Part 2 of Reading PCG's That Prophet (Royal Vision)

Let us now read what Gerald Flurry wrote in the July-August 2000 issue of Royal Vision. It was in this issue of Royal Vision that Flurry proclaimed to PCG members the "new revelation" that he was "That Prophet", a personage he claims was written of in numerous part of the Bible and that he, Gerald Flurry, fulfills this role. Flurry first made this declaration in the ministerial conference of 1999. This Royal Vision article announced this declaration to PCG members in printed form. It contains six articles listed as different "Parts". You can read this magazine issue courtesy of PCG Information.

This is a continuation from Part 1 of this reading which covered Part 1 and Part 2 of this magazine issue.

Part 3

Here Flurry insinuates that Ezekiel 33:1-6 was a prophecy about Winston Churchill and World War II.

Ezekiel 33:1-6 may be talking directly about what happened in World War II: “Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman …” (verses 1-2). God did bring the sword upon Israel to correct us, and a man named Winston Churchill came on the scene, and the people set him up as their watchman. God had a hand in it, but still, the people chose Churchill.(p. 13.)

Actually the people of Britain did not choose Churchill. Placing him in Cabinet and then picking him as Prime Minister was a decision made by the leaders of the national unity government in Britain at the time. For one who often complains that no one outside PCG knows history Flurry has gotten this fact completely wrong.

This is not about a Winston Churchill; this is a direct message from God to Israel! If they don’t hear God’s watchman, there is only invasion and captivity, worse than any ever known. (p. 14.)

Once again Flurry is talking about himself. Behold the arrogance of this man. He mentions Winston Churchill in order to claim he is just like him.

Yes, it is coming. It is coming speedily! God warns us to either submit to His government now or learn a big part of that lesson by being conquered by the Nazis. (pp. 14-15.)

HWA and his pathetic imitators have been shrilly claiming this to be the case since the 1930s without interruption, often vehemently asserting that the Great Tribulation and Christ's return are just a few years away. As seen elsewhere Flurry likes to portray events otherwise but that is the truth.

***

Once again Flurry shows his sick imagination in order to demonize the other COG groups.

God’s watchman prophesies against His shepherds who do this. The first book I wrote, the foundational publication of the Philadelphia Church of God, was Malachi’s Message, which is specifically aimed at warning the ministers, the shepherds! Laodicean ministers have DRIVEN God’s sheep away. Now the Church members are, as verse 5 describes, just spiritual meat for the demons. God’s Laodiceans have no watchman or prophet, and they are being ripped apart by Satan and his demons! (p. 15.)

Why does Flurry demonize the other COG groups all the time? Partly it is because Flurry knows that he had little standing within HWA's WCG. At the time he was just another minister. Aside from his assistant, John Amos, no other WCG minister joined Flurry's following. Flurry fears that PCG members will realize that his claim to be HWA's successor is actually quite weak compared to other WCG ministers who left Tkach's WCG. In response to this perceived threat Flurry constantly demonizes them in order to make PCG members scared from leaving any other COG group.

It also serves to "prove" to PCG members that he (Gerald Flurry) is the bearer of "new revelation" because it was in Malachi's Message that Flurry proclaimed that it was necessary to join PCG in order to be a Philadelphian and not a Laodicean. His demonization of the Laodiceans was the first "new revelation" and it reminds PCG members that he is the bearer of "new revelation", the sole legitimate successor to HWA.

***

By no means does God’s watchman have an easy job. But how can he possibly fail if he does just what God commands him? “And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house” (verse 6). People will have strong words, but that’s okay, God says. Because I am supporting you, just step out and tell them what I say. Soon I will make them see you were carrying my message. (p. 16.)

While in other parts of the world Christians are viciously persecuted and even martyred for believing in Jesus Christ, over in Edmond, Oklahoma one Gerald Flurry is worried about some "strong words" that may be used again him.

***

On pages 17-18 Flurry quotes an article by HWA in the June 1961 issue of The Plain Truth in which he talks of how he trained Herman Hoeh how to write articles and doing this with Roderick Meredith and Richard David Armstrong. And then Flurry takes advantage of this to condemn the two surviving men for not submitting to Gerald Flurry and his PCG. Hoeh stayed within Tkach's WCG and Meredith left to start up his own COG group. 

The world of WCG's ministers was severely hierarchical. Flurry was a late comer compared to Hoeh and Meredith, only being ordained around 1973. They and every other senior WCG minister would have viewed as Flurry as far beneath themselves in the pecking order of WCG. There was no way they would have ever submitted themselves to Flurry. No wonder only one WCG minister, John Amos, chose to join Flurry's following.

This is probably one reason why Flurry demonizes the other COG groups so viciously and crudely. He fears that PCG members will leave his group when they see how unimportant he was within HWA's WCG and wonder why such a man should dare proclaim himself the sole heir to HWA's power and authority.

(Page 18 has a picture of the February 1962 issue of The Plain Truth.)

***

Flurry says Britain like a silly dove and will inevitably fall into Germany's clutches and be conquered.

Ephraim, or Britain has a "silly dove" foreign policy! No silly dove nation can endure in a world full of hawks and tigers! This is a strong warning to a once-mighty nation. How terrifyingly weak they have become. (p. 18.)

This was just about a year before 9/11. Shortly afterwards Britain sent armed forces into Afghanistan and Iraq. Clearly Flurry does not know what is going to happen. This is yet another false prophecy Gerald Flurry has made.

***

Part 4

Here Flurry talks about how great HWA was and then says that he himself possesses the same ability to present "new revelation" from God.

Just look at all the truth God revealed to Mr. Armstrong during his ministry. I never looked upon him as just another man. I saw him as an individual who had something I didn’t have—God's special revelation for the world and God's Church. I know God revealed truth to him. It didn’t come from Mr. Armstrong. It came from God through Mr. Armstrong.

When God gives a man a charge, He also gives that man something extra, something no one else has. He gives that man His revelation to proclaim.

God has given me that same advantage He gave Mr. Armstrong. He has given me a wealth of revelation to proclaim—not because of anything I’ve done, but because He wants to give it to you and then have all of us deliver it to the world. God wants you to have what I have. He also wants you to submit to His loving government. That’s why He has given me so much revelation. (pp. 22-23.)

Part of submitting to "God's government" is paying Flurry's PCG three tithes and extra offerings. And that exploitative system is here labeled "loving".

***

Notice what this woman’s problem was above all. “Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another: for thy people are as they that strive with the priest” (Hosea 4:4). The people strive with the priest, or the one who administers God’s law and government. The Hebrew word for “priest” here denotes chief priest. The Laodiceans are not in God’s inner court today because they have rejected God’s chief ruler! That is the heart of the Laodicean problem. They will not follow a man as he follows Christ. (pp. 24-25.)

Finally Flurry begins to admit the truth: Flurry demonizes the Laodiceans because they are not in PCG paying him the three tithes and extra offerings. They are Laodicean because they are not in PCG.

"The Laodiceans are not in God’s inner court today" is simply PCG jargon for saying that the members of the other COG groups are not in PCG and PCG's leaders constantly say that not being in PCG is evidence of all kinds of spiritual failings and deficiencies. Not being in PCG is presented as a state of being not worthy of existence. This is what Lifton called the dispensing of existence and is one of the criteria for thought reform.

Also note how Gerald Flurry calls himself "God's chief ruler". He certainly does not have any lack of self esteem.

***

Insert

It is well known that Flurry says Malachi's Message is the Little Book. Flurry also says Malachi's Message is the Flying Scroll of Zechariah. He says this in an insert after Part 4 on pages 26-28.

Flurry says one must be continually thankful for the dogmas of HWA and Flurry. 

If we have a spiritual focus, we will be continually thanking God for His revealed prophecies. Mr. Armstrong often said our greatest sin was ingratitude. Are we spiritual enough to continually thank God for His revealed prophesies? (p. 28.)

Says an anti-Flurry (like an antichrist) is on scene now and likely to gain greater prominence. This is similar to what he wrote in his booklet, The Lion Has Roared.

Again this "new revelation" is simply an addition to what he said in Malachi's Message.

Flurry talks about PCG members measuring God's temple yet the Scripture he uses specifically says not to measure the outer court.

***

Part 5

This part is entitled "The Elisha Work". This is yet another change from HWA's teachings because HWA did not teach that there would be an Elisha after him, as PCG Information shows. 

***

Flurry says HWA felt most in WCG did not get it.

