Philip Nice's How to Observe PCG's Sabbath Guide

PCG's Philip Nice has written an article, "The Best Sabbath Ever" (December 10, 2014), instructing PCG members on how to observe the Sabbath as taught by PCG. Let us see what Nice has to say.

There is coming a time when people will delight in joyful, uplifting conversation, forsaking their own thoughts, studying and learning God’s mind with humble attitudes and the power of His Holy Spirit. There is coming a time when people will rest from sin and worldly pursuits, breaking free from human nature, enjoying true freedom, and exploring the thrilling depths of God’s Word and obedience to the way that produces the peace, joy and excitement that the human heart longs for, all in a peaceful and beautiful environment.

And it’s less than seven days away.

Here Nice compares the observance of the Sabbath every seven days as being some sort of memorial of the millennial rule of Christ PCG teaches will be established on the Earth after Christ's second coming. This idea is quite common within the COGs.

Nice tells PCG members to make sure they prepare for (PCG's version of) the Sabbath by preparing for it on Friday.

Don’t forget the preparation day.

Every day of the week begins at sunset and has an evening and morning portion, according to God’s original design (Genesis 1:31). In order to devote the entire Sabbath to worshiping God, we have one full “preparation day” at our disposal: Friday (Exodus 16:4-5 records an ancient example). We should do our best to wrap up loose ends, tidy our homes, perform heavy cooking and prepare for the Sabbath all on Friday, beginning our planning at sundown on Thursday when necessary. This removes distractions and builds our anticipation for when the Friday sun finally sinks below the horizon.

Nice gives advice on what to do for Friday night dinner.

Drop your week’s mental baggage at the door, and focus on Sabbath topics over dinner: our Creator, His creation, His wonderful work, the Bible, the newest Church publication, last week’s sermon, and so forth. After quickly cleaning up after dinner, families might relax with a family Bible study or a Bible trivia game, or married couples might study their Bibles together, enjoying spiritual conversation about the things that really matter before getting a good night’s rest.

Here we begin to see how the Sabbath is actually used in PCG and the other COG groups: An opportunity to get followers to indoctrinate themselves for twenty fours a day every seven days.

Now even though it is the day of rest Nice tells you not to sleep in too long.

God’s Sabbath is about spiritual and physical renewal, but don’t allow yourself to sleep in too late. You’ve anticipated and prepared for this day; don’t let it slip by! Use the Sabbath morning to relish extra study and prayer time. Don’t forget that your children (those who are mature enough) will need help with this—it is all too easy to just sleep in.

Even the children will not be allowed to sleep in. No. Somehow they need to go through "extra study and prayer time" on their day of rest.

Now because PCG is a fairly small group members often have to drive a long way to get the congregation. Nice gives some of his advice on what to do during the drive.

Since many of God’s people spend several hours traveling to and from services, how we spend our time in the car could greatly help or greatly hurt our Sabbath-keeping. Use this opportunity to read Church literature either to yourself or aloud, or try to obtain and listen to recordings of Mr. Armstrong’s sermons, perhaps interspersing Philadelphia Singers or Young Ambassadors songs.

Children and teens might especially enjoy using this time to review—or create—Bible trivia cards, Scripture flash cards, or chapter outlines of the Bible together with their parents. This would also be the perfect opportunity to read aloud from the Bible Story series or the Bible itself, or to pass around Mystery of the Ages, Malachi’s Message or another booklet for everyone—except the driver!—to take turns reading aloud.

Read out Malachi's Message while driving to church? I have read that book myself (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4). I find this sort of behavior appalling. That booklet was written to persuade WCG members to leave and join PCG. If one is already in PCG what use is it?

Now we finally get to the actual church service. Nice wants to make sure the members are carefully paying attention to what the minister is saying, even convincing themselves that the sermon is mystically prepared by God specifically for each individual member. (This is not only a PCG idea. LCG's Meredith also taught this idea in an article of his.)

You know what it is like to hear a sermon that seemed prepared only for you—and not by any man, but by God. That kind of connection is almost impossible to put into words, but we have all felt it. But did you know that we can and should experience that awesome miracle every week?

Nice is worried that PCG members may tune out.

Now that the minister—one of God’s main tools for answering that prayer—has begun to speak, do you find yourself tuning out? Or do you have faith that God is actually in the process of answering your prayers? Do your part to beseech God and prepare for His Sabbath service, then know in faith that what is given this Sabbath is exactly what you need as a major part of your spiritual diet for next week! Let’s never let the attitude of Malachi 1:12 describe us—unsatisfied with the spiritual food God is serving. This Sabbath, expect the miracle!

Nice also gives instructions on even how members should talk to each other in the church.

When we open our mouths to speak before and after services, topics should center on God, His Work and His plan. We should avoid bringing the world into God’s Sabbath by talking at any length about mundane things like work, business, sports, etc. Don’t just let “How was your week?” automatically turn into a conversation about where to find a good mechanic. Instead, steer your conversation toward things that will uplift and excite you about God’s Word and His plan: world news and prophecy, what you have been studying in the Bible, recent Church publications, what you’ve learned about God this week, things you are grateful for, developments in God’s Work—on the physical and spiritual level.

