus?).

Hence, I believe that the above demonically-inspired vision will be used to try to persuade people to be against those that are in caves (Jeremiah 48:28), who seem religious (Revelation 14:12), and are apparently miraculously fed (Isaiah 33:15-16). Those being protected will be teaching that Jesus is about to return (who certain Catholic prophecies call Antichrist)–this would be expected to result in persecution of those with similar beliefs. Yet notice that the above vision does indicate that even the demons have known about a place of protection where some people will be miraculously fed, for quite some time.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

This is PETRA! This is a 1962 Good News article by the late Dr. Hoeh.
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?
Did The Early Church Teach Millenarianism? Was the millennium (sometimes called chiliasm) taught by early Christians? Who condemned it? Will Jesus literally reign for 1000 years on the earth? Is this time near? Two related sermons are available Millennial Utopia and The Millennium.
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? 2027 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? 2020, 2021, or 2022? 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 comenzar la Gran Tribulación en 2018 o 2019? ¿Es el Tiempo de los Gentiles? You can also see the English language sermon videos: The Great Tribulation from the Mount of Olives and Can the Great Tribulation begin before 2020? A shorter and newer video is: Could the Great Tribulation Begin in 2020?
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.
Armageddon Who is involved and when will this gathering happen? Here is also a video from Dr. Thiel, from Tel Megiddo in Israel: Armageddon. Other videos include: Armageddon Will it come on Trump’s watch?, Iraq, Armageddon, & Prophecy, Freemasonry, Armageddon, and Rome, Is China paving roads to Armageddon?, and Jordan, Petra, and Armageddon.
Christ or Antichrist? 1961 article by David Jon Hill, originally published in the old Good News magazine.
Will You Be Deceived by Antichrist? 1964 article by David Jon Hill, originally published in the old Good News magazine.
Satan’s Plan Does Satan have a plan? What is it? Has it already been successful? Will it be successful in the future? Here are links to a two-part sermon series: What are Some of the Parts of Satan’s Plan? and Satan’s Plan is More Dramatic than Many Realize.
Do Certain Catholic Prophecies About Antichrist Warn Against Jesus? Will the final “Anti-Christ” be Jewish, insist on Saturday, be opposed to the trinity, and bring in the millennium? Certain Catholic writings indicate this, while others take a different view, but what does the Bible show? A related sermon is Will Jesus Christ be called the Antichrist?
Catholic Prophecies: Do They Mirror, Highlight, or Contradict Biblical Prophecies? People of all faiths may be surprised to see what various Roman and Orthodox Catholic prophets have been predicting as many of their predictions will be looked to in the 21st century.
The Philadelphia Church Era was predominant circa 1933 A.D. to 1986 A.D. The old Radio Church of God and old Worldwide Church of God, now the remnant of that era is basically the most faithful in the Church of God, like who hold to the beliefs and practices of the Continuing Church of God.
The Laodicean Church Era has been predominant circa 1986 A.D. to present. The Laodiceans are non-Philadelphians who mainly descended from the old WCG or its offshoots. They do not properly understand the work or biblical prophecies and will face the Great Tribulation if they do not repent. One video of related interest is 17 Laodicean Errors in Prophecy.

COGwriter

Wuhan China has been involved in pathogen research:

January 24, 2020

[S]even Chinese cities – including Wuhan, ground zero of the coronavirus epidemic – and collectively housing some 23 million people, are under quarantine …

in February 2017, Nature penned an extensive profile of what it called the “Chinese lab poised to study world’s most dangerous pathogens.” The location of this BSL-4 rated lab? Why, Wuhan.

A quick read of what this lab was meant to do, prompts the immediate question whether the coronavirus epidemic isn’t a weaponized virus that just happened to escape the lab:

The Wuhan lab cost 300 million yuan (US$44 million), and to allay safety concerns it was built far above the flood plain and with the capacity to withstand a magnitude-7 earthquake, although the area has no history of strong earthquakes. It will focus on the control of emerging diseases, store purified viruses and act as a World Health Organization ‘reference laboratory’ linked to similar labs around the world. “It will be a key node in the global biosafety-lab network,” says lab director Yuan Zhiming.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences approved the construction of a BSL-4 laboratory in 2003, and the epidemic of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) around the same time lent the project momentum. The lab was designed and constructed with French assistance as part of a 2004 cooperative agreement on the prevention and control of emerging infectious diseases. But the complexity of the project, China’s lack of experience, difficulty in maintaining funding and long government approval procedures meant that construction wasn’t finished until the end of 2014.

The lab’s first project will be to study the BSL-3 pathogen that causes Crimean–Congo haemorrhagic fever: a deadly tick-borne virus that affects livestock across the world, including in northwest China, and that can jump to people.

Future plans include studying the pathogen that causes SARS, which also doesn’t require a BSL-4 lab, before moving on to Ebola and the West African Lassa virus,

What does BSL-4 mean?

BSL-4 is the highest level of biocontainment: its criteria include filtering air and treating water and waste before they leave the laboratory, and stipulating that researchers change clothes and shower before and after using lab facilities. Such labs are often controversial. The first BSL-4 lab in Japan was built in 1981, but operated with lower-risk pathogens until 2015, when safety concerns were finally overcome.

And here’s why all this is an issue:

Worries surround the Chinese lab. The SARS virus has escaped from high-level containment facilities in Beijing multiple times, notes Richard Ebright, a molecular biologist at Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey.

https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/real-umbrella-corp-wuhan-ultra-biohazard-lab-was-studying-worlds-most-dangerous-pathogens

January 24, 2020

As of this morning, the deadly coronavirus that originated in China has killed 26 people and infected more than 900.

But according to one simulation run less than three months ago, things could get much, much worse. Less than three months ago, Eric Toner, a scientist at the Johns Hopkins Centre for Health Security, had run a simulation of a global pandemic involving the exact same type of virus, according to Business Insider.

His simulation predicted that 65 million people could die “within 18 months”. 

He commented:

 “I have thought for a long time that the most likely virus that might cause a new pandemic would be a coronavirus.”