Mr. Armstrong, the end-time Elijah, felt very alone toward the end of his life. He knew that most of his brethren didn't "get it." (p. 30.)

As shown in a previous post this is actually referring to HWA's Pentecost sermon in 1985 discussed a specific matter of his teaching, namely that WCG members are called to teach the rest of humanity into the God Family. He was talking about that.

And as for HWA feeling alone near the end of his life maybe he should have been a bit more reasonable towards those close to him and he might not have been in that situation. David Robinson was of the opinion that HWA never knew how to make a friend. His megalomania and sociopathic tendencies blinded him to true friendship.

***

No wonder God calls them his very elect, or elite. (p. 30.)

Flurry very often likes to tell his followers that they are the elite of the world because they are in PCG. He tells PCG members they are like God's precious jewels, far more valuable then the rest of humanity blinded from knowing that PCG in the one true church and that what Gerald Flurry says is true.

***

Flurry says that Elijah raised up three colleges. So did HWA. It is not mentioned that one of them was shut down under HWA's watch. (p. 31.)

***

Once again Flurry shows his sick imagination about the dire future he insists is just around the corner despite the many times HWA and his imitators have made false and inaccurate prophecies.

Elisha was given a vision of what this evil man [Hazael] would do to Israel. It was a prophecy that was not a part of the Bible at that time. Elisha saw clearly that this man would become king and burn towns, slay Israelites, dash children to death and rip apart pregnant women. ... Also, Elisha was prophesying what would happen in God’s Church during the Laodicean era. Is this vision real enough to make you weep? Can we vividly see our own peoples’ children being dashed to death and pregnant women ripped apart by the millions? How blazingly urgent this work is! Only PCG members will escape this unparalleled holocaust! (pp. 32-33.)

This is one reason why PCG members remain in it despite the problems there. They are indoctrinated to believe that unless they remain in PCG they will suffer their worst fears in the Great Tribulation. They are scared witless into staying in PCG.

***

In an insert Flurry condemns Meredith for saying that Christ did not directly guide HWA's WCG. This repeats what he said in his 1993 booklet, God's Family Government, which was made as his condemnation of the establishment of the Global Church of God as seen in a previous post. Flurry pounces on this statement to insist that Meredith has disqualified himself from "God's Church" and must not be listened to. In fact the group Meredith led was (and is) larger then PCG.

Part 6

We must be aware of the time the way Satan is. (p. 34.) 

 I thought the whole point of PCG's teachings is to not imitate Satan.

***

On page 34 Flurry says what he said in his Zephaniah booklet. That booklet was discussed in a previous post.

***

Flurry states that the end time Joshua (Tkach Sr.) died of cancer. Flurry then insinuates that WCG ministers might be doomed already to go to the Lake of Fire after Tkach Sr.'s death in 1995. (p. 35.)

***

Later Flurry repeats what he said in his booklet, The Prophet Joel. On pages 36-37 Flurry repeats what he said in The Prophet Joel booklet and says it speaks of him personally as "a teacher of righteousness". That booklet was discussed in a previous post.

***

Page 38 calls upon PCG members to contribute money, change job if necessary, all should want greater responsibility in this "greatest work on Earth."

***

Flurry admits that some PCG members let because they thought it was wrong for PCG to produce pirated copies of HWA's writings.

A few people got focused on their personal understanding of the copyright law, became convinced we were wrong in printing Mystery of the Ages and left the Church. (p. 39.)

I had never heard of this before. They made a good decision to leave PCG. They are probably quite happy to leave behind the burdens of the many responsibilities PCG lay members are indoctrinated to endure.

***

Flurry has always used a lot of scare mongering about the Germans claiming they are just a few years from destroying America and Britain. His attitude towards Germans sound like blatantly bigotry and racism. Flurry would strenuously deny this but words like the following belie such denials. 

Nahum is a book about Germany, a nation which has been a continual curse upon mankind. Satan chose the Germans to inflict a stream of misery and destruction upon mankind. (p. 39.)

How is that not racist? How is that not bigoted? Imagine if he or anyone else said Americans are "a continual curse upon mankind" chosen by Satan "to inflict a stream of misery and destruction upon mankind." How would you feel? 

Every now and then Flurry will insist that PCG is not obsessed with Germans and that they do not hate Germans but are simply trying to warn them. We are asked to believe that somehow Flurry does not hate a people that he says here have "been a continual curse upon mankind" and have been chosen by Satan "to inflict a stream of misery and destruction upon mankind."

***

Flurry ends with a personal article from HWA from the August 1979 issue of Good News insisting that leaders as HWA and Flurry will never fall away from God's favor therefore one may rely upon such men to accurately fulfill God's will. (p. 40.)

Fairly often Flurry claims that he is God's Man and that it is necessary in order to be saved. So it may be seen that Flurry essentially claims to be religiously infallible. Sometimes Flurry says one must follow God's man, then he will say, but only as he follows Christ. But here Flurry says that God's man has never departed therefore it will not happen with him. So Flurry just pretended to say that one only needs to follow God's man so long as God's man follow Christ.

Talk about speaking with a forked tongue.

Incidentally that article of HWA's first appeared in the Worldwide News. John Tuit mentioned it in his book The Truth Shall Set You Free.

In the June 25th issue [of The Worldwide News], an article appeared called "What God Never Did-Never Will-Allow To Happen." After a lengthy rambling dissertation comparing himself to Moses, Armstrong ended the article by very nearly proclaiming himself a deity. He said, "Let me close with one thought. It is now a little late in life for me to turn to Satan's way, as so many others in high places have done. (pg 243 contained an organizational chart)

(pg 244) God never yet has let one through whom He STARTED a great project turn wrong-and he has never yet let such an appointed leader of his die until his job was FINISHED!"

One can only conclude from such a statement that Armstrong feels that he is immune to turning to Satan's way, in other words he can no longer sin, and that he does not expect to die until Christ returns. (John Tuit, The Truth Shall Set You Free, Chapter 17, pp. 242, 244, as presented on Banned by HWA.)

So seeing Flurry cite this article to say that "God's man" could never fall into sin shows once again that, contrary to his protestations to the contrary, following Flurry is the same as obeying God. Not following Flurry is the same as not following God. Flurry would strongly deny this is the case but his own words witness against him.

***

While quoting HWA's 1979 column Flurry shows the origin of the idea that half of the Laodiceans will be damned in the Lake of Fire. A fear mongering teaching Flurry seems to never tire of stating over and over again.

[HWA is quoted saying,] "Someone spread the false rumor that I have said these others were or would be Satan's churches.... The Laodicean Church will be characterized by spiritual lukewarmness--half of its membership (Matt. 25:1-13) will be shut out of the Kingdom of God." [Gerald Flurry then says,] One half will be shut out FOREVER! People we know will soon be forever shut out of the Kingdom of God to the tune of 50 percent! Is it important that we declare this message? (p. 40.)

And so we see where Gerald Flurry got his teaching that half of the Laodiceans will be damned into the Lake of Fire.

Reading this is the first time I have ever heard of HWA saying this. He says nothing of it in Mystery of the Ages. So it would seem that Gerald Flurry latched onto something HWA said only a few times and elevated it to a major doctrine constantly used to keep PCG members fearful of ever leaving.

Even though HWA only seems to have stated this a few times it was Gerald Flurry who chose to have his followers remember this doctrine constantly. This is also a change from HWA because he rarely mentioned such a thing.

***

Flurry ends it with these words.

How inspiring it is to think about that! God will carry on with His work and will really do everything He can to help that leader. His success has been 100 percent throughout the ages.

So it is very important that we all fully support that prophet. But at the same time deeply understand we are following GOD, not a man. (p. 40.)

Again support for Flurry is taught to be effectively the same as supporting God. Supporting Flurry is subtly redefined as supporting God. This is a common tactic used in highly controlling groups called "loading the language". Words and phrases are redefined so that they sound like one thing but actually mean something very different. Here is one reason why so many PCG members stay in PCG despite the many problems there.

***

Letters

And there are letters on page 41.

Some of them discuss an article by Gerald Flurry in the May-June 2000 issue of Royal Vision called Hannah's Vision. Very likely this article was incorporated into Gerald Flurry's booklet, The God Family Vision, which was first published in 2001. Parts of that article were also incorporated into Chapter 4 of Gerald Flurry's new book, The Former Prophets: How to Become a King.

Here's one letter from Fiji.

