News of Those Once Affiliated with the Global Church of God

Since the November 1998 takeover of the old GCG by the board in the U.S., those once with GCG went to many places. Nearly 80% ultimately went with the Living Church of God (LCG), 8-15% went with the Church of God, a Christian Fellowship (CGCF) and smaller percentages went with David Pack's Restored Church of God (RCG), Harold Smith's Church of God Fellowship, Northwest (CGFnw), and other groups (at least one which is outside the U.S. uses the term Global Church of God). Most in Belgium left with GCG, but many in Belgium and Northern France came back to LCG in 2009. On July 1, 2001, eight ministers resigned from CGCF and formed the Church of the Eternal God (CEG), similar in name, but not related, to the Eternal Church of God (ECG--founded by a minister removed from the original GCG ministry for impropriety) about a month later CGCF (USA) dissolved and most still with it ended up in the United Church of God (UCG). One former GCG minister (Ronald Laughland) became pastor of the Wholeworld Church of God. In 2004, Raymond McNair, having been in GCG, CGCF, LCG, then went on his own and formed Church of God, 21st Century (COG21). Don Haney, once in GCG/LCG, formed the Church of God In Peace and Truth. In 2005, Ben Faulkner, who was in GCG and LCG, formed the Church of the Sovereign God (CotSG). In 2006, Charles Bryce who was in GCG and LCG left, and formed the Enduring Church of God (En COG). (More news specifically on LCG is at the News of the Living Church of God page.) A couple of people, like Norman Edwards (Servants' News), left GCG well before the 1998 takeover. As in this writer's opinion none of these non-LCG groups are part of the remnant of the Philadelphia Church era (though a few of their members might be), history has shown that they have accomplished relatively little of significant value and have contributed to dilution of full gospel proclaimation. Hence, this page mainly is intended for those who went with the non-LCG groups (or who may be thinking about going to them) to realize that those groups are not truly part of the remnant of the Philadelphia Church era. Website links for most of those that have websitescan be found at the COGlinks page.

06/27/09 p.m. LCG announced the following at services today:

Dear Brethren,

I would like to share some very positive news with you. We would like to welcome back Mr. and Mrs. Rees Ellis, pastor in Belgium and Northern France, and brethren who have decided to reconnect with the Living Church of God after our unfortunate and regrettable separation about 10 years ago. Mr. Ellis spent several days this week here in Charlotte discussing aspects of this reconnection with me, Mr. Ames, Mr. Apartian and Dr. Winnail. The discussions about reconnecting actually began with Mr. Carion before he died. We certainly look forward to working together in Europe preaching the Gospel of the coming Kingdom of God and warning this world of the prophetic significance of events that are occurring today. Mr. Ellis commented that he is excited about seeing the implementation of the Leadership Training programs and he feels that being part of a worldwide Work again will be very encouraging and rewarding.

Your Brother in Christ,

Roderick C. Meredith

LCG and the Belgians have been talking off and on for years. I have long prayed that they would return. Our family went to the Feast of Tabernacles in Belgium in 1997 and I first met Rees Ellis then.

06/26/09 a.m. This morning I noticed that the radio log for Ron Laughlin's "Wholeworld Church of God" lists one station only, and that is in Nashville, TN. It does not seem that his group is being effective to reach the whole world with the gospel message.

06/14/09 a.m. RCG reported:

The Restored Church of God is experiencing unprecedented growth in membership! To address an ever-growing need to effectively serve God’s rapidly expanding flock, beginning September 1 a number of ministers will be hired and transferred across the United States and other parts of the world. By the end of 2010, there will be as many as 30-plus trained fulltime ministers in place.

I have long wished that RCG would publish its membership totals as it has made growth claims before while tending to not mention its losses. I believe that its total size is still apparently less than 1000 attendees, but perhaps it estimates 30 full-time ministers for future growth it hopes to attain. For more on RCG, please read the article Why Not the Restored Church of God?.

06/12/09 a.m. The mission statement at EnCOG's website states:

By faith, we are going through every door God opens to us to preach the Gospel, the good news of the Kingdom of God, to all the world as a witness.

However, as far as I have been able to tell, EnCOG has not made any significant progress in accomplishing the above goal. It is not a supplier of significant amounts of published materials, nor any real presence on radio nor television to accomplish that objective of reaching the world. And as far as an internet reach goes, EnCOG was formed about 2 1/2 years ago and is not even ranked by Alexa (according to a search I just performed). It does, however, have some USA reach according to Quantcast (another independent web-ranking service that focuses on the USA).

But by now it should be obvious to those in Charles Bryce's church that since God has not been opening doors for them to preach the Gospel, that perhaps EnCOG is NOT the primary place where God is working.

Three articles of related interest may include:

06/07/09 a.m. A reader emailed me and pointed out that David Pack is now using iUniverse for at least two of his books. iUniverse is essentially a POD (print on demand) subsidy publisher for self-published authors who do not usually expect major sales.

I presume that RCG believes this approach will give it a chance to reach a broader audience.

Here is how RCG has the two books described on Amazon:

Perhaps the most important book written in the 21st century, The Awesome Potential of Man reveals the Bible's greatest truth, one hidden from almost everyone.

A new world is on the way! And Tomorrow?s Wonderful World ? An Inside View! reveals it!

While there can be value for religious writers to get published, I do not agree that any of David Pack's writings can truly qualify as "[p]erhaps the most important book written in the 21st century". Whether this will self-publishing mode of distribution will be successful or not for RCG remains to be seen (the current sales ranking of both books, apparently out since March 2009, suggests that they are not doing well--at least not yet). Of course, RCG can pour money into advertising them and this would likely assist sales.

On other matters, I noticed that RCG's Alexa.com ranking is again not as good as COGwriter.com. RCG, as of a few moments ago, had a ranking of 173,820 vs. COGwriter's ranking of 163,808 (lower is better). This should be of concern to RCG members for two reasons. The first is that David Pack has previously indicated that his internet reach is supposedly proof that RCG is the true church above all other COGs (even though UCG and LCG have better rankings and more reach than RCG).

And secondly, in order to have the ranking that it now has, RCG has to pay for google and/or related ads, while COGwriter has never paid for any advertising. This indicates that the COGwriter site (which is simply the part-time efforts of a private LCG member) has a more effective reach that the subsidized RCG site.

06/05/09 a.m. In his latest Servants' News, Norman Edwards wrote:

July through October, 2008, were good months for PABC. Two Servants’ News issues were produced, and we sold a lot of offerings on eBay, enabling us to make two $1000 mortgage payments. That progress was interrupted by a wonderful Feast of Tabernacles at Lake Geneva Wisconsin, and then the terminal illnesses and death of my parents. I spent most of November through March at their Arkansas home or hospitals...

In a way, the two are related. At age 53, as far as my family is concerned, I am now the older generation. I no longer have any parents, aunts or uncles from which to seek wisdom...

There are now six people who live at PABC: Norm, his wife, Bill Buckman and William Swenson, all who have been here for several years. Since last fall, Richard and Karen Heath have been here full time, helping with maintenance, kitchen work and other aspects.

We hope to soon finish paying off the winter utility bills, and generate additional money for improvements via eBay sales.

Norman Edwards split from GCG years ago and was attempted to have his own limited independant work.

Three articles of possibly related interest may include:

05/24/09 a.m. In his latest commentary COGeim's David O'Malley wrote, that there is:

a conflict of historic proportion is developing between the United States and her long-standing ally in the Middle East, Israel. This conflict is tantamount to a U.S. betrayal of her former stance of supporting Israel against her Arab enemies. The United States has been the hammer that has kept the enemies of Israel at bay. Now that Mr. Barak Hussein Obama has shifted his support from Israel to supporting the Palestinians' desire for a division of Israel into a two-state configuration, Israel's future seems very dark. You need to keep a close eye on the developments of this conflict...

I know that all of us are weary... Israel is tired of having to fight against her enemies. She desires peace more than anything else. And brethren, I know we feel that same way too. Some Israelis are beginning to say, "Give the Palestinians East Jerusalem, give them their own state within the borders of Israel, do anything that will give us hope for peace." Brethren, we can't be so minded. We can't compromise for peace in our lives. We can't go along with this world and give in to the spirit of compromise that would march us right into the hand of our enemy, Satan the Devil.

While I do not agree that President Obama has actually yet betrayed Israel, the situation there will undoubtedly be a factor that will get those in Israel more keenly interested in a deal with the Europeans. This will undoubtedly lead to the rise of the prophesied King of the North.

On other matters, David O'Malley also stated:

The recent spate of economic troubles has left many of us very worn down from the loss of our investments, from job threats, and from uncertainty about how the economic future will unfold. For some of us older folk, retirement has become an illusive butterfly that is flitting further and further away. Because times are worsening, I'm going to advise you to lean more on God for your help and less on your bank accounts. It is time to do a little more fasting for the purpose of strengthening ourselves against those things that lie ahead. We have been telling you for some time things are going to get worse; and brethren, they have, and they will, get very much worse.

The world's economic situation has been precarious for several years. It is only recently, however, that more in the Western nations have noticed it. However, despite the fact that there will be some positive economic news from time to time, the USA and its Anglo-Allies are prophesied to lose pretty much all that they have economically. For further details, please see the article Anglo - America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel.

05/19/09 a.m. In an ad in the Connections' section of the latest Journal, Don Billingsley wrote:

Sadly, to the best of my knowledge, not one of the Corporate Churches of God FULLY believes and obeys God and His Son Jesus Christ! This explains WHY Jesus Christ is not using any of them, for they have rejected Him by rejecting His apostle, Mr. Armstrong, in one way or
another, just as Israel rejected Moses.

He then attempts to assert that his group is faithful.

Let's make the record straight.

Some time ago, Don Billingsley told me on the telephone that the reason that he did not come with LCG was because he was afraid that he would lose much of his own following. It was Don Billingsley who rejected being part of the true Philadelphia remnant.

All the mumbo jumbo that he and his followers use to try to assert that they are faithful is built upon the foundation that he, Alton Billingsley, rejected the authority of all evangelists that Herbert W. Armstrong ordained and that the REAL REASON he is stayed part of COG-ff is because he would have lost followers.

Full paid ads in The Journal, designed to mislead people into thinking that his group is the "Philadelphia Remnant", do not change the fact that he did not take Philadelphian actions and that he simply does not have the priorities that Herbert W. Armstrong believed that Jesus set for Philadelphia.

Several articles of possibly related interest may include:

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?
What is a True Philadelphian? Many claim to be part of the Philadelphia era of the Church, but is claiming enough? This article has biblical and historical evidence about who really are the Philadelphians.
Are the Laodiceans the Modern Sadducees and Pharisees? Discusses similarities of the Sadducees and Pharisees to various COGs in this end-time.
The Elijah Heresies Does the Bible teach that there will be a future Elijah? Must it be Herbert W. Armstrong?
Polycarp, Herbert W. Armstrong, and Roderick C. Meredith on Church Government What form of governance did the early church have? Was it hierarchical? Which form of governance would one expect to have in the Philadelphia remnant? The people decide and/or committee forms, odd dictatorships, or the same type that the Philadelphia era itself had?
Makeup and the Philadelphia Era of the COG Some consider makeup to be a doctrine more significant than proclaiming the Gospel; are they right or focused on a twig?
The 18 Restored Truths: Do You Know What the First Changes the Tkach Administration Made? Some have said healing, others other subjects, but probably the first change had to do with eliminating being part of the Philadelphia era. This article documents what those changes were and compares the Tkach list of restored truths to Herbert W. Armstrong's list of restored truths. It contains many quotes from Herbert W. Armstrong.

05/14/09 a.m. In perhaps its latest post, ECG stated the following :

Given during the last years of his life, these powerful words of rebuke were delivered to a Church in which many began to believe that they were rich with knowledge and increased with spiritual goods, but were in fact letting down, compromising and becoming lukewarm. In this sermon, Mr. Armstrong explains how God brought him back from death's door to correct the Church and to put it back on track. Those who are aware of the happenings during this period, as well as the events to follow, can clearly see that, through Mr. Armstrong, Christ revealed the beginning of the Laodicean era. By studying these events, and reflecting on this sermon, we can understand how the attitude and changes that began at that time have greatly affected the Church of God to this very day. We strongly encourage everyone to take heed to the words of Christ (Rev. 3:13-22) as well as the words of the apostle He sent to warn His Church at the end.

I strongly urge those in ECG and other groups not part of LCG to prayerfully study their Bibles as well as what Herbert W. Armstrong taught about not only Laodicea, but what it takes to be Philadelphian as none of those groups apparently have taken this seriously enough to heed his or Christ's warnings to both groups.

Some articles that demonstrate this would include:

The 18 Restored Truths: Do You Know What the First Changes the Tkach Administration Made? Some have said healing, others other subjects, but probably the first change had to do with eliminating being part of the Philadelphia era. This article documents what those changes were and compares the Tkach list of restored truths to Herbert W. Armstrong's list of restored truths. It contains many quotes from Herbert W. Armstrong.
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 essentially the Living Church of God.
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?
Laodicean Warning for God's People Is there really a place of safety? Do God's people need to be warned? Warned for what?
Here are Some Quotes from Herbert W. Armstrong on Laodicea and Holding Fast to Doctrine.
The Laodicean Church Era has been predominant circa 1986 A.D. to present. These are non-Philadelphians who mainly descended from the old WCG.
What is a True Philadelphian? Many claim to be part of the Philadelphia era of the Church, but is claiming enough? This article has biblical and historical evidence about who really are the Philadelphians.
Are the Laodiceans the Modern Sadducees and Pharisees? Discusses similarities of the Sadducees and Pharisees to various COGs in this end-time.
There are Many COGs: Why Support the Living Church of God? This is an article for those who wish to more easily sort out the different COGs. It really should be a MUST READ for current and former WCG members or any interested in supporting the faithful church. It also explains a lot of what the COGs are all about.

