Mark Armstrong on the "Organized Community" and French Firms Leaving Iran

Mark Armstrong, leader of the Intercontinental Church of God, son of Garner Ted Armstrong, grandson of Herbert Armstrong, has released yet another update. Let's see what he has to say this time. This latest updates tends to wander around without focusing on any one topic for too long.

He mentions the mass shooting in Annapolis against the Capital Gazette in which five people were murdered. And he ends the paragraph by doing what he seems to do so often in these weekly update, defend his preferred president.

Greetings from Tyler,

It's hard to imagine the kind of evil rage that would lead someone to go to a newspaper office and shoot people in cold blood.  But another mass shooting tops our news, and though many of these heinous attacks are upon targets of opportunity, this one was personal.  Five innocent people lost their lives needlessly, and some want to cast blame on the President and comments he's made about media. 

It is well known that his preferred president has spoken harshly about various journalists and media outlets. It is hard to verify if such comments directly influenced the shooter. Often such comments about President Trump's words about certain media outlets condemn for promoting a hostile atmosphere and possibly inspiring acts of violence among unhinged individuals. Mark Armstrong seems to fail to note that these two topics are actually separate although linked and carelessly assumes these two topics, (1) the motivation of the shooter and (2) President Trump's harsh words against media outlets are actually separate topics but he carelessly assumes the two topics are virtually the same.

He then proceeds to condemn and vilify the left as he so often does.

But the left is doing everything within its power to stoke anger and outrage.  Whether nationwide cable “news” broadcasters or chanting protesters, just look at their faces.  They're not very happy people.  The faces are long on the nightly panels, and you have to wonder where all this anger will lead.  They're out of arguments and seething with hatred.  Triggered, you might say.  And it's going to get worse.

He then discusses the news that his preferred president will soon try to appoint a new judge in the Supreme Court. He labels a judge likely to rule on matters in a right wing leaning manner as a "Constitutionalist." He describes abortion and same sex marriage as "sacred sacraments" for the left which is a bizarre characterization which does not reflect how such people view these matters and also alludes to his anti-Catholic views. Protesters are referred to by Mark Armstrong as the "organized community" which is possibly an allusion to the description of Barack Obama as a community organizer. He also minimizes once again the issue of children being ripped away from parents who happen to be alleged to be undocumented immigrants.

The news of Justice Kennedy's resignation this week has led them to realize that their whole philosophical game plan is in deep trouble.  They figure that if another Constitutionalist is successfully appointed to the Supreme Court, they could find their supreme sacraments outlawed.  Those are of course abortion and “marriage equality,” as they like to call it.  And that means war.  The organized community is doing what it does best, blocking streets and buildings demanding now that the Immigration and Customs agency be abolished today.  Tomorrow?   It's no wonder the protesters are so unhappy.  They have nothing better to do than march with their mouths wide open, throwing their voices to the wind to show how much more virtuous they are than those who will see them on TV or in the newspapers.  They care enough to scream and cry over temporary separations of family members (who may or may not actually be family). 

Mark Armstrong minimizes again the forced separation of children from their parents who happen to be accused of being undocumented immigrants. He insists they are temporary even though there are fears that the situation is worse than that. This separation policy is new and places an additional burden on governmental authorities that tax payers will ultimately have to pay for. Previously children and parents accused of being undocumented immigrants were allowed to stay together. This allowed parents to look after there children and the government would not have to do that itself. But this new policy is causing much distress and puts additional burdens upon tax payers. Already one father has died by suicide because of this policy. There will be more if practices like this are allowed to continue. But Mark Armstrong insists all is well.

Mark Armstrong also calls undocumented immigrants "illegals" even though illegal is a verb, not a noun. One may do something illegal but he or she is not illegal of him or herself. No one is illegal.

American citizens get separated from their children every time there's an arrest, and no one screams in protest.  It happens every day.  If an American citizen put their children through the danger and degradation that the children of illegals have had to endure, authorities would call for Social Services. Before they arrived, where did they sleep?  What plumbed facilities did they use?  When was the last time they took a shower?

Even though most politically motivated violence in the United States is committed by right wing leaning individuals Mark Armstrong scare mongers that protesters will somehow get out of hand. He also scare mongers that someone is organizing them but refuses to say anything here about who such persons would be.

This business of “civil disobedience” could get out of control as it has in the past.  If a decision limiting or outlawing abortion, or discrediting “gay” marriage should come down, what will they do then?  Six hundred were arrested on Capitol Hill yesterday.  They wear arrests like a badge of honor, for having spoken “truth to power.”  Hopefully there are mug shots they can frame and hang on the living room wall, or in their parent's basement, whatever the case.  Funny how those that scream and cry for “the children” of illegal immigrants are the same ones who will “lay their bodies down” to protect a woman's “right to choose.”  It's going to get wild, and it would be interesting to know who's organizing the community.

He mischaracterizes Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission as allowing discrimination against same sex couples even though the Supreme Court actually dismissed the case on a narrow basis and affirmed that discrimination was illegal but still ruled in favor of the bakery because of this other factor.

Also Mark Armstrong gives no acknowledgement or understanding that a major reason why the Democratic Party is so aggrieved by this development that the the Republican led Senate refused to allow President Obama to place another judge on the Supreme Court in 2016. Incidentally one source has stated that no Republican controlled Senate has endorsed a nomination for the Supreme Court by a Democratic Party president since 1894.

Not only did the Supreme Court rule that you don't have to bake a cake for a “gay” wedding, they also ruled that unions can't just extract dues and donate all the money as they see fit, in contravention of the wishes of the worker.  That will prove to be a big deal, and the socialists are seeing red.  They're so upset, they're already protesting the next nomination for the high court, even though no one yet knows who that might be.  They know it won't be a socialist who will vote their agenda, contorting the Constitution in ways that were never foreseen, and fills them with righteous indignation.

Mark Armstrong alleges that the left want America's economy to collapse. Who would want to see their own economic prospects degraded? That sounds like ridiculous hyperbole. He also implies that some sort of evidence exonerating his preferred president is somehow being kept hidden.

They're so mad they hope the economy collapses.  After a year and a half of boring everyone to tears with their breathless Russian Collusion expectations, everything looks to be falling apart.  We saw the smug arrogance of their best hope for bringing down the current presidency on full display during nationally televised hearing this week. Whatever is being concealed must be fatal, because the most powerful law enforcement officials in the land have destroyed their reputations and credibility to buy a week.  Hopefully they're not editing or redacting pertinent passages. 

He then gleefully states his hope that Iran may be weakened with the destruction of the nuclear agreement by his preferred president.

But the world is not standing still, just because we're caught up in the biggest scandal in American history. You might have expected, that with North Korea at least temporarily sidelined that attention might be shifted to Iran.  It's not just that Iran is a theocratic regime and a brutal dictatorship, it routinely sponsors terrorists outside its borders. It has military assets in Iraq and Syria, and finances terrorist organizations in Lebanon and Gaza. They've got a growing economic problem. Their currency has dropped 40% in value since President Trump called off the “deal.”

While discussing the economic impact of his preferred president's violation of the nuclear deal with Iran Mark Armstrong crudely stereotypes the French people as being inclined to cave in while noting that some French firms have decided to stop doing business in Iran.

Our current issue of 21st Century WATCH reveals that valuable contracts with major European corporations might lead Europe to continue doing business with Iran despite U. S. sanctions. But the French have caved (what did you expect). Energy giant Total and automaker Peugeot have decided that continued access to the U. S. market is more valuable than their contracts with Iran and pulled the plug. We'll see what happens with Airbus, which has been supplying all Iran's passenger planes. People are taking to the streets in large numbers, sometimes overwhelming police and calling for regime change. Experts see that as unlikely, but things are liable to come to a head with Iran in the very near future.

And he ends his weekly missive by indulging in vilifying the Pope and the science that say the Earth is undergoing climate change caused by human activity as he so often does.

We wouldn't want to leave the pope out of the discussion. He's convening another global-warming conference in his ongoing campaign to hobble Western society. You may have noticed; global warming alarm is not nearly as prominent as it was a few years ago.  It was never about the climate to begin with.  It was about control and one world governance. That's what the pope wants, it's what the UN wants, it's what the EU wants and it’s what these ugly protesters want desperately. But God gave us freedom and liberty within the law. It's why we're witnessing one emotional meltdown after another. It's just not fair! 

Mark 

And to think there are people tithing to the organization led by this man.

Mark Armstrong Insists Media and DOJ are Conspiring Against President Trump

Mark Armstrong, leader of the Intercontinental Church of God, son of Garner Ted Armstrong, grandson of HWA, has released another weekly update (June 22, 2018). Let's see what he has to say this time.