Once again Nice tells PCG members to read recent writings produced by PCG. This further indicates the real purpose for PCG's sabbath: the habitual indoctrination of PCG members. 

Nice also discusses what to do after the service has ended because the Sabbath carries on until sunset.

Following services, remember to strive for balance. Mr. Armstrong encouraged Sabbath-keepers to temper dining at restaurants with other activities, including serving the needs of others, calling the sick, visiting shut-ins, inviting brethren to your home, or taking a Sabbath walk to enjoy God’s creation. 

This would seem to indicate that PCG allows members to eat at restaurants during the Sabbath. Over the years many of the followers of Herbert Armstrong have been greatly vexed over whether or not it is sinful to eat at a restaurant during the Sabbath.

Then, as is often done in the COGs, a certain Scripture is cited to justify PCG's strict interpretation of how to observe the Sabbath.

“If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath,” God tells us in Isaiah 58:13, “from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words”—then you will rediscover an awesome truth each and every week: In many ways, God’s Kingdom is already here—in your home!

Keep this coming Sabbath day—like no other.

That Scripture is quoted inaccurately. Isaiah 58:13-14 is often used within the COGs to justify a strict interpretation of how to observe the Sabbath. But it does not say what COG leaders like Meredith and Nice say it means. This was noted in a previous post.

Later, long after I had renounced Armstrongism, I read chapter ten of William Hinsom's book, Broadway to Armageddon and it cited this study paper produced by WCG leaders in May 1976.

On page 189 there is reproduced a page of this report which states:

The following statement of the Worldwide Church of God supersedes all material heretofore published on the subject.

On pp. 192-3 this paper discusses Isaiah 58:13-14.

Note: It should be carefully noted that the term "seeking your own pleasure" does not, in the Hebrew, have reference to personal enjoyment. The word "pleasure" is khephets in Hebrew. In the Jewish translation it is rendered "thine own business".

The New English Bible makes the meaning clearer than either the King James version or the Revised Standard Version:

"If you cease to tread the Sabbath underfoot, and keep my holy day free from your own affairs, if you call the Sabbath a day of joy...if you honor it by not plying your own trade, not seeking your own affairs..."

This translation shows the true intention of the words "thine own pleasure!" The Hebrew term rendered pleasure is often translated "desire" or "purpose" in other passages (cf. Eccl. 3:1, 17; I Kings 5:8, 9, 10, etc.). The Jewish translation speaks of "pursuing thy business" and "thy wonted ways". The Hebrew khephets is not addressing the question of pleasurable activities that are illegal on the Seventh day! If pleasure were not present, how could the day possibly be a delight!? 

This passage of Scripture has been erroneously applied to such activities as television viewing, swimming, listening to music, marital relations, and even reading the weekly comics in the newspaper!

Now this paper was not simply opening the door for just about anything. It is still firmly Sabbatarian. The paper balances itself by saying immediately afterwards:

Of course, any of these activities could violate the spirit of the Sabbath day if they were abused or overdone. They are not, by and of themselves, wrong. Any activity which interferes with or detracts from the joy, rest and spiritual intention of the day could be wrong. If an activity works against the spirit of the Sabbath, it is wrong, no matter what it is.    

I so wished I had understood this before, but in my position, in 2000, that was simply impossible.

And other COG members are also in no position to understand this fact about Isaiah 58:13-14. And that continues to allow this inaccurate understanding of Isaiah 58:13-14 to be repeated over and over again within the COGs.

This inaccurate understanding has helped the COGs' ministers to pervert the Sabbath into a twenty four honor indoctrination session to learn the inaccurate and misleading dogmas of Armstrongism.

PCG's Joel Hilliker Says "Government is Everything"

PCG's Joel Hilliker has released an article, The Office (December 8, 2014),  calling upon PCG members to obey governmental authorities and be in awe of them.

Let us see what Hilliker has to say.

PCG booklet

The ability to disparage the authorities is viewed as a benchmark of a nation’s freedom. Governments that do not tolerate dissent are seen as regressive and dictatorial.

What does God think? Does He welcome dissent? Does He encourage us to disparage the government under which we live?

I am surprised how Hilliker says Governments that do not tolerate dissent are seen as regressive and dictatorial. Maybe this is because they are regressive and dictatorial.

***

Hilliker then cites an Old Testament Scripture to say that people should not hold the government in contempt.

God doesn’t want us to have an attitude of contempt toward the government of the land, because, as we will see, He knows that will affect our attitude toward Him.

Really? What if the government was doing something really bad?

What about the early Christians who continued to observe their ways despite severe pressure against it? Were they by their actions holding their government in contempt? Should they be condemned for that?

Hilliker then plays the Satan card saying that Satan hates government and broadcasts his attitudes to humanity (outside of PCG).

