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Ron Weinland - Wrong Again...

I doubt it comes as any surprise to regular readers of this blog that the date May 27^th 2012 came and went without any major happenings. You might find some occasional bad weather somewhere on the globe, but hardly any sign of fire and brimstone from heaven as Ron Weinland wanted people to believe... In fact, nothing of what Ron Weinland HAS said has ever come to pass at the time it should, so either he is now inventing a new calendar, or he might also be preparing a better defence than what he has already released in The Day of Christ's Coming.

It is tragic to see just how far-fetched some ideas are at this time. Even the inlay page he includes with his 2008 book is outdated.

The most amazing part is why people don't take the words of their Bibles seriously. When a prophet FAILS, it is because he is NO PROPHET. End of the matter. No extra definitions. If and when you issue a prediction, and that prediction FAILS, you need to take heed.

That would be pretty good advice for Ronnie, but I am quite sure he is going to find some magical date.

I can already now say it is my plan to celebrate my 70^th birthday in 2043, on April 14^th. Regardless of any predictions from Ron Weinland. :-)

The Last Great Day - Review of Book By Benjamin Grant Mitchell

The book The Last Great Day was introduced on this blog in my article entitled "The Last Great Day By Benjamin G Mitchell" released on December 14^th 2011.

It took a bit of time to read since many of the memories were indeed flashbacks - not to a childhood in my case, but the part about education really hit home, and furthered other parallel thoughts in that regard. Working for a local deacon salvaging his bad book-keeping cost a big part of my education, and since we were not encouraged to ever handle things in court, the money he cheated me of cost me quite a fortune at a time when I could have been furthering my education.

If that amount had been spent wisely, who knows what could have happened.

But the book isn't interesting in hindsight. It is a good book in order to identify that the many things we each experienced at different levels happened to other people as well, and I would certainly encourage you to get your own copy.

There are so many matters touched upon so each will have his (or her) own specific area of focus. But I can promise you that you will never be bored with this book.

Happy reading. :-)

Mind Control - Very Unsettling

In reading the book The Last Great Day, I must say it is a very dramatic book. Much of the information has previously been available in the Ambassador Report edited by John Trechak, but reading it in a more personal setting has been very unsettling. It clearly illustrates the type of mind control involved in cults such as that of Armstrongism.

It does annoy me a bit that names were changed, i.e. The Plain Truth was called The Pure Truth (since it was in no way pure, yet with a clarity that to the untrained eye could appear as 'truth'), Ambassador College was called Apostle College, Garner Ted identified as Gideon etc.

I have reached just over the middle of the book, and in the timeline that is around the 1979 era of that cult. A time with great turmoil in the group, and certainly one where there is much confusion among some.

The most thought-provoking thought that comes out of reading this was the recent purchase by chief-imitator Gerald 'Six-Pack' Flurry (leader of Philadelphia Church of God) who boasted of owning copyrights to all materials. Oddly enough, 1975 in Prophecy is not mentioned anymore by the idolators of Armstrongism. Herbie long ago proved he was a false prophet by setting dates (both 1972 and 1975), yet none of the people who idolize this person who in no way could live up to the ministerial requirements set forth in Scripture have given it any thought that Herbie and his minions DESTROYED the beliefs of many by their unscupulous acts of blasphemy in taking God's name in vain by their actions.

Mind control has been rampant in splinter groups, and there is no doubt that Ben's book is excellent reading for those who want a good impression of what took place during the founder's reign of terror. Even though the book does have a few inaccuracies it is still very nice to get the whole history served in about 400 pages - and should be read by anyone interested in the cult of Armstrongism

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...

The Last Great Day by Benjamin Grant Mitchell

Currently, I am reading the book The Nostradamus Prophecies by Mario Reading, but the next book to be devoured is The Last Great Day by Benjamin Grant Mitchell.

Ben is an author who experienced the cult of Armstrongism firsthand too, and therefore his book is an important part of telling the story about Armstrongism, so I am looking forward to reading this book. It came by airmail a couple of days ago - and it's only because Mario's book on the disappeared Nostradamus prophecies is so exciting that I couldn't quite avoid getting that book read first... :-)

Article Worth Reading About David C Pack

Regular readers will already know about the blogroll I have running in the left hand side menu, but I surely want to recommend you read the article about David C Pack which can be found right here: http://otagosh.blogspot.com/2011/11/packs-pipedream.html. It is well worth reading, and I fully agree with the author behind Otagosh.

Have a nice weekend everyone. :-)

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.

Condolences - Passing Away of Sydney Hull

Long time church members will probably already have heard this, but I was equally surprised to read on the Living Armstrongism blog of the passing away of Sydney Hull on March 13^th 2011. He had served as Regional Director of South Africa in the Living Church of God run by Roderick C Meredith, a.k.a. Spanky.

Although we strongly disagree with ministers of Armstrongism, it is no doubt a very sad time for his wife, Dot Hull, who lost her husband - and I do send my sincere condolences on her loss.