Friday, August 4, 2017

Overview of the September 2017 Issue of PCG's Philadelphia Trumpet

PCG has released another issue of their recruitment magazine (September 2017) in an attempt to gain more tithes paying converts. Back in 2012 PCG had an income of about $19.5 million according to a booklet by their leader, Gerald Flurry. Even as early as 1996 PCG claimed to have more than $5 million in annual income. Recently PCG has even bought its own plane.

Let us see what they say this time.


The editors of this issue are Gerald Flurry, Stephen Flurry, Joel Hilliker, Brad MacDonald, Richard Palmer, Robert Morley, Jeremiah Jacques, Dennis Leap and Phillip Nice.

The circulation of this issue was 245,925 issues. August's circulation was 255,897 issues. July's circulation was 267,569. May-June's circulation was 263,551. April's circulation was 267,569 (which happens to be the same as July's figure). March's circulation was 271,949. February was 273,591. January was 267,992.

The contents page features a picture of the Grenfell Tower fire in London on June 14, 2017 in which at least eighty people were killed.

Gerald Flurry has an article hysterically entitled, "The Fall of the British Royal Family" bemoaning that the British royal family is going along with the supposed increase in behavior contrary to PCG's dogmas that supposedly will lead to Britain being conquered by a German led European Empire. He also complains of the Labour Party's Jeremy Corbyn even though he is not in power.

PCG teaches that the British royal family is a continuation of the House of David described in the Old Testament. This is a feature of British Israelism., the idea that the British are descendants of the Israelites mentioned in the Old Testament. There is no genetic evidence linking the British people with the Jewish people. The alleged ancestral link between the British and Jews as claimed by promoters of British Israelism is nonsense.

Abraham Blondeau has a little column accompanying this article that scare mongers that Canada may soon abolish the monarchy.

Jeremiah Jacques has an article discussing the twentieth anniversary of the end of British rule over Hong Kong and its return to China in 1997.

Joel Hilliker has an article bemoaning about how bad things are in certain parts of the world.

Richard Palmer has an article scare mongering about the recent G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany and the protesters accompanying that summit. Among other things he ludicrously implies that Adolf Hitler's National Socialist German Workers' Party was somehow left wing because it had the word "socialist" in its name.

Richard Palmer also has an article scare mongering about German intelligence supposedly spying on Americans.

Andrew Müller has an article which discusses the problem of desertification and insists all will be solved after Christ's return.

The Infographic insists that farming methods are contrary to (PCG's) God's law which will supposedly be in force after Christ's return. Among other things it is insisted that the land Sabbath (shmita) is to be observed by farmers despite farmers involved with HWA's WCG encountering severe problems and even bankruptcy trying to observe this religious practice in the past.

Samuel Livingston has an article scare mongering about hearers, people encouraged to listen to voices in their heads. Quite irresponsibly Livingston insists that voices in peoples' heads are the work of Satan. Banned by HWA discussed an earlier version of this article.

Christopher Eames has an article insisting that the great flood of Genesis 6-9 was literally true. Many other churches unconnected to HWA's organization also say the same thing.

Joel Hilliker has a little article promoting happy marriages.

Robert Morley has a little article hysterically proclaiming that people cannot trust institutions anymore.

WorldWatch discusses Germany supposedly about to be a peace broker between the State of Israel and the Palestinian Authority; the triumph of  La République en Marche in France's legislative election; the sell off of Banco Popular in Spain for a single euro; the Saudi led blockade of Qatar; Iran producing more long range missiles citing an announcement by the National Resistance Council of Iran, an organization closely linked to the Mojahedin-e Khalq which was formerly listed as a terrorist organization by the US State Department from 1997 till 2012; the presence of Assad regime armed forces and Hezbollah near the State of Israel; Russia and China agreeing to increase military cooperation; scare mongering of Russia buying more gold; and India's admission into the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

SocietyWatch discusses Canada extending legal protections to transgender people; that more Americans believe in evolution; and scare mongering about the household debt of Australians.