As of now, the outbreak is not a pandemic, but it has been reported in eight different countries.  https://www.zerohedge.com/health/coronavirus-pandemic-simulation-run-3-months-ago-predicts-65-million-people-could-die

China Suddenly Increases Death Toll By Over 60% As Virus Jumps To Europe

January 23, 2020

• China announces another 15 deaths in Hubei province
• Total number of confirmed cases now 1,000+, 41 dead.
• China restricts travel for 46+ million people across 16 cities as the death toll surges.
• AFP reports that the virus has jumped to Europe, with two confirmed cases now in France.
• Two deaths have been reported outside Wuhan.
• Some residents displaying symptoms are being turned away from hospitals.
• Hospitals in Wuhan make urgent pleas for help and supplies.
• Beijing orders PLA medics to assist in Wuhan treating patients
• UK and US governments tell citizens to avoid outbreak zones.
• 63 suspected cases in US, Senator says 3 confirmed, with two reported so far in Illinois and California, and two suspected in Minnesota https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/please-help-us-supply-shortages-rock-wuhan-outbreak-overwhelms-chinese-healthcare

Of course, Jesus Himself warned that the “signs” of the end of the age would include pestilences:

7…And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. (Matthew 24:6-8)

11 And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven. (Luke 21:11)

Now, what is happening in Wuhan pales in comparison with what will happen.

In the sixth chapter of the Book of Revelation, the ride of four horsemen are described. The passages about the fourth horseman are as follows:

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)

So, the opening of the fourth seal is the time that the pale horse of death is apparently increasing death by war, hunger, and pestilences (the beasts of the earth).

Years ago, scientists wondered if the coronavirus might be weaponized. Notice:

Moreover, recent decades have seen the emergence of numerous new microbial diseases including the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus, Ebola virus, Legionella spp., etc. At least 335 new infectious diseases have been described since 1940, with the majority being zoonosis (Jones et al., 2008). The identification of so many new diseases over the past seven decades shows no sign to slowing, and it is almost a certainty that humanity will continue to confront new microbial threats and that many of these agents, such as SARS coronavirus, possess a significant weapon potential when recovered from nature (Casadevall and Pirofski, 2004). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3815869/ accessed 01/24/20

Bio-engineered warfare is a threat:

Many experts say natural or bioengineered viral pandemics (BVP) are inevitable as it becomes increasingly easier to modify an existing pathogen, making it more lethal and transmissible. Should there be a deliberately loosed pandemic, revolutionary changes will flood our economy, military, foreign policy; we will not live as before during the Age of Bioengineered Viral Pandemics and Collapse.

This bleak Age may be unavoidable, but we can prepare ourselves to minimize its dangers. Yet the specter of biological attack, especially by hard-to-identity and hold-to-account (let alone deter) non-state actors, is little addressed by the media or even inside the U.S. government. …

Genetic engineering, or bioengineering, is the manipulation of an organism’s genetic material. Scientists have been creating genetically modified organisms (GMO) since the 1970s, and in 2010 the first synthetic new life form was created. … Now it is possible to accelerate genetic change, creating viruses and bacteria that never existed. With newer techniques, a simple, cheap lab (perhaps in a neighbor’s garage) can generate millions of recombinants in minutes. Through bioengineering a lone terrorist or a Revolutionary Guards lab in Iran can intentionally create a human-to-human transmissible version of avian flu, or modify a lethal virus to have a longer latency period, which would facilitate its undetected spread. …

A bioengineered virus, launched in our crowded, interconnected world by an enemy working to spread it widely before it is detected, could yield a more devastating pandemic than anything experienced in the past. …

If the first bioengineered virus comes from an accident or is unleashed by one madman it may fail to spread to pandemic status. A worse threat is North Korea, Iran, or a terrorist group bioengineering a virus they release against us in multiple locations, perhaps after they’ve developed a vaccine to protect themselves. For new, bioengineered viruses, however, there likely will be no immunity or treatment available. …

While we cannot forecast the odds of a BVP, a host of experts believes it is inevitable. A National Defense University study of the GMO threat found that “the tools and information required for genetic modification of microorganisms are readily available worldwide.” They are also very cheap, and “the work can be successfully accomplished by a small cadre [of three people].” This study estimated that the materials and facilities to weaponize a bioagent would cost about $250,000. “Compared to other projects that might be undertaken by governments or private organizations, the cost of equipping and staffing a laboratory scale bioprocessing facility is trivial.” They concluded that “the potential for corruption of biotechnology to catastrophic malevolent use is considerable,” with “tangible opportunities for many potential adversaries to acquire, modify, and then manufacture to scale a potential GMO pathogen.” https://www.the-american-interest.com/2016/09/20/the-age-of-designer-plagues/

Consider also, that over 50 years ago, the old Worldwide Church of God published the following by the late Raymond McNair:

THE DOOMSDAY BUG

There is — this very instant — a feverish international search for the ultimate “dooms-day bug.” The purpose? — to wipe out whole nations overnight by disease germs and chemicals. Will man’s unrestrained scientific search for more horrifying weapons of mass destruction prove to be his undoing?

WHAT I have seen here at Porton Down has convinced me of the awful potential of modern Chemical and Biological Warfare (called CBW for short). Few realize its frightening possibilities! Sensational news headlines from time to time reveal details of CBW development world-wide. …

History of CBW

Chemical and Biological Warfare is not new to mankind. For thousands of years man has used various CBW agents to overcome his enemies. But… it is only recently that he has seriously considered the idea of using CBW on a grand scale — to erase whole populations! Thousands of years ago man discovered the diabolical use of poison. He learned to use poison to dispose of rulers, dignitaries, or large numbers of his enemies by poisoning their food or water supply. Poisoned arrows were also used in warfare. Millenniums ago man learned that he could throw the corpses of plague-infected humans over the walls of besieged cities which he sought to overthrow — thereby causing terrible plague to ravage the entire city. Early American settlers traded plague-infected blankets to American Indians in times of frontier hostilities. There have been virtually no limits to man’s diabolical, inventive genius in the realm of destructive weapons of war. CBW’s

Awful Potential

We can see the awful potential of rampant disease organisms by observing what did happen during the Dark Ages. The BLACK DEATH of 1348-50 was the worst natural disaster to befall man in the last 4000 years. This terrible plague swept over all Europe — killing at least one third of the population! In certain areas nearly three fourths of the population was killed by plague! Three fifths of all Britons succumbed to the Black Death — reducing Britain’s population from 5.1 million in 1348 to 2.1 million in 1374.

Many, believing they would certainly fall victims of the Black Death, gave themselves over to reckless abandon — drunkenness, sexual orgies, violence, crime and general lawlessness. “Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die of plague,” they reasoned. But biological warfare is potentially much worse than plague.