Because the issue is so critical in our relationship with our Creator, Satan fiercely attacks government! He hates government more than anything. ...  Think about it. The media are absolutely saturated with anti-government messages. Family government is trashed in every sitcom, where virtually every father is an incompetent buffoon, a tyrant or invisible. Government in the workplace is ridiculed on practically every drama where the boss is the villain. National government is lambasted incessantly in news programs, which portray it as foolish, selfish, biased, blind or corrupt. Media relentlessly promote the notion of living your own life free from the strictures of responsibility and accountability to government.

Disrespect for authority is more consistent than any other message in mass media!

"Family government"? "Government in the workplace"? Who talks about these things as government? Here we see Hilliker is loading the language and turning the word "government" into something different form how it is normally used.

Hilliker begins to cite Gerald Flurry's booklet, God's Family Government, which was discussed in a previous post. Hilliker also cites Gerald Flurry's booklet, Jeremiah and the Greatest Vision in the Bible, which is also discussed on this blog.

Hilliker also cites a January 1964 Plain Truth article written by Herman Hoeh. It is entitled "Respect Government Authority". However as is often the practice for PCG's writers citing Plain Truth articles Hoeh's name is omitted.

However I refrain from quoting what Hilliker has quoted. Here I wish to discuss what Hilliker is saying.

Hilliker seems to want the reader to be really scared of Satan.

We live in Satan’s world. How much does his hatred of government influence us? How much have his attitudes rubbed off?

Let’s not kid ourselves; Satan has already deceived 95 percent of God’s people, 99 percent of the ministry, apparently all the angels under his charge—and the whole world. Having already twisted the world’s thinking, Satan uses all his subtlety to inject his poisonous anti-government message into our minds. ...

Do we have the right attitude toward government within our country, on our jobs, in our homes?

Again, to use the word "government" to describe relations in the family and in the workplace is an odd and unusual way to use the word government.

And what does Hilliker mean saying "Satan has already deceived ... 99 percent of the ministry"? Only two WCG ministers founded PCG.

***

Hilliker even seems to think that "cursing the rich business leaders" some of whom helped plunge America into the global financial crisis in 2007-8 is wrong.

Cursing the leaders, speaking ill of the government, even cursing the rich business leaders—these are hallmarks of American democracy. Any mistake the president or other public official makes, the press attacks with piranha-like ferocity. The lead-up to elections are particularly brutal, as people on all sides smear candidates and candidates smear one another.

Is democracy really more godly than a monarchy?

In recent years so many Americans have badly suffered because of decisions made by some of these "rich business leaders". It is morally astounding how Hilliker chooses to sympathize with "the rich business leaders", some of whom have had such a terrible effect upon so many Americans including, no doubt, PCG members.

***

Hilliker says people who hold authority are placed there by God.

God gives authority to certain men in the Church, and He ordains people into worldly offices. All power comes from Him!

Our job, then, is to respect the physical office.

What does Hilliker mean?

In 1999 NATO launched air strikes against Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) because of the Kosovo War. PCG's leaders condemned this armed intervention. They said NATO's intervention was an illegal war. Ron Fraser even wrote an article saying the Serbs led by Slobodan Milošević were driven by honor ("It [honor] drives the Serbs.") but the leaders of the NATO alliance had no honor ("It [honor] eludes the U.S."). And PCG's writers have continued to say similar things ever since. How did PCG respect the physical office of the NATO alliance and its member states in that instance?

What about Iran? To use Hilliker's argument, did not God appoint the leaders of Iran who arose to power in 1979 and afterwards? But PCG's writers have constantly demonized the leaders of Iran whenever they could whether the facts warranted such criticism or not. How is PCG respecting the physical office of Iran's leaders?

But despite these facts Hilliker goes on to say:

In our world, submission to government is associated only with fascism. Don’t fight the government goes against the democratic foundation. Still, that is God’s command to each one of us.

What a fanciful straw man Hilliker has created here. Are the people who pay income tax and who think it is right to pay taxes somehow "associated with ... fascism"? Clearly Hilliker is here talking in an unrealistic way.

God tells us to cry aloud and tell this world its sins. So when leaders cause the people to err, God’s Work must proclaim what is happening. We are to sigh and cry for the abominations in Israel, and that includes the government. We need to watch for the fulfillment of prophecy.

But we also need to make sure we’re not cursing the king—even in our thoughts. We also need to sigh and cry for how much people despise government!

Brad MacDonald wrote an article entitled "Why Iran Can Afford to Be Insane". How is that not "cursing the king"?

***

Hilliker then bemoans the "negative effects" of being able to criticize the government.

Around the world, people laud the benefits of being able to criticize the government. But how many consider the negative effects? What about the problems that arise from the media playing the watchdog and reporters hunting for blood? What about the increasingly violent divisions within the populace? Look at the fruits! America is divided down the middle, and the media tarnish the country’s name before all the world. 

The world believes criticism is a God-given right. In God’s Kingdom, this ingrained outlook will have to be unlearned!

Gerald Flurry and Stephen Flurry wrote a booklet entitled Character in Crisis which was all about bemoaning President Clinton's adulterous affair. Clearly they were criticizing the governmental leader who, Hilliker argues, was appointed by God and whose office must be respected. Clearly PCG's writers do not follow the instructions Hilliker provides in this article.