In response to the strongly negative reaction towards the policy of separating families from their children under the pretext of deterring undocumented immigration Mark Armstrong responds by insisting that media investigations of this issue are a plot to protect the Department of Justice to continue the Mueller investigation.

He focuses on one particular photo without discussing the hundreds of actual cases in which children have actually been separated from their parents.

Greetings from Tyler, 

Hardly anything is what it seems.  The news is not only fake, real news goes unreported.  The viral cover of TIME magazine (it's not even a print magazine anymore), showing a photo-shopped image of the President looking down callously at a crying little girl was supposed to illustrate the lack of compassion toward children “ripped from the arms” of their parents at the border.  These reports are being carried all around the globe.   But the little girl in the faked picture never had been separated from her mother.

The mom had been deported in 2013 and sent home to her family in Honduras where she has a gainfully employed husband and three other children she'd left behind.  Now her little girl has become the poster child for children separated from parents, purportedly treated with brutality by border agents.  

He shows no compassion towards those families destroyed by this policy. Instead he quickly decides to feel sorry for his preferred president. He insists that the discussion about this policy is a distraction by the alleged "massive conspiracy" by the media and the Department of Justice to protect the Mueller probe as part of an alleged attempt to remove Trump from the presidency. (In which case this alleged "massive conspiracy" would have to make Pence president.)

The air-conditioned facilities, with fresh bedding, game rooms and recreational areas are probably the cleanest, most comfortable environments any of these illegal immigrants have ever known.  No one says that on the mainstream news.  They're too busy calling President Trump and all who support his agenda Nazis.  They've shed nary a tear in their fake crying while calling the detention centers “concentration camps” amid accusations of child abuse.  The news is not news at all.  It's a pre-planned diversion to get the public looking the other way, outraged by a President who doesn't possess the compassion of a normal human being.  What do you bet they've got at least two or three tear-jerkers waiting in the wings to distract the public from coming revelations that will further tarnish (if that's possible) top investigators and prosecutors? 

Mark Armstrong insists that the Department of Justice is determined to remove his preferred president. Mark Armstrong dismisses the widespread revulsion and condemnation of the mass separations as a diversion to protect the "massive conspiracy" against his preferred president (to replace him with Pence apparently).

The fact is, the emotional outbursts are a diversion from the biggest scandal in American history.  We often referred to the department of injustice over recent years in detailing one botched case after another, one tortured, impossible explanation after another throughout the Obama years.  Eric Holder, Loretta Lynch, Sally Yates, presided over the Fast and Furious gun running scandal, the Benghazi murders, IRS targeting of conservative organizations, the Clinton-Lynch tarmac stunt, Uranium One, and the State Department – Clinton Foundation fiasco for a start.  It's been obvious to anyone with eyes to see that our top law enforcement agencies were running interference for their bosses, and for themselves for years.  

He complains that people who think the Department of Justice are out to get his preferred president, (like himself perhaps?) are dismissed as conspiracy theorists by "all mainstream media outlets"

Curious observers have been vilified as “conspiracy theorists” by all mainstream media outlets for years.  “How dare you question the integrity of these fine professionals risking their lives every day to protect Americans?” is the familiar refrain, and still they haul out those hollow words.  They continue to act like “Russian collusion” by the Trump campaign is a legitimate scandal, even as evidence spills out that the whole thing was a sting operation, with agents and informants contacting satellite volunteers in the Trump orbit to plant offers of “dirt” on the hunch-back of Chappaquau.  

Mark Armstrong insists that the Department of Justice is hiding information that would clear his preferred president.

Obviously, the so-called Justice department has documents and communications that will clear all this up, but they're concealing them at all costs.  Maybe they will implicate the principals, the “fine professionals” refusing to turn over the information to Congress.  Who knows?  But they're willing to risk their reputations and careers to keep everything secret, even though we've all seen enough to reach obvious conclusions.  Some of the communications, “it's like an insurance policy...”  “No, no he won't, we'll stop it.” are smoking guns.  The context is clear, as is the intent.  Investigations that take years to play out cannot change what these “fine professionals” have done.  

Mark Armstrong insists that the Mueller investigation is not going anywhere. He even incorrectly states that no "culprits have been charged or arrested, let alone tried" even though some of the indicted individuals have already pleaded guilty like General Michael Flynn and even Trump's former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, has recently been sent to jail while awaiting trial over tax evasion charges. If Mark Armstrong can get something like this wrong then is there anything else he is wrong about?

Meanwhile they've been creating our news with fraudulent “leaks” for nearly two years.  We've known enough to draw iron clad conclusions for at least six months, accurate speculations for over a year.  And still we wait, as little has happened.  None of the culprits have been charged or arrested, let alone tried.  Meanwhile the Mueller “probe” goes on, fueling the dreams of mainstream television anchors who tried to tell us Trump would be indicted, charged with crimes, impeached and run out on a rail every day for well over a year.  They were sure they had him on the run this time last year, and he'd be gone any minute.  The “investigations” have bankrupted the likes of General Flynn and others less-well known, and several of the perpetrators (who are the “investigators”) still wield the awesome powers of the Federal government to this day.

He then mentions the current political crisis in Germany.

Last week we told of the crisis in German leadership, threatening to collapse the fragile coalition of Angela Merkel's government.  You realize that the crisis stems from a rebellion on the part of the state of Bavaria over Merkel's insistence that all African and Middle Eastern “migrants” be allowed free passage into Germany or wherever in Europe they intended to land.  The latest word is that all concerned agreed to give Mrs. Merkel two weeks to come up with a “European solution” to the situation. That means she has got to find another country to accept the “migrants” and thereby appease Bavaria. 

He mentions yet another tragic incident in the ongoing refugee crisis of people trying to get through the Mediterranean Sea into Europe. He scare mongers about George Soros here ignoring the fact that there are other rich persons in America who happen to support the Republican Party.

Last week Italy was turning away ships loaded with “refugees” from Libya, refusing them entry to ports.  The vessels are thought to be owned by organizations financed by George Soros.  They were flying the Norwegian flag, and Italy contacted Norway to voice concerns.  But Norway says they're not Norwegian ships at all, and Italy is reportedly in the process of seizing the vessels.  

He scare monger that Europe has changed with the arrival of immigrants. He says Europe has been transformed with "the opening of borders" without ever stating which time period he is referring to.

No one can deny the transformation of Europe since the opening of borders.  Islamist attacks on civilians have killed 357 and maimed 1678 since 2014 according to Heritage Foundation research.  Italy is refusing ships laden with hundreds of refugees, Spain must allow a couple more boatloads to meet the quota set forth by the European Union.  

He then complaints that the media speak harshly about people like himself and his followers.

Europe has been transformed, and to a startling degree, so has the United States.  We're seeing an attempt to turn that around here at home (with questionable success), and the media is calling everyone Nazis, using some of the most vile accusations imaginable as if to instigate violence.  It turns out that communist philosophies are all cuddly and caring, and patriotism is calloused and evil.  It's beginning to look like we'll never get past the false accusations or the vile rhetoric.  

He ends this latest missive of his by taking solace in the thought that more "miracles" may soon occur to strengthen the political standing of his preferred president.

Unless, that is, there are more miracles in store.  Two years ago the idea that the media would have to invent every imaginable distraction to deflect from actual progress on many fronts, was an impossible dream.  But it's a nightmare for those that thought they'd defeated love of country conclusively.  We may be frustrated by the halting pace of truth and justice but imagine the fear and suffering of light loafered geniuses behind the scenes.  Miracles may yet be in the offing, not necessarily on our preferred schedule.  Don't forget how hopeless it looked two years ago.   

 Mark

Even though alleged "miracles" have occurred and he hopes other "miracles" may soon occur he has been consistently harsh and angry in his views of those opposed to his preferred president. There is little talk of hope in Mark Armstrong's weekly missives defending his preferred president.

Mark Armstrong on North Korea, the IG Report and the Mass Separation of Families

Mark Armstrong, leader of the Intercontinental Church of God, son of Garner Ted Armstrong, grandson of HWA has released yet another weekly update (June 15, 2018). Let us see what he has to say this time.

He starts with discussing tensions with Prime Minister Trudeau. Mark Armstrong naturally takes the side of his preferred president.

Greetings from Tyler, 

We left off last week with Trump departing to Singapore for the North Korean summit before the world's economic leaders turned their attention to issues of climate and gender.  That, apparently was a slap in the face to the collection of “globalist” socialists who represent nations with the largest economies.  Canada's Trudeau angered the President's advisors with a press conference held upon Trump's departure.  After making nice in meetings and photo sessions with the President, he went public with claims of Canada having been insulted by the President's posture and boasted that he wouldn't be “pushed around.” 