Colonel Adam Mikovich of Moscow Institute understands the full potential of Biological Warfare. He said: “It is believed today that Biological War would have the greatest effect of all” (Post, Jan. 30, 1965). …

An Ounce of Doom!

Many scientists right now are searching for new plagues with which to decimate the human population. And they are diligently seeking deadlier strains of old viruses with which to destroy whole populations. Of course, these scientists justify their CBW research by saying it is done for defensive reasons. Just how lethal are these viruses? Do you grasp the deadly potential? “In theory one gram of chicken embryo tissue inoculated with the Q-fever organism would be sufficient to infect more than one million people” (We All Fall Down, Robin Clarke). It has been estimated that one fourth of an ounce would be sufficient to infect every man, woman and child living in the British Isles! That’s about 55 million! Britain is especially vulnerable to chemical or germ warfare. She is thickly crowded and normal weather conditions in Britain are favorable to that type of warfare!

Botulinus, which was developed during World War II, is so deadly that it could wipe out all human life in a given area within six hours — yet leaving the target area habitable immediately after the attack. But some diseases would have a more lingering effect. …

Few realize that far more people have died from pestilence — from sickness and various plagues — through the course of human history, than have died in actual warfare.

It has been estimated that over 20,000,000 perished from influenza in just a few months at the close of World War I — and 50 times that number became ill. In the autumn of 1918, over 12,500,000 died in the flu epidemic which swept the undernourished nation of India. And over one-half million died in the United States. …

Destroying the Economy

Another terrifying aspect of CBW is that an enemy nation could destroy the economy of a nation — before actually attacking its civilians. This could be done by first attacking some of the main crops of the intended victim nation.
In 1942, 90 percent of India’s rice crop was destroyed by a natural strain of rice fungus.

And the highest award ever given to a U.S. civilian was awarded to a woman for developing another very deadly type of rice-blast fungus — which could, of course, be used against rice-eating nations like China or North Vietnam.

A Russian scientist has reportedly discovered a very deadly wheat rust — a type to which America’s wheat would be especially susceptible.

Thus, one can see how an enemy could greatly undermine the economy of a nation by first destroying the main crops through bacteriological warfare.

As a further example of the effects of this type of warfare, consider the terrible economic effects which the Irish potato famine of the mid-1800’s had on Ireland. That particular potato famine was caused by a peculiar potato blight or fungus which completely wiped out Ireland’s potato crop!

Previous to the famine, Ireland was one of the most densely populated countries in Europe. Yet it was a country stricken with the most unbelievable poverty. “There never was,” said the Duke of Wellington, a native of County Meath, “a country in which poverty existed to the extent that exists in Ireland.” “Nearly half of the families of the rural population,” reported the 1841 census, “are living in houses of the lowest state” — windowless mud cabins of a single room. …

CBW weapons are cheap to manufacture, and are comparatively inexpensive to deliver to enemy targets. A small nation could develop a whole arsenal of CBW agents and deliver them with very little strain on its budget. …

Scientists must bear their full share of responsibility for their part in developing more deadly and virulent microbes which could unleash horrifying disease epidemics upon this world.

But where does this leave us? Will scientists cease their horrifying work? Hardly.

It leaves us precisely where the world’s most noted newscaster — Jesus Christ — said it would leave us! Speaking of our very day, he warned: “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved [alive]: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened” (Matt. 24:21, 22).

But how?

The Only Solution

Make no mistake about it — man does not have the solution to his ever-accelerating arms-race problem. But God does!

We can be very thankful that the God of the universe is about to put an end to man’s hellish insanity toward his fellowman. His government will “rebuke strong nations afar off: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they LEARN WAR any more” (Micah 4:3).

Mercifully, God Almighty will not let man destroy himself! If God didn’t keep His hand firmly on the controls, man would annihilate himself.

We can rejoice that total disarmament is very near. The day is soon coming when the nations will close down all of their chemical and biological establishments — and their munitions factories!

Then all of man’s scientific efforts will be directed toward construction — not Destruction. Toward saving lives — not destroying them! (McNair R. The Doomsday Bug. Plain Truth, August 1969)

So, yes, the old WCG was right that humans would continue to look into developing pestilences. And yes, the solution will be God’s intervention, and the establishment of the coming Kingdom of God.

That is good news.

However, before then, more pestilences are coming (Revelation 6:7-8).

As far as humans developing dangerous items, notice the following warning about ‘Frankenbees’ that Pocket reposted today:

Invasion of the ‘Frankenbees’: The Danger of Building a Better Bee

Beekeepers are sounding the alarm about the latest developments in genetically modified pollinators. …

Since the EU began phasing out neonics, in 2014, the honeybees’ recovery has not been as dramatic as hoped. Neonics are probably not the biggest factor in the demise of bees, but they are the easiest to outlaw. To farmers, this seems outrageously unfair. Citing an industry-funded study, they say the ban will cost the EU agriculture sector €880bn annually in diminished crop yields.

Another, more controversial, response to the slump in bee populations is in the works. This is the plan to create a more resilient strain of honeybee – a genetically modified superbee. The technology for creating GM honeybees is in its infancy, and still confined to the laboratory. But, if successful, it could lead to a hardier species, one that is resistant to natural and manmade hazards: viruses, varroa mites, pesticides and so on. If we can’t change modern farming practices, the thinking goes, maybe we should change the bees.

The prospect horrifies many bee people – from commercial beekeepers such as Haefeker to passionate amateurs – who see a lab-made superbee as a direct threat to the smaller, struggling bee species. Traditional beekeepers have a name for them that expresses their fear and suspicion: Frankenbees. …

Some beekeepers worry that, if the agriculture industry succeeds in building and patenting a blockbuster, mite-free, pesticide-proof superbee, it would dominate and destroy the vibrant local market in conventional bee strains. There are health fears, too: the sting of GM bees may introduce new allergy risks. And beekeepers are afraid they would not be able to protect the gene pool of traditional strains such as the beloved Apis mellifera, the scientific name for the European honeybee, against a dominant, pesticide resistant, lab-designed version.

Jay Evans heads the bee research lab at the US Department of Agriculture, where they are looking at various threats to bee health. Designing a truly pesticide-resistant honeybee, a “bulletproof bee”, as Evans calls them, would “throw a lot of nature under the bus”. originally 10/16/18 https://getpocket.com/explore/item/invasion-of-the-frankenbees-the-danger-of-building-a-better-bee?utm_source=pocket-newtab

Do not think that is far fetched. An attempt to genetically-modify mosquitoes to reduce their population a while back resulted in producing mosquitoes that were hardier and more difficult to kill (see Scientists confirm COGwriter GMO mosquito warning).

