Reading PCG's Booklet, No Freedom Without Law

Let us now read Gerald Flurry's booklet, No Freedom Without Law. It was first published in 2001. Here Flurry writes like a right wing demagogue bemoaning the supposed disintegration of society. But as we shall see he adds his own distinctive Armstrongite twist to this subject later on. It was revised in 2007. For this post I am using the original 2001 version. You can read the current 2007 version of this booklet at their website.

Chapter 1

At first Flurry talks about political subjects. Where is he leading the reader with this?

Flurry talks about how one is enslaved to whatever overcomes him. Then brings up alcoholism and other mind altering drugs. Then he brings up pornography. Flurry bewails that things that used to be highly restricted are now legal and accepted in at least some parts of society.

The fact is, the more pornography we have, the less freedom we have. The negative impact of all that obscenity is incalculable. (p. 4.)

Flurry says these relaxed restrictions have caused a decline in society and says police officers are forced to deal with the fallout all the time.

Police officers have to deal with the fruits of society’s bad decisions. They can’t avoid facing the truth.Every day they deal face to face with the results of our pornography, our drugs—the results of all the evils we allow to go on in the name of “freedom”! Under the guise of “free speech,” we destroy marriages and families—the foundation of our nation! SPEWING OUT TONS OF PORNOGRAPHY IS NOT FREE SPEECH—IT IS A DIABOLICAL PLOT TO DESTROY AMERICA AND BRITAIN! And the plan is working extremely well. (pp. 5-6.)

Flurry then states that he highly values free speech. Many ex-PCG members would say that Flurry does not practice this acceptance of free speech in running PCG.

Understand: I value free speech highly! I know that I could not be printing these words without the free speech afforded our society. It is a great value that we should protect. I promote it in every way I possibly can. (pp. 6-7.)

What astounding double speak. This is Flurry advertizing himself and his PCG. In fact PCG members are subject to all kinds of disciplines by PCG's leaders, even shunning by PCG members. Their freedom of speech is not respected.

Chapter 2

Flurry talks about the contested 2000 US Presidential election and condemns the Supreme Court of Florida's decision to recount the votes. He even says that debacle was prophesied in the Bible. He writes of it in a black and white fashion. The Republicans and the Supreme Court was absolutely right and correct. The Democratic Party and the Florida Supreme Court were absolutely wrong.

***

Winston Churchill could warn us about Germany in the 1930s because he understood the history of Germany. All of the major European wars since 1870 have been started by Germany! (p. 12.)

What a bigoted thing to say. Also Gerald Flurry often accuses Germany of starting the Yugoslav Wars of 1991-2001. He says Germany did this by recognizing Slovenia and Croatia as independent states in December 1991. This is astoundingly blatant misinformation.

In fact Slovenia had already fought for independence in June-July 1991. In October 1991 Belgrade's armed forces withdrew from Slovenia. It was already de facto independent. Germany's recognition changed nothing one way or the other.

Also the war in Croatia was already raging for months by December 1991. By that time the Belgrade government had already seized Vukovar from Croatia after a three month siege which killed about 3000 people (August 25-November 18, 1991). All this occurred before December 1991.

One can disagree with Germany's decision to recognize Slovenia and Croatia at that time but it is ridiculous and viciously fanciful to blame this act of causing the Yugoslav Wars. War was already a fact by December 1991. This accusation of Flurry's violates the ninth commandment of the law PCG claims to love so much, Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. 

***

One TV commentator said the election challenge by the Democrats was “unfair.” But it was more than unfair—it was a great injustice. There was collusion between judges, lawyers and politicians attempting to steal an election! (p. 13.)

Strangely enough Flurry makes no mention of the fact that more Americans voted for Gore then Bush in that election. True, because of the Electoral College a simply majority is not necessarily needed but this terribly weakened Bush's standing as President. But then again Flurry and Co. have often devalue democracy in favor of one man rule within PCG.

***

Men don’t know what true justice is. But Christ knows, and He wants to give sight to the blind. Soon, in your lifetime, Christ will implement His system of justice based on His law, in spite of man’s rebellion. (p. 14.)

So once again we see that Flurry is claiming that the Great Tribulation and the return of Christ are about to occur very soon.