Mark Armstrong then discusses the recent summit between President Trump and North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un. He complains that the mainstream media are downplaying it.

Historic events are unfolding at a pace that most can't possibly keep up with.  If you think there's been dramatic progress with North Korea, you're either not reading the mainstream press or you've dismissed their predictable reactions to everything to do with President Trump.  Whatever agreement was reached with Kim Jong-un amounts to “a flimsy piece of paper” according to a mainstream flagship publication.  It roundly condemns Trump, claims he got nothing and Kim got everything he wanted. 

How dare reporters happen to say things that critical of Mark Armstrong's preferred president.

Kim won, that's how they see it.  He got notoriety and legitimacy, while Trump left the “human rights” issue out of the equation.  He didn't just overlook the issue, he lavished praise on Kim.  He called him smart, worthy, and honorable, in spite of the brutal treatment Kim's regime visits upon his own people.  Then he saluted a Korean military officer.  “What was he thinking?”  He made remarks  about the love and fervor North Koreans have for their leader, and mainstream analysts wonder aloud whether he may want to employ dictatorial measures here, if for no reason other than to get the kind of adulation Kim enjoys.  That's the mainstream take.  For the record, Kim Jong-un did sign a joint declaration that included “commitment to work toward complete de-nuclearization of the Korean peninsula.”  If that promise is no good, we'll know soon enough.

He then talks about Germany to scare monger about immigrants as he so often does.

Angela Merkel is holding crisis meetings, trying to avoid the collapse of her recently formed government.  The Bavarian leader wants the ability to refuse entry to at least some of the throngs of African and Middle Eastern immigrants entering Germany through his district.  But Merkel says no, there must be no actual limits.  Reports on the matter note that the number flooding in has “decreased sharply.”  Only 64,000 came in the month of April, so why would interior Minister Seehofer risk collapsing Merkel's coalition government?  Extrapolate April's figure with much higher ones for preceding months, add it to the million that were admitted two years ago, and you might be a racist.

He then mentions the IG report about the FBI investigation concerning Secretary Clinton's emails. He insists that it shows evidence that the "investigators loved Hillary and hate Trump" even though the report stated that some New York FBI investigators were opposed to Secretary Clinton.

The report everyone's been waiting on (or a fraction of it), came out yesterday.  It will be a while before the nuances contained in 500 pages are sorted out.  But here's the crux of it.  The investigators loved Hillary and hate Trump.  Their many internal communications prove that fact beyond all doubt.  The lead investigator in both the e-mail case and the Russia collusion fiasco promised Trump would never be president saying, “We'll stop it.”  Maybe you've heard, the word retard as a noun is one of hundreds that the politically correct elite have declared banned from utterance.  Yet these fine professionals at the world's premier law enforcement agency called all Trump supporters exactly that.  But that's not all.  They're lower middle-class, undereducated morons, and Trump himself is an idiot.  It was going to be President Hillary, and that was all there was to it.  Full stop.

He then insists that that these investigators are part of some sort of massive conspiracy with the news media.

As you read what they said, it's clear that their hatred of Trump and any who would support him was all consuming.  There are plenty of passages that would lead the casual observer to conclude that indeed they were ready, able and willing to use any and all official powers at their disposal.  The report also proves that top law enforcement officials (at least a dozen) were accepting gifts of tickets to sporting events, golf outings and invites to private gatherings from reporters.  Who would have guessed the mainstream media must have had a cozy relationship with law enforcement people in the business of bringing down the President?  Funny how they had “breaking news” of the most sinister sort just before air time, night after night for over a year.  Nobody is named.  Not the reporters, media organizations or law enforcement agents.  But it might be interesting to know, someday, just exactly how all these coincidences managed to create over a year's worth of fake news.

He insists that these persons are utterly determined to opposed his preferred president.

They're not through.  It's beginning to look as though they'll never be through.  Nobody in the mainstream ever concedes a point, no matter how valid or well stated.  They shake their heads in disgust, squint suspiciously or simply talk over anything they don't want viewers to hear.  No,  deception is at full throttle, along with deflection.

Recently there has been much concern and horror at the mass separation of children from their parents by immigration authorities under the pretext of deterring undocumented immigrants. Already one father, Marco Antonio Munoz, had committed suicide in despair after his child was ripped away from his possession. It is reasonable to assume that more such terrible incidents will occur if this policy is allowed to continue. Meanwhile Mark Armstrong insists this is a distraction to prevent people learning about the IG report.

The latest obfuscation to deflect from thousands of scandalous bombshells contained in the inspector general's report has been practiced in tandem by numerous outlets (makes you wonder how this always happens).  It is, of course, the separation of children from parents who've entered the country illegally.  Anchors and reporters are shouting, sometimes on the brink of tears wondering how a civilized nation like the U. S. could commit such barbaric acts.  The argument that American criminals remanded to detention of whatever kind are always separated from any children they may have, and that's a fact gets nowhere.  Do you think for a minute that an obvious comparison like that would get acknowledgement from an anchorman from the most trusted name in news?  Not a chance. How about, “This is the law as passed by Congress, and unless or until it's changed it will be enforced.”  No dice. 

Mark Armstrong then complains that so many people are citing the Bible to oppose the mass separation of children from their parents and the destruction of families by governmental fiat. Mark Armstrong also indulges in a bit of ablism by describing some of them as "reading [Biblical passages] aloud with the hint of a lisp."

Jeff Sessions (recused attorney general) made the mistake of invoking the Bible in regard to observance of the law.  What a firestorm that lit.  Suddenly people who hate God's Word, reject everything to do with people of faith were snatching quotes that suited them right and left (completely out of context), and reading them aloud with the hint of a lisp.  It's pretty hard to take.  Obvious deception is always pretty hard to take, and it is now the norm.  It's universal throughout the mainstream media, academia, and nearly every big corporation.  They're not ever going to stop the campaign to deceive those who don't know any better.  At the same time, that's what they accuse their opponents of.  Playing to the ignorant with emotion and outrage, trotting out every compromised expert hack to deceive.  It will be a fact of our existence until God straightens it out. This era of world events, in all its complexity, is without doubt one of the most exasperating ever.  

Mark

And so we see that Mark Armstrong remains fixed in his views even after the recent revelations of the destruction of numerous families under the pretext of deterring undocumented immigration.

Many American Sailors were Abducted by the British Navy in the Early 1800s

HWA insisted over and over again for decades that when the northern kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrians in around 721-18 BC this was the beginning of a period of 2,520 years during which the people of Israel would be denied their birthright by (HWA's) God, namely the possession of vast material wealth and land. HWA insistently proclaimed that this 2,520 year period ended around 1800 and from this point onward Great Britain and the United States of America began to the accumulate vast tracts of land and fabulous wealth in order to fulfill (HWA's) God's promise to Abraham. This was part of his spin on the nonsensical idea of British Israelism.

And yet it escaped HWA's notice that back in 1800 relations between the United States and Great Britain were far from ideal or brotherly. In the early years of the 19th Century the British navy abducted many American sailors and forced them to fight in the war against Napoleonic France. The following in related in John F. Kennedy's Pulitzer Prize winning book, Profiles in Courage. Which was written with the assistance of Ted Sorenson.

As our relations with Great Britain worsened, our ships were seized, our cargoes were confiscated, and our seamen were "impressed" by British cruisers and compelled to serve--as alleged British subjects--in the King's navy. Thousands of American seamen were taken on a organized basis, ships were lost at sea for want of men, and even though able to "prove" American citizenship were frequently refused permission to return. (John F. Kennedy, Profiles in Courage, Chapter 2.)

Later the Leopard, a British war ship, fired on the Chesapeake killing and injuring several Americans. In response to these provocations America retaliated by imposing an economic blockade on Britain. These tensions would later explode giving birth to the War of 1812. At one point the forces of the British Empire burnt down the White House. What terrible days those must have been. The White House burnt to the ground because the nation dared to tell Britain to leave their sea faring citizens in peace.

These events are highlighted to note that this tensions occurred precisely at the moment HWA insisted that (HWA's) God began to withdraw the withholding of national blessings promised to Abraham. This occurred precisely at the time that things were supposed to get better for America and Britain.

Clearly HWA had a very poor grasp of history. But, alas, thousands continue to promote HWA as a great man of God but he was only a false prophet.

