PCG Issues Prophecy About Donald Trump

By now, it should be fairly obvious that Armstrongism is a cult. Numerous articles on this and other blogs from other writers have revealed countless false prophecies emmanating from PCG headquarters. Most recently, it is on the front page of their recruitment magazine, Watch Jerusalem, from January/February 2021...

Triumph Prophetic Ministries Still Online 2½ Years After the Demise of William Dankenbring

In my ongoing research among offshoots of Armstrongism I came across Triumph Prophetic Ministries, founded by the now late William F Dankenbring. He passed away in August of 2017 according to the front page of their website. [Update January 20th 2021: as you can read in my comment below, the site would go offline at some point this month. That has happened, and therefore the link is disabled.]

January 16th 2020 - The Magic Date for Gerald Flurry

Gerald Flurry, so-called Pastor General of the Philadelphia Church of God, has long ago decreed that January 16th is a special date. It was the day Herbie died in 1986, now 34 years ago - and he will insist that anything that happens today is historic...

Mixing Politics and Religion - A Dangerous Cocktail

It is rather ironic to watch a magazine such as The Philadelphia Trumpet published by Gerald Flurry, because in that magazine you can see some of the most Republican statements. You could quickly get the impression that God was somehow right-wing when you read articles from the so-called Philadelphia Church of God. "Prove all things" (1. Thess 5:21) is only encouraged until the time you become a member of any of the offshoots of Armstrongism. Once in, you can be sure their ministers (read: minions) will come up with loads of right-wing propaganda.

Gerald Six-Pack Flurry - Political Involvement?

You will no doubt want to read Redfox's article Reading PCG's Booklet, Lawless: Why America Is Losing Its Rule of Law.

It does contain some interesting perspectives on Gerald Six-Pack Flurry's political views. He may be following the traditional perspective of supporting the Republican wing, but there is a rather interesting perspective in all of this. Traditionally, Armstrongism - like the Jehovah's Witnesses - discouraged participation in politics, even discouraging that its members voted at elections.

The inserted words Flurry uses seems to indicate that he is getting politically involved, and not nearly as faithful towards the principles of respecting 'the powers that be'.... Quite informative indeed, and a very good analysis of the PCG-booklet.

Flurry Keeps Dreaming...

Flurry-minion Joel Hilliker is the lead author in the latest edition of the Philly trumpet, and asks "What Happens After a Superpower Dies?"... In yet another effort to rekindle what Roderick Meredith also tried back in the 1990's, they want their readers to believe the US is on the way down and out.

Where is their patriotism?

Where is their optimism?

It has been buried, just as these ministers deposited their brains when they began living off religious illiterates who only see Armstrong's writings as their last hope.

How UTTERLY depressing to consider that people have given up their lives, and now their ONLY hope is the total smashdown of everything...

Guess what? The doom and gloom they want quite simply won't happen in that way.

Tough words, I know. But look at the evidence. The idea of a negative Germany coupled with a conspiracy based upon the Vatican is so silly it doesn't really deserve an answer. You owe it to yourselves to start examining things freely without having to be guided by MEN in what to believe...

Gerald Flurry Wants Answers...

In the August edition of The Philadelphia Trumpet, Gerald Six-pack Flurry wants answers to scandals in politics. Fair enough. The membership in his church probably also want answers to the question of why lawlessness is only pointed out 'outside' the church, whereas the sins of the pastor-general Flurry go unnoticed.

I am of course, thinking of Gerald Flurry's driving under the influence of alcohol case. You can check more out about this through this link http://www.exitsupportnetwork.com/mike_ep/flurry/flop.htm, and you can do your own Google or Bing search also.

The closest reference he ever made was mentioning he hadn't consumed any alcohol for a number of years. But where was the official apology? Where was the willingness to acknowledge personal repentance?

Oh yes, that is only reserved for laymen. Leadership in Armstrongism can apparently do as they please. They consider themselves above the law, thus rendering the very term lawlessness invalid if you subscribe to that type of logic....

26 Years Ago Herbert Armstrong Died

Among "faithfuls" the date January 26^th had quite a bit of significance and importance, namely in the Philadelphia Church of God where church-leader [so-called "Pastor General"] Gerald R Flurry had promised this date would be important when he originally wrote Malachi's Message.

Depending on the moods of loyal Armstrongist members they will pick any news as 'important' signs of the importance of today's date.

So stay tuned to hear what is coming - if you are still a member.

For the rest of us have fun watching how they will get around this... :-)

Philadelphia Trumpet Does It Again

When you see the January 2012 issue of The Philadelphia Trumpet, the feature story is about Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple who died in October 2011. This man is applauded for his computer genius, focus on his vision - and rightly so.

What is less trustworthy is once again that the current events focus, very similar to The Plain Truth, is biased by the author. The few quotes are intended for people to relax and take in this material as though it was a journalist reporting about Steve Jobs.

Steve was FAR MORE COMPLEX than presented in this article, and you should read his biography rather than reading The Incredible Human Potential which the PCG now define as "our book" after they bought copyrights from WCG.

