Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Sharon Mooney sets record straight about Bobby Fischer and his time spent in the Worldwide Church of God



I received the following from Sharon Mooney telling her side of the story about being enraptured in Armstrongism and what it did to her life and Bobby Fischer's.


A Vindication of Bobby Fischer
by Sharon Mooney
vindication-of-bobby-fischer.coDIAGNOSIS: “Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder” (C-PTSD) which explains Fischerʼs “bizarre” symptoms stemming from 15 years of deep indoctrination and thought control in the Armstrong Doomsday Cult. I ask that society seek knowledge and understanding about Bobby Fischerʼs life instead of merely judging what they clearly do not understand. Ultimately compassion and forgiveness. Whether it was leaving the cult, then attempting to fill the vacuum Armstrongʼs cult created in our minds, with the cult of “far rightism” or filling the vacuum with drug abuse the common thread between lives of Armstrongʼs ex-“true believers” was oft Self Destruction.
https://vindication-of-bobby-fischer.co/index.html

I know that there is a necessity for me to set the record straight, for Bobby Fischer, myself and many other victims of the cult we were all once devoted believers in. There are still many disciples of Armstrongism, and surely they will be on the offensive when they learn of my public testimony against the abuse of the cult that was and still is, the Worldwide Church of God and its splinter groups but so be it. Alas, I can set my soul at peace on this matter by sharing my story for sake of truth and justice and mercy.
My parents joined the cult in 1973 and stayed, heavily indoctrinated and involved until the mid 1990's. Bobby Fischer joined in the 1960's and stayed till late in the 1970's. To get to the crux of the matter, one must understand the core doctrines of Herbert Armstrong's 'prophecies'. It was the same method Hitler ruled the masses through use of terror. If they were not obedient to their authoritarian rule, “The Nazi soldiers will come get YOU. And they will kill … YOU”. This nightmare prophecy motivated both members and coworkers to open their wallets and dig deep in their pockets to “finish” God's work. But God's work is never ever done. Armstrong revised and replotted his depraved prophecies many times during the ensuing decades. Many times this “great tribulation” was foretold, and yet it never actually came to pass.
There were many “Doomsdays”... at least two in the 1970's
The end of the world as we know it, when the Pope's Nazi hoards would barge into the “…United States and Britain in Prophecy” and no safe place would be left to hide, except for God's chosen, in the Worldwide Church of God. 

Read her entire story here: A Vindication of Bobby Fischer

Sunday, June 11, 2017

Gerald Weston Wants To Know Who Is Reading LCG''s Literature



Gerald Weston is locking control of LCG even further.  Gone are the days of the public reading LCG magazines on the Internet without first resisting their names and email addresses.  Weston claims that the church is facing a great difficulty in not knowing just how reads their rags.

The Internet is an exciting tool the Church uses to preach the Gospel to the whole world. At the same time, it presents unique challenges. We have always presented the Truth free of charge and will continue to do so; however, when we post everything we have on our Web sites, with no means of knowing who is reading our material, this creates some difficulties. 
This is the excuse he offered.  They cannot create data bases on who responds to their materials so they can contact them later when they get kicked off TV stations due to their heretical content (which has happened.)
For example, we were on television for over four years in Hong Kong until the station ceased operations. During that time, we had thousands of people responding to the telecast by going to our H.K. Web site. And without a cost-effective telephone service, we were not able to capture names, addresses, etc., except for a few hundred that signed up for a monthly e-mail newsletter. We embarked on that initiative as an act of faith, because we are commissioned to go to the whole world. We knew that we would not be able to do things in Hong Kong or China like we do in the “Western” world, but the result is that we have no idea who these people were and no way of contacting them. If we had their e-mail addresses, we could have informed them of a new offer, a new station, or a Tomorrow’s WorldPresentation. The same is true in India, where our primary source for people responding to our telecast is by means of our Web site. 
Several from LCG have written to me stating that this is another form of control of the members.  This tells LCG brass which church members are exactly reading their material.  Weston has always been about control.  Now that Meredith is out of the way, Weston has achieved his goal.  Rough days are ahead for LCG members.


Dave Pack and His Jesus In Wadsworth Scenarios


Dave Pack has been subtle as he inserts into his endless sermon series comments about his Jesus Christ coming to Wadsworth, Ohio where his earthly headquarters will be where he will run the First Dominion along side Dave.