*** 

Flurry says that Judah did not fall at the same time as Israel because King Hezekiah listened to Micah.

Judah did not go into captivity around the time when Samaria did because they responded to Micah! They heeded God’s strong warning. This is the inspiring and wonderful truth of what God would do today if we would only listen and heed His warning. Here is a big lesson: KINGS AND PRESIDENTS SHOULD LISTEN TO GOD’S APOSTLES AND PROPHETS! THAT IS HOW NATIONS ARE SAVED! (p. 15.)

HWA and his imitators often imply this, but I have never seen any of them say this so bluntly.

***

Flurry says America's justice system is a complete mess and extremely wicked and evil. (Is that because they do not listen to you or, more likely, are unaware of your existence?)

God is speaking figuratively and spiritually. OUR JUSTICE SYSTEM RIPS OFF THE PEOPLE’S SKINS, BREAKS THEIR BONES, TEARS OFF THE FLESH, CHOPS THEM INTO PIECES, THROWS THEM INTO THE POT AND THEN EATS THEM! This is probably the most grisly metaphor in the Bible. It’s as if they butcher their victims and devour them like wild beasts. Cannibalism! This is God’s evaluation of our justice system! (p. 17.)

And how is paying PCG three tithes and extra offerings supposed to help that problem?

***

What was Micah to do with that judgment? Did he retire? No, he was told to DECLARE it specifically to two groups—Jacob and Israel. Jacob has TRANSGRESSED God’s law, and Israel has SINNED (“to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin”—James 4:17). This refers to God’s Church, spiritual Israel. They have been given God’s truth and have rejected it. So their guilt is sin. They are not in ignorance as carnal Israel; the Jacob group has never known God spiritually. But the Laodiceans are being judged now! (Rev. 3:14-21). So Micah was told to DECLARE this message. That means there has to be a type of Micah today who is DECLARING this same message. Remember, this warning message is tied directly to Christ’s return (Mic. 1:3). It is for the end time! (p. 18.)

The type of Micah is Gerald Flurry himself as seen in a previous post discussing his booklet Micah: God's People Rise Up As His Enemy.

***

There will be a bloody end if we don’t heed God’s warning. This verse is about a slaughter. The nations of Israel will have a violent end.They will literally be chopped in pieces, as their victims have been figuratively! (p. 19.)

Once again Flurry is crudely threatening the reader with a frightening fate if they do not join PCG.

***

This is about the first-ripe, or firstfruit, spiritual harvest. Micah discusses the summer fruit from the first harvest. God is always concerned about His Church first. (p. 19.)

God only really cares about PCG members, it seems.

This refer to Armstrongism's teaching that church members will be not just born into the God Family but become part of a super elite group within the God Family, often called Christ's Bride by Flurry elsewhere. that only church members will be a part of. Those who become members of the God Family afterward will be of a lower rank. This has been taught since the 1950s at least.

***

This makes no sense unless you look at it spiritually. In this end time, God’s very elect Christians have left our mother church and its other dissenting groups. Almost every one of them said, “Woe is me.” They were starving spiritually. You don’t know you are starving spiritually unless you have known God’s truth. They were receiving no revelation about Micah, as we have in our booklets about this prophet and many other major and minor prophets.

This refers to a major crisis in God’s Church that we have lived through. Even our court case over Herbert W. Armstrong’s book Mystery of the Ages is addressed in the context of this verse. (p. 20.)

Once again all those within Tkach's WCG and the other COG groups are devalued as Laodiceans who are doomed to be cast into the Great Tribulation unless they convert to PCG and pay Flurry and his collaborators three tithes and extra offerings for the rest of their lives.

***

Flurry even brings up WCG's receivership crisis.

The state of California attacked the church headed by Herbert W. Armstrong in 1979. Lawyers and judges met privately to discuss their attack. It was an unethical meeting. God’s Church was described as “a bowl of spiders.” Eventually, the Church was cleared of all wrongdoing. But there were no apologies. So who was the “bowl of spiders”? We lived through that abominable miscarriage of justice! (p. 21.)

The receivership lawsuit was a sincere attempt to stamp out corruption within WCG and make WCG more accountable for where its money goes.