Mark Armstrong on G7 Summit

Mark Armstrong, leader of the Intercontinental Church of God, son of Garner Ted Armstrong, grandson of HWA, has released yet another weekly update (June 8, 2018). Let us see what he has to say this time.

This time Mark Armstrong decides to exult in his preferred president's strength by defying the other nations of the G7. He slams French President Macron as an insincere flatterer.

Greetings from Tyler,    

It looks like all the traded compliments amid the pomp and circumstance of the formal State visit accorded French President Macron were less than sincere.  Macron staked his claim to the resuscitation of the Paris Climate Accords, from which President Trump had already withdrawn on behalf of the United States.  Macron pretended his statements of historic friendship and unbreakable alliance might be enough to soften up the Trump administration and convince the President to spare Europe the embarrassment of their little sham (to have been financed by the American taxpayer) going up in smoke.

Mark Armstrong insists that widespread concerns about climate change are a plot to get American tax payers to pay money to other nations.

As you all know, it didn't work.  The French president and his wife returned home, having been honored and treated royally, but without the capitulation they hoped could be achieved.  Neither President Trump nor his supporters are the least bit interested in any plans to redistribute American wealth around the world under the pretense of changing the course of the world's climate or paying reparations to nations that have failed for reasons having nothing to do with the United States or climate.

He praises his preferred president for not getting along with fellow NAFTA partners.

Today members of the G-7 are meeting in Quebec, Canada.  The subject of trade imbalances favoring every partner, but the United States was a key focus of the Trump campaign.  He's let the whole world, including Mexico and Canada, know that the days of taking advantage of unfair trade relations were over.  If it meant scrapping NAFTA over a lack of willingness to negotiate on the part of contiguous countries, oh well…

He states that his preferred president wishes to renegotiate everything.

President Trump has threatened tariffs on trade partners who refuse to revise trade policies that freeze out American companies and farmers.  You've heard it on the news, everything from aluminum and steel to dairy products to cars are on the President's agenda.  You've also heard the wailing and caterwauling here at home about Trump not respecting “free trade,” from all sides of the aisle.  How dare this president treat our allies like this, showing a willingness to pull the rug out from under lucrative arrangements with long-term allies?

He states that President Macron and Prime Minister Trudeau have threatened to economically isoate the United States.

Both Macron and Canadian Prime Minster Trudeau issued a joint statement where they “lashed out” at the president, declaring his intentions to tax their exports of aluminum and steel “an illegal economic assault on their countries.”  They threaten to isolate the United States and enter into a six-nation agreement, apparently trading among themselves and leaving the American market.  That's a bluff that will probably be called.

Mark Armstrong insists a mutually beneficial deal is possible. Then he seems to dismiss the French and Canadian governments, and possibly the other nations of the G7, as "smaller players" compared with his own nation state.

Maybe they haven't noticed, but tough talk and aggressive positioning are essential to this President's strategy of negotiating.  Chances are some compromise, benefiting all involved can be reached.  But maybe not if the smaller players decide to get huffy.

He mocks the European Union as having pretty much collapsed in his view.

President Trump must be really nervous and frightened now that Angela Merkel is quoted calling for a “new world order,” led by Europe and underpinned by the so-called “values” invoked by Macron and Trudeau.  There's only one problem.  Well, actually several problems.  Europe has all but destroyed its central government experiment (known as the EU) with refugees and ill-advised lending.  Merkel is calling upon all of Europe to speak with “one voice,” But that's not about to happen.  Many of the Eastern partners, now to include Italy, have seen all they need to see in terms of the mass importation of refugees, dictated by Germany and the EU.  They've also had their fill of “austerity.” All the talk of diversity lending to strength rings hollow to the point that Europe is incapable of “speaking with one voice,” no matter how many times Frau Merkel mouths the words.

He praises his preferred president's statement calling for Russia to participate in the summit and seems to portray it that statement as being made just to annoy his supposed opponents in the media. 

Then, just today we heard that President Trump intends to stay in Quebec only for the trade sessions and economic discussions.  He's off to Singapore for the summit no one could have predicted only a matter of weeks ago, to try to talk North Korea back from the precipice of real war.  It seems he won't be staying for additional sessions on gender identity and global warming.  Then, as if to light a fire in the hair of news anchors most everywhere, he suggested that Russia should be a part of the economic summit.  Oh boy, that almost proves the accusation of Russian Collusion, doesn't it?  You can watch heads explode tonight if you have the stomach for a lot of manufactured outrage.  Putin may or may not even want to participate in the annual Summit, but Trump's purpose has been served.

He seems to condemn Trudeau, Macron and Merkel for not immediately agreeing with what Mark Armstrong's preferred president should happen to say in regards to trade issues.

Trade is going to happen, whether directly through allies with agreements, or through third parties on the world market.  Trudeau, Macron and Merkel and all the rest can lament that the post WWII order is being disrupted, and maybe it is.  If they wish to be defiant, let them reap the rewards of their warped, politically correct “values.”  Our economy is on fire (in a good way), and they're trying to figure out how to save theirs.  God bless and preserve America.  May the rest of the world get a clue.   

Mark

It seems as though seeing his preferred president get into disagreements with fellow G7 nations has made Mark Armstrong quite happy. But whatever happens at the G7 or afterward nothing will change the fact that the founder of what is sometimes called Armstrongism, Herbert Armstrong, made many inaccurate predictions which prove that he was never sent by God to predict the future. Herbert Armstrong was merely a false prophet and so are his imitators. There is no need to fear their predictions of doom and gloom or to send such persons any money.

PCG's Andrew Müller: "Deep State" Cabal is Waging "Civil War" on President Trump

PCG's resident McCarthyite, Andrew Müller, shrilly insists that the legal problems facing their beloved president, Donald Trump, constitutes some sort of "civil war" against PCG's preferred president.

Bureaucrats in Washington are waging a civil war against the Trump administration. He said he wanted to “drain the swamp,” but the swamp is fighting back. Many commentators are saying that something called the “deep state” is trying to exert its control over the United States government to the point of forcing President Trump from office. (Andrew Müller, Is the ‘Deep State’ Real?, July 2018.)

The possibility that President Trump just might have some part in causing his current legal issues is casually ignored.

One subheading in Müller's article is entitled, "Deep State Coup d’état" even though Müller's preferred president is still in the White House and holds the vast power of the presidency. It is not a coup d’état until the leader is removed.

Furthermore the impeachment process is not a coup d’état at all but a constitutional law that allows the Congress and the Senate to remove the President if there are enough votes to make the removal occur. And since Republicans currently hold the majority of both Congress and the Senate it seems at present unlikely that they will let such a process occur. (Of course that might change after the midterm elections but that is what happens in a democracy. The people are allowed to vote out the incumbent Representative or Senator.)

The impeachment process is not a civil war or a coup d’état. Shouldn't Müller and the editors of PCG's recruitment magazine, namely Gerald Flurry, Stephen Flurry, Joel Hilliker, Brad Macdonald, Richard Palmer, Jeremiah Jacques, Dennis Leap and Phillip Nice, be ashamed of promoting this alarmist misunderstanding?

Müller insists that the people are ultimately to blame for the "deep state's" sinister plot to overthrow PCG's preferred president (to replace him with Vice President Pence apparently).

It is not a coincidence that the deep state has risen as the morality of the nation has fallen. Blasphemy, corruption, covetousness, family breakdown, hatred, idolatry, murder, sexual sins and thievery have consumed America. People have abandoned personal responsibility and biblical morality. They have embraced selfish individualism, social welfare and materialism. As a result, they look to the government to provide, instead of relying on God. By delegating more and more power to the central authority of a human-run government, American citizens have created an administrative state with the power to confiscate the freedoms of those who oppose it. 

Well, at least when one is aided by the government it is a decision made by a government blessed with democracy and popular support. Meanwhile PCG's 1% live off of the tithes and offerings of PCG lay members and co-workers. PCG's leader, Gerald Flurry, once boasted of PCG having an income of "around $19.5 million annually as of 2012" and that income is how PCG's 1% rule over the lay members of PCG.

Müller insists that social tensions will become so severe and terrible "that the whole country will be laid desolate, and its cities will burn with fire." What absurd and blatant scare mongering.

While millions of Americans may now be waking up to the threat this sprawling network of deep-state departments presents to the nation, their populist revolution does not address the root causes behind this crisis. Corruption and bitter division in America today is leading to a conflict so devastating that the whole country will be laid desolate, and its cities will burn with fire. These serious problems are not caused by one man or a group of government officials. Ultimately, they are caused by the sins of the American people as a whole. Only the repentance of the people can prevent the sickness in America’s government from escalating into full-scale revolution and war.