05/08/09 p.m. As expected, CGFnw's website is back up.

Interestingly, I received a couple of emails earlier today claiming that Rick Railston, an elder, recently left Harold Smith's group. But as neither source wanted to be publicly identified, I was not intending to post much (if anything) without further verification.

So, this afternoon I called Harold Smith who personally verified that Rick Railston left CGFnw. There is some debate as whether or not he has formed his own group. I did not ask how many people left nor remained with CGFnw.

05/08/09 a.m. This morning, I twice tried go to Harold Smith's site, but it would not load (the error message says that the site still exists, and probably will be up later).

I also went to Norman Edwards' Servant's News site which boasted that is has had almost 48,000 visitors since July 12, 2000. If that means visits, then, for reference, that is about what the cogwriter.com site gets in three weeks, and if it means unique visitors, that is basically what I get every five weeks. Other than RCG (which has other problems), few of those once part of GCG who are not affiliated with LCG are doing much via the internet.

(Note: COG-ff was never part of GCG, but as they for a while had some GCG Belgium affiliation, I also report on them here. They do have some internet presence but mainly supply the materials of the old WCG.)

05/01/09 a.m. Here is the beginning of the latest posted comments from COG-ff's Don Billingsley:

Dear Brethren,

For the comments this time, I am using an article I wrote for the Journal (The Big Sandy, Texas News Paper in which are writings regarding the scattered corporate Churches of God), for your reading as well. This article is now appearing in the current publication of their News Paper.

Though this article is intended for the Church members in many of these corporate Churches of God, and the scattered members as well, it should prove to be helpful for you as well...

The above reminds me of what the late Raymond McNair used to do, and that is to refer to paid advertisements in The Journal as articles. And as I posted on 03/28/09 on this page, unlike Raymond McNair, Don Billingsley seems to have a tendency to copy the materials of others without giving them credit.

So, why bother to say anything about him at all?

Because he is spending money trying to reach people who hope that they are part of the Philadelphia remnant of the Church of God. However, those who truly are Philadelphian will realize that primarily trying to reach those in the church was never to be the top priority of that era.

Some articles of related interest may include:

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?
What is a True Philadelphian? Many claim to be part of the Philadelphia era of the Church, but is claiming enough? This article has biblical and historical evidence about who really are the Philadelphians.
Are the Laodiceans the Modern Sadducees and Pharisees? Discusses similarities of the Sadducees and Pharisees to various COGs in this end-time.
The Elijah Heresies Does the Bible teach that there will be a future Elijah? Must it be Herbert W. Armstrong?
Polycarp, Herbert W. Armstrong, and Roderick C. Meredith on Church Government What form of governance did the early church have? Was it hierarchical? Which form of governance would one expect to have in the Philadelphia remnant? The people decide and/or committee forms, odd dictatorships, or the same type that the Philadelphia era itself had?
The 18 Restored Truths: Do You Know What the First Changes the Tkach Administration Made? Some have said healing, others other subjects, but probably the first change had to do with eliminating being part of the Philadelphia era. This article documents what those changes were and compares the Tkach list of restored truths to Herbert W. Armstrong's list of restored truths. It contains many quotes from Herbert W. Armstrong.
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 essentially the Living Church of God.
There are Many COGs: Why Support the Living Church of God? This is an article for those who wish to more easily sort out the different COGs. It really should be a MUST READ for current and former WCG members or any interested in supporting the faithful church. It also explains a lot of what the COGs are all about.

04/24/09 a.m. In its newsletter today, CEG had the following:

Latin American Leaders Derail USA in Mr. Obama's Presence

Bloomberg wrote on April 18:
"Latin American leaders railed against the U.S. during President Barack Obama’s first trip to the region, turning what was intended to mark a new direction in relations into a history lesson that chastised 'Yankee troop' interventions and U.S.-dictated economic policies. Obama arrived at the Fifth Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago yesterday promising to 'listen and learn' from regional leaders. He got an earful.

"In the weekend’s first speeches, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner voiced grievances on issues ranging from the U.S. drug war to American support for counterinsurgency movements of the 1980s. Both urged Obama to end the 47-year-old trade embargo against Cuba, the only country in the Americas excluded from the 34-nation summit...

"Nicaragua’s president said he was 'ashamed' Cuba wasn’t invited to participate in the summit and called Obama’s lifting last week of travel and remittance restrictions for Cuban- Americans 'insufficient and unacceptable... Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told Obama during a meeting today with leaders from the Union of South American Nations that another Summit of the Americas without Cuba was unacceptable."

Posturing aside, the reality is that ultimately, Latin America will decide that it needs to side with Europe. An article that explains why would be the following:

Mexico, Central America, South America, and Brazil in Prophecy [Español: México, America Central, Suramérica, y el Brasil en profecíal] [Português: México, América Central, Ámérica do Sul, e Brasil na profecia] What will happen to those of Latin America? Will they have prosperity? Will they cooperate with Europe? Will they suffer in the future? What rule might the various Caribbean nations/territories play?

04/17/09 a.m. RCG announced the following:

Biography Released:

The Authorized Biography of David C. Pack – Volume One reveals the fascinating family history, formative years and Ambassador College experience of The Restored Church of God’s Pastor General. It chronicles Mr. Pack’s extraordinary journey over his nearly 40-year ministry, presenting stories, experiences, trials, lessons—and unique training.

At over 600 pages (with photographs), this compelling narrative dispels myths, answers questions, clarifies history, and brings unprecedented perspective to events over the last 35 years. A must-read for all with a Worldwide Church of God background!

Volume Two will be released soon.

Here is some of what it says:

Why This Biography?

Year after year, millions of Internet users throughout the world visit the websites of The Restored Church of God—thercg.org and realtruth.org—and are struck by the sheer volume and quality of the written and audio material available.

If truly millions are so impressed, why does RCG have less than 1,000 people?

Those interested in more details, may wish to read the article Why Not the Restored Church of God?

04/09/09 p.m. The Journal reported the following about the death of Raymond McNair:

After THE JOURNAL published an article on page 1 of its issue No. 130 reporting that Mr. McNair, of Temecula, Calif., had died, Mrs. Mc Nair requested a follow-up article in THE JOURNAL to make clear that he had not died of cancer.

She explained that several years ago a doctor had visited Mr. McNair at his residence and assumed that an enlarged prostate gland meant he had cancer. But “an enlarged prostate does not mean evidence of cancer!” Mrs. Mc Nair said in a written statement she provided to THE
JOURNAL. “I never accepted his diagnosis. I prayed to God that he [the doctor] would not return to our home again. Months later we learned he had to retire due to an injury.”

...Although Mr. and Mrs. McNair concluded, with counsel from health professionals they trusted, that Mr. McNair never suffered from cancer, he did suffer from bedsores...

Mr. McNair died Oct. 11, 2008.“On Sabbath morning, two days prior to the Feast of Tabernacles, God intervened again. But this time He
took him to his resting place. My husband and I were finally receiving the rest we had prayed and longed for.” So what was the cause of Mr.
McNair’s death? In a separate statement to THE JOURNAL from Mr. Ortmeier, the caregiver explained that “about two weeks before Mr. McNair passed away” a “dramatic change [was] beginning to take place” in his bedsores.

“Mr. Cartwright, and members of the Church, I wish to assure you, and am repeating before the God I serve, that Mr. McNair did not die from Prostate cancer!! Absolutely not!! His death was caused by tremendously large bedsores, of which I have never seen in all my years as a care giver.”

04/09/09 a.m.While this page often covers news where groups once associated with GCG have deviated from the beliefs of HWA's WCG, today I would comment on where area that all are similar. To the best of my knowledge, all groups somehow associated with the old GCG all do accept that Holy Days and the same calendar that the old WCG did.

For example, all accept that today is the first day of unleavened bread.

Information on the Holy Days can be found in the following articles:

Is There "An Annual Worship Calendar" In the Bible? This paper provides a biblical and historical critique of several articles, including one by WCG which states that this should be a local decision. What do the Holy Days mean? Also you can click here for the calendar of Holy Days .
Passover and the Early Church Did the early Christians observe Passover? What did Jesus and Paul teach? Why did Jesus die for our sins?
Melito's Homily on the Passover This is one of the earliest Christian writings about the Passover. This also includes what Apollinaris wrote on the Passover as well.
TPM: Passover on the 14th or 15th? While the LCG observes Passover on the 14th, some observe it on the 15th. Why is the 14th correct?
The Night to Be Observed What is the night to be much observed? When is it? Why do Jews keep Passover twice and emphasize the wrong date?
Should Christians Keep the Days of Unleavened Bread? Do they have any use or meaning now? What is leaven? This article supplies some biblical answers.
Pentecost: Is it more than Acts 2? Many "Christians" somewhat observe Pentecost. Do they know what it means? It is also called the Feast of Harvest, the Feast of Weeks, and the day of firstfruits.
Did Early Christians Observe the Fall Holy Days? Did they? Did Jesus? Should you?
The Book of Life and the Feast of Trumpets? Are they related? Is so how? If not, where not?
The Day of Atonement--Its Christian Significance The Jews call it Yom Kippur, Christians "The Day of Atonement". Does it have any relevance for Christians today?
The Feast of Tabernacles: A Time for Christians? Is this pilgrimage holy day still valid? Does it teach anything relevant for today's Christians? What is the Last Great Day? What do these days teach?
LCG 2009 Feast of Tabernacles' Information Here is information on many Feast of Tabernacles locations for this year.
Last Great Day study paper Was Jesus speaking about the 7th or 8th day of the Feast in John 7:37? UCG says the 7th, but what does the Bible teach? This extensive paper reviews UCG's LGD study paper and includes comments as to where it erred.
Holy Day Calendar This is a listing of the biblical holy days through 2012, with their Roman calendar dates. They are really hard to observe if you do not know when they occur :)

03/28/09 a.m. I have reported in the past that Don Billingsley's COG-ff has sometimes plagiarized my materials (specifically parts of the article that my wife and I had published in The Journal titled The 18 Restored Truths: Do You Know What the First Changes the Tkach Administration Made? ). Well now, possibly, he has copied information from an articles at PCG's Trumpet website.

Notice what Don Billingsley's states in his most recent advertisement in The Journal:

"A massive banking crisis in America could suddenly result in triggering European nations to unite as a new world power larger than either the Soviet Union or the U.S.” (Herbert W. Armstrong, Co-Worker Letter, July 22, 1984).

Problem is that that seems to be a modification of two quotes from PCG, and is not actually what Herbert W. Armstrong wrote in that co-worker letter (though maybe he wrote it elsewhere). Perhaps Don Billingsley coincidently made an error that looks like he took the quote from PCG.

PCG, to its credit, normally posted it this way:

A massive banking crisis in America, he wrote to co-workers in July 1984, “could suddenly result in triggering European nations to unite as a new world power larger than either the Soviet Union or the U.S. That, in turn, could bring on the Great Tribulation suddenly. And that will lead quickly to the Second Coming of Christ, and end of this world as we know it”.

Back in 1984, Herbert W. Armstrong, editor in chief of the Plain Truth magazine, wrote that a massive banking crisis in America could “suddenly result in triggering European nations to unite as a new world power larger than either the Soviet Union or the U.S.” (member and co-worker letter, July 22, 1984).

Yet, when Don Billingsley's people picked it up, he/they placed the quotation mark in the wrong place, plus failed to mention that they were really possibly quoting PCG, and not Herbert W. Armstrong's letter.

Those who want to see what Herbert W. Armstrong really wrote in that letter can look at the following:

...United States banks are in a system of international banking for transference of funds. United States banks and the federal government have made bad loans of many billions of dollars to developing nations, especially in South America. Those countries can't pay back, and threaten to default altogether. That places the United States in a serious dilemma with European nations. It could suddenly result in triggering European nations to UNITE as A NEW WORLD POWER larger than either the Soviet Union or the U.S. That, in turn, could bring on THE GREAT TRIBULATION suddenly. And that will lead quickly into the Second Coming of Christ and END OF THIS WORLD as we know it. (Armstrong, Herbert W. Co-worker letter, July 22, 1984, as supplied by cogneo).

While Don Billingsley's point about Herbert W. Armstrong was basically correct that an American banking crisis could lead to the end, why he and/or his people appear to plagiarize without proper credit has remained a mystery to me for some time. Of course, they could have simply been quoting something else that Herbert W. Armstrong said/wrote, but this seems to be a rather odd coincidence.

I would suggest that if Don Billingsley wishes to quote from that co-worker letter in the future, he post an edited version, starting earlier in the co-worker letter, like the following:

In the world, the drift toward world economic collapse is the most serious threat to the continued existence of the present civilization. The whole world is geared to the way of "GET." God's way is "GIVE"--serve, help, share, cooperate. The world lives by competition, greed, coveting, selfishness, strife, violence. Yet MONEY is the medium of exchange, whether for "GIVE" or "GET." Whatever people strive to "GET" is acquired through money. Money is handled through banks. The banking system is organized and regulated by the government.

But United States banks are in a system of international banking for transference of funds...That places the United States in a serious dilemma with European nations. It could suddenly result in triggering European nations to UNITE as A NEW WORLD POWER larger than either the Soviet Union or the U.S. That, in turn, could bring on THE GREAT TRIBULATION suddenly. And that will lead quickly into the Second Coming of Christ and END OF THIS WORLD as we know it. (Armstrong, Herbert W. Co-worker letter, July 22, 1984, as supplied by cogneo)

The USA truly will collapse as the world's leading economic power and Europe will rise up. The fact that Europe is now minimizing its accumulation of debt while the USA and UK are increasing them to the greatest levels that they almost possibly can attain, shows that in fact, Europe is setting itself to takeover as the economic power in the world after the USA loses its position.