Why would Jesus come to a town in Northern Ohio that is known for nothing more than its blue tip matches?  Of all the places onto entire earth and he picks Wadsworth to return to.  That is about as stupid as claiming JC is returning to Arroyo Grande where the true remnant has its headquarters.  Since both men are lairs, why would Jesus go to either place?


We learned that Christ’s kingdom starts small. He couldn’t start it in a place where He was going to create a giant fire. He started it in the cold, gloomy north and then He’s going to relocate that tiny kingdom that has now grown to Jerusalem, so it can be a world government. I don’t know, brethren, why I read all those parables…I can’t speak for all the other ministers who are not here…I don’t know why I read all those parables, or Mr. Armstrong read them, that say the kingdom would start in a tiny, concealed way and didn’t see it for what it said.

Is the CGI Jamaica Showing the COG's How To Really Do Church?



Ian Boyne, from the Church of God, International based in Jamaica, has sent in the following story about his Jamaica congregation.

We have reported on many instances how many COG congregations are losing members.  Ian wants to demonstrate that this is not always true for some COG congregations.  He has stated in the past that he is preaching "Reformed Armstrongism," an improved way of doing church without all of the negative aspects that weigh down most all the various splinter groups today.

While many of us may feel that the best reform Armstrongism could have is to be totally disbanded, there are some who see otherwise.  If the legalism, abuse, and control of members lives are eliminated and true spiritual growth can be had that allows doubt and questions to have a place in members lives, then perhaps there is a chance for something good to develop.  If that is the case then it needs to totally sever ties to Armstrongism by acknowledging the past with all of the mistakes and pledging to never allow it to happen again.  Good fruit only comes from good trees.




317 ATTEND CAMPAIGN IN KINGSTON CGI CONGREGATION
BY IAN BOYNE

“Should You Keep the Sabbath?”  was  the campaign topic which brought out 114 visitors last weekend, in the Kingston  Church of God, International congregation, making it a total   attendance of 317.   I spoke for two hours(sure to draw comments here!)  with everyone sitting in rapt attention and  afterward I answered questions for another hour. 
We are certainly bucking the trend reported here of low  attendance figures at COG  campaigns. 
We went Facebook live with the campaign, pulling in initially over 2,000 views.   Much  interest had been generated in the campaign following the dramatic resignation of a former  high-ranking Seventh-Day Adventist  scholar , and professor ,Dr. Clinton Baldwin, who was  trained at the SDA’s leading seminary, Andrews University  in  Berrien Springs,  Michigan . He had announced his resignation on my popular television show Religious Hardtalk, which features controversial religious topics. 
Baldwin, an Adventist for over 50 years who pastored 33 churches,  had challenged Adventists on the issue of the Sabbath and stirred quite a controversy in the SDA church, which is Jamaica’s largest  denomination.  We  used the opportunity of this interest to arrange a campaign which drew out  many prominent Adventists,  including ministers and elders who wanted answers to counter Baldwin. It was also an opportunity to present the holydays to this audience,  as this Sabbath (June 3)  there will be a follow-up presentation on “Why you Should Keep the Holydays”. 
On Monday night I  had  a follow-up to the Sabbath presentation going into Col 2: 16, Galatians, (particularly Galatians 4), Romans 14 as well as arguments about the Resurrection appearances of Jesus and  the first day  in  Scripture. I quoted from a number of scholars, all non-Sabbatarians,  to  to question traditional anti-Sabbatarian exegesis.   
Last  Sabbath I dealt with  the main lines of arguments against Sabbath-keeping, providing a detailed reply to them and making a  strong  case that the use  of Sabbatismos in Hebrews 4 argues convincingly for the continuity and restatement  of the seventh-day Sabbath. Many commented to me that they were very impressed with the quality of the argumentation. 
On Pentecost we will also have another campaign and  will host an entire congregation of Church of God 7th Day believers  for them to  hear  the case for why this is not  the only day of salvation and  how the feast days  picture  God’s plan of opening up salvation to all. CGI Jamaica  is excited about  its  evangelism  thrust    and  the bretheren are on fire  to share  the true  Gospel.