Do NOT trust the scientists on these genetic modification matters–they DO NOT KNOW all the risks, no matter what they say.

Humans, directly or indirectly, will be a factor in the coming more severe pestilences.

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? Some 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 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.
Differences Between Islam and the Continuing Church of God What are some of the main differences? Are there any similarities? A video of related interest is titled: Islam: Any Christian Concerns or Similarities?
GMOs and Bible Prophecy What are GMOs? Since they were not in the food supply until 1994, how could they possibly relate to Bible prophecy? Do GMOs put the USA and others at risk? Here is a related YouTube video GMO Risks and the Bible.
Chimeras: Has Science Crossed the Line? What are chimeras?  Has science crossed the line? Does the Bible give any clues? A video of related interest is Half human, half pig: What’s the difference?
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse What do each of the four horseman of the Apocalypse represent? Have they began their ride? Did Jesus discuss the any of this? Might their rides coincide with the “beginning of sorrows? Do they start their ride prior to the Great Tribulation? Did Nostradamus or any other ‘private prophets’ write predictions that may mislead people so that they may not understand the truth of one or more of the four horseman? There is also a related YouTube video titled The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
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? 2027 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? 2020, 2021, or 2022? 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? You can also see the English language sermon videos: The Great Tribulation from the Mount of Olives and Can the Great Tribulation begin before 2020? A shorter and newer video is: Could the Great Tribulation Begin in 2020?
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; a short video is also available: Did Jesus declare all animal flesh food?

COGwriter

Hebert W. Armstrong died on January 16, 1986, at age 93 1/2. Many never heard of him, but multiple millions did.

Here is some of what he wrote about himself:

I was born July 31, 1892, of respected and upright parents who were of solid Quaker stock. My ancestors had emigrated from England to Pennsylvania with William Penn, a hundred years before the United States became a nation. My ancestry, through a paternal great-grandmother, traces back to Edward I, King of England.

I first saw the light of day in a red brick two-apartment flat on the northwest corner of East 14th and Grand Avenue, in Des Moines, Iowa. Of course I remember absolutely nothing of the day of my birth — even as you remember nothing of the day you were born…

When I was 6 the family moved to Marshalltown, Iowa, where my father entered the flour milling business…

Back to Des Moines we moved again in 1901, in early fall, after a year and a half in Union, this time near East 13th and Walker. I was now in the 4th grade. We lived a short distance from a Seventh-Day Adventist Sanitarium, with a bakery shop near the front entrance. I remember being sent often to this bakery for special “health” bread — probably whole wheat. The thing that most impressed me, however, was the impression on my boyish mind that these Adventists must be some kind of odd religious people, because they “kept Saturday for their Sunday.” Even at that age, anything different from common custom and general social acceptance automatically seemed strange — and if strange, then of course it seemed WRONG. Why do people assume that the rank-and-file of PEOPLE can’t be wrong?…

Our transportation, 1903-4, was horse and buggy — and my bicycle. Going to the factory in the morning, we had to use the whip on the horse occasionally to keep him trotting. But returning home in the evening, it was necessary to hold tight rein on him. He needed no urging to trot. He seemed to know his oats were waiting for him in our barn…

From earliest memory I was kept regularly in the Sunday school and church services of the First Friends Church in Des Moines…

During the years between 12 and 16, besides school, I had many Saturday and vacation jobs. I carried a paper route, was errand boy for a grocery store, special delivery boy for a dry goods store, spent one summer vacation as draftsman for a furnace company, and there were other odd jobs.

But at age 16, during summer vacation, I obtained my first job away from home. The job was waiting on tables in the dining room of a semi-resort hotel in Altoona, the next town east of Des Moines…

Of course, as yet, at age 16, there had formulated no definite GOAL to work toward, further than the general ambition to SUCCEED. Of what that success was to consist had to crystalize later.

Also, so far, it was pure VANITY. But it was a positive vanity, and that might be vastly preferable to a negative, purposeless humility. It was the first start toward later accomplishment…

In track I went out for the mile run in my Sophomore year only, but never was entered in the state meet. The best time I ever made was 5 minutes flat, on the Drake track, where the annual Drake Relays, nationally famous, are still run. Today the world’s best milers run the mile under 4 minutes!

I was an average student in school. But in final exams I always got grades of 95% to 98%…

AT AGE 18 I found a book in the public library, titled, “Choosing a Vocation.” It took the reader through a searching self-analysis, and a survey of vocations, occupations and professions, to place the candidate where he best fit.

A thorough study of this self-analysis and survey indicated that I would probably be most successful in the profession of journalism and advertising. And this, to me, was one of the truly exciting, thrilling professions.

It so happened that my uncle in Des Moines, Frank Armstrong, my father’s younger brother, was the most prominent advertising man in the state. He had led the movement of establishing Ad-Clubs in other cities over the state, and he was the first president of the state association.

I went to my uncle for counsel and advice. From that time, since I had chosen his field, he practically steered my life for the next eleven years, and I owe much to him. To me he seemed like a sort of second Benjamin Franklin, and on the whole I felt he had unusual insight, understanding, and sound judgment.

The place to begin in the advertising profession, he advised, was the want-ad department of a daily newspaper. This was the freshman class of the advertising school of hard knocks.

It was late December, 1910. Now the big question came: should I stay in school, and take courses in advertising and journalism in college or university?

“Well, Herbert,” he counseled, “that depends on you and how much ambition and drive you have. It happens that no college or university in the country has yet offered a course in this profession that is worth a plug nickel.

“Now I know,” he continued, “that nearly everybody has the delusion that an education is something you get at school — and higher education at the university. It’s like going to a hardware store or department store to purchase a lawn mower. People seem to have the idea that an education is something they have all wrapped up at the university, ready to hand it over to you when you buy it by paying the tuition. But it has always seemed to me that traipsing across the door-sill of a college classroom, or sitting in an arm-chair, is not putting an education into your mind. Education comes from study — from books — from lectures — from contacts — from travel — from thinking about what you see and hear and read — and from experience…”

I went home and thought it over thoroughly. Ambition is not only the DESIRE, but the determination and the will to achieve the desired goal. For two years ambition had burned fiercely within me. I wanted both success and to become a well-educated person. I knew I wanted these goals intensively enough to drive myself to any needed extent to succeed.