It is absolutely untrue to say that WCG was cleared of wrongdoing. WCG was not. What actually happened was that WCG lobbied the legislators of California to change the law making it impossible to prosecute WCG in that way. That is how WCG was "cleared", it just persuaded legislators to change the law for their benefit. Even Stephen Flurry is forced to mention that bill when talknig about the receivership crisis in a 2002 article. If HWA's WCG was really cleared why did they need to lobby the passing of a bill by the State of California that made that kind of lawsuit impossible to enact?

***

Chapter 3

Our people in Britain and America lack the will to even sacrifice a few soldiers’ lives to fight a ground war. Our generals know that we lack the will to win any hard-fought battle—even if it directly relates to our own freedom. For example, we had to be bombed into World War II. Even one of the most diabolical leaders in history, Adolf Hitler, could not rouse us to fight until we were bombed by Japan. And we are much more isolationist today. We are not prepared to die to defend our security, as we were in our past. This is the supreme sign that our will has been broken—and that our republic cannot stand.We must make very radical changes to save our country. (p. 24.)

The late Ron Fraser was also saying America was becoming isolationist back in 2001 just before 9/11. Very likely he was mimicking Gerald Flurry.

Gerald Flurry was also saying America was becoming more pacifist in his booklet about Winston Churchill on page 2. (In that booklet Flurry insinuated he was a watchman just like Churchill). 

Later that year came 9/11 and the US entered the war in Afghanistan which had been ongoing since 1978. Just a few years later President Bush led America into the Iraq War. Behold, Flurry does not know what is going to happen. Yet another false prophecy. And still PCG members think God is with him.

***

Flurry praises the US Constitution.

The Constitution was based to a great extent on God’s law. That is why I believe it is the most noble document ever written by a government of this world. What a rare document it is. Our forefathers had the awesome opportunity to establish the rule of God in the wealthiest country ever. So they established a Constitution to protect all of us from the extremes of human reason. Tyrants, unjust judges and biased leaders were controlled by this law. (p. 26.)

***

Usually the people know very little about how the law works. But they know enough to lose respect for our governmental institutions. They also lose interest in the whole political system. (p. 28.)

Strange Flurry should present this as a problem considering that HWA taught his followers not to vote.

***

Flurry brings up Tkach Sr. and cites an article of his that is also mentioned in Flurry's booklet, Zephaniah's Day of the Lord (as seen in a previous post) and says this:

If we know the Bible, we know Mr. Tkach CAUSED MANY PEOPLE “to stumble at the law”! He “departed out of the way.” He led many away from God’s law. Woe be to those who follow his instructions! (p. 33.)

After mentioning Tkach Sr. and HWA Flurry says that two individuals are mentioned in the Bible.

Flurry even says the Tkach changes was all about "God's government".

The mystery of iniquity [better translated lawlessness] was already there BEFORE he was removed. He was restraining it. But when this man was removed there was an explosive revolt against the truth he taught God’s Church. So this whole revolt revolved around God’s government. This man used God’s government to restrain the mystery of iniquity. When he was removed, the Church he founded rejected the government he taught—God’s government. This led to a very radical rebellion—probably the worst ever in God’s Church! (p. 35.)

Never heard that before.

Only those people who can identify these two men are doing God’s work today. God reveals the mystery of iniquity only to His own true Church and work.You can never understand the mystery unless you deeply know those two men. They are the key players in the mystery of iniquity. THIS IS THE ONLY SIGN GOD GIVES TO HIS CHURCH THAT CHRIST’S RETURN IS IMMINENT! Obviously, God’s true Church must see that sign. (p. 35.)

Malachi’s Message IS THE ONLY BOOK ON EARTH THAT TEACHES THE TRUTH ABOUT II THESSALONIANS 2! This book reveals who these two men are. The mystery of iniquity has been revealed as God said it would be! (p. 36.)

Jules Dervaes would have a thing or two to say about that.

Then Flurry talks about Satan and says he fell after committing sin.

***

Chapter 4

Flurry begins this chapter with these words.