I've just finished reading the May/June issue of Royal Vision, and there is nothing to compare to it. It's wonderful. I've learned more about God and God's work since reading Royal Vision and the Trumpet. I've studied the Bible over 26 years and I thought I understood a little of the Scriptures. Now I find I know almost nothing. Thank God for someone who can tell me and show me the truth. Thank you for the really outstanding magazines.

The letter says "there is nothing to compare to it." Apparently this person is unaware of the hundreds of other COG groups that also teach similar doctrines that PCG teaches.

Sure Flurry's writing may be able to get you on a "spiritual high" but a lot of what he says is based on nonsense. Misinformation that is provably inaccurate and wrong.

British Israelism is untrue. As Silenced.co showed British Israelism is built on a foundation of sand. In fact DNA evidence refutes British Israelism.

There are no church eras.Bruce Renehan in his book Daughter of Babylon, proved that the church era teaching is nonsense.

Here is another letter.

Thank you for continuing the work of Mr. Armstrong. Almost daily we see his understanding proving to be correct. I was able to study his works for about eight years before he died. Satan sure had his advocates move in rapidly when Mr. Armstrong died.

"Almost daily we see his understanding proving to be correct." HWA taught in his last book Mystery of the Ages that Christ would return within twenty years (by 2005) at the most. (PCG has since deleted this statement and thus is not seen in their copies of that book.)

HWA did not anticipate the Soviet Union's collapse. He thought it would survive until a few years after Christ's return.

It is now fourteen years since this was published. Was HWA's understanding proving to be correct all that time?

Here's another one.

I enjoy reading your literature and can easily see that the quote in Revelation -- to prophesy again -- has been fully accomplished by this little PCG organization. This is certainly the most important work on this planet! I am truly encouraged by how well you follow in the footsteps of H. W. Armstrong, God's 20th-Century Elijah! 

So PCG is more important then the government that keeps social institutions maintained for your benefit? More important then charities that help out the unfortunate?

Also this person appears to be unaware that Gerald Flurry has made numerous doctrinal changes compared to what HWA taught which were presented to PCG members as "new revelation".

HWA never taught that the man of sin of II Thessalonians 2 was a man within WCG. Flurry does.  

HWA never taught that Iran was the King of the South. Flurry does.

HWA never taught that Prophets under the New Testament dispensation had the right to rule over lay members. Flurry does.

And there have been many other such changes. Flurry's PCG has even altered HWA's writings.

***

And so once again Flurry has tried to bedazzle his followers into thinking that he is the one man is contact with God. One can only be saved by following Flurry. To follow "God's man" is the same as following God.

It is very sad that so many cannot see that PCG's teachings are being used to make the followers loyal to PCG despite the many problems within in and to persuade them to hand over three tithes and extra offerings. 

WCG Critique About Malachi's Message from 1991

In the current version of Malachi's Message Gerald Flurry quotes and responds to an article by David Hunsburger which critiqued Malachi's Message which was published in the June 24, 1991 issue of Worldwide News (pp. 4,6). Courtesy of herbert-w-arrmstrong.org we can look at this article for ourselves.

There are things I like and don't like about this article.

I quite liked how Hunsburger says that Flurry is reading Scripture backwards in both Malachi and Zechariah 3 regarding Zerubbabel and Joshua. I never looked at it that way before.

I also quite liked how Hunsburger pointed out that Zerubbabel was not succeeded by Joshua in the way that HWA was succeeded by Tkach. Instead Zerubbabel and Joshua held two separate offices at the same time, namely that of governor and high priest.

I also liked how Hunsburger pointed out that WCG had never taught that the man of sin of II Thessalonians 2 would be a man within WCG. I remember being quite confused when I saw Flurry teaching this in one of his booklets, The Little Book, when I first looked into what PCG taught.

Gerald Flurry did not address those issues when he discussed this article in Chapter 8 of a later edition of Malachi's Message. So let us see what Hunsburger's article said for ourselves.

His justification for withdrawing Mystery of the Ages from print is a weaker part of this article. But at least WCG did not change the words in Mystery of the Ages the way the Philadelphia Church of God has.

I am sure those who went through the Tkach changes for themselves will have strong opinions about what was written here.

Without further ado here is the article in question.

***

What the Church teaches about Malachi and his message

David G. Hunsburger

A number of brethren have written that they have received unsolicited mailings from former ministers and members who have been disfellowshipped. These mailings often contain accusations against the Church and its faithful ministers.

Usually the dissidents try to justify themselves and offer their own ideas about prophecy, doctrine and politics. They attempt to lure God's people away from the Church to support them. Some who have been disfellowshipped actually claim to be prophets.

The Church, of course, does not exercise censorship or forbid the reading of dissident literature. It does, however, earnestly warn brethren to be careful if they choose to read such material because they often contain tricky arguments, twisted explanations of Scripture, devious reasoning or outright defamation.

The late Herbert Armstrong always reminded us that we need to prove all things and hold fast to what is good (I Thessalonians 5:21). The Bible is God's word and our foundation in understanding God's way.

One of the duties of the ministry is to help brethren avoid being "tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness by which they lie in wait to deceive" (Ephesians 4:14, New King James).

In this article we will examine the claims of one critic of the Church to show how his teachings contradict God's word and how the attitude displayed in his writing is an affront to the Holy Spirit and contrary to Christian principles.

The subject for this study is a book titled Malachi's Message to God's Church Today ©1990 by Gerald R. Flurry. Mr. Flurry contends that since the death of Herbert W. Armstrong the Church has changed "away from the Philadelphia standard" and has become the Laodicean era.

He presents himself as the continuation of the Philadelphia era and implies that he is the rightful successor to Mr. Armstrong.

The Elijah controversy

According to Mr. Flurry, the book of Malachi contains a prophecy that the Worldwide Church of God would become the Laodicean Church after the death of Mr. Armstrong.

God's strong rebuke of the priests and people in chapters 1 and 2, he says, means that God is angry with the ministry of the Church and most of the people. In his view. Malachi 4:6 is a curse that will destroy all members who do not leave the Worldwide Church of God and follow him.

On page 68 we find this amazing statement: "God is primarily talking about destroying the inhabitants of Hi Church who refuse to build a family around God's 'Elijah' and God's instructions."

He says that Mr. Armstrong was the prophesied Elijah (Malachi 3: 1 and 4:5-6) and that after Elijah's death the conditions of Malachi 1 and 2 were destined to develop in the Church.

In making his argument, however, the author must turn the passages of Scripture around backward. God's indictment of the priests and people (chapters 1 and 2) comes before the appearance of Elijah (chapters 3 and 4) in Malachi's prophecy.

The careful student of the Bible knows, of course, that it is not safe to invert the Scriptures. To understand a progression of prophesied events, we cannot read backward instead of forward!

The intent of Malachi is to show that an Elijah would appear after the period of corruption and laxity in the priesthood. Indeed, Elijah, in the person of John the Baptist, did come to introduce the Messiah after Judah had experienced a prolonged period of religious laxity when God sent no prophets.

Reading the book of Malachi forward yields the correct story. Reading it backwards may seem to help Mr. Flurry's explanation, but it is not the way to understand the meaning properly.

Malachi's message turned around

What was Malachi really writing about? Malachi's name means "My Messenger." Malachi wrote about the same time as Ezra and Nehemiah, and he addressed the same problems they did.

A few commentators place Malachi at about 460 B.C. just before the coming of Ezra in 457 B.C. According to most scholars. though, it is more likely that he wrote about 430 B.C., possibly while Nehemiah was in Persia between his two stays in Jerusalem.

Malachi catalogs the sins of the priests and the people. They were offering inferior sacrifices (Malachi 1:6), corrupting the covenant of Levi (2:7-10), marrying strange wives (2:11-12). offering hypocritical sacrifices (2:13), dealing treacherously with their wives (2:14-16) and failing to tithe properly (3:8-12).

The book of Malachi is obviously a witness against the priests and people of post-exile Judah. However. as with any part of the Bible, its lessons are applicable in all times.

Malachi foretold that an Elijah would come to prepare the way for the Messiah. Jesus said (and Mr. Armstrong taught) that this was fulfilled by John the Baptist, who prepared the way for the Messiah's first coming (Matthew 11:14-15, 17:12-13, Mark 9:13).

Mr. Armstrong taught that he, with the Church, was also fulfilling this type of work in preparation for the second coming of Christ. However, Mr. Armstrong did not believe that the book of Malachi predicted that the Church would go astray or that the Elijah work would cease after his death! In his final letter to the brethren, he said, "the greatest work lies yet ahead."