I told my uncle my decision. He assigned me to one year’s experience in want ads, and advised that I get a job in the want-ad department of the Des Moines Daily Capital, then published by Lafe Young, senior United States Senator from Iowa…

I did not ask The Capital if they needed any help. That was too negative — might have resulted in being turned down. I went straight to the manager of the want-ad department, told him I was entering the advertising profession, and had decided to join his staff because it offered the best opportunity to LEARN, and to advance. I got the job. The starting salary was $6 per week.

I had no conception, then, that the advertising profession was not, after all, to be my final life profession — or that this experience was merely the preliminary training needed for the ultimate bigger job later in life.

In those days I had developed a very excessive case of self-confidence. I was snappy, confident, self-assured — yet sincere, and in the intent of heart, honest.

On this want-ad job I soon became known as a “hustler.” On the street I hurried — walked rapidly. I was a dynamo of energy. Off nights I studied. Books were procured on advertising, on psychology, merchandising, business management, and English. All the leading trade journals were subscribed to and diligently read — primarily “Printers Ink,” and “Advertising & Selling,” the two leading trade journals of the profession.

My uncle directed the training in learning an effective style in writing…

…I was given a Real Estate beat, and the salary raised to $8 per week…

It was not long until Ivan Coolidge, then want-ad manager over at the “R & L,” asked me to drop over and see him. He offered me $10 a week if I’d leave The Capital and join the Register staff…

I had started out to spend one year in want ads at the Capital. The temptation had come to weaken and get off that schedule.

I took my uncle’s advice and stayed on the schedule.

Learning Rules of Success

Thus, at the early age of 18, some of the seven important rules of success were being learned.

The first success rule — I emphasize by repeating it — is fixing the right GOAL. Avoid fitting the “square peg in the round hole.” I was yet to learn the real PURPOSE of life, and the one true supreme GOAL. Actually I had set out on a wrong goal — that of becoming someone “important,” achieving business success and status for the purpose of making money. But at least I had made the self-analysis and the survey of vocations to find where I should fit within the realm of business, the field of this goal.

At least, ambition had been kindled. And, though little realized at the time, all this experience was building the necessary foundation for the worldwide activities of later life.

The second success rule is EDUCATION — fitting oneself for the achievement of the goal. I was getting, not mere impractical and theoretical classroom book education, but the combined education of book study at night and practical experience in the daytime. And even here, the self-education being received was precisely that required to properly prepare me for this present worldwide Work of God, without which this Work today could not have become a success.

The third rule of success is good, vigorous HEALTH. Food plays a major part in this, and I was not to learn of the importance of food and diet until I was 38 years old. But I had learned the importance of sufficient exercise, deep breathing, daily bathing and elimination, and sufficient sleep.

The fourth rule, drive, putting a constant prod on oneself, seems to have come naturally as a result of the ambition that had been generated at sixteen. There was always the sense that I had to hurry! I was learning to plunge into a task with dynamic energy.

The fifth, resourcefulness, or thinking about the problem at hand, was unconsciously being developed by experience. For example, the experience of the “goat work” job, and then in finding a way to get in room-for-rent ads faster by telephone, was an example of learning this rule by experience — thinking through and applying initiative, to a better way of solving a problem. Most people do such a job just as they are shown, without ever applying thought or resourcefulness to the activity.

And now, the sixth rule, perseverance, never quitting when it appears to everyone else one has failed, was being learned at the very low price of $2 per weekly lesson.

In 1947, and again in 1948, Ambassador College appeared hopelessly to have failed. It seemed everyone else knew we had come to the “end of our rope.” It has happened many times. But that $2 per week lesson learned at 18 turned a seeming hopeless failure into a worldwide ever-expanding success.

The seventh and most important rule, Divine Guidance, I was not to learn until much later…

For something like a year and a half I was kept in the Service Department of The Journal. There I received a most intensive and practical basic training in the true psychological principles of writing and designing advertisements…

I was never insincere. True, I had swung from a sense of inferiority, to one of supreme self-confidence.

But I was entirely sincere. Usually a bragging, conceited young lad who is cocky, is also an insincere flippant smart aleck. I was not. It seems I was, by nature, deeply sincere and in earnest, and although excessively self-confident, even snappy and cocky in manner, there was always with it a sense of earnestness and dignity. At least I thought I was right, and in my heart meant to be. Human nature wants to be good — but seldom does it want to do good. That natural desire in one to wish to consider himself good, I suppose, led to an attitude of sincerity.

Later, God had to take the self-confidence, conceit, and cockiness out of me. He replaced it with a different kind of confidence — an unbounded FAITH in God. I have far more ASSURANCE for the future today than I had then — many times over. But today it is based on what God is going to do — not what I am able to do…

After about one and a half to two years of training in advertising copy writing and layout, selling advertising space, office work in dictating and letter-answering, and composing room makeup with The Merchants Trade Journal, I was put on a new and unique activity.

I have never heard of anything like it. I became The Journal’s “Idea Man.”…

The Journal maintained an “Idea Man” who travelled all over the country, visiting stores in all lines, discussing problems and methods with merchants, checking on community and social conditions. The actual experiences of successful merchants, as sought out and reported by the “Idea Man” were written up by the editors into article form in the magazine.

The first “Idea Man” tour took me to New York state and back. This trip started in November, 1913.

I must have visited a number of towns across Iowa and Illinois, but the first that comes back to mind, now, is traveling across southern Michigan…

Perhaps I was entirely too proud in those days. Actually there is no “perhaps” about it. I was! Later I was forced to suffer for years to have this vanity and conceit crushed out, before I could ever have been fully prepared for the responsibilities of today.

But I was young then. And I have often wondered if it is not really better for a young upstart to be conceited, self-confident, cocky — and with it, ambitious, energetic in trying to accomplish something, than to be an ambitionless, spineless, lazy, shiftless fellow utterly lacking in spark, drive, and the zeal to try to accomplish something worthwhile.

Such ambitious fellows, of course, may not have right goals — they may not know the real PURPOSE of life, or the true way of life, and they may be energetically pressing on only toward more vanity, and “a striving after wind,” as Solomon puts it. But at least they are mentally ALIVE, and not dead! And once circumstances do shake them and bring them to themselves, and humble them and open their minds to the true values, they are already in the habit of exerting enough energy so that, turned at last in the right direction, something is REALLY accomplished.