Armstrongism has been constantly promoting doom and gloom to anyone who will listen since the 1930s. Armstrongism gets people upset and scared that disaster will occur but they insist that they have the answer to avoiding this disasters while all the outsiders, unbelievers and infidels (in their eyes) are to endure the horrors of nuclear World War III. Just convert and join their organization and listen to what the 1% of the organization tell you to do for the rest of your life to get that ticket to the place of safety while the world of the outsiders (in their eyes) burn. What a rotten system Armstrongism is.

May their efforts to gain more converts fail. May their efforts to get more tithes payers fail.

PCG's Stephen Flurry Says Satan is Cause of President Trump's Troubles

So there is a lot of press coverage about various troubles concerning the office of the presidency under President Trump.

PCG's heir apparent, Stephen Flurry, implies that the real cause of these problem is that Satan the Devil is attacking his preferred president. He also implies that this alleged attack by Satan against President Trump is quite similar to the Tkach changes in WCG after HWA's death.

In [a certain PCG booklet], my father boldly states that the power behind this assault comes from Satan the devil! 

Satan is very real, and he is the source of the spirit, the ideology and the hate that somehow unites Communists, statists, anarchists, extremists, sexual deviants and other elements of the radical left. He is the one uniting them against a common enemy: the last remaining Bible-based principles of the past. He is also the source of the weakness, the blindness and the apathy of those who aren’t as radical. And he is the source of a movement within the government itself to destroy the government. 

My father brings out that we at the Trumpet have seen this before. The United States is part of the physical descendants of Israel. [That idea is known as British Israelism which happens to be completely wrong.] God’s Church is spiritual Israel. After the human leader of God’s Church (Herbert W. Armstrong) died in 1986, Satan attacked the Church. How did he do it? With a new ideology, with hatred for the past, with powerful leaders at the top, with apathy and confusion among the people. He did it slowly and subtly. He did it by leaders boldly proclaiming that they were loyal to the principles of the past while they knowingly destroyed those principles. He did it by portraying as backward, oppressive and, yes, racist, those who continued to believe and live the way they had always believed and lived. He did it by people ignoring, belittling and forcing out those who didn’t adopt their liberal ideology. 

Does this sound familiar? You will be shocked to see how closely the ongoing attack on the United States government matches the attack on God’s Church. (Stephen Flurry, The U.S. Government Is at War With Itself, The Philadelphia Trumpet, July 2018, p. 14.)

Firing FBI Director Comey while there was this suspicion that it was to stop the investigation into alleged links between the Trump campaign and Russian individuals is not the problem according to this idea promoted by Stephen Flurry. It is Satan's fault that his preferred president faces an investigation by a special counsel.

Allegedly sending out a press release about Donald Trump, Jr.'s meeting with Natalia Veselnitskaya which was soon discredited was not the problem according to this idea promoted by Stephen Flurry. It is Satan's fault that his preferred president faces an investigation by a special counsel and that it the possibility of removal from office before his term expires seems so likely to so many.

Somehow the fact that Vice President Pence would have to succeed Trump if he was removed from office is left unstated. If PCG's 1% are so worried that the removal of their preferred president under the process of impeachment will somehow cause the United States to become more left wing but if Vice President Pence were to be made president he would surely work against that outcome. Why is it that PCG's 1% seem so set on ignoring that fact?

HWA on the Illustrations of "1975 in Prophecy"

The illustrations be Basil Wolverton which were used in HWA's infamous booklet, 1975 in Prophecy, were first published for a series of articles by HWA which were printed in the following issues of his recruitment magazine, The Plain Truth.

• August-September 1954, pp. 1-2, 5-8, 13. 

• October 1954, pp. 3-7, 14-16.

• November-December 1954, pp. 3-7, 12-14. 

• January 1955, pp. 3-5, 12-14.

In the first issue it was entitled "Catastrophic Events Soon to Bring End of the World!" In the second issue the title was ever so slightly changed to "Catastrophic Events Soon to Bring End of This Age!" In the latter two issues it was entitled "Now Revealed—The Book of Revelation." It was sometimes referred to as "Key to Revelation" in the later two issues. The narrative was later published in 1956 as a separate booklet entitled, "1975 in Prophecy."

After publishing those articles he wrote another article entitled "Yes, I Know These Pictures are Terrifying!" in the February-March 1955 issue of his recruitment magazine (pp. 3-4, 13-14). He says the following words praising the graphic nature of Basil Wolverton's illustrations.

When America’s large-circulation national magazines wish to portray the most gruesome pictures, they call on Basil Wolverton to produce them. He has contributed and sold his work to more than fifty national magazines. Life Magazine has devoted, in different issues, whole sections to his pictures. Pageant has, on many occasions, published several-page sections of his work. Time has written him up and reproduced his work. 

Basil Wolverton is one of many hundreds converted as a result of The WORLD TOMORROW broadcast. So, in this life-and-death emergency, I asked him to collaborate with me in proclaiming God’s warning in such a manner that people will really SEE what is now coming on the world. Mr. Wolverton has given understanding of these sure prophecies. [Sic.] He has responded to my request with his whole heart. God has given him great skill in portraying God’s prophecies in almost living REALISM in all their literal horror. 

Never before has Basil Wolverton produced MASTERPIECES such as he has created for The PLAIN TRUTH. He has devoted far more time and zealous effort, brought out more vivid detail, in these pictures than any produced for the great popular magazines of this world. And in sending the first original sketches to us, his attached note said: “After contributing and selling to more than fifty different national magazines in past years, I’m proud to have something published in The PLAIN TRUTH. Looks as though I had all that practice and experience just for this.” Yes, God prepares His servants, in advance, for the work to which He calls them! 

So that is how these outstanding pictures came about. They have been appealing, now, for several months in The PLAIN TRUTH. (pp. 4, 13.)

At the time of its initial publication some readers complained about the illustrations. HWA was not interested in such complaints. HWA got in a huff about it.

Some few have written me gripes and criticisms. Some few have not wanted to SEE such realistic pictures of WHAT’S COMING IN REAL LIFE! Some few have threatened to stop reading The PLAIN TRUTH, unless I stop publishing such realistic pictures! Some don’t want their children to see such pictures!  

Yes, I KNOW these pictures are terrifying-revolting!  

THAT’S WHY WE ARE PUBLISHING THEM! Better show your children what’s coming-better WAKE THEM up-and teach them how to SEEK GOD and His divine protection. Better explain to them that these horrible conditions NEED NOT ever strike them-that they MAY be taken on a flight to a place of SAFETY, where they need never SEE such terrifying scenes in real life. (p. 14.)

It is seen that HWA seemed utterly unconcerned with parents wanting to protect their children from seeing something distressing in his recruitment magazine.

HWA knew that most people who read his recruitment magazine would not be converted to join his following. This simple fact is hysterically portrayed as heartbreaking.

Finally, let’s be realistic! I know that regardless of HOW PLAIN I can make it, most people will never take the warning seriously. Heartbreaking as the realization is, it just simply isn’t in my power to save ALL of you. That knowledge makes me heartsick! (p. 14.)

Some of Basil Wolverton's illustrations that were later used for HWA's booklet, 1975 in Prophecy, also appear in the following issues.

• February-March 1955, pp. 2, 5, 12.

• May 1955, pp. 8-10.

In 1956 Basil Wolverton's illustrations were included in HWA's booklet, 1975 in Prophecy. The narrative in that booklets is quite different from the articles that the illustrations were originally placed in.

At the time this booklet was a major recruitment tool used by HWA's organization. Although he presented no "reasoning" to justify believing that Christ would return in 1975 in that booklet other writings by himself and Herman Hoeh show that he began teaching that Christ would return in 1975 from 1953 onward. Today it is an embarrassing piece of evidence that HWA was but a false prophet. There is no need to fear the dire predictions of HWA or any of his imitators.

(Incidentally PCG often cites this booklet in their writings but often refuse to mention the booklet by name. Instead they often euphemistically state that HWA wrote those quoted words in 1956. There are a few exceptions but they are just exceptions that prove the rule. If HWA's predictions are so sure and reliable why are PCG's leaders so embarrassed at his booklet's title?)

(Update: June 5: This post has been rewritten to reflect the fact that the text of "1975 in Prophecy" is quite different from the articles that the illustrations first appeared in. Also the title of the second article in the October 1954 issue has been added in.)