After this Hilliker takes these ideas to the workplace and tells readers they are to submit to the boss at work as though he (or she) were God. What is the purpose of adoring the boss in such a way.

So we learn to submit to government. It will be much easier to submit to a loving God if we learn to submit to a hard boss. There is no need for us to be watchdogs. We all must learn the lesson of submitting to government even if it is not being applied correctly.

This is an invitation to catastrophe. This advice is a wide open path to abuse. I shudder to think of any PCG member taking such advice to heart. They are making themselves vulnerable to abuse.

Immediately afterwards Hilliker says:

Look at [Jesus] Christ’s example. He put Himself totally in His Father’s hands, knowing God was in control of everything. When He came before Pilate, He didn’t revile—He submitted Himself to that authority. He knew that Pilate had no power but what God gave him, and that everything occurs according to God’s will (verses 22-23).

But He submitted Himself to the Father and other Scriptures state He was aware the crucifixion was going to happen. This is not like submitting to a harsh boss at all. This is taking Scripture out of context.

***

Hilliker then applies this idea to PCG ("the church").

What is our attitude toward government within the Church—toward Mr. Flurry; toward the ministry?

In Who Is 'That Prophet'?, Mr. Flurry talks about how his experiences with “one-man rule” under Mr. Armstrong—the same government so many other churches disparage—were nothing but positive. What about you and me? Is it clear to us in the Church that we are part of God’s Family, under a government of love?

But Gerald Flurry was able to become a minister. He was receiving the tithes WCG members gave. It seems clear he had a troubled early life, but after he became a WCG minister he was revered and respected by his entire congregation. He had it made. No wonder he loved how things were in HWA's WCG.

But for the vast majority of WCG members that was not the experience for them at all. Instead many of them got bullied by WCG ministers or those above them. They gave and gave and got hardly anything in return. They were not the minister of the congregation, instead they had to submit to them.

So we see that Gerald Flurry's testimony that all was well in HWA's WCG is highly flawed.

Now what if any PCG members should tell Hilliker that there are problems in PCG? What does Hilliker say to persons like that?

Satan will try to inject doubts in our minds, focusing our attention on the man and his faults. The moment we start thinking a minister doesn’t really know what he’s doing, we become deeply susceptible to Satan’s influence. (Obviously, we should never follow a minister who is not following Christ.)

Lucifer thought, I could do just as good a job as God is doing. At the very heart of his thinking was this dissatisfaction that resulted in a critical mindset—when he should have had a submissive mindset. He did not submit to the government over him.

So it would appear any dissatisfaction with a PCG minister is simply caused by Satan broadcasting his attitudes into your brain. How convenient for a PCG minister to say that.

What manipulative nonsense! Such answers have the effect of having PCG members simply ignore the problems within PCG. PCG members are here told to ignore the problems because (can one believe this) focusing "on the man and his faults" is simply Satan manipulating your thoughts and feelings.

***

Hilliker ends this article with an call to respect and obey government in the family, the workplace, and "the church" (PCG).

We all need to purge ourselves of satanic attitudes toward government and replace them with God’s perspective on government in every aspect of our lives. ...

We must use the power of God to obey God’s commands in this critical area of our lives and to take on a positive attitude toward government. The right attitude will lead to greater happiness in our marriages and families, our congregations—even our nation. Most importantly, it will put us on the right footing with our Creator.

Government truly is everything!

This article is terrible advice. It gives the reader no way to address actual abuse of authority by people in power.

It even sympathizes with "the rich business leaders", some of whom helped plunge America into the global financial crisis. What a slight to the many who have suffered, no doubt including some PCG members who pay Hilliker's income letting him live in this humble abode.

Hilliker's home at PCG's headquarters. (PCG Information.)

PCG Wants (At Least Some of) the Inheritance

PCG's Mark Nash has written an article, "Payable on Death", which gives instructions on how to make arrangements that your money will be transferred to who you wish after death.

A few months ago, I walked into my bank, and, 10 minutes later, this tool was in place for my checking and savings accounts. No hassles, no delays, no cost. And I know if my wife and I die any money in those accounts will go exactly where I want it to go.

The tool I’m referring to is called a “Payable on Death” benefit. There are other names for it; however, it is the best way to transfer funds at death to the person, people or organization you want them to go to. If you are married and have joint accounts, it requires both of you to die before it is activated....

To “collect” the assets, the new owner will be required to provide the bank with a certified death certificate and proper identification. They may be required to show two forms of identification by some agencies, but that’s all there is to it.

This is a remarkable way to be sure your assets go where you want them to go. Since ownership actually changes, it is nearly impossible for anyone to contest or interrupt the transfer of funds.

Even if a PCG member has only a fairly small amount of money Nash makes it clear he or she should nevertheless have such arrangements ready upon death.

Sometimes people think such planning is only for the rich. In reality, exactly the opposite is true, especially for a payable on death benefit. The less money you have, the more important careful planning becomes. Without proper plans in place, your money will be consumed by the courts and attorneys, leaving nothing for those you love. A payable on death clause attached to your accounts allows even the smallest accounts to be transferred to the person or organization of your choosing without costs and delays.