At least one reader of this autobiography — and so far as I know, only one — has written very disapprovingly of it, condemning me for having been vain and conceited in those early formative years. I have stated all the facts about that over-abundance of self-assurance. Indeed I have put emphasis on it.

This, then, is one of the things I had to be changed from! This is a candid and true life story, and the bad is being told along with what good there may have been. But, if there was ego and cocky conceit, there also was ambition, determination, fire, drive, and honest and sincere effort toward what then seemed to be a right goal.

His later death seemed to mark the end of the predominance of the Philadelphia era of the Church of God and the start of the predominance of the Laodicean era instead. Many Laodicean groups have formed since his death, and in my view, several while he was still alive.

Despite the claim that he would follow in his footsteps, Herbert W. Armstrong’s chosen successor in the old Worldwide Church of God, the late Joseph Tkach, Sr., did not remain faithful to the teachings that many of us believe God inspired Herbert W. Armstrong to restore to the church. Here are Some Quotes from Herbert W. Armstrong on Laodicea and Holding Fast to Doctrine.

Since Herbert W. Armstrong’s death, many who declared that they believed the doctrines he claimed to restore to the Church of God, either repudiated everything or at least several of those doctrines. Some others, improperly, somewhat idolized him.

But then there are those who still agree with the following teaching of Herbert W. Armstrong:

“Don’t believe me – BELIEVE YOUR BIBLE – BELIEVE GOD! I always say…check up! Listen without prejudice, with open mind, then check up–go to your BIBLE, and BELIEVE what you read there.” (Herbert W. Armstrong, Plain Truth magazine, Sept. 1963, Personal pg.1)

Herbert W. Armstrong made mistakes, and often big ones. He also had his own character flaws, though not all the terrible things written against him are true (see 15 Accusations and Truthful Responses About Herbert W. Armstrong).

But I do not want the focus of this post to be on the person of Herbert W. Armstrong, but on the biblically-correct teachings he claimed to restore to the Philadelphian portion of the Church of God that he claimed were lost through the ages by the time he encountered the Sardis era of the Church of God.

Herbert W. Armstrong wrote:

At least 18 basic and essential truths have been restored to the True Church since” the year 1933 (Mystery of the Ages, Dodd & Mead, 1985, p. 251).

The only Church of God group I am aware of that specifically lists all of those truths, using his list, as part of their official beliefs is the Continuing Church of God. Notice that portion of the Statement of Beliefs of the Continuing Church of God:

1. True Gospel (An article of related interest may include The Gospel of the Kingdom of God was the Emphasis of Jesus and the Early Church.)

2. Purpose of God (An article of related interest may include Deification: Did the Early Church Teach That Christians Would Become God?).

3. God’s Plan through the Holy Days (Several articles of possibly related interest may include Is There “An Annual Worship Calendar” In the Bible?, Passover and the Early Church, and Did Early Christians Observe the Fall Holy Days?)

4. Proper Church Government (Two articles of possibly related interest may include The Bible, Polycarp, Herbert W. Armstrong, and Roderick C. Meredith on Church Government and Polycarp’s Letter to the Philippians.)

5. Who and What is God? (An article of related interest may include One God, Two Beings Before the Beginning.)

6. What and Why is Man? (Two articles of possibly related interest may include What is the Meaning of Life? and Did Early Christians Believe that Humans Possessed Immortality?)

7. Spirit in Man (An article of possibly related interest may include Did Early Christians Believe that Humans Possessed Immortality?)

8. Firstfruits In this Age (An article of related interest may include Pentecost: Is it more than Acts 2?)

9. Knowledge of What the Millennium Truly Is (An article of related interest may include Did The Early Church Teach Millenarianism and a 6000 Year Plan?)

10. Truth About the Holy Spirit (An article of related interest may include Did Early Christians Think the Holy Spirit Was A Separate Person in a Trinity?)

11. Christians are Begotten Now (An article of related interest may include Born Again: A Question of Semantics?)

12. Born-Again at the Resurrection (An article of related interest may include Born Again: A Question of Semantics?)

13. Identity of Physical Israel (An article of related interest may include Anglo – America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel.)

14. How the Identity of Israel Opens Up Understanding of Bible Prophecy (An article of related interest may include Anglo – America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel.)

15. Second and Third Tithes (An article of related interest may include Is Third Tithe Still Valid Today?)

16. Identity of Babylon and Her Daughters (Three articles of possibly related interest may include Europa, the Beast, and Revelation, Which Is Faithful: The Roman Catholic Church or the Genuine Church of God?, and Hope of Salvation: How the Genuine Church of God differ from most Protestants.)

17. Satan has Deceived the Whole World (An article possibly related interest may be The Day of Atonement–Its Christian Significance.)

18. We Are to Be Separate (Two articles of related interest may include Why Be Concerned About False and Heretical Leaders? and Overview: How Does the Church of God Agree and Disagree with Other Faiths Professing Christ?)

We in the Continuing Church of God do not simply believe these truths because Herbert W. Armstrong came up with a list. We believe them because they are biblically accurate and applicable, and consistent with aspects of church history.

Without going into more detail here, the second century writings of Theophilus of Antioch, for example, demonstrate that Christians believed that they were to be born again at the resurrection (Theophilus of Antioch. To Autolycus, Book 2, Chapter XV) and other early writings do demonstrate that there were those who professed Christ after the death of the original apostles that seemed to hold to those “restored truths.” Judeo-Christians of the first few centuries A.D. seemed to understand at least some of the identity of physical Israel and tried to get the gospel message to them (e.g. James 1:1).

Consider also, in his October 1979 Plain Truth article titled 7 Proofs of God’s True Church, Herbert W. Armstrong listed seven proofs that he felt that the Philadelphia portion of the true Church of God would have. These included knowing/teaching 1) Who and What is God?, 2) The Government of God and Creation of Holy and Righteous Character, 3) Who and What is Man?, 4) The Truth About Israel, 5) The True Gospel, 6) What and Why the Church?, and 7) The Priority of Teaching of the Reign of the Kingdom of God. He felt that the, then, Worldwide Church of God had all of those. We in the Continuing Church of God do as well.