Two articles of possibly related interest may include:

Anglo - America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel Are the Americans, Canadians, British, Scottish, Welsh, Australians, Anglo-Southern Africans, and New Zealanders descendants of Joseph? Where are the lost ten-tribes of Israel? Who are the lost tribes of Israel? Will God punish the U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, and other Anglo nations? Why might God allow them to be punished first?
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"? What is ahead for Europe?

03/20/09 a.m. I have reported little about RCG lately as its last news update on its news page is dated 12/19/08. But I decided to look up its Alexa 3 month ranking and was a little surprised that the COGwriter.com website, which has never paid for any adverting (and does not have any employees or full-time staff) is again more popular than the thercg.org website which does pay for ads/popularity and does have full-time paid staff.

The sites, though, are fairly close:

159,924 www.cogwriter.com
160,907 www.thercg.org

Note: the lower the number, the more popular. Yahoo.com for example, is number 1, google.com is number 2, etc.

And while I suspect that RCG will spend more to try to pass COGwriter, it is of interest, to me at least, that since RCG's "public gospel proclamation" is only web-based, that it is doing no better than me. And all I am is a lay member in support of the Living Church of God, which not only has a strong web presence, also has the most effective television presence of any COG. Actually, LCG's television responses are probably as high (if not higher) than all the COGs combined.

Three articles of possibly related interest may include:

Why Not the Restored Church of God? This group, led by David Pack, claims to be the most faithful. The information in this article suggests otherwise.
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?
There are Many COGs: Why Support the Living Church of God? This is an article for those who wish to more easily sort out the different COGs. It really should be a MUST READ for current and former WCG members or any interested in supporting the faithful church. It also explains a lot of what the COGs are all about.

03/06/09 a.m. In its update for today, CEG had the following news item:

Mr. Obama's Proposed Budget--"The Great Illusion"

The Wall Street Journal wrote on February 26:

"President Obama has laid out the most ambitious and expensive domestic agenda since LBJ, and now all he has to do is figure out how to pay for it. On Tuesday, he left the impression that we need merely end 'tax breaks for the wealthiest 2% of Americans,' and he promised that households earning less than $250,000 won't see their taxes increased by 'one single dime.'

"This is going to be some trick. Even the most basic inspection of the IRS income tax statistics shows that raising taxes on the salaries, dividends and capital gains of those making more than $250,000 can't possibly raise enough revenue to fund Mr. Obama's new spending ambitions...

"Mr. Obama is of course counting on an economic recovery. And he's also assuming along with the new liberal economic consensus that taxes don't matter to growth or job creation. The truth, though, is that they do. Small- and medium-sized businesses are the nation's primary employers... The bottom line is that Mr. Obama is selling the country on a 2% illusion. Unwinding the U.S. commitment in Iraq and allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire can't possibly pay for his agenda. Taxes on the not-so-rich will need to rise as well.

"On that point, by the way, it's unclear why Mr. Obama thinks his climate-change scheme won't hit all Americans with higher taxes. Selling the right to emit greenhouse gases amounts to a steep new tax on most types of energy and, therefore, on all Americans who use energy... Mr. Obama is very good at portraying his agenda as nothing more than center-left pragmatism. But pragmatists don't ignore the data. And the reality is that the only way to pay for Mr. Obama's ambitions is to reach ever deeper into the pockets of the American middle class."

I would simply state that I agree that increasing debt and thinking that 2% of Americans will be able to properly finance the increased spending is an illusion. Increasing debt is prophesied to lead to the destruction of the United States and its Anglo-Allies (C.f. Habakkuk 2:3,6-8).

But within the Church of God there is another illusion, and that is that groups that rejected the authority of all properly ordained evangelists and/or hierarchical governance are the same in God's sight as the one (LCG) that has held fast and kept the priority on proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom to the world as a witness (Matthew 24:14; Revelation 3).

Some articles of possibly related interest may include:

Polycarp, Herbert W. Armstrong, and Roderick C. Meredith on Church Government What form of governance did the early church have? Was it hierarchical? Which form of governance would one expect to have in the Philadelphia remnant? The people decide and/or committee forms, odd dictatorships, or the same type that the Philadelphia era itself had?
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?
Independent Members of the COG: Herbert W. Armstrong Comments, Plus Questions and Answers What did Herbert W. Armstrong teach about being independent of the organized Church? Should independents who claim to accept Herbert W. Armstrong's teachings be part of LCG?
Here are Some Quotes from Herbert W. Armstrong on Laodicea and Holding Fast to Doctrine.
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 basically the Living Church of God.
7. The Laodicean Church Era was predominant circa 1986 A.D. to present. Non-Philadelphians who mainly descended from the old WCG.
There are Many COGs: Why Support the Living Church of God? This is an article for those who wish to more easily sort out the different COGs. It really should be a MUST READ for current and former WCG members or any interested in supporting the faithful church. It also explains a lot of what the COGs are all about.

02/25/09 a.m. RCG's David Pack has many inaccurate statements about LCG at his website. Here are two similar ones I noticed there last night:

The Living Church of God...is becoming increasingly Pentecostal...(How The Restored Church of God Differs From the Worldwide Church of God Splinter Groups. Pillar magazine, July-August, 2008).

The Big Pentecostal Splinter

Claiming to be the “living branch” of God’s Church, the second-largest splinter, formed in early 1993 under a different name...it is still led by a self-proclaimed “senior evangelist” (Pack D. The Government of God Understanding Offices and Duties. Copyright © 2006 David C. Pack.)

Now, as anyone who has attended an LCG service clearly knows, LCG is not heading towards Pentecostalism.

The comment about RC Meredith being a "self-proclaimed senior evangelist" is another odd statement as David Pack knows that Herbert W. Armstrong ordained Dr. Meredith an evangelist and as the longest duly ordained evangelist in any COG, Dr. Meredith is certainly the most senior of the evangelists. The other reason this is odd is that Herbert W. Armstrong never authorized David Pack to be ordained to any position above that of a pastor, yet David Pack declared himself to be an apostle--David Pack is clearly self-appointed (and he is certainly not God's apostle). Cannot those in RCG see through David Pack's odd statements?

But getting back to Pentecostalism, why would David Pack and RCG make those type of inaccurate statements?

Probably because of statements, such as the following recent one, from LCG's RC Meredith, like:

...as I have studied and prayed intensively—more than ever the last few months—it is obvious that we should be drawing closer to God and crying out to Him for the “gifts” of healings, discernment of spirits and casting out demons (Mark 16:15-20). As the power and scope of our Work increases, it is obvious that we really should have the “accompanying signs” (v. 17).

The problem that David Pack and the rest of RCG have here is that they apparently do not believe Jesus' words in the last chapter of Mark:

15 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover" (Mark 16:15-18).

Since RCG has argued against public proclamation as the top priority in the past, it tends to not wish to emphasize verse 15 (nor verse 16). And because there is no way that God will be giving those in RCG the signs in verses 17 and 18 until they repent further, RCG simply does not truly believe. Apparently they instead believe that they should label those who do believe that Jesus will fulfill that promise to them are "becoming increasingly Pentecostal".

This is one of the reasons that RCG is not "hot" (cf. Revelation 3:15)--it does not believe that Jesus' words will be fulfilled by the true Church, while we in LCG are convinced that they will be. However, to label that LCG is "becoming increasingly Pentecostal" is flat-out wrong. Having a belief that God will fulfill His promises is not Pentecostalism.

The fact that mainstream "Pentecostals" believe their signs are from God, although they do not obey Him, has nothing to do with the fact that Jesus made promises in the Bible and that we in the true remnant of the Philadelphia church believe Jesus will ultimately manifest those signs within LCG does not in any real sense make us Pentecostal the way that David Pack intended his statement(s).

If you are in RCG, please (if you can attend and not be disruptive) attend an LCG service and prove to yourself that David Pack is wrong that LCG is "becoming increasingly Pentecostal".

Anoint your eyes and see that David Pack simply does not believe that his church will have or should pray for the signs that Jesus promised.

Some articles of possibly related interest may include:

Why Not the Restored Church of God? This group, led by David Pack, claims to be the most faithful. The information in this article suggests otherwise.
Are the Laodiceans the Modern Sadducees and Pharisees? Discusses similarities of the Sadducees and Pharisees to various COGs in this end-time.
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 basically the Living Church of God.
7. The Laodicean Church Era was predominant circa 1986 A.D. to present. Non-Philadelphians who mainly descended from the old WCG.
There are Many COGs: Why Support the Living Church of God? This is an article for those who wish to more easily sort out the different COGs. It really should be a MUST READ for current and former WCG members or any interested in supporting the faithful church. It also explains a lot of what the COGs are all about.

Personal note to David Pack: Last night I checked, and your last weekly Alexa ranking was 190,960 compared to 162,913 for the www.cogwriter.com website. And while you will probably spend more money on ads trying to show people that your website is popular (and likely will temporarily pass my personal website again with your spending), the fact is that I have never spent any money on ads promoting the COGwriter website and have been more popular than your site for about as long as your church's site has been more Alexa popular than mine (starting with your formation in 1999, as I believe you are aware that RCG only moved ahead with massive ad spending, then fell in popularity when that was reduced until you increased its spending again). Without ads you have very little impact. And even with the paid ads, you still do not have the real Christian message (just like your Pentecostalism comment showing that you do not accept the promises of the Bible, your misunderstanding of what Herbert W. Armstrong and the Bible teach about the true gospel shows that you still do not understand the real message, hence you do not truly proclaim it). You have claimed your website results are proof that your church is the Philadelphia remnant (even though you have no real tv presence and insignificant baptisms). How then can a simple member's website (which is only a part-time effort by me as I also work for a living--and not for any church), ever do better than RCGs? Perhaps you should realize that God is really not on your side and you need to get on His side.

Personal note to those in RCG: Those of you in RCG may wish to realize that Ronald Weinland's the-end.com had an Alexa ranking of 112,399 for the last week that ratings were shown for. Essentially this means that apparently over twice as many visited Ronald Weinland's site than RCG's (he, like RCG, has multiple sites--but I am only contrasting the most popular for the two groups). Ronald Weinland's Church of God-Preparing for the Kingdom of God is much smaller than RCG, but like RCG, Ronald Weinland really mainly has an internet focus for its message proclamation. If internet effectiveness is proof of the faithful remnant, then those of you in RCG should support Ronald Weinland's Church of God-Preparing for the Kingdom of God or LCG (the combined impact of all of LCG's related websites, including cogwriter and You-tube, appears to be at least as high as all of RCG's--plus LCG has the greatest television impact of any group with origins in the old WCG) as RCG simply does not have the top leadership in internet impact.

02/21/09 a.m. ECG's website states:

The World to Come is a television program about you and your future. It is sponsored and produced by the Eternal Church of God and is being broadcast on various public access channels in the United States.

Various channels appears to be essentially two stations. One in Montana and one in Arizona.

02/13/09 a.m. The following is now at the beginning of CGFnw's website:

The primary mission of the Church of God Fellowship is to help the Bride of Jesus Christ prepare herself for marriage to Him by fulfilling the purpose of Christ's ministry as stated in EPH 4:11-14.

An odd statement for at least two reasons. First, that is not supposed to the primary purpose according to the Bible before the end (Matthew 24:14; 28:19-20). Second, that verse is more of an explanation of why their is church governance, yet CGFnw has rejected the authority of any properly-ordained evangelist to heed--this is consistent for most of the groups that are no longer part of LCG--they expect their members to abide by their lower level government, but refuse to heed the step or two above where they are.

I would also comment that Jesus condemned the Laodiceans for having a work that was different than that of the Philadelphians--this is something to study and pray about for those who think that they should not support LCG.

Some articles of of possibly related interest may include:

02/06/09 a.m. This morning, I noticed that EnCOG's Charles Bryce is posting a series of "verse-by-verse" expositions of the Book of Proverbs. Charles Bryce had done a Bible study series for LCG on that when he was part of LCG.

In a limited sense, his website reminded me of that of the late Raymond McNair who posted (often as new, which C Bryce did not do) articles that he had written/researched when part of WCG/GCG/LCG.

Anyway, if the internet is the place that EnCOG believes it is using to proclaim the gospel to the world as a witness, its popularity ranking (via Alexa this morning) of 2,738,628 indicates that it is not being highly successful (that ranking, for example, indicates that its reach is only about 3% of the cogwriter.com site reach), thus I suspect that it is mainly reaching its own membership, and some apparent one-time viewers.

01/30/09 p.m. Notice the following that I viewed at Don Haney's Church of God In Peace and Truth website (bolding theirs) a few moments ago:

Our Purpose
Seeking First God's Presence and Kingdom

To love and worship God, and share God’s hope and truth with others, is our primary objective! Who we are is not really important. A focus upon the primary goal we all share IS important – it’s the vision and hope of the heavenly utopia called the Kingdom of God (Rev.2:7). It’s the ultimate fulfillment of all of the incredible promises that our loving God has promised to those who love and follow Him (1 Cor.2:9, James 2:5)! To share the Good News of God’s mercy and promises of the wonderful world tomorrow with each of you is our privilege and pleasure; it is the commission God has given to those in His Church (Mark 16:15). This website is our contribution to that God-given commission to preach the Gospel (Good News) of God’s glorious awesome Kingdom!

My friends, do you have vision? Can you see a better tomorrow? Those whose hope rests primarily in this world today, and who can only see the conditions of this present miserable world, are spiritually blind and most pitiable (1 Cor.15:19). Let God’s truth OPEN YOUR EYES...

Also notice the date of the latest update from Church of God In Peace and Truth latest updates page:

Latest Updates

May 15, 2008

Check out our new Feast of Tabernacles info for 2008!

Now, I always liked Don Haney, but he and those with them really need to open up their eyes to the fact that they are failing to meet what they declare to be their purpose.