Not only does Mr. Flurry have his own private interpretation of the book of Malachi-far different from what Mr. Armstrong and the Church taught and from what the Scriptures say-he also has his own interpretation of the book of Zechariah.

Zerubbabel and Joshua

In creating a story to support his theory, he says that Mr. Armstrong was an end-time Zerubbabel who built the Temple (Church) and that this "Zerubbabel" was to be followed by an end-time "Joshua" (Mr. Tkach) who would exchange his clean garments for filthy ones meaning he would lead the Church astray. This is supposedly foretold in Zechariah 3 and 4.

Once again. passages of Scripture must be turned around backwards in order to have Joshua end up with filthy garments. Zechariah says plainly that Joshua had filthy garments at first and that he was given clean garments in order to serve as high priest of the post-exile nation (Zechariah 3:1-5).

No verse says anything about Joshua getting dirty garments again. No verse says anything about an end-time Joshua before the second coming of Christ either! Mr. Flurry has also added to Scripture in claiming that Joshua was a successor of Zerubbabel.

In fact, Zerubbabel was the governor of Judah (for a brief term apparently) and Joshua was the high priest-two completely different offices functioning for a time during the same period.

Shortly after the death of the impostor pseudo-Smerdis, however. the Persians began to rule Judah through the high priests. There are historical indication that in about 519 B.C. governors of royal ancestry throughout the empire were removed and replaced. The action was taken in order to prevent revolts and any possible attempts to reestablish independent kingdoms. Since Zerubbabel was a descendant of David. It is thought that he was removed from office at this time.

Remember that the Jews had returned from Babylonian captivity beginning in 538 B.C. The foundation of the Temple had been laid and an altar had been erected at the holy place.

However, opposition from the neighboring peoples had then caused the work to stop until 520 B.C. God sent Haggai and Zechariah to stir up the people to build the Temple.

Our High Priest

Part of their message was that Israel's past sins had been forgiven and there was opportunity for a new beginning. The vi ion of Joshua in Zechariah 3 showed that the priesthood had been reestablished in Joshua the high priest and would continue in his successors.

The removal of the dirty garments symbolized the removal of the sins of Israel and the priesthood so the nation could begin anew and the priesthood could again function according to God's instructions.

The prophecy shows that the restoration of this priesthood would be a sign that the Messiah (the Branch of Zechariah 3:8) would come.

In fact, Jesus did come and has become our High Priest forever (Hebrews 4:14. 7:20-28). Therefore. we do not look for a human successor to Joshua restoring the Levitical priesthood in the Church.

Anyone who claims such a thing denies the eternal High Priesthood of Christ. Contrary to what Mr. Flurry teaches in his book, the vision of Joshua does not foretell an end-time church leader who goes bad; it foretells the coming of a perfect and eternal High Priest who will never fail us.

Zerubbabel was the governor of Jerusalem when Haggai and Zechariah began to prophesy. Because of his lineage from David, the Jews apparently had messianic hopes for Zerubbabel. Under his term, the second Temple was begun, but he is not mentioned at the dedication at the Passover of 515 B.C.

Thus, it is not definitely known whether he finished that Temple. If he did, it would have been after his term as governor. The vision of Zechariah 4 was to encourage Zerubbabel that God was with him in the project and that in spite of the opposition and difficulties, the project would be completed because it was not done by mere human might, but by the power of the Spirit of God (Zechariah 4:6).

Centuries later. Herod began a new Temple project. including elaborate restoration and decoration. The project had lasted 46 years by the first year of Jesus' ministry. Christ came to this Temple.

Analogies are not prophecies

Mr. Armstrong drew an analogy between his own work and that of Zerubbabel, but he did not believe that Zechariah predicted an end-time Zerubbabel who would finish building the Church (spiritual Temple).

There is a difference between an analogy and a prophecy. Mr. Armstrong did not believe he built the Church-after all, Jesus said that he would build the Church (Matthew 16: 18). Obviously Jesus uses human ministers to assist those he is calling and placing into the spiritual Temple.

But the death of one of these human servants does not mean Christ has finished building his Temple! Remember, Mr. Armstrong aid "the greatest work lies yet ahead."

Who is the "man of sin"?

Perhaps the most unbelievable assertion in Mr. Flurry's book is the claim that Paul referred to the present day Worldwide Church of God and its leader in II Thessalonians 2:34. Once again, history, Scripture and facts are twisted to serve a wild theory.

Mr. Flurry reasons that since the Church is called the spiritual Temple (1 Corinthians 3: 16-17, Ephesians 2:21), this man of sin must be sitting in God's Church!

But the Bible uses more than one meaning for Temple! For example, I Corinthians 6:19 refers to individual Christian -the Corinthian congregation- a the Temple, and thereby "prove .. the man of sin its in individual Christians!

But this is not the way to use the Scriptures! The Temple in II Thessalonian is not individual Christians and it is not the Church. This can be easily proven from the Scriptures.

Paul, in II Thessalonians 2, is telling the brethren that the coming of Christ will be preceded by at least two major signs-a great apostasy or rebellion against God and a man of sin sitting in the Temple calling himself god.

Where did Paul get this information? From Jesus himself! Notice Matthew 24. Jesus said one of the signs of his coming would be an abundance of false prophets or messiahs, performing signs and wonders and leading many astray (Matthew 24:11, 24).

This would not include the elect, however, because they are not led astray by this deception (verse 24). Thus, the great apostasy or rebellion against God is something that happens to the world (II Timothy 3:1-5) as well as to those who are not careful to avoid false teachers who depart from the Church (I Timothy 4:1-2).

The second sign Paul mentioned the man of sin in the Temple-is described by Christ in Matthew 24:15. He calls it the "abomination of desolation" and it "stands in the holy place."

When Jesus used these words there was no doubt that he meant the literal Temple of God in Jerusalem and the holy of holies or most holy place inside it Jesus said that when people see this desecration of the Temple occur, they should flee Jerusalem.

Obviously this would make no sense if the Temple were to be understood as spiritual rather than literal. The ante-type, in the days of the Maccabees, occurred when Antiochus Epiphanes entered the holy place, erected a statue and proclaimed himself to be god. Jesus said something similar will happen again at the holy place.

Paul, like Jesus, was talking about the Temple in Jerusalem, not the Church of God. When Paul wrote II Thessalonians, the Temple in Jerusalem was still standing, and Christians were still going there to worship. When Paul returned to Jerusalem in AD. 57-58, he and some companions went to the Temple for a religious ritual (Acts 21 :26-30).

There is no doubt that the Temple Paul had in mind in writing II Thessalonians 2:3-4 was the Temple and holy place in Jerusalem. This is what Mr. Armstrong consistently taught.

In his book Mystery of the Ages, Mr. Armstrong identified the man of in in II Thessalonians 2:34 as the false prophet of Scripture. who is further described in the Book of Revelation. This has been the long-standing teaching of the Church.

Mr. Flurry is teaching a completely different doctrine that has never been taught in God's Church.

Does God delude his Church?

To assert that the pastor general of the Church is the man of sin is a spiritually hideous claim. After all. could the devil break into God's own Church and place his false prophet at the helm while God and Jesus Christ stood idly by powerless to act? Jesus said that one cannot break into a strong man's house without first binding the strong man (Matthew 12:29).

Mr. Flurry's unbelievable rationale is that God intends to send his own people a strong delusion (pages 56-60) to see if he can fool them! Thankfully, Jesus Christ our Savior assures us we do not have a Father who toys with his children in this manner.

We have a Father who protects and nurtures us in love (John 17:11-12). "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" (I John 3:1, New International Version).

When the Father has begun a good work in us, we must be confident that he who began a good work in us will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6).

Therefore, we must reject the theory that God will place the man of sin in his own Church. Such an idea can be inspired by Satan to try to discourage the children of God.

Laodicean or Philadelphian?

Mr. flurry again uses his tactic of reversing what Scripture says when he writes that the Worldwide Church of God has become the Laodicean church and that he and anyone who leaves this Church and follows him and his new movement are part of the true Philadelphia era (pages 27-28). He reverses the order of things by making Philadelphia come out of Laodicea, which is nowhere stated in Revelation 3:7-22.

Mr. Armstrong taught that the Laodicean era of the Church would exist during the Great Tribulation and be clearly distinguished after the work of the Philadelphia era. It was his view that Laodiceans were probably people who have heard our message but never yet fully acted on it. When they find themselves in the time of the Tribulation they will come to repentance.