WE HEAR ABOUT ALL KINDS OF ABUSE TODAY. BUT ABUSE within the family is far more damaging than any other. It is harder for the victims to recover. Such abuse has far-reaching consequences which most people do not understand. The physical family is a God-plane relationship. First, there was the God family plan. Then God created the physical family to help bring human beings into the God family. Abuse within the physical family makes this transition far more difficult. Satan knows this, and that is why he works so hard to destroy marriages and families. (p. 38.)

Maybe Flurry should encourage Aaron Eagle's wife to return to her husband whether he stays in PCG or not.

***

God’s very elect today will soon enter the Kingdom of God. If we die in the spiritual wilderness, we shall lose our eternal lives. This is our only chance to be saved. (p. 40.)

Join PCG or be damned. Once again Flurry is crudely threatening his readers with eternal damnation unless he or she joins PCG.

***

Joshua learned the government God taught through Moses and never compromised with it. The very elect today follow his example and submit to the government God taught through His end-time Elijah—Herbert W. Armstrong. THIS IS THE ONLY WAY FOR US TO GET INTO THE PROMISED LAND, GOD’S KINGDOM! Those who fail here will die forever in the spiritual wilderness or the lake of fire. (pp. 40-41.)

One can only be saved by submitting to "God's Government" of one man rule. And Flurry teaches that God's government exists only within PCG. What a lie! Flurry has made his PCG the sole way to gain salvation.

***

First, you have God’s law, His Ten Commandments. Then you must have a government (Aaron’s rod) to implement that law. There was one man, Moses, who governed Israel, under God, in the wilderness.When Moses died, he was replaced by Joshua—one man—who enforced the law for God. Always, God uses one-man rule. (p. 41.)

Flurry is simply projecting his tyrannical one man rule upon Moses and Joshua to justify his own one man rule over PCG members.

***

We are commanded today to teach according to all that God taught through Mr. Armstrong. We are the only Church that does so. (p. 42.)

HWA made numerous false predictions that were wrong. It is impossible to believe those false words of his. So no one can believe all that HWA taught. Flurry is merely trying to portray himself as being more true to what HWA taught then all the other COG groups (which is also untrue).

***

Joshua didn’t reject even one word that God taught through Moses. WHEN GOD SENDS A MAN TO DELIVER A MESSAGE, IT IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS TO REJECT EVEN ONE WORD! (p. 43.)

Maybe Flurry should take his own advice and not change Mystery of the Ages for his own benefit.

***

The priests with the spiritual ark today also lead God’s people. These ministers are in the inner court. Though they may not have stature with men, God uses them to do His work. (p. 43.)

Flurry worries that potential converts will avoid PCG once they notice that no one of importance within HWA's WCG joined Flurry's PCG. Flurry alludes to that issue a lot.

***

God performs great miracles for His people, if they submit to Him. Look at the power available to those who obey God. All we have to do is keep God’s law and government, then He feeds us spiritually and leads us into the Kingdom. (p. 44.)

Here Flurry tells the reader that God will be with them if they join PCG.

***

However, most of God’s own people have rejected God’s government taught through Mr. Armstrong. They have rejected Aaron’s rod. Now they cause people to “stumble at the law” (Mal. 2:8). Therefore God does not feed them spiritual manna—His revelation, or secrets. God’s government rules God’s true Church today. God is going to use these people to help Him enforce His law in the World Tomorrow (Rev. 2:26-27). The world will be led and fed spiritually by the omnipotent God. (p. 45.)

Flurry claims to have "new revelation" given to him by God. This is one of his claims to legitimacy as leader of PCG and as HWA's true successor, as opposed to the other COG groups.

Needless to say many other COG groups also claim their leaders do the same thing.

***

This lukewarm Church IS GOING TO EXPERIENCE THE BLOODIEST TIME EVER ON EARTH—THE GREAT TRIBULATION. THAT IS BECAUSE THEY REJECT AARON’S ROD! And for that reason, 50 percent of them will lose their eternal lives (Matt. 25:1-10). THESE WORDS OUGHT TO STRIKE TERROR INTO ALL OF GOD’S PEOPLE! But lukewarm people are not listening to God’s Spirit. (pp. 45-46.)

In reality Flurry is angry that all these other former WCG members chose not to join PCG and consequently are not paying his PCG any money. Flurry is crudely trying to coerce WCG members and the members of the other COG groups into joining PCG by trying to terrify them that great disaster will befall them unless they join PCG. It is just a vicious blackmail Flurry uses here. There is no need to be afraid of his words.