Furthermore, notice what Alexa (an independent web statistics source) states about their website:

Godslawislove.org

godslawislove.org

Godslawislove.org has a traffic rank of: No Data

That basically means that almost no one goes to their website. And since Church of God In Peace and Truth states this, "website is our contribution to that God-given commission to preach the Gospel", should not those associated with it open their eyes to see that the website truly is failing to fulfill its declared purpose for it?

An article that all should study is 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?

01/23/09 a.m. The following is from CEG's latest update:

Will Syria, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan and Egypt Unite?

The New York Times wrote on January 19:

"At the talks in Kuwait, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia pledged $1 billion toward a $2 billion reconstruction fund [for Gaza] that Palestinians are seeking to establish... King Abdullah exhorted Arab nations to overcome their divisions and urged Israel to embrace an Arab peace plan put forward in 2002 or risk its being withdrawn... On the sidelines, leaders from Syria, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan and Egypt met privately, apparently seeking to present a united front. Syria called for declaring Israel a terrorist state..."

The Los Angeles Times added on January 19:

"By offering cash and talking tough, Saudi King Abdullah sought to absorb popular anger directed at the so-called moderate Arab states, which have been accused of failing to do enough to halt the Israeli offensive. He also hopes to recapture Saudi Arabia's diminished stature in the Arab world.

"The nation has been eclipsed by Syria and Iran, which support Hamas, and Qatar, which emerged as a diplomatic powerhouse in May after bypassing the Saudis in brokering a deal between competing Western-allied and Iranian-backed factions in Lebanon."

While the fact is that the Arabs will to a degree eventually unify (the particular nations are not completely certain), since CEG does not believe that there needs to be a future King of the South, I am surprised that they reported about this. For related details, please see Is There A Future King of the South?

On other matters, I noticed today that RCG removed the internet download statistics for prior years from its new page. RCG had a drop in its internet reach in 2008, and I would suspect that is the reason why. An article about them would be Why Not the Restored Church of God?

01/16/09 a.m. This morning, COG-ff's website stated:

This site is dedicated to preserving the writings and messages of Herbert W. Armstrong

Here we provide a conduit for the work Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong spearheaded, the work of reaching out to people worldwide with the message of the soon coming Kingdom of God through the preserved writings, recorded telecasts and sermons, and Bible Study messages that Jesus Christ used him to do in his human ministry!

While that may have a certain appeal to some, there are at least three problems with it.

One, the Word of God is what we are to be dedicated to (notice what Jesus stated in Matthew 4:4), not Herbert W. Armstrong.

Two, like other groups who make similar claims, COG-ff fails to actually accept the type of governance that Herbert W. Armstrong advocated and that the Bible supports (for more on governance, see Polycarp, Herbert W. Armstrong, and Roderick C. Meredith on Church Government).

Three, like other groups who make similar claims, COG-ff has historically failed to place its priority on proclaiming the Gospel and has had almost no impact in this area (for more on that priority, please see 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?).

Like many similar groups, COG-ff has to pick and choose which HWA writings that it is dedicated to because HWA changed his position on various matters, especially prophetic ones. Since it has rejected proper biblical governance, COG-ff, like other non-Philadelphian groups, then often improperly interprets for itself what to teach or overlook. Hence, no matter what groups like COG-ff claim, they are mainly dedicated to convincing themselves that they are better off outside the fellowship of the Philadelphia portion of the Church of God.

Some articles of possibly related interest may include:

Polycarp, Herbert W. Armstrong, and Roderick C. Meredith on Church Government What form of governance did the early church have? Was it hierarchical? Which form of governance would one expect to have in the Philadelphia remnant? The people decide and/or committee forms, odd dictatorships, or the same type that the Philadelphia era itself had?
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?
Attending the Church of Choice This article discusses whose choice is important to worship God; should you attend the church of your choice or the church of God's choice?
Unity: Which COG for You? Why so many groups? Why is there lack of unity in the Churches of God? Has it always been this way? What can/should be done about it?
Are the Laodiceans the Modern Sadducees and Pharisees? Discusses similarities of the Sadducees and Pharisees to various COGs in this end-time.
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.

01/12/09 a.m. In an article titled "What is a Laodicean?" CGFnw's Harold Smith correctly wrote:

During the seventh era of the Old Testament Church, due to the failure of the priesthood to hold fast the truth and the integrity of their positions, non-Levites began assuming more and more of the religious power within the Church. The Jewish Pharisees usurped the positions of religious leadership previously held by the tribe that God had appointed to guide the Church in worshiping Him. By this action, the “people decided”, or “judged” what they thought God did or did not allow. Over the course of the past decade, due to a loss of respect for the ministry for the way the majority waffled, many false teachers have usurped positions in the New Testament ministry, claiming authority to manipulate the calendar, the time of the New Testament Passover, etc. Added to this are many who simply ignore those in the ministry who proved to be faithful servants of God. This is truly a time when the people judge, fulfilling the physical connotation of the name “Laodicea”. Laodicea is also the historical stage of the Church that will exist at the time of God’s judgment, thus fulfilling the spiritual connotation of the name.

Of course, it is he and all who were part of the GCG takeover that rejected hierarchical governance and that is part of why none of those groups has had any significant impact on proclaiming the true gospel.

Some articles of related interest may include:

The Laodicean Church Era was predominant circa 1986 A.D. to present. Non-Philadelphians who mainly descended from the old WCG.
Polycarp, Herbert W. Armstrong, and Roderick C. Meredith on Church Government What form of governance did the early church have? Which form of governance would one expect to have in the Philadelphia remnant? The people decide and/or committee forms, odd dictatorships, or the same type that the Philadelphia era itself had?
There are Many COGs: Why Support the Living Church of God? This is an article for those who wish to more easily sort out the different COGs. It really should be a MUST READ for current and former WCG members or any interested in supporting the faithful church. It also explains a lot of what the COGs are all about.

01/01/09 a.m. Although his internet reach seems discernibly less in 2008 than in 2007 (his latest Alexa is 173,111, it was closer to 100,000 a year ago), David Pack did apparently spend money on other projects and recently opened a school:

Ambassador Training Center Opens! The inaugural semester of Ambassador Training Center continues the tradition and spirit of the original Ambassador College, founded by Mr. Herbert Armstrong in 1947. Classes began Monday, December 8, with administrators and faculty welcoming an initial class of 88 students from across the United States and around the world.

David Pack suggested earlier in 2008 that it was his goal that those in the "splinters" would see his building projects and be impressed enough to support RCG (specifically after mentioning some of those projects he stated, "...it will also make a powerful statement to the splinters..."). However, those who look into RCG's doctrines and teachings normally can determine why they should not do so. An article of possibly related interest may be Why Not the Restored Church of God?

David Pack also declared the following in his sermon about a year ago titled RCG 2008: The Great Turning Point:

I've been waiting a long time...for the phase of the work that is now upon us...the work will grow large...this next phase begins this year...

Every aspect of our website...will be remodeled...We are going to spend a lot of money. Well into the six-figures...

We are the largest religious publishers in the world...

I had to listen to his "We are the largest religious publishers in the world" twice to be certain that he actually made that seemingly outrageously inaccurate claim. But, David Pack is into extremes, and although he sounds truthful, obviously some of his extreme statements are false.

David Pack did remarry in 2008, hence in that respect it was a turning point. And he spent money on building projects.

The major internet turning point RCG had in 2008 was to remove its "download counter" from its website after I pointed out that its results were down from 2007. However, now that his school is going, perhaps his internet presence will increase in 2009 over 2008.

12/31/08 a.m. Some have wondered why on the main news page, I frequently write about people such as Ronald Weinland and almost never about people such as Charles Bryce, Ronald Laughlin, Raymond McNair Norbert Link, Don Haney, Harold Smith, Art Braidic or Ben Faulkner.

There are basically two reasons.

The first is that relatively few people are being reached by the ministries of Charles Bryce, Ronald Laughlin, Raymond McNair, Norbert Link, Don Haney, Harold Smith, Art Braidic or Ben Faulkner. They have all basically proven themselves to be ineffective when it comes to proclaiming the gospel to the world as a witness.

Let's look at the latest Alexa ranking for each of their websites (note: the higher the number the lower the impact):

R. McNair (deceased) cog21.org 1,775,146
C. Bryce enduring.org 2,341,843
A. Braidic eternalcog.org 3,059,447
N. Link www.eternalgod.org 4,355,505
H. Smith cgfnw.org 5,079,407
R. Laughlin wwcg.org 16,446,923
D. Haney godslawislove.org over 20,000,000 (too low to rank per Alexa)
B. Faulkner cotsg.org over 20,000,000 (too low to rank per Alexa)

Their combined internet impact seems to be less than 1/15th (it may be as low as 1/40th as with Alexa numbers that high suggest relatively few visitors) that the COGwriter site has (COGwriter.com Alexa ranking is 193,192)--and the COGwriter site is simply an LCG member's personal website. What the Alexa ranking basically is supposed to convey is how the website ranks among all websites in the world. For example, yahoo.com is has an Alexa ranking of 1, google.com 2. Alexa rankings over a million basically mean that relatively few people actually go to the sites to see what is there.

The second, is that although people like Ronald Weinland and David Pack are ineffective as well in actually proclaiming the true gospel, they do reach numbers of people via the internet. And as the COGwriter pages are basically targeted towards an internet audience, the audience does tend to want to learn more about those who are reached on the internet and those on the internet tend to have almost no interest in those that have no significant internet presence.

However, as a portion of the COGwriter audience has interest in those who were once part of GCG, I still post about those groups here. Though, as they often report little going on, there is often little to report about them.

12/26/08 a.m. CEM reported the following world news item:

Germany--"The Calm Before the Storm"

On December 18, 2008, Der Spiegel Online wrote the following:

"As the year draws to a close, and as the world faces recession, a credit crunch and job worries, the economic outlook is the bleakest it has been in postwar history. The next year is expected be a test of strength for the German economy...
"Economists are predicting new alarming scenarios for 2009 almost every day...

"Despite the crisis, the coalition government in Berlin has not shown much leadership strength. Officially, Chancellor Angela Merkel of the conservative Christian Democrats continues to oppose additional large-scale government bailout programs. Merkel's finance minister, Peer Steinbrück of the center-left Social Democrats, seems to prefer quarreling with the British and French who, he insists, are frittering away their money with their bailout packages. In doing so, he has also angered many...

"As Bavaria's new governor, Seehofer is trying to demonstrate his strength in the run-up to next September's federal election. Party politics, it seems, has distorted much of the government's response to the crisis. In November, the chancellor warned the public to be prepared for 'a year of bad news.' Never in the 60-year history of the Federal Republic of Germany have citizens been this anxious as they enter a new year, plagued by worries of how much worse things can get and, most of all, how safe their jobs are...

"What is most astonishing is the incredible speed with which the crisis is spreading from one company to the next... The Americans, deeply in debt, can no longer afford products made in Germany...

"Over the course of the year, well-known German companies like retailer Hertie, watchmaker Junghans and fashion house Wehmeyer have become insolvent, and another wave of bankruptcies could follow in 2009... the government cannot set everything straight. In fact, it is probably far less capable of doing so than politicians believe."

The real storm will occur sometime next decade. See Can the Great Tribulation Begin in 2009, 2010, or 2011?

12/18/08 a.m.In the latest edition its Philadelphia Remnant magazine COG-Faithful Flock included the following statements:

To those Philadelphians, falls the prophetic responsibility (the principle found in Ezekiel 33:7-9) to warn Jacob and God’s Church of the coming punishments for rebelling against Him...

Now picture the elect people of God, possibly numbering around 7,000, or so, as the Bible indicates (Romans 11:2-7), as already being together in that place of protection...

Herbert W. Armstrong, an apostle sent by Jesus Christ to be the human head of His Church, in his final work “The Mystery of the Ages,” tells us EXACTLY how to prepare the bride. He was used to RESTORE government into Christ’s Church. He outlined and explained plainly the organization and the administering of that government with the sub-title: ONE CHURCH WITH ONE GOVERNMENT (Mystery of the Ages, page 243). This will prove to be a real test during that length of time.

This is interesting, because only LCG has gotten the message to millions of Jacob's descendants to fulfill the first statement, has about 7000 attendees which could fill the second, and is the only group whose human leader was ordained as an evangelist by Herbert W. Armstrong that keeps the same form of governance..

I am convinced that if those in COG-Faithful Flock would simply humble themselves and look at the truth, they would realize that it is LCG and not COG-Faithful Flock that meets the important criteria for truly being the Philadelphia remnant.

For more information on the Philadelphia remnant and the place of protection, please refer to the following:

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.
Makeup and the Philadelphia Era of the COG Some consider makeup to be a doctrine more significant than proclaiming the Gospel; are they right or focused on a twig?
The 18 Restored Truths: Do You Know What the First Changes the Tkach Administration Made? Some have said healing, others other subjects, but probably the first change had to do with eliminating being part of the Philadelphia era. This article documents what those changes were and compares the Tkach list of restored truths to Herbert W. Armstrong's list of restored truths. It contains many quotes from Herbert W. Armstrong.
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 essentially the Living Church of God.

12/12/08 a.m. In an ad in the latest edition of The Journal, Don Billingsley of COG-Faithful Flock began with:

Mr. Armstrong often wrote of the True Church and the need to know where it really is and, even more importantly, to be an active member in it while doing the Work. Please note a quote from his booklet Where is the True Church?, page 26:

“Many have appropriated God’s name, but are not proclaiming the Kingdom of God, as the GOVERNMENT of God which we must OBEY. . . . That true Church is preaching the imminency of the coming of Christ as KING of kings and LORD of lords, to RULE all nations for a thousand years on earth. . . . There is only ONE such Church! It is doing the WORK of God. It is as Jesus said it would be, a ‘little flock,’ persecuted, despised by the world” [Luke 12:32; Matthew 10:22]. The few thousand true members yet scattered are trying to work their way through the maze of religious confusion brought about by the development of the hundreds of churches after the scattering in 1995 searching for the one true Church of God.