It is fairly obvious why Nash is really talking about this.

You may list more than one person or organization as owners. Some institutions will give them equal portions while others will permit you to specify percentages or fractions to each.

If you choose to make an organization the beneficiary at your death, you may be asked to provide the federal tax number when setting up the payable on death benefit. Contact that organization to get their proper address and tax number.

Although the writer is careful not to bluntly state it the real reason for this article is to instruct PCG members how to hand over money to PCG with minimum amount of fuss for PCG's leaders.

It is no wonder PCG's leaders want inheritance money handed over efficiently. In at least one case an inheritance left by a PCG member was challenged by family members and went through an expensive legal case. This article is trying to preemptively instruct PCG members to avoid legal challenges by family members or other persons who may be able to challenge such an inheritance so that PCG will get it quickly and without challenge.

Even though PCG gets to enjoy three tithes and extra offerings during the live of the PCG member PCG's leaders still want more for when said member dies. Even though PCG got $19.5 million in 2012 it still is not enough.

Alas, Armstrongism has a long history of getting inheritance money from members. This practice goes back to HWA's WCG. It is sad to see this continue within PCG.

Roderick C. Meredith Insinuating that the US Would be Humbled in Bosnia (1996)

Here is Roderick C. Meredith back in 1996 insinuating that the US may "be truly chastened and humbled" while discussing the US sending peacekeepers to Bosnia.

As some 20,000 American troops head into the middle of the Bosnian war (some call it “peacekeeping”), we need to realize that—far more than in Vietnam—God may let us be truly chastened and humbled as a nation. And, unless we repent—we richly deserve it. Before this Bosnian adventure is over, will America have lost even more credibility in the eyes of our European allies and of the rest of the world as well?

Even while American diplomats were assisting the negotiations in Dayton, Ohio, notice what was happening behind the scenes:

“As Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic negotiates a peace settlement in Dayton, the army under his control is rebuilding the Bosnian Serb military in violation of Milosevic’s own pledges, U.S. and U.N. officials said yesterday” (San Diego Tribune, Nov. 18, 1995).

And now the Los Angeles Times reports that Serbian General Ratko Mladic is balking at following the terms of the peace accord:

“‘We cannot allow our people to come under the rule of Butchers,’ Mladic said, referring to the Muslims and Croats his troops fought for 3 1/2 years. ‘A just solution, especially for Sarajevo, must be found,’ he said in a speech to mark the formation of a new Bosnian Serb army brigade.

“U.S. officials have ruled out any changes to the agreement, which gives most of the Serb-held suburbs of the capital, Sarajevo, to a Muslim-Croat federation. “Mladic’s statement bodes ill for the safety of the 60,000 NATO troops—an estimated 20,000 from the United States— being sent to enforce the peace agreement” (Dec. 3, 1995). (Roderick C. Meredith, "America At the Crossroads", The World Ahead, January 1996, pp. 3, 15.)

Of course nothing that "chastened and humbled" America occurred in Bosnia as Meredith insinuated here. Sporadic violence continued into 1996 but the terms of the peace were adhered to and there has been no armed conflict since then. The Bosnian War had been put to an end. Mladić went into hiding only to be arrested in 2011.

It is fairly likely some some of the viewers of The World Ahead telecast and readers of The World Ahead magazine knew some of the US soldiers sent to maintain the peace in Bosnia. It is sad to think that this article very likely distressed them.  

And so we see yet another failed prophecy from Roderick C. Meredith.

Why do LCG members continue to follow Meredith seeing that he clearly does not know what will happen in the future as he pretends to?

Gerald Flurry: "“Do-gooders” are Some of the Most Dangerous People on This Planet!"

Did you know that "“Do-gooders” are some of the most dangerous people on this planet!"? It would appear the answer is "yes" according to Gerald Flurry in this article from the September-October 2004 issue of The Philadelphia Trumpet.

“Do-gooders” are some of the most dangerous people on this planet! They often have strong views based on little understanding. And this is a dangerous age to have strong influence combined with distorted reasoning. ... But today the do-gooders are out defending Saddam and prosecuting Milosevic! It’s a very dangerous way to reason in the age of WMD. (Gerald Flurry, The Scary Truth Behind the Milosevic Trial, September-October 2004, The Philadelphia Trumpet, p. 2.)

Now in context Gerald Flurry was discussing the trial of Slobodan Milošević. For many years, since 1999, Gerald Flurry has condemned NATO's intervention against the Milošević regime as part of a sinister plot by the Germans to conquer Europe and then America and Britain.

However this pro-Milošević stance is little more then an attempt to exploit the terrible suffering caused in the Yugoslav Wars to demonize Germany and the Pope in order to convince people that World War III will soon occur.

What a strange way to view "do-gooders" as "some of the most dangerous people on this planet!" How anyone could say something like that?