Specifically related to those we teach:

1) The view that early Christians had on the Godhead,

2) The government of God (hierarchical with the Father as highest in authority and operates under His loving laws) and His goal of developing righteous character (Romans 5:4; Matthew 5:48) with doctrinal assistance from His ministry (Ephesians 4:11-16),

3) That God intentionally created humans physical (Genesis 2:7) and that those He calls (John 6:44) can become spiritual (1 Corinthians 15:45-48) in the family of God (Ephesians 3:14-19),

4) The identity of modern Israel and how that ties in with prophecy (cf. Genesis 48, 49; 2 Kings 12:19-20; 16:5-6; James 1:1; Daniel 11:39),

5) Christ’s gospel of the kingdom (Mark 1:14-15; Acts 1:1-3),

6) That the church does the work of God (Matthew 24:14; 28:19-20; John 6:29; Revelation 3:7-13; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; 16:9; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Ephesians 5:25-32) in truth (Psalm 33:4; Isaiah 61:8; John 17:17; 2 Timothy 2:15),

7) The proper priority of proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom to the world as a witness (Matthew 24:14) and the soon-coming millennium (Revelation 20:4), while teaching disciples all things that Jesus commanded (Matthew 28:19-20).

After the death of Herbert W. Armstrong, his human successor entered into apostasy and renounced most of the unique Church of God doctrines. The true church continued as many left that organization and many other organizations have since formed. Apostasy has happened from New Testament times (e.g. 1 John 2:18-19) and is one reason why tracing true Christian church history can be difficult.

While many Church of God groups have leaders that claim most or all of those seven points, nearly all have failed to truly practice Herbert W. Armstrong’s points 2, 6, and 7, and have misunderstood some of the others. At least one group that believes it is a leader in 6 & 7 above, knowingly and intentionally, has made that proclamation with materials it knew contained doctrinal errors that were not the truth. That willingness to spread a false message shows that they are not leading the final phase of the work of God—the work of God MUST BE DONE IN TRUTH per Psalm 33:4. The LORD said, “I will direct their work in truth” (Isaiah 61:8), and those who knowingly publish and distribute doctrinal errors obviously are not accepting the LORD’s direction.

Many other groups discount points 6 & 7. Yet, here is also something that Herbert W. Armstrong wrote related to points 6 and to parts of point 7:

In Matthew 28:19-20, God’s order is 1) go and preach the Gospel (compare with Mark’s version, same words of Jesus, Mark 16:15); 2) baptize those who repent and believe; then after that, 3) teach them to observe the commandments” (Autobiography of Herbert W. Armstrong, p. 523).

PURPOSE of the Church, 1) proclaiming the coming kingdom of God to the world and 2) feeding the flock.

The “loner”–the “individual Christian,” who wants to climb up into the kingdom some other way than by CHRIST and HIS WAY through his CHURCH–is not being trained in CHRIST’S MANNER OF TRAINING, to rule and reign with Christ in his kingdom! (Mystery of the Ages, p.270).

Herbert W. Armstrong also taught, “with modern facilities for mass communication – the printing press, radio, television, even the telephone by which one may reach another in any part of the world in a matter of minutes or less – can reach more people by far than all of the first century apostles combined.” (7 Proofs of God’s True Church, Part 6. Plain Truth, August 1979).

We in the Continuing Church of God are utilizing 21^st century methods for mass communication including the printing press, radio, YouTube television, the telephone, and of course the internet, which can even be faster than the forms of mass communication that Herbert W. Armstrong used. We have reached multiple millions with the gospel of the kingdom and have the type of proclamation and prophetic truths that Jesus said should be the criteria to know the true from the false in Matthew 7:15-18.

These truths are also listed in our free booklet Where is the True Christian Church Today?

But many once part of the old Worldwide Church of God no longer believe several truths.

Jesus warned the Philadelphians to “Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown” (Revelation 3:11), and this would seemingly have to include the doctrinal truths that were restored to the Philadelphia portion of the Church of God. The Bible also warns that people who seem to be believers will “fall away” from the truth and while that has happened in the past, it will again happen in the future (cf. Daniel 11:30-35; 1 Timothy 4:1). Some who once claimed to be Philadelphians have not held fast to that teaching either.

Herbert W. Armstrong ultimately believed that a dream, which had two proclamation parts, was a prophecy from God for him to enter the ministry, which he did, and he completed the first proclamation part of the dream. Thirty years after his death, the only group that has claimed to be working towards completing the second part of that dream is the Continuing Church of God.Three articles of related interest may include Dreams, the Bible, the Radio Church of God, and the Continuing Church of God, The Final Phase of the Work, and Should the Church Still Try to Place its Top Priority on Proclaiming the Gospel or Did Herbert Armstrong Change that Priority for the Work?

Most groups with leaders once part of the old Worldwide Church of God discount all dreams and have not placed the public proclamation of the kingdom of God to the world as their true initial priority (Matthew 24:14; 28:19), do not fully understand all of the restored truths, and have not valued the truth enough, hence they have shown that they are not the possessors of what has been called the “Philadelphia mantle” (leadership authority). The group with said mantle is also represented by the “woman” of Revelation 12:14-17.

The Book of Hebrews teaches:

¹ Let brotherly love continue. (Hebrews 13:1)

Why bring that up here? Because the word translated as “brotherly love” is the Greek word Philadelphia. Philadelphia was to continue, even into this Laodicean time, as well as be present (to a degree) throughout the history of the Church of God. Philadelphians are deeply caring people.

Here is something from the late Herbert W Armstrong: about the 30% growth his church once had:

Work started

THE WORK of God, which the Church had been added to back up and assist, was started by myself, with only my wife as full time assistant. I started the radio broadcasting program in January, 1934, and The Plain Truth, in February, 1934. The Good News, as the organ for our members, had started earlier in 1933.

The Work GREW. God continued to ADD to His Church such as HE called to back up the GREAT COMMISSION, and to develop the godly, holy and righteous CHARACTER to qualify them to be made kings and priests UNDER CHRIST after His return to earth as KING of Kings at the beginning of the millenial rule.

For 35 years the WORK OF GOD grew steadily at the rate of approximately 30 percent a year. I do not know of any organization, secular or of God, that has shown so remarkable growth, starting from NOTHING financially (though we started with something greater — FAITH in the living Christ HEAD of the Church and the WORK). This Work was built literally on FAITH. The living Christ blessed it richly, even though there was carnal opposition and persecution from the beginning.

UNMATCHED Growth

Read carefully now. As the Work grew, so did the human organization to work UNDER me in getting God’s Work done. Then, after this 35-year unmatched GROWTH with God’s blessing, I made a basic mistake, which I did not then realize was contrary to GOD’S form of organization. It was a detail that NONE in the Church realized was unscriptural.