In trying to gain a following and support, Mr. flurry states on page 80 that those who support his message will escape the Great Tribulation. He says. "That is how they qualify to go to a place of safety."

On page 86 he writes: "I strongly believe that backing and supporting this message [that the Worldwide Church of God is corrupt and should be 'closed down'] is our only ticket to a place of safety and a magnificent reward. This is how God makes up His jewels!"

 Later, on the same page, he say : "Those who walk away [from the Worldwide Church of God] and support this Philadelphia standard in a new organization are going to be rewarded for every contribution." A couple of pages further on he say: "We can receive God's tithes and offerings." This message is not too subtle!

Mr. Armstrong didn't consider his books Scripture

A major argument made in Mr. Flurry's book is that the Church is deliberately withdrawing the writing of Mr. Armstrong, such as Mystery of the Ages, in a plot to change the doctrines and lead the people astray. Perhaps it will be good to conclude this article by explaining why this book has not been reprinted.

Mr. Armstrong was enthusiastic about each new book or booklet he wrote and published. He described a number of them as "the most important" writing of our time. Indeed, they were wonderful works.

However, this did not mean Mr. Armstrong thought they were perfect or that he intended to keep all his writings unchanged as permanent pieces of literature. It was the essential message of the gospel they contained that made them important, not the particular book or booklet itself.

Mr. Armstrong realized that Mystery of the Ages had errors in it. Even when he personally distributed it to the sophomore c1ass, he told the students that a new edition would need to be written.

His exact words were: "I won't say it is inspired in the sense of the Bible. It's not perfect. Then when we come to prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, and when we come to the New Testament books, God inspired them. They are the infallible words of God. I don't make any such claim for this book [Mystery of the Ages] whatsoever. I think in a way God inspired it, but not in the sense that it is the word of God. I fully expect that within a year there will be a second edition, that some improvements will be made in this book."

Regrettably, Mr. Armstrong did not live to produce a revised edition. It would be almost impossible for someone else to edit and improve the book and still have it appear under Mr. Armstrong's name.

After all, it has a brief summary of his autobiography at the beginning and is written in the first person.

Some of the edits that would have been required are the following:

Historical statements about the origin of the trinity teaching in Christianity are in error;

Historical statements about Arius, implying that he was part of the true church, are in error;

Statement about Noah's pedigree are based on a wrong explanation of a Hebrew word;

Other comments on race need revision;

Some information about Nimrod, quoted from Hislop's Two Babylons, is inaccurate;

Statements about the original creation of angels give the impression that man was an afterthought in God's plan;

The section about the Millennium contains some unprovable peculation;

Statements that Christ qualified to replace Satan as ruler of the world are misleading because Christ has always been qualified to rule his creation and has always had the power and authority to depose Satan whenever he willed; thus it is a matter of fulfilling a plan according to its time element, not a matter of being unqualified and having to qualify.

As can be seen, it would have required more than simple editing to produce the second edition, and it could not have been done under Mr. Armstrong's name after his death.

The doctrine explained in Mystery of the Ages are explained in other literature that is still available. Some 25 booklets written by Mr. Armstrong are still in print.

Mr. Armstrong established the policy of continually updating literature and periodically producing new booklets and withdrawing older materials. In the 1950s, for example, two of the most popular and effective booklets produced by Mr. Armstrong were 1975 in Prophecy and Proof of the Bible.

Yet Mr. Armstrong withdrew them (and other booklets and articles as well) from circulation and introduced new titles. We continue to follow this long-established policy.

PCD available for questions

I hope this article has been helpful in illustrating how one can check up and prove what is right by the Bible itself. When someone leaves the Church and begins teaching error and attacking the Church, he is wrong and can be proved wrong by checking the Scriptures.

The Holy Spirit, of course, would not lead anyone to leave the Church and speak evil of the Body of Christ. Accusations against the Church come from another source (Revelation 12:10).

Whenever anyone needs or desires assistance with a particular question, the service of the Personal Correspondence Department are available. Members may write us and ask for help or ask their pastor. We are all happy to study together to see what the Bible says so that we can all know whereof we speak! 

Stephen Flurry Condemns Obama Administration's Foreign Policy—Is He Right?

In the October 2014 issue of The Philadelphia Trumpet Stephen Flurry released an article entitled 'Everything Is Awesome' saying that President Obama and his Administration have a woefully rosy view of world affairs today. Is Stephen Flurry right? Let's take a look.

First Stephen Flurry cites some statements by President Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry and Press Secretary Josh Earnest to say the Obama Administration are woefully optimistic about current affairs.

Stephen Flurry responds:

That is an extraordinary assessment of America’s foreign policy. Actually, when you really do look at the facts— both of the disorder enveloping several hot spots around the world, and of how much America is contributing to these problems—then the fact that the secretary of state would view the situation with pride is downright scary.

Ok, Stephen Flurry. What is really going on that the Obama Administration cannot see for themselves?

Six years ago the United States had large armies in Iraq and Afghanistan. Its national debt was $9.5 trillion. Egypt, Libya and Syria were comparatively stable. America’s traditional allies in Europe, Asia and even the Middle East still looked to the United States for leadership and assistance in time of need.

How pleasant. Actually the US still has a large army in Afghanistan, by the way. Did you and your fellow writers at The Philadelphia Trumpet note how comparatively pleasant things were at the time?

Stephen Flurry continues immediately afterwards:

That’s not to say that everything was awesome. In fact, if you were reading the Trumpet at the time, you know that the United States was in bad shape. It’s just that it is much worse today than it was then.

It's "much worse" now? Is there another Global Financial Crisis happening now?

Look at the facts. Since 2008, we have seen a new administration brush off its traditional allies, embark on an “apology tour,” draw down its forces and encourage its most dangerous enemies to rise in power.

President Obama did not go on an apology tour. That is what the opposition against him said. But this accusation is not true. Somehow Stephen Flurry did not notice this.

We have seen its Arab outreach fall flat. Its “pivot to Asia” never materialized. We have seen a U.S. ambassador murdered for the first time in 30 years.

In fact there were numerous attacks on U.S. Embassies all over the world during the previous Bush Administration. Take a look at what happened while President Bush was in charge.

June 14, 2002, U.S. consulate in Karachi, Pakistan
Suicide bomber kills 12 and injures 51.
February 20, 2003, international diplomatic compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Truck bomb kills 17.
February 28, 2003, U.S. consulate in Karachi, Pakistan
Gunmen on motorcycles killed two consulate guards.
July 30, 2004, U.S. embassy in Taskkent [sic], Uzbekistan
Suicide bomber kills two.
December 6, 2004, U.S. consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Militants stormed and occupied perimeter wall. Five killed, 10 wounded.
March 2, 2006, U.S. consulate in Karachi, Pakistan
Suicide car bomber killed four, including a U.S. diplomate [sic] directly targeted by the assailants.
September 12, 2006, U.S. embassy in Damascus, Syria
Gunmen attacked embassy with grenades, automatic weapons, and a car bomb (though second truck bomb failed to detonate). One killed and 13 wounded.
January 12, 2007, U.S. embassy in Athens, Greece
A rocket-propelled grenade was fired at the embassy building. No one was injured.
July 9, 2008, U.S. consulate in Istanbul, Turkey
Armed men attacked consulate with pistols and shotguns. Three policemen killed.
March 18, 2008, U.S. embassy in Sana'a, Yemen
Mortar attack misses embassy, hits nearby girls' school instead.
September 17, 2008, U.S. embassy in Sana'a, Yemen
Militants dressed as policemen attacked the embassy with RPGs, rifles, grenades and car bombs. Six Yemeni soldiers and seven civilians were killed. Sixteen more were injured. (Daily Kos.)

Note that one of these murderous attacks occurred in Syria, back when Syria was "comparatively stable" according to Stephen Flurry, when things were supposedly going fairly well for America. This wave of violence simply is not happening under President Obama as the Daily Kos post continued to note.

As for Obama, the attacks in Cairo and Benghazi are the first two attacks on a U.S. diplomatic mission in an ostensibly peaceful country during his entire presidency—and they were sparked by that idiot wingnut Islamophobe Terri Jones. [Note: That may not be true because this was written immediately after the attack but that does not change the fact that attacks on US embassies has actually greatly decreased under President Obama. -Redfox712.] The embassy in Afghanistan was targeted by the Taliban last Sept. 13, but that's a country at war.

It is also worth mentioning that under President Reagan about 94 people were killed in attacks on US embassies.