One of the points that caused Apple to have great success was, in part, the creation of their own web browser - Safari - which allowed very fast web browsing on the internet when you bought a Mac. Long time readers of this blog will remember that the PCG originally defined the internet as "dangerous", something many of us laughed a bit at since they had a website at that time.

So it doesn't really matter for Flurry-supporters what tool they must use as long as they can get in some tithes and offerings for their Armstrongite endeavours. Never mind the double standard because everything is interpreted by what fits the local minister.

Articles, when taken out of context, may appear very positive, but you need to have the full picture to get a grasp of how Armstrongism is presented in this 21^st century...

Fourth Reich Ramblings From Gerald Flurry

In the November/December 2011 issue of the Flurry magazine (The Philadelphia Trumpet) there are two things that immediately caught the eye.

First, the Personal talking about the rise of Germany. Lo and behold, just because Herbie could guess right for once, it is now made out to be "the big authority". Flurry wants to know how he could know this, and how the Armstrongite movement could be so "right"?

Well, Flurry is asking questions upside down, which is often done to create the right mind control environment, because he should have investigated 1972 in Prophecy before asking such a question.

The fact remains that Scripture is VERY CLEAR about how we should consider false prophets. When predictions flied from pulpits all over the globe announcing 1972 and 1975 noone saw apologies from ministers who were in empire costumes... :-)

Just because Flurry could find two sensationalist journalists who could be quoted to indicate something circular to fit the square holes (when manipulated extensively) doesn't make it truth.

But, of course, for the faithfuls all that is said from Oklahoma must be true when Flurry says it... ;-)

Another important thing to watch is the claim for mental sanity by reading the article in the magazine. Sounds much like practicing without a license... Buyers beware, if mental stability lies in beating kids with paddles, belts etc, I think you know the rest...

Wondering what foolish things will come as the January 2012 issue arrives, because Gerald Flurry will without a doubt have some specific interpretation of Herbie being dead for 26 years on January 16th... Those who follow your BS (pardon my French) sure wallow in some crazy ramblings.

Surviving Armstrongism

Surviving Armstrongism takes time - for some a short time, for others a long time. Needless to say, lots of friendships may be broken when you leave Armstrongism, but you need to count the cost.

The psychological impact of Armstrongism is very big in the sense of people consecrating their entire lives (both timewise and moneywise) to "preaching their gospel" - but always to a limit. In numerous offshoots there is a clear distinction between ministry and lay-members. People are asked, before joining, to "prove all things", using 1. Thess 5:21. What they forget to mention is the rest of that verse.

"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good."

In other words, discard all that is NOT good.

When people have then joined the "faithful flock" the attitude is "pay & pray" - leaving out the final "and by the way, shut up if and when you disagree."

Disagreement after you have joined the faithful flock is considered rebellion, instead of realizing that there might be something that was overlooked by the all-knowing and inspired ministry.

That is the very reason why some ministers still speak out against the internet. The information available contradicts THEIR claims, and therefore the easiest way to contradict what is being said is to write articles about how evil the internet is. Such has been the exhortation of both Gerald Flurry and David C Pack - one saying it in the Philadelphia Trumpet a few years ago, and the other writing it in one of his booklets.

The difficult way for such a minister would be to ANSWER the claims made. History proves them wrong, and their actions prove themselves wrong, so they need the easy strategy.

In fact, it's Mind Control 101.

Once you have people obeying the way the tail moves, you are losing faithfulness to Scripture because then man begins to follow MINISTRY over SCRIPTURE. That is a very dangerous path.

Dangerous because everyone knows the very ministry that speaks out against the internet have websites with THEIR version to attract even more people through this media...

But the best news ever is that you can truly see through these arguments once you have survived Armstrongism. That is the reason why this blog, and numerous others, will be kept alive with even more information to help those willing to open their eyes and ears. People caught up in Armstrongism NEED this type of information to help them in their process of surviving Armstrongism.

Gerald Flurry - 5 Quotes That Should Shock You

When talking of PCG-leader Gerald Flurry, who claims to be "that prophet", you will very easily find that he is an authority freak. I have gathered the five quotes that should truly show you what type of mentality he has.

• "Following God’s Man is actually following God."
  [Source: That Prophet pg. 11 paragraph 5]


• "The people urgently need to back that one man..."
  [Source: That Prophet pg. 18 bottom]


• "Remember, when God places a man in charge, He gives that individual something extra spiritually – an added power to lead God’s people. That places him at an advantage, prompting the people to look to him."
  [Source: That Prophet pg. 62 paragraph 4]


• "So it is very important that we all fully support that prophet. But at the same time, deeply understand we are following God, not a man."
  [Source: That Prophet pg. 120 paragraph 4]


• "There will be decisions made where we’ll have to know that God is using “the elder.”... I am “the elder” in this end time. How much will you rely on “the elder”?"
  [Source:That Prophet pg. 94 paragraphs 9-10, 95 paragraph 1]

Before anyone ever considers joining this man's cult, they should definitely read the information on this site: http://www.pcog.info/