***

Here are some other posts regarding the topic of the Yugoslav Wars and how PCG discusses it:

Reading PCG's Booklet, Germany's Conquest of the Balkans (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)

PCG Using the Yugoslav Wars to Demonize Germany and the Pope

Watching PCG's Program, Germany's Conquest of Europe

PCG Advertizing Flurry's Yugoslav Wars Booklet

PCG Exploits Yugoslav Wars to Demonize Germany

PCG's Support for Serbia in the Yugoslav Wars

Watching PCG's Telecast, Putin Remembers Yugoslavia

PCG's Ron Fraser Demonizing Bosnia as a "Terrorist Enclave" (2008)

PCG Calls Srebrenica Massacre "a Crime of Passion"

Serb War Criminals Convicted

How PCG's Ron Fraser Viewed the Kosovo War in 1998

PCG's Ron Fraser: The EU Will Divide Macedonia (2001)

PCG's Ron Fraser: The EU Will Divide Macedonia (2001)

National Flag of Macedonia

In 2001 an armed group called the National Liberation Army, an offshoot of the Kosovo Liberation Army, rose up to launch an armed insurgency against Macedonia. Exploiting various ethnic tensions there between the Macedonians and ethnic Albanians within it, the NLA advanced into Macedonia. This led to war against Macedonia which raged during the course of 2001.

During the course of this war PCG's Ron Fraser wrote an article about the war in Macedonia entitled "The Final Pieces Fall into Place" for the August 2001 issue of the Philadelphia Trumpet. Here Fraser irresponsibly speculated that this insurgency by the NLA was engineered by the Germans in order to divide Macedonia and carve out an Albanian enclave from it as part of a plot to somehow "conquer" and "colonize" what used to be Yugoslavia.

The PCG leadership's stance in supporting the Milošević regime was always superficial. The turbulent and bloody events of the Yugoslav Wars were simply exploited by PCG's writers to demonize Germany and the Pope by claiming they caused the Yugoslav Wars by recognizing Slovenia and Croatia as independent states in December 1991. Fraser repeats that accusation here.

For it has been the cunning efforts of this German-led European Union which, by the recognition of Slovenia and Croatia in 1991 as sovereign nation-states separate from the Yugoslav republic, inspired the cruelty of “ethnic cleansing” via the politico-religious Balkan wars that followed in quick succession in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Albania/Kosovo and now Albania/Macedonia. This has broken in pieces the century-old amalgam of Yugoslavia. 

("Albania/Kosovo"? "Albania/Macedonia"? What is Fraser talking about? What a clumsy way to talk about the ethnic Albanians in those areas.)

In fact by that time Slovenia was already de facto independent after an armed struggle in June-July 1991 after which Belgrade agreed to withdraw Federal forces from Slovenia, which was done as agreed in October 1991.

Also Croatia and the Milošević regime were already in the crucible of war. The fighting had been raging for months in Croatia by December 1991. The Belgrade government had already seized Vukovar from Croatia after a three month siege which killed about 3000 people (August 25-November 18, 1991). All this occurred before December 1991.

Also in January 1992 a ceasefire was agreed between Croatia and Serbia which lasted for about a year. Although fighting did continue intermittently until 1995. 

But despite these important facts which complicate the picture Fraser continued to repeat the accusation that Germany and the Vatican City's acts of recognizing Slovenia and Croatia in December 1991 somehow began the Yugoslav War.

Actually Yugoslavia was only in existence about 73 years after the end of World War I by the time the Yugoslav Wars started. While this in and if itself is not a problem it shows how superficial Fraser's knowledge of Yugoslavia actually is. His flawed knowledge is only shown in how he describes the history of Yugoslavia.

Marshall Tito established a new Constitution for Yugoslavia which, between the wars, was known as the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. [The name Yugoslavia was actually adopted in 1929 -- Redfox712.] The Serbs had initiated this first union of these three nations, following the collapse of the Hapsburg-ruled Austro-Hungarian empire at the close of World War I in 1918. Following World War II, Tito aligned himself with the Soviet Union in 1946. Two years later he broke with the Soviets, enacting his own brand of national socialism, popularly known as Titoism. Within five years he created a new federal constitution, and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was born.

Yugoslavia was never named that during Tito's time. After World War II Yugoslavia was reconstituted as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. Later in 1963 it was renamed the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. That was its name until 1992 when in the midst of its disintegration it was renamed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

Strangely how Fraser never uses the word "Communist" to describe it in a heavy handed attempt to idealize Yugoslavia. 

Cleverly, the EU has let NATO do all the grunt work in Macedonia, with the result that if things go wrong, the egg will be, once again, as in Kosovo, all over NATO’s face, and a classic opening will ensue, at the right moment, for the new EU rapid reaction force to deploy and to “enforce” the “peace” in that ethnically and politically divided country.

By dividing Macedonia into separate Albanian and Macedonian enclaves, as U.S. think tank Stratfor points out, NATO will have been the unwitting accomplice in achieving the Albanian rebels’ goal. “The Albanians, emboldened by NATO protection, will strengthen their hold on Kosovo and one third of Macedonia while expanding their Greater Albania campaign over other parts of the Balkans, such as southern Serbia, Montenegro and northern Greece” (www.stratfor.com, June 27).