April 18 1983 Beirut Islamic Jihad car bomb destroys Embassy  63 killed
December 12 1983 Kuwait City al-Dawa truck bomb outside embassy 6 killed.
September 20 1984 Beirut Hezbollah truck bomb outside embassy  24 killed
November 1984 Bogotá Car bomb outside Embassy planted by drug cartel  1 killed
February 1986 Lisbon Popular Forces of 25 April car bomb outside Embassy
May 14 1986 Jakarta Japanese Red Army mortar barrage none
June 9 1987 Rome Japanese Red Army mortar barrage
That's 94 dead. (Source.)

Considering these painful facts can we really say that America is falling apart and is ready to be conquered by Germans any minute now? Is it really proper to cite the murderous attack at Benghazi as a sign that America is about to be destroyed?

Then Stephen Flurry starts to talk about the situation with Russia.

We have seen this administration allow Russia to take over handling the civil war in Syria, not to mention Russia literally taking over Crimea and destabilizing Ukraine.

Actually Syria has long been aligned with Russia. Didn't Stephen Flurry know that? Syria and the US had long had bad relations. Numerous sanctions were in force upon Syria long before 2011. The Assad dictatorship made it a point of pride of not being aligned with the US. (Although there were exceptions to this rule.) When the Syrian people launched their courageous revolution against the Assad dictatorship in 2011 Russia would always have an important say in what happened there. Syria had long ago allied itself with Russia. It is in Russia's sphere of influence so to speak.

Personally I wish the Obama Administration intervened more on behalf of the Syrian peoples' revolution but Russia was always going to be closely involved in what happened in Syria. It is not the US's fault that this is the case. Russia choosing to act in what they perceive to be their own interests in Syria is not a sign that the US is about to be conquered by Germany.

Then Stephen Flurry talks about Iraq and Iran.

We have seen this administration soften its sanctions against Iran and abandon U.S. allies in Iraq.

"We have seen this administration ... abandon U.S. allies in Iraq." I take great exception to this statement. The US tried very hard to maintain the national unity of Iraq at great cost in lives lost. Through many trials and tribulations the Sunni Iraqi Arabs were brought into the fold of the Baghdad government and allied with the Coalition during the surge. But in order to maintain this peace between Sunni and Shiite it was vitally necessary for the Shiite dominated government to persuade the Sunnis that they were safe under the Baghdad government.

Alas the Baghdad government failed to persuade the Sunnis that this was the case. Soon after US troops left Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki tried to arrest a Sunni Vice-President who fled the country. Even if they were right to do so this incident had the disastrous effect of convincing the Sunnis that there was no future living under the rule of Baghdad. Consequently the so-called "Islamic State" (formerly known as al Qaeda in Iraq) led by Abu Bakr al Baghdadi seemed more alluring to the Sunnis. The Abu Bakr al Baghdadi insurgents ruthlessly took advantage of this situation to re-entrench themselves within Iraq to the misfortune of many. 

How can Stephen Flurry accuse the Obama Administration of abandoning them? I find it sad that Stephen Flurry should speak of fighting in Iraq as though it was an easy to do. But Stephen Flurry helps to lead a group in which the members do not enlist in the military and because it is registered as a church it does not have to pay taxes hence PCG does not even pay for the running of the US military.

Stephen Flurry continues:

Radical Islam is not “on the run,” as President Obama proclaimed on the campaign trail in 2012—it’s on the rise. Right now, Islamic death squads are gang-raping and mass-murdering their way across Iraq. Syria’s ongoing civil war has claimed at least 170,000 lives—with no end in sight. Libya’s civil war forced America to shut down its embassy in Tripoli. Russia is breathing down Eastern Europe’s neck. Jews are fleeing persecution in Europe.

There is a lot to discuss here. Let's take this one at a time.

"Islamic death squads are gang-raping and mass-murdering their way across Iraq." Is Stephen Flurry insinuating that the Abu Bakr al Baghdadi led insurgents are true Muslims? That is what those insurgents want. We should not play into their hands, not even by speaking of them as though they were true Muslims.

"Syria’s ongoing civil war has claimed at least 170,000 lives—with no end in sight." Russia regards Syria as an ally and they were always going to do what they wanted to do in Syria. Personally I wish the Obama Administration had been more proactive about the situation. Ultimately the murderous Assad regime is the cause of this tragic civil war. The war in Syria is many things but it is not a sign that America is about to be conquered by Germans.

"Libya’s civil war forced America to shut down its embassy in Tripoli." What does Stephen Flurry want the State Department to do? Leave the embassy in operation despite great risk? Great idea, Stephen Flurry. Do not evacuate the embassy no matter what.

"Russia is breathing down Eastern Europe’s neck." Russia is next door to Eastern Europe. Always has been. Always will be.

"Jews are fleeing persecution in Europe." The Nazis are not coming, no matter how many times Stephen Flurry says this. 2014 is not like the 1930s. This statement is madness.

Stephen Flurry now talks about the situation with Russia.

Clinton, you may remember, was the architect of the infamous “reset” strategy, which basically gave Russia a pass for its invasion of Georgia and then resulted in the removal of America’s missile defense systems from Eastern Europe and its abandonment of Ukraine. This essentially cleared the way for Vladimir Putin to devour Crimea and trigger a civil war in Ukraine.

This is nonsense. What on Earth is Stephen Flurry reading that would suggest to him that these terrible events are somehow Hilary Clinton's fault? I find this assertion very strange.

How did the US abandon Ukraine? In 2005 Ukraine went through the Orange Revolution and thus adopted a more pro-Western policy. Later the pro-Russians regained power in elections and took Ukraine down a more Russian oriented policy which was enforced until the Ukrainian people rose up in February against them. How did the US abandon Ukraine? What does Stephen Flurry want? The US to "help" Ukraine against the wishes of its own government. That is a sure recipe for disaster.

Now Stephen Flurry talks about Libya.

When President Obama unilaterally invaded Libya in 2011, he said he had to act when he did because the city of Benghazi was only a day away from being slaughtered by Muammar Qadhafi’s forces. And so, the United States smashed Qadhafi’s army and handed the nation over to Libya’s rebel forces. They eventually captured the colonel, sexually assaulted him and then televised his public execution. At the time, the United States government laughed off the barbaric lynching and told us this: Everything in Libya would turn out awesome.

I find it strange and discouraging to see Stephen Flurry seeming to think letting Qadhafi reimpose his rule upon a people that no longer wanted to live under his rule was a good idea. Does Stephen Flurry think we should just look away as Qadhafi sent his troops to murder and shoot at protesters and just let him do this? I for one am glad the international community did not choose to let Qadhafi butcher his own people but instead aided the Libyan people to free themselves.

As for what happened to Qadhafi when he was captured that was wrong. Completely totally utterly wrong. Never should have happened. Just goes to show how even six months of war can warp peoples' minds so badly. But I find it strange how Stephen Flurry chooses to paint Qadhafi as a victim while so many other Libyans suffered so terribly during those days because Qadhafi decided to kill his own people just to maintain his power. I find it strange how Stephen Flurry seems to ignore how Qadhafi caused his own destruction.

Since making that statement, the reality on the ground has become frighteningly dangerous. First there was the murder of Ambassador Stevens and three other Americans on September 11, 2012—by the very terrorist militias America joined forces with the year before, by the way.

Left unacknowledged here is the fact that many Libyans were highly upset and disgusted at those foul murders and rallied to show their disgust. But Stephen Flurry does not seem to care about these facts.He certainly did not mention it here.

Just a few days later the Libyan people rose up and cast out a militia there widely suspected of involvement in this act. Some of those brave Libyans died in that heroic endeavor. But sad to say Stephen Flurry does not seem to care about those brave and noble people. He certainly did not mention it here.

And then this past summer, due to the ongoing civil war, the United States of America was forced to shut down its embassy in Tripoli.

Does Stephen Flurry want the US to maintain the embassy even if people could be in great danger? That seems a silly way to manage affairs of this nature. One would think Stephen Flurry should praise the State Department for taking this measure to protect peoples' lives. Can one imagine how different things would be if this was done in Tehran in 1979 before the hostages were seized? But Stephen Flurry does not seem to care.

Incredibly, just two weeks after the State Department told Americans to get out of Libya immediately, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) lifted a 30-year ban on Libyan nationals attending flight schools and nuclear science training facilities in the United States. The ban was put in place during the Reagan era, following a wave of Libyan terrorist attacks. Today, however, DHS says the ban is obsolete because the United States and Libya have—and I’m not making this up— “normalized their relationship,” as the DHS directive states. According to DHS spokesman S.Y. Lee, the Obama administration is reviewing and revising its policies on Libya “to better align with U.S. interests in light of its revolution.”