***

Look again at the kind of government ancient Israel had after Joshua died: “In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes”(Jud. 17:6). For emphasis, God repeats this statement (see Jud. 21:25). This is a book of prophecy. You can find Israel today by understanding this verse. What nations are passionately into democracy? America, Britain, Israel and most of the democracies in northwestern Europe. (p. 46.)

Fallacious evidence such as this are all too often used to promote the nonsensical idea of British Israelism. Silenced.co has shown that British Israelism is built on a foundation of sand. In fact DNA evidence refutes British Israelism.

***

Flurry does not want women being in charge within families. Flurry wants the men to be in charge.

Israel today is very much like it was in the history of Deborah. Families reject the rule of God.The Bible prophesied in Judges and Isaiah 3:12 that women would rule and children oppress the families today. We may call our marriages a 50-50 rule today, but God says the women rule! What are the fruits of such a marriage? Very weak and effeminate boys! Such a family also causes the girls to become overly aggressive, and the problem is perpetuated. Some people will get angry at these words. They need to understand they are really angry at God! Our people have destroyed God’s family government, and when you destroy the family, YOU DESTROY THE NATION! (pp. 46-47.)

Similar statements of his may have been seen in previous posts concerning his booklets Isaiah's End-Time Vision and Jeremiah and the Greatest Vision in the Bible.

***

Here is Flurry prophesying that the Ark of the Covenant will be found and used to establish the rule of the returned Christ over the Earth after the second coming.

The ark will play a key role in Christ’s rule over the nations. This is a prophecy. God will administer His law and feed the world with great abundance, physically and spiritually. Almost immediately after Christ returns, the world will be introduced to the ark. God is preparing us now to teach about the ark. We must understand this vital subject. The ark of the covenant is for the whole world. (pp. 48-49.)

***

Christ’s blood was shed for all of us. And if there was a type of His blood on the ark, we must not be casual toward it. We must understand! It is a red-light warning. Christ spilled His precious blood for us. If we are not serious about this, we deserve to die for eternity! (p. 49.)

Once again Flurry threatens the salvation of his readers unless they do what he says.

***

After this Flurry discusses the revolt of Korath in Numbers 16.

Today we see a DEEPLY DIVIDED Church of God. They are separated by one issue only—GOD’S GOVERNMENT. (p. 50.)

This is PCG jargon for saying that all the other COG groups should have simply joined PCG and do what Flurry says and pay his PCG three tithes and extra offerings.

***

God is inspiring assemblies today, but the Laodiceans refuse to attend. That is because they are against God’s government! (p. 51.)

Maybe it is because PCG does not publicly reveal where they meet and assemble. Maybe they have no idea where PCG meets. Maybe they do not attend because PCG members have been ordered to shun such people.

***

Today many rebels refuse to see that miracle. Unless they repent, they will die eternally! The stakes are much higher today. (p. 53.)

Once again Flurry threatens the salvation of his readers unless they do what he says. Flurry does that a lot. It is just abusive behavior on his part.

***

Chapter 5

Perhaps this is some of the emotion Mr. Armstrong felt when he said to the Worldwide Church of God in one of his last sermons before he died, “Most of you DON’T GET IT”—I feel like I’m alone! Do we get it today? How deeply converted are we? How much do we love this fiery law and what Mr.Armstrong taught us? (p. 58.)

HWA was not foreseeing the Tkach changes as Flurry implies here, as was shown in a previous post. HWA was talking about why church members are called first.HWA was talking about a specific doctrine and complaining that WCG members and ministers did not sufficiently understand it to his satisfaction. This was not a premonition of the Tkach changes by HWA as Flurry misleadingly implies here.

***

I think those 7,000 must come from God’s Laodicean Church into the Philadelphia Church of God.We have a portion of that figure in the PCG now. We have to get the rest of them. It may not be an exact figure, but it’s very close. (p. 58.)

So Flurry speculates that there will be 7000 Armstrongites will join PCG by the time the Great Tribulation begins. What madness. Is this a sign that PCG has less then 7000 members?


But there is more of these absurd prophesies.