However, Don Billingsley too has rejected proper church governance as he refuses to accept the authority of any evangelists ordained by Herbert W. Armstrong--even though he (Don Billingsley) told me years ago that he knew that LCG was the most faithful Church of God. He actually told me that he was afraid to lose his following if he came with LCG.

Obviously, it is Don Billingsley and apparently many of his followers who have a problem with proper church governance.

Several articles of related interest may include:

Polycarp, Herbert W. Armstrong, and Roderick C. Meredith on Church Government What form of governance did the early church have? Which form of governance would one expect to have in the Philadelphia remnant? The people decide and/or committee forms, odd dictatorships, or the same type that the Philadelphia era itself had?
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?
Are the Laodiceans the Modern Sadducees and Pharisees? Discusses similarities of the Sadducees and Pharisees to various COGs in this end-time.
There are Many COGs: Why Support the Living Church of God? This is an article for those who wish to more easily sort out the different COGs. It really should be a MUST READ for current and former WCG members or any interested in supporting the faithful church. It also explains a lot of what the COGs are all about.

12/09/08 a.m. Apparently RCG (like Ronald Weinland's CGPFK) recently greatly increased its spending on internet ads as its Quancast reach went way up in November. Of course, none of that changes RCG doctrine, which sadly is misleading many (for details, please see Why Not the Restored Church of God?).

11/28/08 a.m. It has been 10 years since the takeover of the old GCG by a power-minded board. As I wrote at the time, their approach to governance and lack of focus on gospel-proclamation would eventually become apparent.

All who were once part of GCG, but did not support LCG to present, have had negligible impacts on gospel-proclamation. Furthermore, the once the power-minded board took over, they started with a large cash reserve (the takeover was shortly after the Fall Holy Day offerings) but essentially bankrupted GCG USA by the start of the next Fall Holy Days. They actually started a new group about a day before the Fall Holy Days, which enabled them to legally not pay the GCG debt, and once again start off with a cash reserve. But that effort (CGCF) also failed in some form of bankruptcy. So it split into pieces, including CEG, a group that has no television, little printed literature, and about 1/20th the internet reach of my personal website according to the searches I did this morning in Alexa and Quantcast. Surely CEG and other similar groups are not meeting the requirements for the Philadelphia church. (And while RCG sometimes has internet reach, its approaches to doctrine, etc. disqualify it, please see Why Not the Restored Church of God?) And while some went with UCG, this involved compromise (Beware, Doctrinal Compromise is in the Air!).

As regular readers of this particular page should be aware, those that failed to support LCG simply do not have the fruits of LCG. Nor will those separated groups ever have them.

Since it has now been over ten years, if you were once part of GCG, perhaps it is time to realize that the other groups simply have failed in the fulfilling the mission of the Philadelphia remnant church. Pray and study your Bibles about it.

Some articles of possibly related interest may include:

11/21/08 a.m. Quancast reported a dramatic increase in traffic at RCG's site last month. The data from Alexa this morning seems to confirm the same trend. In the past several years, RCG has had a major reach on the internet, but this started to drop in late 2007 and until last month, RCG was doing poorly compared to its past.

Although the Alexa ranking for the COGwriter website is still better than RCG's (204,260 vs. 227,121--lower is better with Alexa), presuming that RCG keeps paying for more visitors (which is something that the COGwriter site does not do), it may pass the COGwriter site again.

An article of related interest may be Why Not the Restored Church of God?

11/14/08 a.m. CEG recently posted the following:

Stubbornness--A Sure Way to Destruction

On Saturday, November 15, 2008, Norbert Link will give the sermon from Oregon, titled, "Stubbornness--A Sure Way to Destruction."

Hopefully, those associated with CEG and all the other groups that either caused the GCG takeover or left from LCG will repent of their own stubborness and realize that only LCG is having a significant impact on proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom to the world as a witness and support LCG. I am absolutely convinced that those that do not repent and do that will not be protected in the wilderness from the hour of trial that will come upon the whole earth.

Some articles of possibly related interest may include:

There are Many COGs: Why Support the Living Church of God? This is an article for those who wish to more easily sort out the different COGs. It really should be a MUST READ for current and former WCG members or any interested in supporting the faithful church. It also explains a lot of what the COGs are all about.
What is a True Philadelphian? Many claim to be part of the Philadelphia era of the Church, but is claiming enough? This article has biblical and historical evidence about who really are the Philadelphians.
Are the Laodiceans the Modern Sadducees and Pharisees? Discusses similarities of the Sadducees and Pharisees to various COGs in this end-time.
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.
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?

11/11/08 a.m. Here is a comment posted at CG21's website involving Raymond McNair:

"I am sorry that you have lost your life companion. Raymond was beloved by so many. Carn and I have such fond memories of him. My memories date back to late 1949 when he baptized my parents on a tour in Texas. Carn's memories go back to the late 50's when he attended AC, especially the year he spent in England. Your husband was a true gentleman in an atmosphere that could sometimes be harsh and authoritarian. Referring to her college days when Raymond was (Deputy) Chancellor, my daughter Suzy recently said to me, "'I always liked Mr. McNair. He was one of the 'good guys."'

Joyce Catherwood, Denton, TX

Carn and Joyce Catherwood handled (and still may) WCG's operations in the Italian language.

10/29/08 a.m. Today, I received verification that Bill Brazil, once of WCG, GCG, and a deacon in EnCOG did die.

On other matters, RCG announced:

Longtime Minister Welcomed by RCG from UCG:
The Restored Church of God is pleased to announce the arrival of Mr. Wilfredo Sáenz Asencios, a senior minister based in Peru.

Mr. Sáenz was a member of the very first Peruvian congregation established in the Worldwide Church of God. After his ordination in 1978, he raised up and served a number of local churches in Peru and Bolivia, working full-time in the ministry from that point. He left the Worldwide Church of God for the United Church of God when it formed in 1995, continuing to oversee congregations in his native country.

This is some of very little positive news for RCG this year. RCG lost more ministers than it gained in the past year or so and its internet presence is but a fraction of what it was in November 2007. As far as I recall, this is the first time that a UCG minister went with RCG.

Two articles of possibly related interest may include:

Why Not the Restored Church of God? This group, led by David Pack, claims to be the most faithful. The information in this article suggests otherwise.
Differences between the Living Church of God and United Church of God This article provides quotes information from the two largest groups which had their origins in WCG as well as commentary.

10/28/08 a.m. The Journal confirmed that Don Billingsley remarried last month.

I received a report yesterday, that I am still trying to verify, that Bill Brazil died. There was a Bill Brazil who was formerly with WCG and then the old GCG, but it is not entirely clear to me yet if he was the Bill Brazil who died. If you have information on this, please contact me cogwriter@aol.com

10/10/08 p.m. I spoke with LCG's Dr. RC Meredith earlier today. Although he is still recovering, he sounds fine and told me that he did attend church services yesterday for the Day of Atonement. He mentioned that contrary to the claims of some, he has not been actively recruiting ministers from other COGs. And specifically that he had not spoken with John Meakin until after he indicated an interest in coming with LCG. Dr. Meredith and I are happy when any turn and decide to support the major work of proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom to the world in these end times (see 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?).

Since there are always false accusations on the internet about Dr. Meredith, there are three articles that perhaps some may be interested in reading:

11 Accusations and Truthful Responses about Roderick Meredith
Did Roderick C. Meredith Really Make 26 Doctrinal Changes? An article at one website tries to suggest this. Is it true?
There are Many COGs: Why Support the Living Church of God? This is an article for those who wish to more easily sort out the different COGs. It really should be a MUST READ for current and former WCG members or any interested in supporting the faithful church. It also explains a lot of what the COGs are all about.

10/02/08 a.m. I received a couple of unusual emails from one from in the Philippines yesterday. Here is most of one of them:

THANK YOU FOR THE REPLY.

THIS IS COMING FROM THE LONGEST SECOND BAPTIZED MEMBER, AND STILL ALIVE, OF THE THEN RADIO CHURCH OF GOD IN THE PHILIPPINES.

THE LIVING CHRIST HAS RAISED THE WORK GOD - 21ST CENTURY TO PROCLAIM THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD TO THE GENTILE PEOPLES OF THE ORIENT IN END OF DAYS. THE LIVING CHRIST MUST HAVE A DESIGN WE DO NOT YET KNOW FOR US TO WORK IN TANDEM IN THE END TIME. YOU ARE DOING A TREMENDOUS JOB.

JESUS MARTINEZ CARDONA

SENIOR SERVING BROTHER

CHURCH OF GOD A SHARING VILLAGE

PHILIPPINES

Whether Jesus Martinez Cordona was part of GCG was unclear (he seemed to indicate some prior connection in another email)--but in at least two of his emails he strongly indicated that he wanted to work with me (an LCG member). While I do favor getting more of the message to the Gentiles, it is possible that like Legacy's Leon Sexton, Jesus Martinez Cordona may be neglecting the Israelite portion--and hopefully he, like others, will realize that they should directly support LCG.

After receiving one of his emails, I suggested that he read the article There are Many COGs: Why Support the Living Church of God?

10/01/08 a.m. In his latest ad in The Journal, CG-ff's Don Billingsley wrote:

The Last Year for Its Observance?

...please know this could very well be the last normal year to observe the Feast of Tabernacles as has been done in the past years. When these ever-increasing disasters are understood in view of end-time prophecies, traveling could be fraught with life-threatening danger as well as lack of funds for many of God's people to even attend the Feast of Tabernacles in 2009 (Leviticus 26:18-22).

While there may be economic problems, the scale of the problems that Don Billingsley seems to referring to simply cannot be in place by 2009 (even if 2009 itself is a problem). Perhaps I should add that Leviticus 26:18-22 does not discuss the Feast of Tabernacles. Sadly, those not part of LCG are being misled by many who act like they understand prophetic matters better than they really do.

In the same ad, Don Billingsley mentioned:

...the more than 19 doctrinal teachings that were restored by Jesus Christ through his late apostle...

Yet his church falsely claimed that the door opened for the Philadelphians had been closed, that it opened later for CG-ff, and it specifically rejected the truth about governance. The real reason that Don Billingsley told me years ago that he was not in LCG was that he was afraid of losing his followers.

CG-ff is not the Philadelphia remnant, even though it has a magazine falsely so titled.

Several articles of possibly related interest may include:

The 18 Restored Truths: Do You Know What the First Changes the Tkach Administration Made? Some have said healing, others other subjects, but probably the first change had to do with eliminating being part of the Philadelphia era. This article documents what those changes were and compares the Tkach list of restored truths to Herbert W. Armstrong's list of restored truths. It contains many quotes from Herbert W. Armstrong.
Unity: Which COG for You? Why so many groups? Why is there lack of unity in the Churches of God? Has it always been this way? What can/should be done about it?
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 essentially the Living Church of God.
End of Mayan Calendar 2012--Might 2012 Mean Something? There is a Mayan calendar prediction for change in 2012. 2012 changes were also centuries ago predicted by the Hopi Native Americans (the Hindus may have some predictions for the next decade as well). Do these Mayan/Hindu/Hopi prophecies have any value? Why might Satan have inspired this date? Does the Dresden codex show destruction of the earth by flood? Can the great tribulation start before 2012?
Polycarp, Herbert W. Armstrong, and Roderick C. Meredith on Church Government What form of governance did the early church have? Which form of governance would one expect to have in the Philadelphia remnant? The people decide and/or committee forms, odd dictatorships, or the same type that the Philadelphia era itself had?

09/26/08 a.m. The last edition of Servant's News had the following:

In Matthew 6:20 we are admonished to lay up treasures in heaven where our investments will be safe from theft or other loss. I believe all of us need to seek out a practical application of this instruction, because everyone has financial decisions to make, regardless of our economic standing. In America we have had a tremendous period of prosperity in the last 70 years. This is a relatively long time span to have a financial upswing...

You have heard the old expression that cheaters never win, and that’s true in the long run; but sometimes in the short run they do very well. And though seventy years is a long period of financial prosperity, it is a pretty short period in the time span of the rise and fall of nations.

So how does all this affect us? Basically we live in a fantasy world financed by our nine trillion dollar debt to the international bankers. If we were to face financial accountability today, our standard of living would be reduced very drastically to say the least. This may explain why so few people understand or even care to understand these issues. Most of us would prefer to live in our fantasy world. Some would say that we know the economy will collapse someday but we might as well enjoy it while we have it.

I would simply add that the Bible warns that if the descendants of Israel fall away from God then they would end up in debt. Not only has this happened, we are close to the time when our creditors will rise up against us as it states in Habakkuk. For more information see:

Anglo - America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel Are the Americans, Canadians, British, Scottish, Welsh, Australians, Anglo-Southern Africans, and New Zealanders descendants of Joseph? Where are the lost ten-tribes of Israel? Who are the lost tribes of Israel? Will God punish the U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, and other Anglo nations? Why might God allow them to be punished first?

Who is the King of the North? Is there one? Do biblical and Roman Catholic prophecies 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?

09/18/08 a.m. In doing research related to the naos temple in the New Testament, I ran across something by Raymond McNair. 3 /12 years ago in an ad in the Connections section of The Journal, CG21's RF McNair wrote,

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

While Raymond McNair is correct that a naos temple does not need to be built in Jerusalem (see Why is a Jewish Temple in Jerusalem Not Required?), his comments about the "man of sin" are in error.

Raymond McNair should have looked more closely at 2 Thessalonians 2:3 as it does not say that the "man of sin" falls away, only that he is mentioned as being revealed after there has been a falling away:

Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition

Raymond McNair's position is not only in error, it is dangerously close to that of the falsely self-proclaimed prophets Gerald Flurry (Teachings Unique to the Philadelphia Church of God) and Ronald Weinland (Concerns About Ronald Weinland's Church of God-Preparing for the Kingdom of God).