Should innocent people suffer because of decisions made in the time of Reagan? Should Libyans, many of whom sacrificed so much to liberate their beloved homeland from the Qadhafi dictatorship, still be banned from "attending flight schools and nuclear science training facilities in the United States" because of sanctions passed because of Qadhafi in the 1980s? They should not. I find it very disturbing that Stephen Flurry seems unconcerned that innocent people may needlessly suffer because of such rules.

Stephen Flurry then talks about a speech President Obama gave.

Mr. Obama actually did return to Washington for a brief stint beginning on August 17. Before that, he broke away from vacationing to give a speech at a fundraising event in Tisbury, Massachusetts, on August 11. During that speech, he talked again about how awesome everything has been the past few years.

 What did President Obama say that has so incensed Stephen Flurry?

America today, he said, is stronger “in all sorts of ways,” compared to when he first came into office. America has added jobs. Unemployment is down. Deficit spending has been slashed. The stock market has rebounded. Corporate profits are booming. The housing market has recovered.

President Obama is right. Stephen Flurry, didn't you notice that? No one seems worried that toxic mortgages might lead to financial catastrophe. That nearly happened in 2008. And if something like that was actually going to happen Stephen Flurry would have said so in this article, and he does not. 

America’s leaders can fiddle away and pretend that the nation isn’t burning if they like. But facts, as former U.S. President John Adams once said, are stubborn things. By any objective indicator, the United States of America is far worse off than it was five or six years ago.

This is not true. Stephen Flurry is wrong.

Reading this article I doubt Stephen Flurry even properly understands what happened in the great financial crisis in 2008 and notice how things are different now.

Now why would he think things are worse today in the US then in 2008?

We’ve added $7 trillion to the national debt just under this administration. Americans are already overtaxed and the nation itself is bankrupt. No nation has ever been able to dig out of a financial pit this size.

Stephen Flurry is wrong: The US national debt was actually higher per capita during World War II and immediately afterwards. Did the US go bankrupt then? The picture below shows US federal debt compared with GDP from 1940 to 2014. (Click to enlarge.)

US federal debt compared with GDP 1940-2014

It may be seen that US federal debt was actually higher in the World War II era and immediately afterwards. However it is fairly easy to not notice this fact because of inflation. This fact is not often stated but it is true. So Stephen Flurry is wrong about the US national debt.

Stephen Flurry also makes the mistake of assuming the US national debt is like private debt. There is one huge difference between the US national debt and one's personal debt: the US government can make more money. Also a large part of that national debt is actually owed to itself.

Here is what one writer at Forbes, John T. Harvey, has to say about these things.

The overwhelming majority of people believe the national debt has never been as large as it is today. However, like so much popular information regarding the federal government’s budget, it simply isn’t true. It’s been much larger, and that period of history hardly saw the collapse of the US economy. Furthermore, many economies that we would consider sound and strong actually have more debt than we do. On top of all that, federal government debt is not analogous to that in the private-sector because it represents an injection of wealth, not a drag on growth.

The last point provides the framework within which the rest of the explanation must be placed. The key issue is the fact that, in a mature, capitalist economy, the private sector does not consistently generate sufficient demand to create jobs for all those willing to work. Hence, we can have periods such as we see today, where we have the capacity to produce output for those going without, but it is not profitable to do so because they lack the income to purchase it. And because profit is what drives the private sector, this means that we are stuck where we are. Our problem today is not that we have too many regulations or too high taxes on firms; they don’t have enough customers.

When such situations arise, only an entity capable of spending more than it earns without the prospect of bankruptcy is capable of breaking the stalemate. And that, of course, is the government, which can never be forced to default on debt denominated in its own currency (as ours is, incidentally–Greek is not). (John T. Harvey, Why Our Current National Debt is not the Largest in History, Frobes, February 26, 2012.)

If the US national debt was really going to cause the fall of America it would have happened in 2008. And it was not the US national debt that caused the great financial crisis of 2008. It was mortgages which could not be paid because they were foisted onto people who could not pay them off. It was predatory lenders who then sold these toxic mortgages to financial institutions which ended up getting so much of them that they nearly went bankrupt, which would have negatively affected many other people who had their money tied up with these financial institutions as well.  

So we see quite clearly that regarding the US national debt Stephen Flurry does not know what he is talking about. He does not even know that US federal debt was actually higher during the World War II era and immediately afterwards.

Stephen Flurry ends this article with these words.

Think about the gross ignorance and blindness of the average American who sincerely believes that everything, for the most part, is awesome.

That is what America’s leaders want him to believe. That’s why they say, “Peace, peace; when there is no peace” (Jeremiah 6:14).

If you have eyes to see and ears to hear, be forewarned. God says when the ambassadors of peace proclaim peace and safety—when they say everything is awesome— beware sudden destruction (1 Thessalonians 5:3).

But Stephen Flurry is wrong about many things in this article. And not only him but HWA was also wrong about many things and made numerous false prophesies thus proving that God was not with him. Stephen Flurry continues this shameful tradition. Nothing he says here indicate that America is on the verge of being conquered by Germans. There are many problems in the world. Many are misinformed about things for one reason or another, but Stephen Flurry's article is not going to help. (Except bring in more members into PCG who are required to pay three tithes and extra offerings.)

Gerald Flurry Claims His PCG is "Only Church Today That Reveals the True God" in New PCG Book

Gerald Flurry claims that one can only be in contact with God by submitting to his authority within the Philadelphia Church of God.

Gerald Flurry has once again made this boastful claim in his new book that was released during their (incorrectly observed) Feast of Tabernacles, The Former Prophets: How to Become a King.

Whether people realize it or not, the PCG is the only Church today that reveals the true God! (Gerald Flurry, The Former Prophets: How to Become a King, Chapter 10, p. 215.)

This is of no surprise to those who paid attention to what Gerald Flurry has been saying over the years.

Here is the paragraph in which Flurry said those words. Here Flurry is comparing HWA and himself to Elijah. Although Flurry elsewhere makes a point of not claiming to partake of the (supposed) glory of HWA he effectively does this regardless by claiming to be the sole legitimate spiritual successor to HWA. 

The name Elijah means “My God is God.” That says a lot. Elijah revealed the true God. At the same time, he exposed all religions, except his own, as false! Mr. Armstrong did the same work. The PCG follows in that tradition. Whether people realize it or not, the PCG is the only Church today that reveals the true God!

This is nonsense. PCG teaches many things which are provably untrue. How can God be with them? PCG is the creation of all too fallible human beings, not of God.

British Israelism as taught by PCG and other COG groups is untrue. As Silenced.co showed British Israelism is built on a foundation of sand. In fact DNA evidence refutes British Israelism.

Gerald Flurry's PCG has even changed HWA's book, Mystery of the Ages, the book PCG claims to love and adore so much.

Also it needs to be stated that it is widely known that many of the ideas within Malachi's Message were plagiarized from The Letter to Laodicea by Jules Dervaes, written December 1986-January 1988. It was sent to 237 WCG ministers including Gerald Flurry and John Amos. In fact on September 26, 1990 Jules Dervaes sent a letter to Gerald Flurry in which he denounces Malachi's Message as "a direct and clear plagiarism" of his work.

The God Family doctrine as taught by PCG is complete nonsense.

Isaiah 42:8: "I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images."

Isaiah 43:10: "Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me."

Isaiah 44:6: "Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts: I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God..."

Isaiah 44:8: "Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any." (From Mike of Mike's Enlightenment Page.)

Here are some other posts that discuss the God Family doctrine.

• The God Family discusses how I first learned of this doctrine and how Roderick C. Meredith claim it was 'revealed' to HWA's group.

• A Problem in the God Family Doctrine discusses how HWA taught that humanity was simply Plan B for God. According to HWA God originally intended to have Angels govern the Universe but Lucifer's rebellion forced God to create Humanity instead. This aspect of HWA's God Family doctrine is never discussed in Stephen Flurry's booklet.

• Called to the Truth? Will all in the God kingdom be Equal? discusses how the COGs teach that those who become God Beings at the return of Christ will be superior in rank then all other people who become God Beings afterwards, even though all are supposedly as fully God as God is God. The COGs nevertheless teach that there will be ranks and that the God Family will be divided into an elite (the deified church) while the rest will be inferior in rank. This aspect of the God Family doctrine is never discussed in Stephen Flurry's booklet.