There are letters. Here's one letter from Augusta, Georgia from a person persuaded by PCG's constant demonization of Iran which is done to convince readers that Gerald Flurry's proclamation in 1994 that Iran is the "King of the South" somehow proves that God is with PCG.
I have been reading the magazine for some time and agree that your analysis has been spot on in the issue of Iran. I really enjoy the magazine and feel that we are entering a time that really leads up to the end times. I pray each day more people will come to realize what the future holds. It seems God is holding off some of the disaster, hoping that people will change their way of living, but it seems that history is about to repeat itself.
Here's a letter from Coram, New York from a person who had been reading PCG's recruitment magaizine since about 2005 who praises PCG as making accurate predictions despite their record of making numerous failed and inaccurate predictions.
I have to tell you this is the most amazing periodical I have ever read. I have been reading it for 12 years now and everything you have said will happen or has happened. But that doesn’t surprise me because the Bible doesn’t lie.
Here's a letter from Long Beach, California from a person disillusioned with President Trump.
I was so happy when I discovered the Trumpet by accident. I read the one with Donald Trump on it four times over. According to this book, we are close to World War III. I don’t care for President Trump, but some members of my family think he is a gift from God. I told my daughters that he was going to lead us to destruction and they didn’t believe me. Then I found the Trumpet and it agreed with me! I really love the PCG. I am not really good with the Bible, but you put it all before me; I can read with the Bible and it is easier for me to understand. I appreciate your work so much.
And so we see that PCG's 1% has produced yet another issue of their recruitment magazine seeking to gain new recruits and to keep their followers overawed towards PCG's 1% by thinking that they can see the future. However since its founding in 1989 PCG has made at least 52 failed predictions. Getting a British columnist to talk at their headquarters cannot change that fact. Clearly PCG's leaders are but false prophets. There is no need to fear their dire proclamations. PCG's leaders are but false prophets.

6 comments:

  1. Shmita - I remember GTA mention on radio that "the land needs a rest" but I don't recall hearing or reading anything about the shmita during my time in the WCG. It was probably in AR where I read of the plight of the WCG farmers, who also suffered from the demand to go cold turkey on chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
    When David Pack started his agriculture program, Dale Shurter's booklet on farming said the land sabbath would "be resumed in the Kingdom". And of all things, Bob Thiel believed it was another sign from God - apparently he started the CCOG seven years after he gave a sermon on Deuteronomy at LCG.
    And of course the shmita is one of the laws - like tithing - that only applies to Eretz Israel - so another curse to PCG brought about by BI!


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  2. There were farmers in our local congregation, and not being Hebrew scholars, they were not familiar with the word "schmita". They called it the seven year sabbath, and iirc, it was kept. These farmers were bare subsistence farmers, extremely poor, driving cars from the late '40s and early '50s well into the '60s, nursing them to church, driving hundreds of miles with threadbare tires and overheating problems, without insurance. There were a few successful ones, who had inherited larger family farms, but for the most part these land sabbaths, no commercial fertilizers, and third tithe just about killed them. I can assure you that the windows of heaven did not open up in abundance for them, and there was no substantial improvement in the family financial situation for as long as I knew them.

    I often wondered about Jubilee, part of that same system of law. I left at the end of HWA's second 19 year "time cycle", so never got to know whether the church kept that. If Jubilee were made a function of that type of numbering, it would have hit the church in 1984, a bit prior to HWA's death.

    Armstrongism was a pick and choose religious system, and there was always some sort of advantage for the power structure behind everything that was picked and chosen.

    BB

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  3. I'm going to look for this issue at Supercuts next haircut. I may nick their copy, find a Sharpie, write on the cover "You mean the Germans?" and mail it back to Flurry. I figure that if I don't tell them, nobody else will.

    BB

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  4. Hoss and Byker Bob,

    Thanks for sharing your memories about the land Sabbath on this blog. It is good that stories like these are remembered so that we can learn from honor the memories of what happened.

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  5. For years you have misused or overused the word 'hysterically'. Sorry to see that you still have this habit. Please learn some more adverbs.

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  6. For years you have misused or overused the word 'hysterically'. Sorry to see that you still have this habit. Please learn some more adverbs.

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