Finally, notice what Herbert W. Armstrong wrote about it:

Certainly, then, this two-horned beast, the false prophet, the man of sin and the woman that rode the beast are all one and the same thing — the ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH with its pope, its other bishops, its priests and deacons, comprising the hierarchy of order! (Herbert W. Armstrong. Who is the Beast? 1960).

Chapter 27 carries on with comparisons to passages in the 18th chapter of the book of Revelation referring to a politico-religious leader to come (verses 9-19)...Compare with II Thessalonians 2:3-4, speaking of "that man of sin... (Herbert W. Armstrong. Mystery of the Ages., Chapter 3).

CG21 is in error and not being faithful. For a more complete explanation of the naos temple, please see Why is a Jewish Temple in Jerusalem Not Required?.

09/12/08 a.m. In its update this morning, CEG reported:

The Daily Mail reported on September 9, 2008:

"The architect of the despised European Constitution has reopened old wounds after he attacked Britain for 'hampering' the creation of an EU superstate. Valery Giscard d'Estaing, who spearheaded the drafting of the constitution - only to see it soundly rejected by his own countrymen - said the UK should be given a 'special status' to prevent it blocking closer integration. The former French president said Britain's attempts to curb the expansion of power in Brussels was 'exhausting for all concerned, and disappointing'.

"The arch Europhile, who was speaking at a conference in Westminster on Britain's future relationship with Europe, has always been committed to a continental-wide 'superstate'. As the president of the EU convention he played a key role in drafting the constitution - which was then dumped by French and Dutch voters in 2005. It was revived last year as the Lisbon Treaty, which Labour forced through Parliament in March...

"M Giscard d'Estaing insisted closer integration of the EU's 27 member states would continue. But he suggested Britain should have a 'special status' which would maintain close links with the EU but prevent us from 'acting as a brake'. He condemned the UK for its 'permanently antagonistic standpoint' towards the EU.

"The EU Treaty creates a permanent European president, a foreign affairs minister and a legal personality for the EU which would allow it to sign international treaties on Britain's behalf. Despite being rejected by Irish voters in June, the EU has vowed to push ahead with it."

The fact is that the nominally Protestant UK will ultimately be on the outside of the rising European Beast power. And will ultimately be destroyed by it.

Two articles of possibly related interest may include:

09/09/08 a.m. A reader pointed out to me that RCG seems to have a problem with its graphic representation of its internet results for 2007. Essentially, the height of the bar it shows apparently should be based upon 11,661,725 "downloads", yet it goes over what would be the 14,000,000 mark on RCG's graph. The bigger story, however, is not that. It is that RCG simply no longer has the internet reach that it has in 2007. RCG has been in a downward mode on the internet.

While at one-time it had the greatest internet reach of any affiliated with the COGs, the Alexa ranking of its best site (thercg.org) is 256,417, compared to cogwriter.com which has a ranking of 214,605 (lower is better). A related article may be Why Not the Restored Church of God?

09/05/08 a.m. Two years ago this month, both Mark Mendiola and Syd Hull left LCG for RCG. Syd Hull later left RCG for EnCOG, but after realizing that neither RCG nor EnCOG was Philadelphian, asked to return to LCG.

This morning, I noticed that Mark Mendiola has apparently also left RCG as he is now listed as a writer in a magazine for COG-ff. Perhaps once he realizes that COG-ff is also not Philadelphian, then perhaps he may ask to return.

Both the Hulls and Mark Mendiola should be in our prayers.

08/31/08 a.m. LCG's RC Meredith announced the following:

We are delighted to announce that Mr. and Mrs. Syd Hull in South Africa have come back to the Living Church of God! Although he went to two other different fellowships for a while, he has heartfeltly acknowledged that he made some terrible mistakes and wants to come home. They are coming back just as members—not in the ministry—and requested that themselves as they understand the situation. They have both acknowledged that what they did was wrong and that they are sorry for hurting others. They realize that this is where the Work is being done and want to be part of Christ’s Work at the end of the age. So let us all rejoice and pray with them that this will all work for good and that all of us can learn every lesson God wants us to learn as we move through the trials and tests of this human experience. Please pray for them—pray for God’s Church in South Africa—and please continue to pray for all of us in the Work.

Syd Hull and his wife left LCG almost two years ago for RCG, then once disillusioned there went with EnCOG, and now apparently realize that LCG is really the faithful portion of the Philadelphia era of the Church of God.

Though the past two years regarding them have been troubling, I thank God that they have decided to return.

08/29/08 a.m. In today's update, CEG proclaimed:

Why Continue to Preach the Gospel?
by Norbert Link...

To focus on prophecy and to announce what IS going to happen is part of our ongoing commission to preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God. Jesus told us that we are to watch the news to determine the signs of the time, enabling us to prepare for His return. For example, without Europe's unification; without America's downfall; and without Europe's invasion of the Middle East (all leading to or being a part of the Great Tribulation)--Jesus would not return (Matthew 24:21-22, 27)! And without the continual preaching of the gospel of the Kingdom of God in the modern nations of the ancient house of Israel and in all the world--as a witness--Jesus would not return, either (Matthew 10:23; 24:14).

There are some, even though they claim to be part of the Church of God, who think and teach that it is no longer necessary to preach the gospel--that our commission has been fulfilled and ended. NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH! In fact, those who teach this, SIN against God by not fulfilling His COMMAND to His Church to preach the gospel (Matthew 28:18-20). They SIN against others for misleading and encouraging them to DISOBEY God. And they SIN against themselves, because ONLY those who are actively involved in God's Work of preaching the gospel will overcome their own selves more quickly. When we focus on the Work of God, we focus on others--how we can help them by teaching them the truth--rather than on ourselves and our temporary problems.

While the above is basically correct, those that have separated themselves from the Living Church of God simply are not having any significant impact in proclaiming the gospel message to the world as a witness. The fruits just are not there. Instead of diluting resources, the groups that were once part of the old GCG need to disband and support LCG.

For one small example, with the exception of RCG (which has its own unique problems), all the non-LCG groups that had origins in the old GCG have LESS impact combined in getting the message out on the internet than my own personal COGwriter website--and I do this site to support LCG. Surely by now those that left us will realize that they simply ARE NOT effective in proclaiming the gospel.

And if they will not disband, then individual members need to do that themselves.

Two articles of possibly related interest may include:

08/22/08 a.m. At Harold Smith's CGFNW website, is an article titled What is a Philadelphian? In part it states:

Paul clearly did not have a door left open throughout his apostleship; when he writes to Timothy that all of the members in the province of Asia deserted him (2TI 1:15), it is clear that the door to the truth was closed to them.

As long as the sixth stage of the Church existed, the door would remain open. However, Jesus did not promise that the door would be left open for the seventh era. Therefore, when the sixth era ended, the door was closed and locked by the One who has the key—and no one can open it! There is no large number of receptive minds promised to the final historical stage of the Church.

Actually, that is in plain error. Using that logic, there would be no place of protection for the church as the Philadelphia era has ended. The Bible is clear that there will be those of Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea left at the end. And that the Philadelphians still have a major work to do.

Several articles of possibly related interest may include:

08/15/08 p.m. COGeim's website states the following:

Sin Always Has Consequences

And that is true.

Quancast.com reported the following regarding one of David Pack's websites:

Estimated Monthly U.S. People

The trend for RCG has been down, but if they start spending on ads it will likely increase again.

08/07/08 a.m. In his "Pastors' Letter" this week, Wholeworld's Ronald Laughland wrote:

While a pastor in the Pasadena area years ago, I started an annual fair with a chili cook-off on the campus of Ambassador College. It was the highlight of the year for social activities and brought all the local churches together. A reunion of those who participated in building and serving at this affair occurred last week end. I was not there, but I received phone calls describing the interaction of those still in the Body of Christ and those who turned to the mark of the Beast––Sunday worship. A false minister at the end of the activities said something like it was nice to see everyone socializing and not talking religion. The whole reason for members to be together is so that Christ can be there. If not, it is just a worldly activity.

I am disheartened to see those whom I once served unable to hear the truth due to deafness. It reminds me of the section of Ezekiel where people sit and listen, thinking that the words were exciting but nothing sinks in to the mind. It all sounds lovely and exciting at the time, but the truth and the desire to live God’s way was not included in the process of their conversion. (Ezekiel 33:30-32) That experience was a strong reminder to me that if I let down, I could become someone who could fall away just as others have.

I agree with Ronald Laughlin that it is sad that people have turned away form the truth and rejoice essentially in ignorance.

FWIW, my wife and I attended this event once or twice, and once we helped represent the Long Beach congregation of the old WCG there with our entry (we lost). I recall Joseph Tkach Sr. speaking (he announced the winner) and essentially complaining that his choice did not win. That was probably the first time I heard him speak personally, and it did give me some minor concern about him even then (before he was Pastor General).

08/04/08 p.m. I noted that I have neglected to mention how RCG's other website, RealTruth is doing. Here is what Quantcast.com (an independant rating service) just reported a few moments ago:

Estimated Monthly U.S. People

So it went from 5,075 in February 2008, down to 957 in June 2008.

The trend for RCG this year in its websites is down. Whether RCG will decide to throw more money at Google/Yahoo ads to increase its numbers is not clear yet. A related article may be Why Not the Restored Church of God?

08/01/08 a.m. According to Alexa (an independent web services that measures relative popularity), COGwriter.com once again passes thercg.org

Although David Pack declared he expected significant improvement in RCG's internet performance this year, a check of RCG's Alexa ranking this morning for results last week showed that the RCG website's popularity dropped to 303,014 (meaning that 303,013 websites around the world were more popular than his last week.

One of them was the www.cogwriter.com site as according to Alexa, it was the 216,114th most popular in the world last week.

Now although one week does not make a trend, the past week does CONFIRM a trend that both Alexa and Quantcast (another independent measuring service that is more focused on the USA--Alexa's results are more international, though both are imperfect measures) continue to report: the popularity of RCG's internet site has been declining since November 2007 (especially at Quantcast--see news post Declines of the False Apostle and False Prophet). In calendar year 2008, Alexa shows that RCG peaked in February and has significantly declined since then.

It will be seen what type of impact it will have in a year or so after it has spend the savings and assets of many of its members (something its David Pack initiated in November 2007, see also David Pack of the Restored Church of God Declares: “Go get those assets and get them here”).

Two articles of related interest may also include:

Why Not the Restored Church of God? This group, led by David Pack, claims to be the most faithful. The information in this article suggests otherwise.

Why Be Concerned About False and Heretical Leaders? There have been many false leaders--here is some of why you should be concerned about them.

07/25/08 a.m. In its newsletter for today, CEG had the following news story:

The European "Beast" Overtakes the USA...

The EUObserver wrote on July 16:

"Mark Schapiro - an American investigative journalist of some twenty years' standing and the editorial director of the Center for Investigative Journalism - believes... that we can date the eclipse of the United States by the European Union quite precisely indeed - 25 June, 2004.

"On that day, some 200 million Europeans went to the polls to elect their representatives to the European Parliament, consolidating the union's ascendancy. Europe's parliament leap-frogged the US Congress in size of population represented, with an additional two member states, Romania and Bulgaria, boosting the numbers still further to almost half a billion people in 2007. Even more critically, in 2005, the GDP of the EU overtook that of the States.

"'The EU is now the single largest trading partner with every continent except Australia,' he writes in his recent book, Exposed, which considers the massive global economic power shift that has occurred as a result of these changes. He looks at how companies and state governments in the US, China and the rest of the world increasingly take their legislative lead - whether willingly or dragged kicking and screaming - on issues such as environmental standards, health and safety regulation and consumer protection not from Washington, but Brussels."

The EU is taking many steps to become the major force in the world.

Articles of related interest may include:

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"?
Who is the King of the North? Is there one? Do biblical and Roman Catholic prophecies 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?
Is There A Future King of the South? Some no longer believe there needs to be. Might Egypt, Islam, Iran, Arabs, or Ethiopia be involved? What does the Bible say?
The Arab World In the Bible, History, and Prophecy The Bible discusses the origins of the Arab world and discusses the Middle East in prophecy. What is ahead for the Middle East and those who follow Islam?

07/14/08 a.m. Dana Glatz, an elder in the Montana area, left LCG and formed his own tiny group. That is sad. We met the Glatz's at the Feast in Malaysia years ago and are sorry that they have taken this step. Thus, unless he repents, he has apparently decided against being part of the major work to proclaim the gospel for his own priorities. I have heard that there will be something called the Associated Churches of God, but its website is not yet up (as of 11:55 a.m. PDT) it states: "Coming Soon..."

An article 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?

07/13/08 a.m. COG-ff's Don Billingsley posted the following yesterday:

Dear Brethren,

For the comments this time I am using a writing from one of our members, Mr. Leonard Hatter, who lives in a part of the Midwest that has had its food crops virtually flooded out due to the heavy rains in that part of the breadbasket of this country. Hopefully this will be of some help to you to realize all parts of this country are being affected by disasters in one way or another and more are on their way.

Here in California, there have been over 1400 fires burning at one time here in the northern part of the state; and some are flaring up again. An interesting comment has been made by one of the people having to flee for the second time from her home because of another fire and probably echoed by many others:

The Record, (Stockton, CA) Thursday, July 10, 2008, Forced to flee again

Butte Residents evacuated for second time in just over 2 weeks.

Nancy Henphill of Butte County where nearly 50,000 acres have burned in the past two weeks: “You almost feel like somebody is out to get you.”

Things are heating up. If the next few years continue the trend of 2008, it will become more and more difficult for those in the USA, China, and many other places.

07/04/08 a.m. How is the EnCOG doing with its gospel proclamation efforts?

While it is not on radio or television and has no significant printed material efforts, it is on the internet.

This morning, Alexa.com stated that Enduring's website was ranked 2,555,847 in the world (not good). The most recent statistics available from quantcast.com suggest that Enduring's website gets <2000 US visitors per month (that is the lowest amount it will state--it appears from one chart that Enduring got less than 1000). Definitely not a "hot" work. Not the group to finish the work as EnCOG indicated it would be over a year ago.