The quotes above stand in sharp contrast to the CLAIMS of Armstrong when he wrote this in the article "Should We Listen to OTHERS?" published in The Good News in May 1960:

In God's Church, we ministers do not tell you what to believe, and command you to believe us, without even looking into your Bible. That is what the Roman Catholic Church does -- but not God's Church. … But suppose, when you study your own Bible, you come across something you feel is contrary to the teaching of the Church? Must you hide your eyes from what you see in your Bible? CERTAINLY NOT! … God's ministers will go into it with you. If you are right -- if you have found any place in the Bible where we are in error, then WE WANT TO KNOW IT. We hate error, and love truth, even though the truth correct and reprove us! Bring it to us. If YOU are wrong, we will patiently show you, and explain it more perfectly to you. If we are wrong, we will correct it BEFORE THE WHOLE CHURCH, so that ALL the Church may, with one mind, believe the TRUTH, and speak the SAME THING!"

All who know the history of Armstrongism know that HWA was speaking softly on such issues, but acted very differently when meeting opposition. Numerous people were summarily disfellowshipped with any of the patience and longsuffering in explaining that they claim was a fruit of the spirit...

All splinters have misapplied this so that they CLAIMED you should "prove all things" (1. Thessalonians 5:21), but once you were "in the flock" you were disfellowshipped if you DARED to think for yourself.

It would seem as though the ministers who did this were doing people a favor because many have afterwards proved all things from a whole new angle... :-)

Required Reading for PCG Attendees

It is quite interesting to read the Pastor General's Report dated 5. November 2004, because in that issue you can read:

Mr. Gerald Flurry has set the policy that the required reading for a prospective member prior to attending services be limited to Mystery of the Ages, Malachi’s Message and That Prophet. It is far better for our new contacts to thoroughly understand these three books that cover the major doctrines of the pcg than to “overload” them and set the bar for attending services too high. Th ere may be times in individual cases, however, that another booklet may need to be read prior to attending services. This decision lies with the discretion of each individual regional director.
[Source: http://www.pcog.info/PGR/PGR%202004-11-05.pdf]

You would have thought that reading the Scriptures was important, but the PCG emphasis is on HWA's & Gerald Flurry's writings.

Further down that issue there is a thought-provoking statement regarding visits to prospective members. Dennis Leap, who wrote the article, says:

Some prospectives may be co-workers. So we must work hard not to off end them or embitter them against God’s Work.

That is translated Armstrongism for: beware of losing tithes and offerings. Apparently because their primary concern is MONEY.

Further down the article by Dennis Leap, it is written:

Then, after being invited to attend, it would not be a bad idea to also require them to read and study the WCG Doctrinal Changes booklet, God’s Family Government, and The God Family Vision.

In the future, Stephen Flurry's "Raising the Ruins" is probably also going to be on the recommended reading list...

So, as you can see, the PCG really wants their members to be schooled in their own literature. This is a major STRENGTHENING of the ties when compared with the WCG which originally spoke of people normally having completed the Bible Correspondence Course when invited. But these booklets were not required reading. Attitude was a bigger issue then, whereas Gerald Flurry really wants closed doors.

That is most clearly proved by quoting the Pastor General's Report from March 11^th 2006, where it can be read:

All regional directors should do an immediate review (and continually monitor the spiritual condition) of the men that receive and/or play our tapes and CDs. We must ensure that these men are deeply loyal and will not pass our tapes/CDs onto outsiders. It could be evident that some of our tapes are being passed onto the Laodicean groups at this time.
[Source: http://www.pcog.info/PGR/PGR%202006-03-11.pdf]

So, as you can see, there is one type of message that goes out to the public, and a very different one that is shown to the ministers and members. You just saw proof of the straight-jacket of the PCG in fulfilling their devotion to Armstrongism

Case Study: The Philadelphia Church of God - Gerald Flurry

As you can see in the left hand menu there are a couple of videos showing Fox25's investigation on the PCG. Gerald Flurry is among the most famous COG-leaders - not due to popularity, but simply because of his book, Malachi's Message, which was sent to most WCG-members in the formative years of the PCG.

His tv-show, Key of David, is a surprising mixture of anglo-israelism combined with elements of antisemitism mixed with out of context scriptures to give credibility to the prophet - which is how Gerald Flurry sees himself.

The lonely wolf in troubled waters...

As in the case study on the RCG, Gerald Flurry relies heavily upon government to keep his body of believers faithful to his version of Armstrongism. His main message was in the beginning one of getting as many members from the WCG, and now he tries to scare his audience with various end-time scenarios. The anticipation, more or less implied, being that only those faithful to the PCG will be taken to the place of safety.

The practice of disfellowship is done immediately when someone is found to be critical of his interpretation of scripture. In the beginning he claimed you could know a tree by its fruits, but since his conviction on DUI he has taken a much more firm grip of his organization - and questions are not welcome any more.

You will no doubt want to read my article on his son's, Stephen Flurry's, book Raising the Ruins which is rather enlightening as to the character of Gerald Flurry. You can read the article entitled "Raising the Ruins by Stephen Flurry - The Ultimate Review" by clicking the title.

As always, your comments are welcome.