Overview of the February 2018 Issue of PCG's Philadelphia Trumpet

PCG's 1% have released another issue of their recruitment magazine to gain tithes paying members for their organization. (February 2018.) Let us see what they have to say this time.

The first thing to mention is the cover's use of the national flag of Saudi Arabia. It is disappointing to see that PCG's 1% have so little cultural awareness regarding that flag. It contains the Islamic declaration of faith, the shahada, which every Muslim is expected to publicly declare at least once in his or her life. It is saying deeply precious to Muslims all over the world. There have been controversies before over the handling of this flag which features the shahada. Didn't anyone within PCG's 1% think to say that this illustration should have been handled differently? And to think that PCG claims that they will rule the world after Christ's return yet they do not even know that using the flag of Saudi Arabia in this way might be a bad idea. PCG should have handled this matter differently.

This issue has a circulation of 248,247 issues. January 2018's circulation was 247,255 issues. November-December 2017's circulation was 246,769. October 2017's circulation was 245,780. September 2017's circulation was 245,925 issues. August 2017's circulation was 255,897 issues. July 2017's circulation was 267,569. May-June 2017's circulation was 263,551. April 2017's circulation was 267,569 (which happens to be the same as July 2017's figure).

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

Gerald Flurry has a personal article where he seems to suggest that the State of Israel's problems would all be solved in if they just trusted in God.

The threat against Jerusalem was every bit as great as the one facing that same city today. But how did that threat end? “And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses” ... [2 Kings 19:35.] ... GOD SUPERNATURALLY WIPED OUT THAT WHOLE ARMY—185,000 SOLDIERS—IN ONE NIGHT! This is the ONLY way to protect Jerusalem today! (p. 25.)

What a sickening thing to say. He is also taking this passage out of context. 2 Kings 19 is talking about the Assyrian invasion under Sennacherib about 2,700 years ago. It is most surely not a recommendation for what the State of Israel should do today.

Brad Macdonald praises President Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel. It is insisted with excitement that President Trump's decision will make PCG's prophetic scenario more likely to occur.

Brad Macdonald also has a side article in which the US government's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel is described as an unremarkable decision.

Within PCG's writings it tends to be assumed that the tense relations between the State of Israel and the Palestinians are mainly about Jerusalem. This is a misconception which ignores many other issues, such as the State of Israel's refusal to let Palestinian refugees in the Palestinian territories, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and elsewhere to return to their homes, the imposition of Israeli rule within Area C of the Palestinian West Bank among a population that never asked to be ruled by the State of Israel, the inconvenience of Israeli checkpoints within the West Bank for the Palestinian population, the fact that Palestinian controlled land is surrounded by Israeli controlled spaces thus letting the State of Israel control movement between the Palestinian territories and the rest of the world, the construction of Israeli settlements within the West Bank and East Jerusalem over the objections of the neighboring Palestinians, the disproportionate allocation of resources for the Israeli settlements at the expense of the Palestinian majority, and other issues. PCG's fixation of Jerusalem exposes how terribly limited and narrow their knowledge of this topic actually is.

Andrew Müller has an article scare mongering that the United States is retreating from its position of global leadership.

Gerald Flurry has an article downplaying the climate change crisis. PCG's 1% have taught for years that natural disasters are signs that their strange parody of the Christian God has cursed the United States.

TO SAY THAT CLIMATE CHANGE IS CAUSING ALL THESE VIOLENT STORMS IS REJECTING EVERYTHING GOD SAYS ABOUT THIS SUBJECT. Those who believe in that wouldn’t all say they are anti-God or irreligious. But what they are saying is in direct conflict with what God says. (p. 11.) 

If they admitted that the excess emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane were causing the increasing severity of these natural disasters then those disasters could no longer to used to scare people into thinking that PCG's God is angry with America.