And soon afterwards Fraser even invokes Columbia in fear mongering about the ethnic Albanian guerrillas in the NLA and the KLA.

Why is Albania so favored by NATO?

Remember, they are the ally of Germany, the leading nation in the EU. The huge illegal drug- and gun-running scams of the Albanian mafiosi could not operate without German cooperation. Their illegal drug- and gun-running corridor runs from Berlin through Kosovo and Tirana, via the Adriatic, across the North Atlantic Ocean, clear through to Colombia. Remember, many Albanian insurgents in Kosovo were trained in Germany and supplied with German arms. The Albanians are simply in the pay of Berlin, operating under the umbrella or protection of none other than Anglo-American-led NATO!

In fact many KLA fighters who fought in Kosovo came from other countries, such as France and the United States. But facts like this are not allowed to get in the way of exploiting the suffering of this Insurgency in Macedonia to demonize Germany and the Pope in order to convince readers that Germany and the Pope will lead the world into World War III.

The latest triumph of the shattering divide-and-conquer diplomacy of the EU and its lackeys, NATO and the UN, will not secure peace in the Balkans. What it will guarantee, however, just as it has in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo, is a continuing external military presence to enforce the will of the rising beast power upon this final set-piece of Germany’s ten-year campaign to colonize the Balkans.

What actually happened?

Soon afterwards the Macedonians overcome this insurgency and the NLA came to terms with Macedonia and ended the armed struggle. 

After the Ohrid Agreement, the rebels agreed to a ceasefire in June, however there were other agreements in August, before both sides settled on a final one in January 2002. Under the Ohrid Agreement, the Macedonian government pledged to improve the rights of the Albanians of the country. Those rights included making the Albanian language the second official language, increasing the participation of ethnic Albanians in government institutions, the police and the army. Most importantly, under the Ohrid Agreement, the Macedonian government agreed to a new model of decentralization.

The Albanian side agreed to give up any separatist demands and to fully recognize all Macedonian institutions. In addition, according to this agreement the NLA was to disarm and hand over their weapons to NATO....

Just hours after NATO wrapped up the operation [of disarming the NLA], [NLA leader] Ali Ahmeti told reporters attending a news conference in the rebel stronghold of Šipkovica that he was dissolving the National Liberation Army and that it was time for ethnic reconciliation. (Wikipedia.)

Macedonia to this day remains a unified state.

Ron Fraser failed to foresee that Macedonia would overcome the insurgency and remain a unified state.

Ron Fraser failed to foresee that NATO would actually disarm the NLA.

Ron Fraser failed to foresee that peace would return to Macedonia. Just a few months later the insurgency came to an end and there has been no war in Macedonia since then.

Clearly Ron Fraser did not know what he was talking about. He does not know the future. And neither does any of PCG's leaders.

They are false prophets. There is no need to fear that they have some kind of special knowledge. They are mortals who merely try to convince people into paying three tithes to PCG.

There is no need to please PCG's leaders.

PCG's Garth Fraser: The "Third Way" is Nazism Disguised (2001)

Over the years there have been attempts to reconcile various left wing ideas with right wing ideas. This attempted synthesis is sometimes called the "Third Way". Back in the 1990s various politicians such as then British Prime Minister Tony Blair presented themselves as advocating a third way between the right and the left.

Here is how Wikipedia introduces this subject.

In politics, the Third Way is a position that tries to reconcile right-wing and left-wing politics by advocating a varying synthesis of right-wing economic and left-wing social policies. The Third Way was created as a serious re-evaluation of political policies within various centre-left progressive movements in response to international doubt regarding the economic viability of the state; economic interventionist policies that had previously been popularized by Keynesianism and contrasted with the corresponding rise of popularity for economic liberalism and the New Right. The Third Way is promoted by some social democratic and social liberal movements.

Sounds fairly mainstream.

Unless, of course, you happen to be one Gareth Fraser, who writes for a certain sect called the Philadelphia Church of God, which is based in Edmond, Oklahoma.

Gareth Fraser says the third way is Nazism "disguised", whatever that means. Here is what he said in 2001.

Second: Nazism is back. This time it’s disguised in the form of the political “Third Way,” the socialist-fascist doctrine cloaked in business suits extant in globalist strategy boardrooms and enmeshed in mile-long treaties. Hitler’s Reich is replaced by the European Union, the long-desired revival of the ancient Holy Roman Empire. (Gareth Fraser, "Germany's Balkan Coup", Philadelphia Trumpet, May 2001.)

Let us look at that statement again.

Second: Nazism is back. This time it’s [meaning 'Nazism is'] disguised in the form of the political “Third Way,” the socialist-fascist doctrine cloaked in business suits extant in globalist strategy boardrooms and enmeshed in mile-long treaties. Hitler’s Reich is replaced by the European Union, the long-desired revival of the ancient Holy Roman Empire.

Also what is Gareth Fraser talking about when he talks of a "socialist-fascist doctrine"? What does that even mean?