PCG's Joel Hilliker Implies Attempted Turkish Military Coup was an Inside Job

Back in July 2016 certain elements of the Turkish military tried launch a military coup to overthrow the government led by President Erdoğan. Such an act often risks setting off violence on a mass scale and indeed, in this attempt coup, violence did erupt in the course of trying to accomplish the coup. However the coup did not succeed and by the time the fighting ended over 300 people had been killed in this tragic conflict.

Recently PCG has published an article by Joel Hilliker discussing recent events in Turkey. PCG's Joel Hilliker implies the entire military conflict was an elaborate inside job either allowed to occur or orchestrated by President Erdoğan.

The next summer was when the blood started flowing. On July 15, 2016, a faction within the Turkish armed forces attempted to seize several key sites in the capital and elsewhere. Turks highly respect their military, and since 1960, military leaders have overthrown four duly elected governments for being too religious, in order to protect Turkey’s status as a secular country. For a moment, it looked like time might finally be up for Erdoğan’s regime. But within hours, the effort collapsed. Forces loyal to the president violently repelled the anti-regime soldiers. In the conflict, more than 2,100 people were injured and more than 300 were killed. ... 

President Erdoğan’s first public statement about the coup was telling: He called it “a gift from God.” And that is how he treated it: Seizing the opportunity to eliminate the last remaining opposition to his rule, he had people arrested and fired by the tens of thousands. Critics have compared it to the Reichstag fire that Adolf Hitler used as a pretense to purge his enemies and crush civil liberties within Germany. The results in Turkey were so beneficial for Erdoğan that many believe he may have allowed or even staged the coup himself. Whether or not that is true, Erdoğan certainly emerged as a far stronger strongman. (Source.)

Even though Hilliker insists that "many believe" this allegation he fails to note even one person who says so.

Also PCG teaches elsewhere that Turks are fated to destroyed by PCG's God.

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

PCG's 1% have released the July 2018 issue of their recruitment magazine, The Philadelphia Trumpet. Let us see what they have to say this time.

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

This issue has a circulation of 264,040 issues. This is a slight increase compared with the previous May-June issue which had a circulation of 262,750 issues. The April 2018 issue had a circulation of 247,749 issues. Strangely the March 2018 issue has exactly the same circulation figure of 247,749 issues. February 2018's circulation was 248,247 issues. January 2018's circulation was 247,255 issues. November-December 2017's circulation was 246,769.

Gerald Flurry has a personal article insisting that America has somehow forgotten God. He approvingly cites George Washington and Abraham Lincoln as men who were had the wisdom and foresight to seek to placate God. It so happens that Flurry conveniently ignores the fact that both Washington and Lincoln held religious views very different from that taught by PCG and the COGs in general.

Stephen Flurry has an article scare mongering that some sort of "deep state" cabal is plotting to overthrow his preferred president. Of course if President Trump was removed from office he would simply be replaced by Vice President Pence.

Brad Macdonald has an article promoting an exhibit in PCG's headquarters of some of the artifacts discovered in the archaeological dig partly sponsored by PCG. Regardless of what they may happen to find digging in the Holy Land PCG's reputation among the COGs and those formerly associated with them will remain as abysmal as ever.

Richard Palmer has an article discussing cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.

Andrew Müller has an article scare mongering that the "deep state" cabal is plotting to launch some sort of coup d'etat against his preferred president. Presumably this "deep state" cabal is devoting so many people and so much strenuous effort towards an alleged plot which will result in making Pence the President of the United States.

The Infographic condemns various government agencies as somehow constituting an unconstitutional fourth branch of power. It should be noted that PCG's 1% tend to be very sympathetic towards the Republican Party.

Jeremiah Jacques has an article encouraging readers to enjoy the outdoors. PCG members' payment of three tithes to PCG's 1% would make it harder for many PCG members to enjoy such things.

Joel Hilliker has an article discussing the power of Turkish President Erdoğan. It also mentions that a Turkish journalist had an interview with PCG's recruitment magazine.

Joel Hilliker also has an article advising readers how to pray to PCG's God.

Joel Hilliker also has an article advising the elder generation to teach the young.

Stephen Flurry has an article calling upon the recruitment magazine's readers to do what PCG's 1% want them to do and get more involved with PCG by funding them and/or even joining their organization.

Note how retaining information presented in PCG's recruitment magazine is equated with receiving knowledge from PCG's God.

Are you willing to go all the way for God? Are you truly supporting God’s work, or do you just think you are? Are you doing something with the knowledge God is giving you through the Trumpet, or are you content to read and listen while doing nothing about it? Are you waiting it out, hanging on and doing your own thing until Jesus Christ returns? (p. 35.)

May Stephen Flurry's plea for more tithes paying members and co-workers fail miserably.

WorldWatch discusses tensions between Iran and Israel in Syria; Israel's leaking of information regarding various nuclear activities pursued by some Iranians until 2003; the violent suppression of Palestinian protesters in blockaded Gaza by the Israeli military with over 100 Palestinians being killed by Israeli military personnel between March 30 and May 15, 2018; the Shanghai Cooperation Organization holding a meeting in Beijing on April 24; Japan's establishment of an Amphibious Deployment Brigade on April 7; the assassination of over eighty politicians in Mexico by drug cartels; scare mongering that India and China are getting closer together; religious issues in Europe; Poland's purchase of a Patriot missile defense system from the United States; and the establishment of a NATO naval command in Rostock, Germany.

Even though the Israeli military knew that protests would be held on May 15, 2018 as early as late March it still happened that Israeli military personnel killed about fifty-nine Palestinians on that day of despair. Many of those Palestinians were shot to death. One Palestinian infant suffocated to death because of tear gas. But in the strictly partisan worldview of PCG's 1% it is who Palestinians bear responsibility and blame, not the well equipped military personnel who pulled the triggers or those managing them. This attitude within PCG's 1% may be seen in the following passage.

During their demonstrations, Palestinian rioters flung stones, rolled burning tires and flew kites with incendiary attachments and tried to cross the border into Israeli territory. Israeli security forces killed more than 100 protesters and injured 7,000 others. Most of these protesters were not defenseless or innocent; they were terrorists or Hamas operatives and Palestinians who agreed with the goals of Hamas or were coerced by Hamas to the front lines of the riots. (p. 28.)

PCG often discuss events concerning the State of Israel since they assume that events concerning that nation state will herald Christ's return. They have reduced the State of Israel into a weatherman of their superstitions. Most Israeli Jews will profoundly disagree with such views.

SocietyWatch scare mongers about an attempt to be more accepting of transgender persons in Canada; implies that high divorce rates correlates with the opioid problems; the situation regarding Alfie Evans; and scare mongering that young people are not aware of the Holocaust.

There are letters. Here's a letter from Ontario from a person who seems to be convinced that the United States will collapse.

You are right in the article “Saving America from the Radical Left—Temporarily.” America wants communism. Get used to “grass soup,” as Venezuela is doing now. America is full of resources but has squandered its opportunity for advancement with the nation’s reckless spending spree—on someone else’s dime! I expect America to collapse, and that will do unknown damage to other countries.

Here's a letter from India.

It is very hard for me to express my feelings regarding the Philadelphia Trumpet magazine. It is the best possible thing to receive if you’re studying about Christianity and learning the teachings from the Holy Bible. It gives a deep knowledge about world politics, and the way you relate every prophecy to world events is such a great thing that only blessed people can do.

Here's a letter from Pennsylvania which accuses "news on TV" as seeking to mislead people.

I would like to thank you for sending me the Trumpet magazine. It is very educational. The news on TV today is designed to mislead people with information. I am in search of the truth, and that is why I read my Bible, because the truth is God.

And so we see that PCG's 1% have produced an issue of their recruitment magazine designed to gain new converts and to keep believers convinced that PCG's 1% are worthy of their loyalty, tithes and offerings. PCG's leader, Gerald Flurry, once boasted of PCG having an income of "around $19.5 million annually as of 2012" and this recruitment magazine seeks to keep that income intact.

Overview of the May-June 2018 Issue of PCG's Philadelphia Trumpet

PCG's 1% released their May-June 2018 issue of their recruitment magazine. Let us see what they have to say this time.

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

This issue has a circulation of 262,750 issues. This is an increase from the April issue which had a circulation of 247,749 issues. Suspiciously the March 2018 issue has exactly the same circulation figure of 247,749 issues. February 2018's circulation was 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.

Gerald Flurry has a personal article insisting that if President Trump is somehow removed from office that this would be utterly horrible. Even though Pence would become President if Trump were to be removed from office the possibilities of such an eventuality are casually ignored.

Dennis Leap has a little article insisting that George Orwell's novel, 1984, is actually an exposure of left wing politicians even though Orwell himself was actually a leftist. Orwell was so left wing he even left the Labour Party because he felt they did not go far enough. Orwell's left wing politics are casually ignored by Leap.