Being part of the former prophets, I Kings includes prophecy for us today. It doesn’t say men. This is 7,000 people who are converted and have the Holy Spirit of God, people who know God and haven’t caved in to Baal. These are the people who will join God’s work before this is all over. But God clearly says there will be 10,000 in the place of safety. He is going to come back with those 10,000. So maybe we will convert about 500 of our teenagers before and in the place of safety. And we’ll pick up between 2,000 and 2,500 from the world before the Great Tribulation. (p. 59.)

So Flurry says 10,000 persons will be in the place of safety. He also insinuates that 500 young members within PCG will be "converted" and that PCG will make about 2000 - 2500 converts from those uninvolved in Armstrongism. What poppycock!

***

THE LAODICEAN GROUPS REJECT GOD’S GOVERNMENT. They reason around the proof Mr.Armstrong established about the necessity for one-man rule. They have “New Testament government,” or some other version of government. They share authority and “love each other” as they divide and splinter and fracture. But they’re free!—meaning, free to bow their knee to Baal. These types of government they’re experimenting with cause all kinds of stumbling at the law. If we don’t understand the government as Mr. Armstrong taught it, we simply will not be in that 10,000. (p. 60.)

Freedom from PCG is slavery to Baal and Satan. Sounds a bit like what Big Brother said in George Orwell's novel, 1984, "Freedom is slavery."

Actually many of the other COG groups which Flurry demonizes as "Laodicean" also have one man rule like PCG. Why does Flurry say untrue things?

***

Moses, referred to in verse 4, administered the law in the Old Testament. In these end times, an Elijah came along and did just like Moses—he administered the law. When people FIGHT GOD’S ONE-MAN GOVERNMENT, THEY’RE FIGHTING THESE VERSES, AND THEY’RE FIGHTING GOD, AND THEY HAVE TO LOSE! EVERYTHING WILL BLOW UP IN THEIR FACES! AND ANYBODY WHO GOES WITH THEM IS GOING TO BE MADE CONTEMPTIBLE AND BASE. (p. 61.)

Once again PCG's leader is seen as standing in place of God. If people "fight" against PCG then they are "fighting God", according to Flurry.

***

After that Flurry quotes a "Laodicean evangelist" (who is not even named by Flurry) correctly noting that most people do not know about Herbert W. Armstrong. This "Laodicean evangelist" mentions some type of survey that was conducted about "a year or two" before HWA's death.

To illustrate what I’m talking about, read what one Laodicean evangelist said recently: “ ... And so one of the fellows actually was in the media area and talked to others who worked with this kind of thing and were keeping statistics and thinking about it, and we came to the conclusion as best we could put it, that only about 15-25 percent of the American people ever heard the name of Herbert Armstrong or at least heard it so they would remember it.” (p. 62.)

Flurry tells PCG members to ignore the fact most people do not know HWA even existed and insinuates this survey did not happen.

I have a feeling Mr. Armstrong never did know about this survey. I don’t know how accurate this is; I’ll just take his word for it that it is accurate. (p. 62.)

As if Flurry knew what was going on in Pasadena while he was busy being the minister over the congregation in Pasco, Washington (1975-85) and then in Oklahoma (1985-9). 

Flurry accuses this "Laodicean evangelist" (that Flurry is too scared to even name) of setting himself up to proclaim himself to be the end time Elijah.

He concluded, “I think that this should help us to understand. So think about this, brethren. Millions of these people, even of that generation, of the generation of those of us who are older, NEED A REAL WITNESS.” Essentially, he is saying that Mr.Armstrong must not have been the man who preached the gospel around the world for all of them as a witness. But what they need now is a REAL WITNESS! And, of course, this evangelist will be the one to give it to them, right? ...

he’s implying that Mr. Armstrong was not the Elijah, but rather that he himself is! That’s his motive in talking like this. This world needs a real witness, he says. You can think about that little survey and say, Mr. Armstrong REALLY DIDN’T DO VERY MUCH, DID HE? ...  This is not a small sin. We need to be aware of how Satan works. He is trying to shift our focus away from what the Bible says and onto a little poll. (pp. 62-63.)

Flurry disdainfully calls it "a little poll" but it is true that in the real world, outside of the COG bubble, the vast majority of people do not even know HWA existed.