FWIW, the COGwriter.com website has apparently over 30x the reach of EnCOG. EnCOG simply is not focused on public proclamation.

What did the New Testament and Herbert W. Armstrong expect from evangelists? Please see 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?

06/28/08 a.m. I received a report that CG21's Raymond McNair's health is still a concern and he is now much less active as he once was. Although almost everything at his CG21 website states "NEW" a a changing color pattern, most of those same items have been saying "NEW" for 2-3 years now--apparently the web is also something he has not been able to update.

For reasons that perhaps only he knows, Raymond McNair rejected Herbert W. Armstrong's teaching on governance years ago (please see The Elijah Heresies and Herbert W. Armstrong and Roderick C. Meredith on Church Government for details) and was not ever seemed to place as much effort on public proclamation as HWA and the Bible show.

06/21/08 a.m. Yesterday, RCG announced:

Videos Released!

The Restored Church of God has now launched video productions, recorded in our new World to Come television studio! Mr. Pack has produced and posted a series of promotional book introductions. These brief yet powerful video advertisements give viewers a preview of the content of these vital books. Those with a Worldwide Church of God background who view these promotions will immediately be reminded of the impact that Mr. Armstrong brought to video decades ago.

RCG has been losing its internet impact (please see news item Decline of the False Apostle). It will be seen what type of impact it will have in a year or two after it has spend the savings and assets of its members (something its David Pack initiated in November 2007, see also David Pack of the Restored Church of God Declares: “Go get those assets and get them here”).

Two articles of related interest may also include:

Why Not the Restored Church of God? This group, led by David Pack, claims to be the most faithful. The information in this article suggests otherwise.

Why Be Concerned About False and Heretical Leaders? There have been many false leaders--here is some of why you should be concerned about them.

06/14/08 a.m. COG-FF announced that it updated the second chapter of its The Three Elijahs book. Here is much of what Don Billingsley now says there regarding Herbert W. Armstrong:

In the early years Mr. Armstrong also strongly opposed anyone who might even suggest that he was the Elijah to come in the end-time. I remember the time, possibly 1955 or 1956, I took copies of articles to Pacific Press in Los Angeles for the printing of the Good News Magazine. One of the articles I read while waiting for the person to whom I was to give the articles was on this subject.

The article was written by Dr. Herman L. Hoeh in which he made known that Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong was fulfilling the role of the end-time Elijah. Upon getting the articles back for proof reading, Mr. Armstrong read the article and became very upset about it. He would not permit it to be printed.

Approximately 25 years would pass before Mr. Armstrong came to accept the fact that he was the Elijah to come. In retrospect, he could see that Dr. Hoeh was right in what he wrote in that article though Mr. Armstrong did not understand it at that time.

Finally, Recognition by Mr. Armstrong

It was in the latter years of his ministry, while looking back, thinking about it and the vision revealed to his wife, along with all that God had used him to do, he could no longer deny the plain and very clear fact of the role and mission God had given him. He then knew he was indeed the Elijah to come (Mystery of the Ages, pages 9-10).

Perplexing Doubts before Mr. Armstrong’s Death

Some who were close to him have said that toward the very end of his life he sometimes expressed doubts as to whether he really was or was not the Elijah. In view of his imminent death it is easy to understand why he would have doubts at times and yet at other times he would not deny it, as can be heard in some of his last taped sermons and in his writings.

Undoubtedly some of those doubts surfaced with the realization he was going to die before Christ would return to this earth. Mr. Armstrong’s belief had been based upon his special calling and mission of the end-time that would enable him to continue the work until Christ’s return (Malachi 4:4-6).

And now realizing he would not live that long gave him room for occasional doubt while wondering how the work would go forward after his death and continue until the coming of Christ.

Added to those perplexing thoughts was the realization there was no one else qualified to do it. This left him bewildered as to what Jesus Christ would permit to take place after his death.

Mr. Armstrong also knew there was no indication in Scripture that Christ would use another man to replace the Elijah of the end-time. It is no wonder he was sometimes perplexed in thinking about his mission and wonder how the work would continue after his death with no one else with the needed qualifications to do it.

The part I bolded above is simply not true. Herbert W. Armstrong specifically did express doubts on the Elijah matter as he realized that scripture (and circumstances did allow for someone else to come and fulfill that role.

Herbert W. Armstrong specifically expressed doubt to Evangelist Dibar Apartian (who is a member of LCG), and who also told me in 2003 and 2004.

On December 1, 2004 (as well as other times), I spoke with Aaron Dean on the subject of Herbert W. Armstrong and a future Elijah (Aaron Dean had more personal contact with HWA than anyone else in his later years, though in total, not as much as RC Meredith or some of the other early leaders). Aaron Dean told me that through most of his ministry, HWA generally believed that he would be around until Christ returned. However, in the final months before he died, HWA changed his perspective on that and other issues. He (HWA) was no longer certain that he fit certain roles like he had felt earlier. And HWA, according to Aaron Dean, specifically left room that the Bible allowed that some person other than him could be the final end-time Elijah.

In a sermon, given on the last day of Unleavened Bread in April 1985, Herbert W. Armstrong stated the following,

You know there is a prophecy about John the Baptist, while the prophecy is talking about Elijah. But if you read in {HWA apparently meant “about”} Elijah {“in Malachi”} 3 and verses 1-5, it is talking, not about someone preparing the way for Christ’s first coming, but when Christ comes to set on the throne of the earth and remove Satan. You read verse 1 and you can apply that to John the Baptist. But you read on through verses 2,3,4, and 5 and you find its talking about the second coming of Christ. The things He will do then, but He did none of those things that are in verse 2,3,4, and 5 when He came the first time. Now John the Baptist did fulfill verse 1. Even Jesus said so. Jesus said that he had come in the spirit and power of Elijah. Was he Elijah? No he wasn’t. They asked John the Baptist, ‘Are you Elijah?’ He said, ‘No I am not’. He wasn’t a liar. He knew the truth. He was not Elijah. Am I Elijah? No, definitely not! Now I met Elijah. Elijah has come to me and announced that he was Elijah, but I showed him the way out of the office. I did not believe him.

Perhaps I should add that it was shortly after the above sermon was given, HWA admitted to Aaron Dean that there could be another Elijah still to come, an Elijah that WAS NOT HWA.

So we have Aaron Dean's, Dibar Apartian's, and Herbert W. Armstrong's testimony that Herbert W. Armstrong was not the final Elijah.

And for those willing to see it, we also have Herbert W. Armstrong's written words:

"Also Malachi 4:5-6 pictures the Elijah to come at the very end of the Church age" (Mystery of the Ages. 1985, p. 349).

Herbert W. Armstrong died over 22 years ago. The longer it takes from the death of HWA until it is time to flee to a place of safety, the more likely it will be that there could be one other than HWA to fulfill the Elijah role (with another option perhaps being that the entire Philadelphia portion of the COG could be fulfilling that role).

It is sad how all the groups that want to insist that Herbert W. Armstrong was the only possible Elijah have either rejected the authority of all the evangelists that Herbert W. Armstrong ordained, or in the case of CG21 have rejected the form of governance that Herbert W. Armstrong insisted that he was used to restore to the Philadelphia portion of the Church of God.

Several articles of possibly related interest may include:

The Elijah Heresies Does the Bible teach that there will be a future Elijah? Must it be Herbert W. Armstrong?
Polycarp, Herbert W. Armstrong, and Roderick C. Meredith on Church Government What form of governance did the early church have? Which form of governance would one expect to have in the Philadelphia remnant? The people decide and/or committee forms, odd dictatorships, or the same type that the Philadelphia era itself had?
What is a True Philadelphian? Many claim to be part of the Philadelphia era of the Church, but is claiming enough? This article has biblical and historical evidence about who really are the Philadelphians.
Are the Laodiceans the Modern Sadducees and Pharisees? Discusses similarities of the Sadducees and Pharisees to various COGs in this end-time.

06/07/08 a.m. RCG's David Pack confirmed in a recent sermon that he has remarried. Perhaps that is part of the reason that RCG's internet effectiveness has dropped since November 2007 (though I think the real reason is his call for everyone to send him their assets last November).

05/30/08 a.m. I have received some emails asking about CG21's Raymond McNair. To the best of my knowledge, his health is still a concern and he is not as active as he once was. Although almost everything at his CG21 website states "NEW" a a changing color pattern, most of those same items have been saying "NEW" for 2-3 years now. For reasons that perhaps only he knows, Raymond McNair rejected Herbert W. Armstrong's teaching on governance years ago (please see The Elijah Heresies and Herbert W. Armstrong and Roderick C. Meredith on Church Government for details) and does not seem to place as much effort on public proclaimation as HWA and the Bible show (an article of related interest may be 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?).

05/24/08 a.m. Yesterday, RCG posted:

Since January 2003, The World to Come audio program has addressed life’s greatest questions—Is world peace possible? Is heaven the reward of the saved? What is real faith? Have we entered the last days? What is human nature? What is salvation? What is the true gospel?—with crystal clarity and easy-to-understand answers.

We are pleased to announce the soon-coming debut of The World to Come video program! From a new state-of-the-art television studio, David C. Pack will continue to focus on the pressing issues of today, making plain the truths of the Bible and their connection to world events, trends, conditions—and your life!

While the idea of more effective public proclamation is normally a good one, RCG has repeatedly shown that it simply does not understand the true gospel, it is focused on David Pack, it is greedy, and it is confused on prophetic matters. For details, please see Why Not the Restored Church of God?

05/17/08 a.m. I have received two reports, which I have not yet been able to indepently verify, that RCG's David Pack has remarried. I have been informed that he married Verna Anstey (spelling uncertain) who was in fact one of the nurses who attended to his first wife while she was dying last summer.

05/11/08 a.m. In the latest edition of the Living Church News, R.C. Meredith, in an article titled What Is the “Fruit” of Rebels?, wrote:

If there are any decisions or teachings in God’s Church that you have come to disagree with, should you flee or start your own church? What is the “fruit”—the actual result—of those who do? What does it lead to, in nearly every case?

Dear brethren, in my 58 years in God’s true Church, I have seen dozens of individuals who have become upset about something, disagreed with something or thought they have seen “new light” on some religious idea, then left the Church of God to go off on their own. In many cases, these people—mainly ambitious men who want to be “in charge”—will not only leave the established Body of Christ, but will go out and “recruit” others to try to start their own church!

How does the Eternal God look on this type of behavior? Is the Bible clear about His divine attitude toward those who, in effect, rebel against a good and decent true Church of God that is doing God’s Work and is teaching the Truth— however imperfectly?

I write “however imperfectly” because none of us is totally perfect. I do not mean to use this as an excuse for any kind of doctrinal error or wholesale apostasy such as took place in our former association! But, again, what is almost always the result of such rebellion?

The Eternal God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to establish the Church. Jesus said, “I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). The Apostle Paul reminds us that Jesus Christ is the active Head of God’s Church. For God, “put all things under His feet and gave Him [Christ] to be Head over all things to the Church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Ephesians 1:22–23). Paul also instructs us to be “endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. here is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling” (Ephesians 4:3–4).

So Scripture constantly encourages unity—not an attitude of divisiveness. It was Satan the Devil ho first fostered the attitude of divisiveness when he said, “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:13–14).

Throughout the Bible, God clearly indicates that He does not appreciate those who have an attitude hat causes division. He does not countenance rebellion against constituted authority, and does not support those who try to hinder in any way those human servants whom He is actually using to preach is ruth and do His Work.

Even though the sons of God’s servant Samuel were indulging in dishonest, illegal and ungodly behavior, the elders of Israel were shown to be wrong when they used Samuel’s faults as an excuse to rebel against God (1 Samuel 8:7). For, in spite of being old and a little slow to act on these problems, Samuel absolutely was God’s true servant, teaching the Truth and doing God’s work at that time. So God condemned those who rebelled against His true servant— and our nations have suffered terribly ever since, when God removed His direct government from Israel clear down to our time!

More Recent Rebels

Most of you realize that Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong did not“appoint himself” into the ministry. Rather, he was ordained by the established, historical Church of God. He tried to cooperate with that Church for years, but finally felt he had no choice but to leave because they would not grow in grace and in knowledge and would not even accept key doctrines such as God’s Holy Days and the identity of modern Israel, along with other important points. Yet, even after separating from them, he tried to cooperate for many years, holding campaigns with and for them, and trying not to cause any huge division.

In my case,most of you know that I personally tried to cooperate with the Worldwide Church of God for a few years after Mr. Armstrong’s death, and allowed myself to be put in a kind of“internal exile” while waiting on God to show me clearly what to do. Finally, after the God Is… booklet came out and other major doctrines were being changed, God showed me that I had to leave, rather than go along with the greatest apostasy in the modern history of God’s Church!

I was not trying to rush off and“start my own church.” In fact, my wife wanted me to leave one year earlier and I resisted, telling her, Honey, I have always taught loyalty and unity. So I’m not going to leave until I am absolutely sure that these men have totally rejected God’s way!” Like Mr. Armstrong, I had already been ordained by a leading minister in the historical Church of God. Mr. Armstrong had ordained me himself, in front of the entire Headquarters congregation, on December 20, 1952. Like Mr. Armstrong, I did not go off and“appoint myself.” For God is very stern about the matter of anyone trying to “appoint” himself as a minister of Jesus Christ, or giving himself some “big title” that does not come directly from God.

God inspired Paul to give us this instruction regarding the ministry, which certainly applies today just as it did in Paul’s day, “And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was” (Hebrews 5:4). So those who break away and ordain themselves, or “appoint” themselves as so-called apostles or prophets, are not obeying or honoring the living Jesus Christ!

Jesus Christ said, “And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 23:12).