Joel Hilliker has an article insisting that the massacre at Parkland should not be used as a call for reforms regarding gun control.

Stephen Flurry has an article bemoaning that there are not enough manly men in American society today. Is he talking about men among the laity within PCG? Perhaps if PCG's 1% were not so controlling towards the lay members they would be surprised with what PCG's lay members are really capable of without being under the control of PCG's 1%.

Jorg Mardian has a little article talking about breastfeeding.

Richard Palmer has an article scare mongering that America is about to enter some sort of trade war with China. While that is entirely likely with recent decisions made by the Trump Administration it must be noted that this article fits in with a pattern of scare mongering that some sort of economic cataclysm will soon strike the United States.

The Infographic scare mongers that some sort of "trade war" will soon arise with the United States, Canada and Britain on one side shaded blue while Brazil, South Africa, India, Japan, China, Russia and various European nations are menacingly shaded red and labelled as being part of a "mart of nations" which will allegedly conspire to impose some sort of economic blockade upon the alleged Israelite nations. PCG incorrectly teaches that the white people of Britain, the United States and certain other places are descendants of the so-called "ten lost tribes of Israel." This idea, a form of British Israelism, is not true.

Jeremiah Jacques scare mongers about Xi Jinping's power within China.

Jeremiah Jacques also has an article scare mongering about Vladimir Putin after he gained another six year term to remain in office.

Richard Palmer also has an article discussing the Italian elections on March 4, 2018.

Joel Hilliker has a little article encouraging people to be more loving to their spouses.

Andrew Müller has a little article which condemn calls to restrict access to deadly guns in the hope of preventing massacres such as the one in Parkland, Florida.

We all sympathize with the survivors of the Parkland mass murder. Their grief is real. Their lives are precious. We should work to prevent more school shootings. But should children be the ones to forge policy? Should a grieving child who falsely proclaims it is easier to buy a gun than make weekend plans be able to attack the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution? Is it morally right for high school students to scream “murderer” at a woman who had nothing to do with the Parkland massacre just because she works for an organization that defends the right of law-abiding citizens to own a firearm? (p. 35.)

When Müller rhetorically asks "should children be the ones to forge policy?" it seems to escape Müller's notice that student protesters are not able to make laws. Legislators do that.

Those protesting against the power of the National Rifle Association are slurred as having a "spirit of lawlessness" and a "spirit of rebellion" thus signifying the disapproval of PCG's 1% toward this protest movement.

While some of the problems these teens protest are legitimate, the same spirit of lawlessness that has overtaken the Me Too and Black Lives Matter movements has also engulfed this movement. This spirit of rebellion threatens to unleash more chaos than it solves. Yet adults across the nation are getting in line behind their children. (p. 35.)

The fact that gun massacres occur far more often in the United States than in any other developed nation is casually ignored.

WorldWatch discusses the coalition negotiations after the indecisive elections in Germany; the Protestant spouses of Catholics in Germany being allowed to take communion; the creation of new command centers for NATO; the tragic war in Syria; the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela; tensions in Ethiopia; and the legalization of the confiscation of farmland without compensation in South Africa.

SocietyWatch scare mongers that San Francisco is filthy; condemning a case before the Supreme Court concerning discrimination against members of the LGBT community; condemning the increase of fathers staying at home to raise their children; and scare mongering about some rich persons buying bunkers to prepare for a possible doomsday like event.

There are letters. Even though PCG's recruitment magazine is mainly intended for an American audience they are quite happy to get attention from anyone they can. Here is a letter from a man in Panama.

Please, don’t underestimate the importance this publication has for me. I’m always on the lookout for the arrival of your much-valued publication. I find your magazine very informative in religious as well as political matters. I would like to request Nuclear Armageddon Is ‘At the Door.’ [A recruitment booklet by Gerald Flurry.] I have, as a child, gone through World War II in occupied Holland and that experience was bad enough in itself. World War III is indeed at the door and inescapable and will surpass World War II in destructive power! Man’s entire history is one of war with peace at intervals in between. Whatever man has invented in weapons of war has sooner or later been put to use. May God bless the important educational work you are doing.

It is awful that PCG's scare mongering about some future World War III have distressed this man who went through World War II as a child.

Here is an email from a person who used to subscribe to The Plain Truth recruitment magazine.

I have been receiving the Trumpet magazine for approximately two decades. I found it in my chiropractor’s office in 1996. I used to read the Plain Truth but stopped after becoming alarmed and bewildered by the changes in the late 1980s. I wasn’t aware Mr. Armstrong had died till finding the Trumpet.

I would advise this person to ignore their writings and, most importantly, do not give them any money.

Here's a letter from Nigeria.

I was watching some videos on YouTube and stumbled on the Isaiah seal archaeological discovery. Having studied history and international studies, it caught my interest, so I decided to watch the other suggested videos. “Why So Much Hatred for Israel” was very insightful and educational. He read from Romans 2:29 to enlighten us on who a Jew is in our current dispensation. Toward the tail end, he introduced me to the organization’s website. He also counseled on the need to subscribe. I would like to receive a copy of that publication. Keep up the good work! I pray for God’s grace and wisdom to guide you and your organization as you serve humanity.

(The writer seems to be referring to a video hosted by Stephen Flurry entitled “Why So Much Hatred for Jews?” which was released on July 24, 2014 during the war in the Gaza Strip that was occurring at that time.)

Regardless of what they dig up in the Holy Land or how pious they make themselves sound when talking about the problem of anti-Semitism PCG's reputation among those formerly associated with the COGs and the other COG groups will remain as abysmal as ever.

And so we see that PCG's 1% has produced yet another issue of their recruitment magazine to gain more converts and reinforce loyalty and awe among those who believe what PCG's 1% say to them. PCG's leader, Gerald Flurry, once boasted of PCG having an income of "around $19.5 million annually as of 2012" and this recruitment magazine seeks to keep that income intact.

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

PCG released the April 2018 issue of their recruitment magazine. Let us see what they have to say this time.

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

This issue has a circulation of 247,749 issues. This happens to be the exact same number used in the previous March 2018 issue.

Gerald Flurry has a personal article boasting about a seal that seems to bear the name of Isaiah.

Brad Macdonald has a article discussing this latest seal. It does not matter how many artifacts PCG helps to uncover. PCG's reputation among those formerly associated with the COGs and the other COG groups will remain as abysmal as ever.

Stephen Flurry has an article scare mongering about the federal debt.

Richard Palmer has an article discussing surveillance technology in an alarmist manner.

Jeremiah Jacques has an article discussing China's attempt to claim the South China Sea using fishing boats.

Gerald Flurry has an article discussing the Nunes memo which is presented as evidence that the left is engaged in some sort of massive plot to work against his preferred president.

The Infographic presents a timeline of the events leading up to the release of the Nunes memo.

Stephen Flurry has an article encouraging readers to study history.

Dennis Leap has an article complaining about alleged "political correctness" supposedly silencing essential opinions.

Jack Wood has an article scare mongering about European states arming themselves to prepare for any possible complication concern Russia. Jack Wood might be related to Callum Wood.

WorldWatch mentions German arms being sold to various countries; Turkey's recent military offensive against Syrian Kurds in Afrin; Germany being friendly with Turkey; the suppression of protests in Iran; scare mongering that Iran and its allies may expand into the Mediterreanean; the Doomsday Clock being moved to 11:58 p.m.; scare mongering that Russia and China are planning to make weapons against US satellites; and tensions regarding the South China Sea and Taiwan.

SocietyWatch scare mongers about the expenditure for welfare in California; an announcement by the US Treasury of burrowing $955 billion for 2018; scare mongering that teenagers are delaying maturity; and accusing the Confucius Institute of "infiltrating American colleges with Communist propaganda" (p. 31).

Joel Hilliker has a little article encouraging his readers to be generous.

Joel Hilliker has an article bemoaning the supposed loss of morality among Americans citing those who would steal from a self checkout. The COGs have constantly and continuously moaned about Americans supposedly failing to live up to their standards since the 1930s. They will never be satisfied.

There are letters. PCG's recruitment magazine is mainly written for an American audience but they will accept attention from anyone willing to give them undue attention. Here's one letter from Eritrea.

I follow you via the magazine that I got from a friend, the Internet and downloads from your pages. Thanks for all the news events you give us, which are sometimes also correlated with biblical prophecies. Sometimes I get shocked or surprised. I really loved the January 2017 issue (that's when I first heard of you), especially the foundation of leadership; it is indeed a personal lesson and has helped me a lot about developing self-control. I enjoy your infographic illustrations too.