Who could this "Laodicean evangelist" be? I suspect Roderick C. Meredith. I have seen him note that the vast majority of people today do not know about HWA and speculate that there might be a future end time Elijah. But at the time I did not suspect that he suggested that Elijah would be himself. In the sermon I am thinking of he gave me the strong impression that he was not Elijah, at least that is how I recall it.

Flurry would have special reason to discredit Meredith in the eyes of PCG members as he was able to lead a greater following out of WCG and was more important and prominent in the world of HWA's WCG then Flurry ever was. He even wrote a booklet in response to the rise of Meredith's Global Church of God which was discussed previously, namely, God's Family Government.

Of course at present I cannot not be certain who this "Laodicean evangelist" is.

***

After that Flurry then uses this booklet as an opportunity to boast about his booklet, Malachi's Message, which he says in the Little Book of Revelation 10.

The 10,000 saints LOVE Malachi’s Message, because it is God’s revelation, and it is all about LAW. (Write for a free copy if you don’t have one.) Those saints cling earnestly to such truth, and that is what distinguishes them from all the rest. There aren’t many of us left! If Satan destroys Malachi’s Message, he destroys GOD’S CHURCH! (p. 63.)

If you are a true Christian you will love and adore Malachi's Message. So says Flurry.

Malachi’s Message is about law. ... The next chapter is about “Church Division”over law and government, and about a small group of people who cling to the law.  ...  We must cling to that law and government, or we will be destroyed. (pp. 63-64.)

Flurry talks about the seven thunders of Malachi's Message. Flurry says the seven thunders of Revelation 10 are the last seven chapters of Malachi's Message. In fact Malachi's Message was initially released with no chapter divisions. (Have a look for yourself.)

At first Gerald Flurry said the Little Book was the Bible. It was only around 1992 that Flurry changed this and proclaimed his booklet, Malachi's Message, to be the Little Book, even saying seven chapters are "seven thunders" mentioned in Revelation 10. But these chapters were only added several years after its initial printing. 
 
Actually it is widely known that many of the ideas within Malachi's Message were plagiarized from The Letter to Laodicea by Jules Dervaes, written December 1986-January 1988. It was sent to 237 WCG ministers including Gerald Flurry and John Amos. In fact on September 26, 1990 Jules Dervaes sent a letter to Gerald Flurry in which he denounces Malachi's Message as "a direct and clear plagiarism" of his work.

***

Here is one big difference between this evangelist and me: If he were to write a message like this, he would have to go to the council of elders in his church and they would say, no, you can’t give that message. I don’t go to a council. I get the message from Jesus Christ, and if I don’t write it, that’s what will get me in trouble. That’s the way God’s government works—the same government God gave to Elijah. (p. 64.)

And so Flurry insists that trusting Flurry and his collaborates with absolute power is perfectly safe, good and wonderful. Just sit back and get a "spiritual high" at what he and his fellows say and pay PCG three tithes and extra offerings for the rest of your life. 

***

 Flurry ends this booklet with these words.

Let’s strive mightily to get the work done and to learn about this fire of law and build a fire in ourselves—a fire for God’s law and government, so that we can go out very soon with Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, as His bride! To fill the Earth with praise, and build a fire in this world for God’s law and for God’s government! (p. 64.)

PCG members will be rulers of the Earth, once Christ returns.

***

So we have seen that Flurry

• uses grievances regarding modern society to launch into a tirade insisting one can only reach God via him and his PCG.

• once again promotes one man rule in order to reinforce his power over PCG.

• says "God clearly says there will be 10,000 in the place of safety. He is going to come back with those 10,000. So maybe we will convert about 500 of our teenagers before and in the place of safety. And we’ll pick up between 2,000 and 2,500 from the world before the Great Tribulation." (p. 59.)

• says the Ark of the Covenant will be revealed and used to persuade the world to embrace the rule of the returned Christ after the second coming.

• says America is very isolationist. He said this just before 9/11.

Gerald Flurry uses grievances and fears regarding modern day society to then switch the subject and boast that one can only be saved by joining his PCG. Gerald Flurry makes himself the middle man between God and humanity. This is nonsense.