Richard Palmer has an article scare mongering that the US might cause severe economic distress for Germany. PCG teaches that Germany is fated to soon become a militaristic state which will swiftly conquer the United States and take Americans as slaves. PCG says those who follow them will be protected by their God by being taken to a place of safety, namely Petra, Jordan.

Edwin Trebels has an article discussing PCG's distribution of their recruitment writings in other languages such as "Afrikaans, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian and now Hebrew." (p. 16.) Even though PCG's 1% recently decided to get a jet plane most of their translators are volunteers.

Jeremiah Jacques has an article discussing the life of a North Korean man who made the harrowing journey out of that land in 1995 and now works to send information about the outside world using balloons. He deserves better than being included in this publication designed to gain tithes paying converts for PCG.

Gerald Flurry also has an article mentioning King Hezekiah's bulla. PCG likes mentioning this bulla since the process of its discovery partly included their contribution. PCG plans to be sending more of their students in these excavations in the near future.

Jorg Mardian has an article condemning the use of cannabis.

Joel Hilliker has an article discussing how husbands can encourage their wives.

Brad Macdonald has an article insisting that the science capable of creating a back flipping robot lacks the ability to create a peaceful world. Only PCG's God can do that, according to PCG's 1%.

WorldWatch talks of the continuing coalition negotiations in Germany; scare mongering about a German plan to prepare for the unlikely eventuality of some sort of collapse within the EU; a Saudi arms firm hiring a German to be its CEO; German fighter planes participating in military exercises in the State of Israel; President Putin telling arms firms to prepare to expand production if war should occur; scare mongering about China's military strength relative to that of the United States; wildfires in California; the affliction of modern day slavery; and a report that some who had fought for the criminal network known as ISIL and had returned to Britain have not been prosecuted.

SocietyWatch talks of elementary school teachers resigning because of violence in school; scare mongering that people are still paying off their Christmas expenses; and complainig that nearly a third of births in the UK were among unmarried couples.

There are letters. Here's one from a person in Georgia who had been reading PCG's recruitment writings since 2003.

I want to thank you for your prompt responses to my questions. The answers you have given me hold true to the biblical account and teachings of Herbert W. Armstrong. When I was first introduced to your Philadelphia Trumpet magazine it was 2003, and I was 22 years old. Now it is 2017, and I am 37 years old. That is nearly 15 years of reading and rereading over and over again to show myself approved of the truths that God the Father has given to me as a gift through you.

Here's a letter from Maine.

Excellent job at the Trumpet. It is my only source of reliable, honest and accurate news.

One should not rely so completely on one source to learn about world events. It would be better to listen to a wide range of views in order to gain many perspectives and compare and contrast differing viewpoints.

Here's a letter from Oregon replies to an earlier article discussing the movement about raising awareness of the problem of sexual harassment. The person who writes the letter complains that it is being talked about too much.

This is a subtle and very dangerous way to take the American people’s focus off what is going on in the world—the urgent matters— and instead, focus continually on the petty details and behavior of movie and TV icons, airing our dirty laundry continuously for the world to see! That’s one sure way for the rest of the world to know that our backs are turned, and we’re not paying attention to anything but the trite. Of course, as you say, it is an important subject, but not to constantly be burying our noses in it so that we no longer see what’s happening in the rest of the world and who’s sneaking up on us!

It is awful that so often the testimonies of the victims of sexual harassment are marginalized. This is very unfortunate and fails to address the problem of sexual harassment. The current wave of activism on this topic is a most welcome development.

And so we see that PCG's 1% has produced yet another issue of their recruitment magazine to gain more tithes paying converts and to keep their followers in awe of them as being able to see the future. However since its founding in 1989 PCG has made at least 52 failed predictions. But despite such a poor record of predictions their talk of doom and gloom has gone well for PCG's leadership. 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. It appears that this expensive purchase may be causing financial headaches for PCG's 1%. But PCG's many failed predictions clearly reveal that PCG's leaders are but false prophets. There is no need to fear their dire proclamations. PCG's leaders are but false prophets.