How can Gareth Fraser be so casual and vague in throwing around such an incendiary accusation? Do PCG's writers have no fear of bearing false witness?

PCG is wonderfully reliable in that just when you think they have gone down the well of tithe funded madness as they possibly can somehow they find another way to morally sink even lower.

Joel Hilliker's Rise in the Ranks of PCG's Leadership

PCG's Joel Hilliker has released an article, "Thankful", celebrating his twenty year anniversary of being in PCG. Here Hilliker reveals that he joined PCG in 1994. Here is some of what he says about what he has been up to while within PCG.

God pays close attention to many anniversaries, memorials and annual reminders. The Sabbath after Thanksgiving is one date I remember each year. It was on this day in 1994 that my family attended services with the Philadelphia Church of God for the first time.

That makes 20 years in the PCG. Being 22 at the time, I’ve now spent almost half my life here, the previous years being in the Worldwide Church of God. My sister was 20, so she’s had an almost perfect split between the two.

A full human lifetime is only seven or eight decades. Two decades is a pretty decent portion of a life. It is intriguing to remember back on the 22-year-old—and then 32-year-old—and compare to today. Such reflection inspires overwhelming gratitude for the blessings of these past two decades.

I can survey more than 19 years of being baptized—possessing and growing in the Holy Spirit, the source of spiritual understanding, power, love. Over 17 years of working at headquarters in Edmond, directly contributing to God’s Work. Nearly 16 years of marriage, building memories and absorbing all the lessons it offers. Over 14 years in God’s ministry, and 14 years teaching at God’s college, helping others’ spiritual growth. Over 13 years as a father, and seven as a father of three, working in partnership with God and my wife at shaping future God beings.

I find it fascinating how Hilliker was writing articles for PCG even before he was ordained. He was writing articles as early as 1998.

Well of course Hilliker is happy. The tithes sent by PCG members allows him and his family to live in this fine abode.

Hilliker's home at PCG's headquarters. (PCG Information.)

No wonder Hilliker continues to prop up PCG despite the many problems within it.

PCG's Ron Fraser: Yugoslavia to be Rushed into the EU (2000)

Here is yet another false prophecy from PCG. Shortly after the overthrow of the Milošević regime in Serbia in 2000 the European Union took measures to normalize relations with Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro). Part of the process of normalizing relations was for Yugoslavia to join the European Council. PCG's Ron Fraser seemed to think this was a sign that Yugoslavia would be fast tracked into joining the EU.

Now Yugoslavia appears to be thrust into the fast lane for early membership despite an economy and political structure seemingly in tatters. Why? It’s simple. The gnomes of Brussels who oversee the agenda for EU expansion know that there can be no effective eastward expansion of the Union unless and until the Balkan Peninsula is secured. ...

Less than two weeks after Kostunica’s recognition of the osce, the federal republic was admitted to membership at a special meeting called in Vienna on November 10. On the same day, Yugoslavia applied for a membership of the 41-nation European Council. This is normally a long, drawn-out process. However, after a special two-day meeting of the European Council’s political committee held in Strasbourg, it decided to place Yugoslavia in the fast lane and grant membership by June next year!

What is worth noting is that European Council membership, as the BBC related at the time, “is the touchstone to EU membership.” The BBC report further noted, “Yugoslavia may gain special guest status with unprecedented quickness; probably by the end of the year.”

Watch for Yugoslavia to be pushed now, by events controlled from Brussels, into the fast lane to EU membership. (Ron Fraser, "Yugoslavia Comes in From the Cold", Philadelphia Trumpet, December 2000.)

Fourteen years later neither Serbia nor Montenegro are in the EU. Clearly Ron Fraser did not know what he was talking about. This is because God is not with the Philadelphia Church of God. Gerald Flurry, Ron Fraser and their collaborators are false prophets spreading false fear inducing prophecies. There is no nee to fear their dire pronouncements.

PCG's Ron Fraser: Germany and Russia Will Have Peace (1999)

In 1999, during the time of heightened tension caused by the Kosovo War, PCG's Ron Fraser wrote an article entitled "Divided We Fall", published in the June 1999 issue of PCG's Philadelphia Trumpet.

In this article Ron Fraser made many statements. Within it he asserted that PCG's leaders believed that Germany and Russia would make peace and come to terms similar to the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact of 1939 in order for Germany to destroy America and Britain.

With Russia looming again on the horizon across the Polish plain, Germany gets the jitters. Germany will never trust NATO in a European adventure again. Apart from this, Germany has never, ever trusted Russia! So—revive the old Ribbentrop-Molotov pact! In 1939 the German foreign minister negotiated a non-aggression pact with Russia. We believe that a similar pact will soon be concluded between Russia and Germany.

It is now fifteen years since these words were published. Today there is now a tense situation between Germany and Russia caused by the crisis in Ukraine, even imposing economic sanctions on each other.

Yet another false prophecy produced by Gerald Flurry's Philadelphia Church of God. God is not with them. Following PCG's commands will not lead anyone to some place of safety. There is no need to send money to them. There is no need to fear their dire, fear inducing false prophecies.