Here's a letter from California praising PCG for their scare mongering about the medieval Holy Roman Empire and the inflammatory allegation that Simon Magus started the Roman Catholic Church. That allegation is used by the COGs to discredit, not only the Catholic Church, but also the Protestant churches in general as creations of Satan. This idea is promoted in order to gain converts for PCG.

I received the booklet The Holy Roman Empire in Prophecy written by Brad Macdonald, and I am grateful for you showing me the truths about how Simon Sorcerer Magus was able to corrupt and transform the Roman Catholic Church into a universal counterfeit church using the name of Jesus Christ to advance his evil motives. Macdonald's arguments, supported by biblical teachings, were very convincing and replete with proofs from historical sources and comments from prestigious historians. 

And so we see that PCG's 1% has produced another issue of their recruitment magazine seeking to gain more tithes paying converts and to keep believers convinced that PCG's leaders are worthy of loyalty and of receiving their tithes. PCG's leader, Gerald Flurry, once boasted of PCG having an income of "around $19.5 million annually as of 2012" and this recruitment magazine seeks to keep that income intact.

Did PCG's God Curse California?

For many years now PCG's leaders have insisted that their bizarre version of the Christian has somehow cursed California for being the site of the headquarters of Tkach's WCG.

But is that true? Is there evidence to either prove or disprove this claim?

Franklin [Graham] has come to California to pierce the "blue wall," because he says our state is in trouble. Our beautiful state, with its beautiful surplus in the Treasury, more money to schools and with roads being repaired, is something Franklin sees as being "in trouble." Our economy has surpassed the UK's, making us the 5th largest economy in the world. (Karoli Kuns, Crooks and Liars, May 31, 2018.)

PCG's God sure has a strange way of cursing California. Today California alone has a larger economy than all of Britain. California is the fifth largest economy in the world.

Once again PCG's 1% are proven to be in error yet again.

Mark Armstrong's Weekly Update of June 1, 2018

Mark Armstrong, leader of the Intercontinental Church of God, son of Garner Ted Armstrong, grandson of HWA, has released another weekly update to his followers (June 1, 2018).

Let's see what he has to say this time.

He mentions developments regarding North Korea in order to imply that mainstream media outlets are desperate to portray his preferred president in the worst possible way. The possibility that negative media coverage just might reflect reality is casually ignored.

Greetings from Tyler, 

No sooner than we'd sent last week's Update, when it was common knowledge that the President had canceled the proposed peace summit with North Korea, news came that North Korea had changed its tune and the summit might be back on. You've seen the apparent progress in recent days, with the North Korean representative coming to New York for consultations with Secretary Pompeo. The most recent development is that a letter from Kim Jong-un has been hand delivered to the White House, and the June 12 summit in Singapore may be back on, much to the chagrin of mainstream outlets. How they'll spin a successful peace agreement with North Korea as a bad thing, should that be the outcome, remains to be seen. 

He then discusses events regarding the war in Afghanistan.

The Taliban has reportedly conducted a “Spring Offensive” reign of terror across Afghanistan, gaining territory, attacking Police stations and killing officers. Apparently some fifty of their leaders gathered for a secret meeting, and the result looked much like what we saw in Syria. A particular residential compound went up in a ball of smoke and dust leaving everything around virtually undisturbed.

He once again slurs the media as being somehow unpatriotic in regards to the war with the Taliban.

The men killed are described of the top echelon of Taliban commanders and are believed to have been at a planning session for further operations. Military spokesmen were quick to point out that the strike won't mean an end to Taliban mayhem in Afghanistan, but it certainly represents a setback for their cause. The Taliban quickly dismissed the report as propaganda. They called it an attack on a residence where a handful of civilians were killed. You won't see much of this in the mainstream news. One major network offered it as, “The U. S. said...” which indicates a degree of skepticism about the authenticity of the report. It is doubtful you'll see any panels of seven to discuss the ramifications. A report like this doesn't fit the narrative.

Why is it wrong for reporters to state that the information they happen to be presenting originates from the US government? It seem perfectly reasonable to be transparent about such things. But Mark Armstrong decides to use such honesty to slur the mainstream media outlets as being somehow unpatriotic or even disloyal.

Mark Armstrong then goes on a rant against LGBT communities while discussing events occurring far away in Britain.

Apparently, there is still competition between the Anglican and Catholic hierarchies. Not to be outdone by the pope's blessings bestowed on homosexuality, the Anglican church is openly calling for trans-gender priests as part of their current “diversity drive.” Apparently, they think that “young people” will be attracted back into the fold if the doctrines of political correctness are incorporated into the “faith.” 

Mark Armstrong condemns attempts to restrict so-called conversion therapy.

Here's proof from a quote carried by Britain's Guardian. “The guidance, titled 'welcoming and honoring LGBT+ people,' (not enough letters in the alphabet to ID all perversions) warns that the church's reputation as being unwelcoming towards gay and transgender people is stopping young people attending.'” The “Church” already called on the British Government to outlaw so-called “conversion therapy.” Political Correctness holds that there is no cure, and if there were it would be discriminatory and hateful. Leaders have gleaned that the Anglican Church is regarded as “homophobic and trans-phobic” and it's costing them. So, the answer is obvious. Trans-sexual priests! That ought to fix it.

He then switches topic to once again denounce anyone who should dare mention that the excess emission of carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases are contributing to climate change. And since Pope Francis happens to be holding a meeting discussing this issue Mark Armstrong also denounces him.

Good news doesn't get a lot of press. The roaring economy, record low unemployment and the scandalous reports of the U. S. becoming energy independent is anything but good news to the mainstream purveyors of information. So the pope himself is getting involved. He's hosting a meeting in Rome to include CEO's of the major energy producers and their investors to warn that their successes are contributing to “climate change,” the current euphemism for “global warming.”

Mark Armstrong praises the course America is taking under his preferred president. Those who do not share Mark Armstrong's insistence that climate change is not happening are viewed in a hostile manner.

This meeting is crucial, particularly in light of America's departure from the Paris Climate Accords, the gutting of EPA regulatory mandates and other environmental outrages committed by you know who. It's all on the corporations now to enforce the doctrines of political correctness, as current White House leadership has turned its attention, and ours, to other matters. With the weight of the Vatican, and the cooperation of corporate executives under the premise of belief in man-made “climate change” as a Christian prerogative, global warming can be revived as a crisis in everyone's mentality. We'll see.

Mark Armstrong then mentions the recent attack in Belgium, a land far away from his home in Tyler, Texas. Mark Armstrong and many of the COGs in general has a long history of scare mongering about Muslims.

Maybe you've heard about the broad daylight attack on two female police officers in the city of Liège, Belgium. Or maybe not. It seems an Islamic convert with a western name ran up behind two police-women checking parking meters, stabbed them, relieved one of her revolver and then shot them to death while screaming “Alhua Akbar!” as reported by witnesses. He then shot and killed someone sitting in the passenger seat of a car before hiding in a nearby school where he took a cleaning lady hostage. He reportedly spared her life when she said she was an observant Muslim. One report claims he wounded another four officers in the shooting rampage that ensued when he emerged from the school. He was a prisoner, convicted of numerous crimes, on a one-day release from jail. Maybe Belgium will re-think its prisoner release policy.

He then briefly mentions the new government in Italy.

The EU had reason to panic this week. Italians are backing parties critical of the economic burdens imposed by bail-out agreements to deal with crushing debts. While the successful parties are what they call Euro-skeptics, they're also environmentalist, which raises additional questions.

He ends his weekly screed by scare mongering about the economy in Turkey.

There have been a rash of events that call the survival of the European Union into question. After recent years of economic gains and profits, Turkey's economy is faltering. That might not call the survival of the EU into question were it not for the fact that Spanish, French and German banks have loaned big money to Turkish institutions. Consequently, there has been a rash of headlines all over Europe calling the future of the EU and its survival into question. How many defaults can be weathered, and what comes next for Europe will be a focus of our interest.  

Mark

He then adds a postscript boasting of their attempts to gain converts. He alludes to their recruitment magazine, Twenty-first Century Watch.

P. S. All this and much more will be covered in the upcoming edition of TCW. Here are more statistics on the “boosts” of the Ten Commandments booklet, the Miracle of Pentecost booklet and the Abomination of Desolation in Spanish. Over 1 million have been “reached” by our posts between Passover and Pentecost, and we had over 27,000 first time visitors to our website in the month of May.

And so we see that Mark Armstrong continues to promote his views to his followers in the Intercontinental Church of God.