• Why I no longer believe in the God Family doctrine (and never will) (offsite article by Felix Taylor Jr.) discusses how the God Family doctrine is simply not in the Bible.

• Reading PCG's Booklet, God is a Family discusses Stephen Flurry's booklet (1995) which teaches the God Family doctrine. It also discusses how Stephen Flurry misleadingly uses a Protestant commentary to insinuate the Bible teaches the God Family when the author of this commentary never taught the God Family doctrine at all.

The God Family doctrine is not supported by Scripture.

Considering these faults how dare PCG claims to be the only true church?

Gerald Flurry Condemns Democracy in New PCG Book

Gerald Flurry has used his new book to condemn democracy. Every now and then Flurry is quite happy to praise the US Constitution as the greatest legal document forged by "unconverted" persons. But here he shows what he really thinks of democracy. He is happy to praise it when trying to get members but he has "one-man rule" within PCG so he is uninterested in practicing democracy within PCG.

Here are Gerald Flurry's words condemning democracy. 

Ancient Democracy

The overarching point of the book of Judges is repeated for emphasis: “In those days there was no king in Israel: EVERY MAN DID THAT WHICH WAS RIGHT IN HIS OWN EYES” (Judges 21:25). GOD INSPIRED THAT STATEMENT TO BE REPEATED OVER AND OVER. He concludes the book with it.

This was the kind of “government” Israel descended into after Joshua died. After a certain point, nobody really cared what the leaders were doing. Everyone just did his own thing. Sound familiar?

Remember, THIS IS A BOOK OF PROPHECY. You can find Israel on Earth today by understanding this verse! What nations are passionately into democracy? America, Britain, the Jewish state and most of the democracies in northwestern Europe.

This is exactly the state of affairs in the modern nations of Israel! Everybody wants to do it their own way—whatever is right in their own eyes. THAT IS PROPHECY FOR RIGHT NOW IN THE NATIONS OF ISRAEL! People talk so much about freedom—but the freedom they cherish is really just the freedom to wreck their lives! They are plagued by wretched sins; they hate law and government. Who can lead these people into anything constructive or profitable?

This history vividly shows the terrible results of that kind of lawlessness. When God’s government isn’t in place, when His law is being ignored—when everyone is doing whatever is right in his own eyes—you have miserable anarchy.

These modern nations of biblical Israel are about to become the bloodiest nations ever because they reject God’s rule! EVERYBODY TODAY WANTS TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT IN HIS OWN EYES. THE BOOK OF JUDGES PROPHESIES THE TERRIFYING OUTCOME OF SUCH A DEMOCRACY!

This is always the fate of Israel without a strong Moses or Joshua to lead the people to God. Satan knows how to exploit the many weaknesses of a democracy to bring it down.

Even though democracy is probably the best government man has created, it is always destined to fail. (Gerald Flurry, The Former Prophets: How to Become a King, Chapter 3, pp. 51-52.)

Of course Gerald Flurry is predisposed to condemn democracy. If he had anything resembling democracy within his PCG then he might just be overruled and not have absolute power within PCG.

Gerald Flurry Repeats 13 Year Old Bizarre Prophecy of 10,000 PCG Members Going to Place of Safety

Gerald Flurry has taken a "prophecy" he unveiled to PCG members about thirteen years ago and has thrown it out to his PCG members yet again this (incorrectly observed) Feast of Tabernacles in his new book. Let's take a look.

In Chapter 10 of his book, The Former Prophets: How to Become a King, Gerald Flurry speculates that about 10,000 PCG members will get to flee to the Place of Safety, which is often said to be Petra, Jordan. Here is what he says.

A couple of biblical prophecies refer to 10,000 saints being in a place of safety in the end time. (You can read about this in Chapter Five of my free booklet No Freedom Without Law.) Deuteronomy 33:1-2 speak of “ten thousands of saints” coming with Christ from mount Paran, which is located in Petra, Jordan. The Apostle Jude referred to this in an end-time context as well (Jude 14).

God clearly says there will be 10,000 members in a place of safety. It has to mean that. He is going to come back with those 10,000. So maybe we’ll convert, say, 500 of our teenagers in the place of safety, and between now and then. And maybe we will pick up between 2,000 and 2,500 from the world and from the Laodicean churches.

Reaching that number might take a little more time than what we have thought, but I would hasten to add that so much is happening in this world, and it is disintegrating so fast, there is no guarantee it will take long at all. (Gerald Flurry, The Former Prophets: How to Become a King, 2014, Chapter 10, p. 226.)

Actually PCG members have already been waiting about thirteen years already to get 10,000 members. Let's take a look at what Gerald Flurry actually said in his booklet, No Freedom Without Law. This booklet was discussed recently in a previous post.

Here is what Gerald Flurry said about there being 10,000 PCG members within the Place of Safety way back in 2001.

Being part of the former prophets, I Kings includes prophecy for us today. It doesn’t say men. This is 7,000 people who are converted and have the Holy Spirit of God, people who know God and haven’t caved in to Baal. These are the people who will join God’s work before this is all over.

But God clearly says there will be 10,000 in the place of safety. He is going to come back with those 10,000. So maybe we will convert about 500 of our teenagers before and in the place of safety. And we’ll pick up between 2,000 and 2,500 from the world before the Great Tribulation. (Gerald Flurry, No Freedom Without Law, 2001, Chapter 5, p. 59. Page 68 in the current 2007 version.)

It has been thirteen years since Gerald Flurry offered these figures. That is about 4745 days.

Also that paragraph about "Reaching that number might take a little more time than what we have thought" is new, not present in either the 2001 or the 2007 versions of No Freedom Without Law. Is Flurry saying that the second coming will be later then he had told them earlier?

I think this indicates that PCG has not had any membership increase since 2001, or at least their membership is not as high as Flurry said it would be back in 2001. If PCG was increasing then why does Gerald Flurry present the same 

Will PCG members busy listening to sermons during their incorrectly observed Feast of Tabernacles notice that Gerald Flurry is offering the same promise of getting 10,000 members for PCG that he made thirteen years ago? Will they wonder why PCG leaders have been unable to get PCG membership that high in all that time despite all the money they pour in to PCG?

In 2012 PCG had an annual income of $19.5 million. But this does appear to be getting PCG anywhere in getting more members or more subscribers for The Philadelphia Trumpet.

Where is all the money going?

Gerald Flurry Uses His New Book to Demonize Muslims

Malala Yousefzai, a Muslim, has won the Nobel Peace Prize, sharing it with Kailash Satyarthi. Malala Yousefzai became famous all over the world after the Taliban shot her in the head for saying that girls need to be educated. I think this was a good decision to give the Prize to her.

At the same time Gerald Flurry has just released a new book, The Former Prophets: How to Become a King. In this book Gerald Flurry, among other things, also indulges in demonizing Muslims.

Let's take a look.

Think for a moment about the people within Islamist culture today. They are raising their children—from the time they are little babies—to hate, even to murder. Those young people constantly hear that message of hatred, and they become more evil as they grow older. They say they want to wipe Israel (biblical Judah) off the face of the Earth! What is the solution to that problem? God has a plan for them. He will resurrect them into a world that has been transformed into a paradise by keeping God’s law of love! He plans to educate them and give them all the love that they never received in this evil world today! (Chapter 2, p. 30.)

Judges 1:29 shows the Ephraimites allowing the Canaanites to live in their land. Modern Ephraim, Britain, does the same thing. Today, Muslims practice sharia law there, in some cases with the blessing of the British government! Those people don’t want British law: They are importing their own Islamic judicial system! There is no way you can live in peace with such individuals for long. (Chapter 3, pp. 42-43.)

In fact the vast majority of Muslims in the United States and Britain simply wish to live in peace. It is not fair for Gerald Flurry to slur the Muslim community for the actions of a few, especially in the second quote when he simply talks of "Muslims" as they all behaved like that.

Flurry does not preface these comments to say that such persons are merely a small minority of people. Instead he chooses to present them as some sort of sinister "other" that the readers should be afraid of.

Even though Flurry teaches that it will be Germany that will destroy the United States and Great Britain he and his collaborators are quite happy to get their readers scared of many other peoples, including Muslims. (PCG's writers also have a habit of demonizing Iran and Japan, among others.)

Alas such bigoted attitudes, like that displayed by Gerald Flurry, has caused a lot of pain for the Muslims among us, the vast majority of whom are simply peaceful law abiding citizens.