It is vital that each of you brethren carefully think through whether you should follow some disgruntled member, deacon or elder who decides to rebel against the established Church that is preaching God’s word and is, in fact, doing God’s Work. Every Bible example of this kind of behavior shows that God Himself regards it s a form of rebellion!

Having watched so many men down through the years try to exalt themselves by practicing this kind of behavior, I have been fascinated to see how it has almost always worked out—to see that the “fruits” of such self-exaltation showed it to have been absolutely wrong! I recall one young “smart aleck,” back in 1953, who began to accuse Mr. Armstrong of “Armstrong extravagance.” This young man apparently thought he would tear the Church apart by his accusations, and he actually convinced two or three of the leading Ambassador College students to resign from their positions and to prepare to leave the college. One reason I was brought back down from Portland, Oregon was to help settle this situation. What happened to the leader of this rebellion? He went off and virtually disappeared—after managing to take only two or three people with him—and most of us never heard of him again!

Later, one teacher and a leading student at Ambassador College began to criticize Mr. Armstrong, charging that in one of his earlier booklets he had copied or paraphrased too much from other material. I looked into the charge carefully, and saw that it was at least partially accurate. So, I went to Mr. Armstrong about the matter, and he sincerely explained, “Rod, I have been as busy as a one-armed paper hanger, and I had to quickly put together a lot of material that I wrote during those years. If you want to help me look into it, we can straighten it out now.”

So I got together with Mr. Armstrong, Dr. Herman Hoeh and these two men, and we went through the booklet in question—carefully removing any material that was not correct, and rewriting the rest of it so it did not directly copy anything from another book. Mr. Armstrong was all for this, and was glad that I could help in that instance.

But, did these two men—an associate professor and a leading student—try to cooperate and be loyal to Mr. Armstrong and to the Church as we worked to resolve the problem? Of course not! These men were looking for an excuse to leave! This was apparent from their attitude at the time, and in fact that is exactly what they did.

What happened to them?

Although I know their names and have asked about them over the decades since, I never heard from them or about them again! In a sense, they “disappeared.” Where will they be when the Great Tribulation begins, and God is looking down from heaven to see who has been loyal to His Work and who is worthy to be taken to the promised “Place of Safety?”

The “Fruit” of Rebellion

Still later, a couple of elders back in the Midwest started to complain, becoming very upset and self-righteous because the Church was not using palm branches in observing the Feast of Tabernacles. Those elders came out to see Mr. Armstrong about this, and also met with me and with others. They were very adamant, pushy and self-righteous. Mr. Armstrong explained how we keep the genuine intent of Scripture in the way we observe the Feast of Tabernacles and other Holy Days, and that it is up to the “Body” of Christ to decide the exact details of how these matters are to be administered (Colossians 2:16–17, KJV). But, again, these two elders apparently had already made up their minds. So they left and tried to start a “church” on their own.

What happened? Again, they simply disappeared into the mists of time, and essentially vanished from the scene—accomplishing nothing and in no way being used to do God’s Work in preaching the Gospel and helping others!

More recently, we have seen a number of former Living Church of God elders rebel and try to “start something” on their own. Some simply wanted to “do their own thing.” Others professed to be “upset” about some doctrine or decision. One way or another, each thought he was justified— even righteous—for leaving to do his own thing. But look at the fruits. In no case has God even remotely used any of these rebels to powerfully preach the Truth to the world, or to genuinely strengthen people and help them grow—loyally and humbly—“to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). In most cases, these men’s little groups have fallen apart and come to nothing because of the selfish, divisive, bickering spirit that was in these rebels in the first place. Their spirit of rebellion attracts other rebels, who eventually rebel against those rebels, and they all drift apart, away from the Work that God is doing.

I realize that some disgruntled members have accused me of changing our teaching about the Gospel. Some have even rebelled and left the Church because of this accusation. Dear brethren, let me assure you that I still believe what I learned at the feet of Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong, and I strive to teach it faithfully. Yes, I am human, so certainly I sometimes misspeak or make some point unclearly, but this does not mean I have changed what I believe or teach. The Church has certainly “grown” in some small technical points, but not in any ways that contradict Mr. Armstrong’s plain teachings about the Gospel or about so many other foundational matters of Church doctrine and practice.

Most of you brethren understand this, and you see the fruits of how this Church is powerfully preaching the true Gospel of the Kingdom of God. Sadly, a few have gone into rebellion because of alleged mistakes and “changes.” But eventually these rebels always make their own mistakes, and some of their own people—who have become “picky” and lost sight of the “big picture”—accuse them of making “changes.” Then, these rebels who were slow to forgive others always demand that people forgive them quickly for their mistakes! They should all read the parable of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18.

Brethren, why do some leading men get it into their heads to try to exalt themselves and—in one way or another—rebel against those whom God has shown by the “fruits” that He is using to preach His Truth and do His Work? Is it the same spirit Satan had when he said, “I will be like the Most High”? Each of us needs to think very soberly about this matter.

For if any of you drift into that kind of attitude or behavior—if any of you brethren follow such a man in his rebellion against God’s true servants— you are in terrible trouble with the God who gives us life and breath. Please understand that!

Certainly, if I or any one of our leaders should rebel against God’s commandments and start to completely dismantle the basic truths that we have been preaching for the past 50 years, that is a different matter! But we in the Living Church of God have not ever done this, and after 58 years of loyal service, I am sure that I will not make that kind of mistake!

In His inspired word, God tells us, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). He clearly shows that Jesus Christ was the“Rock” who followed ancient Israel in the wilderness (1 Corinthians 10:4). He was the “God of Israel” who dealt with them during all those years, acting for God the Father. In all the ways He dealt with them, He was showing us the “mind of God,” which is why the Bible tells us, “Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted” (v.6). God repeats the same thought again in verse 11,“Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” Paul then was inspired to write, “Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (v. 12)!

Notice a vital Old Testament example of how we ought to “take heed.” Moses and Aaron were very human, and no doubt made some human mistakes. But was this a good reason for a number of leading Israelites to try to overthrow them? Remember what happened:“And they rose up before Moses with some of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, representatives of the congregation, men of renown. They gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, ‘You take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?’ So when Moses heard it, he fell on his face” (Numbers 16:2–4).

Certainly, Moses acted with confidence in dealing with situations around him. He sometimes had to correct powerfully these rebels and others. But what was God’s opinion of him? “Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3). You see, brethren, God looks on the heart! He knew that Moses, in his heart, was so deeply surrendered to do God’s will that He considered him the most humble man on the entire face of the earth! However, those human “men of renown” could not see Moses’ surrendered attitude. They were instead filled with their own lusts and their own desire for power. So they came up with various “excuses” to react against Moses and Aaron, and they tried to overthrow those human leaders whom God had chosen—and whom He was using to do His will.

What was the result?

“And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men with Korah, with all their goods” (Numbers 16:32)! Yet, amazingly, “on the next day all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying, ‘You have killed the people of the LORD’” (v. 41).

Wow! Israel’s people were so out of touch with reality that they could not see there was no way Moses and Aaron could open the earth and swallow up all those rebels! They tried to blame it on the human leaders— refusing to acknowledge that it was the great God of Israel who was dealing with them because of their rebellion and their sins!

Brethren, the lesson for all of us today is that we are to seek the kind of peace and unity that God wants us to have within His true Church! We are to be “endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3).We should be very careful and very prayerful not to allow ourselves to begin to “murmur” against those God is using to do His Work and preach His Truth.

God’s true ministers will be human. For we are not perfect yet, but we are trying. And we are growing in grace and knowledge—just as are all of God’s true people. So each of us should overlook the human frailties in our brethren—including the ministry—and do all we can to build a sense of unity—a sense of “family”—and a deep sense of brotherly love within God’s Church.

As God looks down from heaven, He is watching each of us to be absolutely sure if we will—as demonstrated by our “fruits”—continue to be loyal to Him and to His government throughout all eternity! God simply cannot afford to allow a bunch of potential “rebels” to be given eternal life and total power in His coming government. So He tells us in His word, “I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings” (Jeremiah 17:10).

May God grant each of us a heart of sincere humility, of surrender to His Word and His government, and a spirit of love and unity so we can become full sons of God in His loving Family throughout all eternity! Be sure that you, personally, strive with all your heart to attain that awesome goal.

And the reality is that the fruits of those involved in the GCG takeover and/or the later splits from LCG have been negative. As one who has reported more of the details (and for a longer time) than anyone else, I have yet to see positive fruits from the rebellions. Actually, the only "fruit" I have really seen is a separation between those who wished to be part of the continuance of the Philadelphia era work and those that decided to follow non-Philadelphia leaders who have a non-Philadelphian work

Articles of related interest may include:

Attending the Church of Choice This article discusses whose choice is important to worship God; should you attend the church of your choice or the church of God's choice?
Unity: Which COG for You? Why so many groups? Why is there lack of unity in the Churches of God? Has it always been this way? What can/should be done about it?
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.
What is a True Philadelphian? Many claim to be part of the Philadelphia era of the Church, but is claiming enough? This article has biblical and historical evidence about who really are the Philadelphians.
Are the Laodiceans the Modern Sadducees and Pharisees? Discusses similarities of the Sadducees and Pharisees to various COGs in this end-time.
Samaritans: Old and New Who were the Samaritans? Do the represent true Christianity or something else?
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.
The 18 Restored Truths: Do You Know What the First Changes the Tkach Administration Made? Some have said healing, others other subjects, but probably the first change had to do with eliminating being part of the Philadelphia era. This article documents what those changes were and compares the Tkach list of restored truths to Herbert W. Armstrong's list of restored truths. It contains many quotes from Herbert W. Armstrong.
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 essentially the Living Church of God.
There are Many COGs: Why Support the Living Church of God? This is an article for those who wish to easily sort out the different COGs. It really should be a MUST READ for current and former WCG members or any interested in supporting the faithful church. It also explains a lot of what the COGs are all about.
Independent Members of the COG: Herbert W. Armstrong Comments, Plus Questions and Answers What did Herbert W. Armstrong teach about being independent of the organized Church? Should independents who claim to accept Herbert W. Armstrong's teachings be part of LCG?
The Laodicean Church Era was predominant circa 1986 A.D. to present. Non-Philadelphians who mainly descended from the old WCG.

05/02/08 a.m. In its latest newsletter, CEG reported:

Not For Us To Know
by Dave Harris

Being “in the know” about life’s matters holds great appeal. We watch the news to stay informed, and we use the Internet and cell phones for almost instantaneous contact with people in our spheres of life.

But there are areas into which we should not intrude!

The disciples asked Jesus when He would restore the kingdom to Israel. His response was very much to the point: “‘It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority’” (Acts 1:7).

In another account, Jesus spoke of the future and of the prophesied end of this age. Again, He taught that His disciples would not know certain things: “‘But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only’” (Matthew 24:36).

Daniel wanted to know more, and Michael told him that the prophecies were sealed until the end time (Compare Daniel 12:8-10). Peter was inspired to write that even angels desire to understand the things God reveals to His Church through His Holy Spirit (Compare 1 Peter 1:12)...

In the wonderful environment of the Church of God in which love as brethren was to flourish, the members had to be reminded to take care of their own responsibilities. That same lesson applies today. Indeed, let us recognize that there are some things that are not for us to know.

And although the disciples at that time were not supposed to know the season, those at the end were. Notice that the Apostle Paul made that very clear:

4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. 5 You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober (1 Thessalonians 5:4-6).

Jesus, Himself, made it clear that those in the end should watch so that the end would not come upon them un expectantly:

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

There would be no point in watching events if one could not know approximately when the end will be. The fact that the Father withheld certain information from the Son (and the disciples), two thousand years ago does not mean that this information will not be available at the end. Specifically notice a verse CEG referred to, but did not quote:

10 Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand (Daniel 12:10).

The wise would be those who continued with the Philadelphia era work and who kept all the 18 truths (including governance) that were restored to the Philadelphia portion of the Church of God--and the remnant group which did that is the Living Church of God (LCG). Those who rejected the true work or any of the restored truths would have to be considered something other than wise.

As time goes on, I am more and more convinced that those not part of LCG will not know when the end is and will not believe us in LCG when we try to tell everyone. CEG, for one more example, questions the need for a future King of the South. RCG, for another, mistakenly claims there will be one, but that it will be Ethiopia (which it will not be). LCG is the only group that I am aware of that has given detailed scriptures about how many of the 6,000 years have elapsed--plus placing the proper emphasis on proclaiming the gospel.

We in LCG will continue to try to warn all when the end is to come, but those that reject us will simply not heed those warning messages.

Some articles of prophetic interest may include:

Is There A Future King of the South? Some no longer believe there needs to be. Might Egypt, Islam, Iran, Arabs, or Ethiopia be involved? What does the Bible say?
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?
Who is the King of the North? Is there one? Do biblical and Roman Catholic prophecies 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?
End of Mayan Calendar 2012--Might 2012 Mean Something? There is a Mayan calendar prediction for change in 2012. 2012 changes were also centuries ago predicted by the Hopi Native Americans and the Hindu Indians (who were not even on the same continent). Do these Mayan/Hindu/Hopi prophecies have any value? Why might Satan have inspired this date? Does the Dresden codex show destruction of the earth by flood? Can the great tribulation start before 2012?
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? When does the six thousand years of human rule end?

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

COGwriter, 2008

News of Those Once Affiliated with the Global Church of God

Latin American Leaders Derail USA in Mr. Obama's Presence

Why This Biography?

Mr. Obama's Proposed Budget--"The Great Illusion"

The Big Pentecostal Splinter

Will Syria, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan and Egypt Unite?

Germany--"The Calm Before the Storm"

Stubbornness--A Sure Way to Destruction

Estimated Monthly U.S. People

Estimated Monthly U.S. People

The European "Beast" Overtakes the USA...

Not For Us To Know by Dave Harris

Not For Us To Know
by Dave Harris