United Church of God - Hoping for Christ

The United Church of God has created an article entitled "Seven Prophecies That Must Be Fulfilled Before Jesus Christ's Return".

Notice the cautious way in which they answer the question of whether that return draws near:

Will this generation see God's Kingdom established on earth?
We have seen how seven biblically prophesied circumstances could not have come to pass until recent times. In fact, the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 was clearly a major turning point in the fulfillment of Bible prophecy, as was the acquisition of the hydrogen bomb by the two superpowers of the 1950s that led to the period of mutually assured destruction.
All has now become possible. This, in turn, makes it much more likely that our generation will live to see Jesus Christ return and establish the Kingdom of God on earth. After all, Jesus Himself said that once these things begin, the generation alive at that time "will by no means pass away till all these things take place" (Matthew:24:34).
It's both sobering and encouraging to think that we appear to be living in the generation that will ultimately witness the most important event in the history of mankind. As Jesus Christ tells His followers in Luke:21:28, "Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near."

This is the type of double-speak you will find in Armstrongism and its offshoots. Careful examination of each of the offshoots will show that this is the type of article released for the public to APPEAR balanced, but that date-setting is still a part in individual speculation. They just won't say it aloud. Stay tuned for more on this subject.

Monetization

Monetization is such an evil word. Especially when cults need to defend themselves. They will claim their opponents are just trying to "monetize" off their message. But when you see no donation button on that opponent's site, where is their basis for claiming people are trying to monetize? When they DO have donation buttons, and claims of how much they perform a "preaching message", and needing more co-workers etc, WHO is it that is trying to get MONEY?

I ask again: when people have spent literally thousands of dollars in tithes, feeling it was perfectly fine they wasted that money on an organization that was driven by MONEY, why would an ad on a site be something "criminal"? Those ads keep content free, and you can just look away from those ads if you wish. Noone is pushing you in the direction of any ads whatsoever.

Similarly, when I speak out against the DISunity saying people are driving one another away from each other striving for more money, those words hurt the people who KNOW they are guilty of participating in that DISunity with the sole purpose to get more tithe-payers. Watch the attempts by the Restored Church of God to get followers from the crisis in the United Church of God. That was documented in February in the article "The Resurgence of Armstrongism".

Cults leaders don't care about you or your family. They want your money, and claiming to do a work for God is a darn good venue to opening the wallets of the gullible.

Read that again, please.

Those are the two most clear sentences describing Armstrongism (and others cults) you will find anywhere on the internet.

This is the primary reason this blog continues to fight the curse of Armstrongism. I KNOW just how dangerous and destructive this set of doctrines can be, and I dare speak out against it.

Will you listen, and participate? Please do write your comments - and I hope you are indeed inspired by this blog. There IS a good life after Armstrongism where you can SHARE and HELP others through sharing what you know.

Case Study: United Church of God - David Hulme et al

The history of the United Church of God, originally established by David Hulme, is one very different from other parts of Armstrongism in one key area. Where almost all splinters from the WCG had very strong leadership from the top down - in an effort to claim this should be "theocracy" - then the UCG tried to establish a form of democracy. This democracy was claimed to be in effect through the Council of Elders.

David Hulme was somewhat offended when he was removed from office of President as you can read in Ambassador Report, issue 68 from April 1998 in the article entitled "United Dethrones Hulme".

David Hulme went off to establish his new magazine Vision, and apparently has a teaching assignment as "lecturer in Middle East Politics at the University of Southern California" [source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hulme]besides presiding over Church of God, an International Community.

Recent Events
When you read the paragraphs under the subheading "History" on Wikipedia, you get a feel for the fact that the people on the Council of Elders could need a course in communication.

All the leaders were instructed in the authoritarian leadership style so widespread in Armstrongism, and it is therefore no wonder that seniority and jealousy befall people who have been used to being tails that moved as the dog wanted. Now that each tail tries to wag the dog, confusion comes.

If these people had been trained in what many of them tried to identify as "servant leadership" they would have discussed the points instead of insisting on their own little petty points. In such an environment they could have cooperated instead of fighting against one another.

In Comes David Pack on the Scene
If you read the article "The Resurgence of (Herbert W.) Armstrongism" you can see that David Pack, in an effort to get more donors for his Restored Church of God, has started an offensive to get more members and donors.

It is rather logical - when seen from his Armstrongite perspective - that he now wants to claim that all would have been well if only they had chosen his "theocratic" form of government. His dedication to Armstrongism is so deep that he would never even consider if there was something wrong with humans trying to define what would be "the government of God" when all groups have been so big sources of disagreements, strife and envy.

The history of Armstrongism is filled with people being expelled/excommunicated/disfellowshipped for speaking their minds. Instead of carefully assessing whether there was validity behind the arguments laid forward, it was often called rebellion by leadership - and consequently the impression of many is that they should just "Shut up, pay and pray"...