It happened this way: As the work continued growing and growing, especially after the foundation of Ambassador College, my younger son, Garner Ted, had become converted. Mr. Roderick C. Meredith had entered Ambassador College as a student beginning its third year, fall of 1949. He was developing as a leader under me. He saw the rapid strides my son Garner Ted was making at the time, spiritually. My elder son, Richard D. (Dick), was growing spiritually too, but at a slower more steady rate.

Mr. Meredith began to urge me to make Garner Ted vice president under me, in the Work. I thought it a good suggestion. …

Christ built Work

Now to the CENTRAL TRUTH leading into today’s state of the Work. Brethren, READ THIS SERIOUSLY! Jesus Christ, the living HEAD of God’s Church, started this present era of His Work through me. I DID NOT BUILD THE WORK OR THE CHURCH — the living Christ built it, using me as His instrument and His apostle.

But I made the mistake, unrealizing that mistake, of allowing an office of authority to be injected BETWEEN ME AND THE MINISTRY AND CHURCH!

For the first 35 years of this Work, I was the sole human in supreme command, UNDER CHRIST. There was opposition and persecution — from without — but THERE WAS NO QUESTION OF WHO WAS IN CHARGE! During those 35 years the Church and the Work GREW AND GREW AND GREW! It had Christ’s BLESSING!

I knew that GOD’S FORM OF ORGANIZATION IS FROM THE TOP DOWN. I DID NOT REALIZE that allowing an office of authority to be interjected BETWEEN me and the Church was contrary to God’s form of human organization.

WHAT RESULTED? Great confusion grew in the Church — especially in and around headquarters. “WHO IS REALLY IN AUTHORITY?” many wondered, perplexed. The Work STOPPED GROWING. (Christ Puts Church On Bible Form Of Organization. Good News, June 5, 1978)

The Continuing Church of God has exceeded the 30% growth per year that the old Radio/Worldwide Church of God used to claim it had for decades. Many of those that we have with us did NOT have a WCG background as we reached people others had not. (As far as church governance goes, check out the article The Bible, Peter, Paul, John, Polycarp, Herbert W. Armstrong, Roderick C. Meredith, and Bob Thiel on Church Government.)

We are the fourth or fifth largest xWCG group and have been the fastest growing xWCG in the 21st century.

We have the type of growth that Herbert W. Armstrong said should indicate God’s blessing.

Part of Herbert W. Armstrong’s legacy is that he took the Bible to be the word of God and taught:

…the Bible tells us to PROVE all things (Armstrong HW. The RESURRECTION was NOT on Sunday. 1952).

Which of course, it does as the Apostle Paul wrote:

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

We in the CCOG urge all to do that.

More on Philadelphia-era doctrines and priorities can be found in the article The Philadelphia Church Era.

Now, various ones have called early church teachings as “Armstrongism” and have often misreported what was taught. To deal with some happening in the 21st century, the Continuing Church of God put together this sermonette on its ContinuingCOG channel:

21:14

What is Armstrongism? Are Some Dismissive of Original Christianity?

The physical head of the old Radio/Worldwide Church of God was the late Herbert W. Armstrong. What he taught has been derided as “Armstrongism.” What were some of those teachings? Was the old Worldwide Church of God some type of weird cult or did it strive to contend earnestly for the faith once for all delivered to the saints? Is “Armstrongism” improperly maligned and falsely described at GotQuestions.com? Are concepts such as the tribes of Israel, ‘soul sleep,’ and three resurrections unique to Herbert W. Armstrong or were they long part of original Nazarene Christianity? What about various holidays and Christianity? In this video, Dr. Thiel goes over his early experiences with “Armstrongism” as well as gives scriptures about persecutions that would affect Christians.

Here is a link to the sermonette: What is Armstrongism? Are Some Dismissive of Original Christianity?

Those interested in learning more about Herbert W. Armstrong, himself, should read the article Who Was Herbert W. Armstrong? How is He Viewed Today?

Several items of possibly related interest 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 how he is and should be viewed today.
15 Accusations and Truthful Responses About Herbert W. Armstrong He, even after his death, keeps being improperly maligned–here is the truth on these matters.
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.
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?
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.
18 Truths Restored to the Churches of God Herbert W. Armstrong wrote that he felt he had restored at least 18 lost truths to the Church, here is Herbert W. Armstrong’s list given 12/17/83. This articles also has links to show that these truths were believed by professors of Christ in earlier times, hence they were not some invention of Herbert Armstrong.Here is a related link in Spanish/español: Lista de Herbert W. Armstrong de las 18 verdades restauradas. Here are links to a related two-part sermon: The 18 Restored Truths: 1-8 and The 18 Restored Truths: 9-18.
Do You Believe God Used Herbert W. Armstrong to Raise Up the Philadelphia Era of the Church of God? Nearly everyone while in WCG used to believe this, most do not seem to anymore.
The Final Phase of the Work What is the final phase of the work? Who will lead it? Do you have the courage to support it? Here is a related YouTube video titled The Final Phase of the Work. The written article has been translated into Spanish La Fase Final de la Obra.
Leading the Final Phase of the Work Matthew 24:14 teaches “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come ” will be fulfilled and RCG is not the group doing this. Who is leading the final phase of the work? What did Herbert Armstrong and the old WCG teach about that and about prophets? Does Bob Thiel meet the criteria that the Bible and the old WCG set? What is the proof? What has the Continuing Church of God been doing? This is a sermonette length video.
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 evangelists?
Here are Some Quotes from Herbert W. Armstrong on Laodicea and Holding to Doctrine.
Continuing Church of God The group striving to be most faithful amongst all real Christian groups to the word of God.
5. The Sardis Church Era was predominant circa 1600 A.D. to circa 1933 A.D. Discusses early history of the Seventh Day Baptists, Seventh-day Adventists, and COG-7th Day.
6. The Philadelphia Church Era was predominant circa 1933 A.D. to 1986 A.D. The old Radio Church of God and old Worldwide Church of God, now the remnant of that era is basically the most faithful in the Church of God, like who hold to the beliefs and practices of the Continuing Church of God.
7. The Laodicean Church Era has been predominant circa 1986 A.D. to present. The Laodiceans are non-Philadelphians who mainly descended from the old WCG or its offshoots. They do not properly understand the work or biblical prophecies and will face the Great Tribulation if they do not repent. One video of related interest is 17 Laodicean Errors in Prophecy.