Sunday, October 6, 2013

Glynn Washington: Losing My Religion





Another great story from Glynn on life in Armstrongism. It is towards the end of the broadcast.

WWIII Began on November 23, 2010 and Tribulation Starts Sometime Between October, 13-November, 29 2017





Some followers of Herbert Armstrong have been so wrapped up in the prophecies of  Armstrong, Flurry, Meredith and others, so much so, that they latch on to other false prophets who sound similar to Armstrongism.

William Tapley, The Third Eagle, is just one more in a long line of lying fools that some in Armstrongism promote to their friends.  Many of these people are looking at the tribulation to begin in 2017.  This is a date Theil, Meredith and others have thrown around.  This is the same year that Tapley is predicting to be the start of the tribulation sometime between October 13 and November 29, 2017

This video is only 10 minutes long. It is worth listening to for the 10 minutes to hear the absurd things he says.  Did you know the number 11 and 23 are evil?  That condoms are the sign of the end times?

Not only are some of the Armstrongites fascinated by Tapley, they are also watching this guy who also predicts 2017:

Will Jesus return in 2017?
Many have been talking about how Rabbi Judah ben Samuel supposedly made an amazing prophecy concerning the future of Jerusalem that already has three accurate fulfillments from 1517-1967. The prophecy further predicts the start of the Messianic end time by 2017. Is the prophecy trustworthy?Read Tim McHyde's analysis

E. W. King: Real Christians Do Not Have 'Ego's", They Have "Personality"



E. W. King is on a post feast roll right now pumping out one mindless article after another.  King now thinks he is an authority on the human mind and thinking.  His latest was this:

We have explained in other articles the importance of learning how to think as a true Christian. We need to program our minds with righteousness. God’s word has all we need to begin the process. All humans run their daily course on “mind channels”. Crisscrossing of old fallen mind channels with the new Holy Spirit channel [revelation] can cause bad habits to temporarily reappear which can cause the inner struggle of “spiritual warfare”.
Remember, all so called “mind channels” contain “thought patterns”. Thought patterns ultimately fall only under three categories [TIA]. Proper thinking shapes new mind channels and combats old patterns of THINKING. What is thinking? Thinking is a gift from God. Let us look at how man has tried to explain the process of thinking.

The reader should be reminded that anytime you see the word "Christian" used by King or other Armstrongites, it is referring specifically to the true believers who follow in Herbert Armstrongs footsteps.  No one outside that little circle are real Christians.  Just ask Bob Thiel!

As true Christians we use logic but we never place logical systems of thought above the Revealed Word of God. In other words, we accept “revelation” in our thought process. Many only use logic when processing their perception of things. Christians are more concerned with real perception (Christian Perception) than some prideful concept that we might be trying to keep alive. Christians do not accept a stringent duality. Christians understand the law of Triple Conjunction [this subject posted in other articles]. In other words, we are not “boxed in” as some would think.
Apparently King is not able to hold to those few members who join up with him.  Once they join and see the inside workings of the little personality cult, they quickly leave.

Many find it very difficult to throw away distorted theological concepts and instead allow uncontrolled emotion to hold on to perverted perceptions of true Christian Reality. Many who have been confronted with the true Christian Perception as taught in the true Worldwide Church of God have not stayed long enough nor explored the fact of true humility long enough to grasp the Real Truth….the Plain Truth of Jesus Christ.

"Thought Drifters" seem to be a huge problem in Armstrongism.  Pack does it, Meredith does it, Flurry does it, King does it.....

Christians learn to see all so called “points” of any discussion within the expansion of Pure Christian Doctrine. Christians learn to see things through the eyes of Jesus Christ. This is impossible without the indwelling Holy Spirit. Many who do not have the static truth or absolute authority in their understanding drift off subjects of discussion, from point to point, without understanding the true connecting factor of all things. Christians think “theologically” in all of their understandings.

King ends with this.

Even at the resurrection there is one part of you that remains absolutely unaltered, and that is personality. The personality holds to permanence in the presence of change. True personality is bestowed by God upon each human individual as a potentially eternal endowment. Those who have been truly converted have Holy Spirit to guide the development of personality and to become truly “born again” children of God. True personality signifies the unification of all factors of reality, brings one to Christian Perception and to Christian Reality. Born Again Personality will survive to live in the Kingdom of God. Without Holy Spirit personality is mortal.

Mr. Diehl Muses:

New Announcement Coming Next Week Due to post-Feast time constraints, Mr. Pack is unable to post what will be his last announcement for some time about the Haggai/Zechariah prophecy. This long, important announcement will bring three final elements to the prophecy, and includes helpful excerpts from an extraordinary 1972 article by Herbert W. Armstrong about how Christians should view matters of prophetic timing. Next week’s announcement, to appear some time between Monday and Wednesday, will carefully explain additional matters about the prophecy’s timing that came to light a month ago. Readers will find it fascinating. No next “date” will be set, but the reader will be able to conclude for himself what may happen. Mr. Pack will explain what had not been understood.

Upcoming Announcements Mr. Pack will be posting two or three more “Friday Announcements” in the coming weeks. These will explain in detail additional expansive elements of the Haggai/Zechariah prophecy. They will open your eyes to things that God has long intended to do in His end-time Work that no one ever understood before, and you will see that His Word is plain!
The first will be this Friday, and will cover interesting points and scriptures everyone should keep in mind now. The next one or two will bring clarity to certain questions about “dates,” and how brethren should now view the “when” of the prophecy’s fulfillment."

Personally, my sense is that this is actually Dave writing the announcements and shifting them from a first person view to the third.  I could be wrong but this is the same way Bible Scholars endeavor to discover who actually wrote or who did not write books in the Bible attributed to specific persons.

For example, most ministers assume and are taught that the Apostle Paul wrote Hebrews.  No real scholar believes this for very good reasons.  While there are many technical reasons, one of the more obvious ones is that in Paul's genuine writings he refers to himself very very often.  In Hebrews, this is just not the style and people don't change their styles.  I might say something anonymously in a posting but those who know me can easily say, "that's Dennis."  I can write something as "M.T.Hall" yet it takes not genius to see, "that's Dennis".  :)

From:http://www.judaismvschristianity.com/paulthe.htm


"I wanna talk about me!"

No other epistle author in the Bible wrote like Paul. This would be true on a number of levels, but one aspect is of particular interest when we are considering how Paul views himself. He had a way of drawing attention to himself with his usage of personal pronouns. When it comes to how often he uses words like, "I", "me", "my", or "mine", the overall rate in his epistles is almost three times that of his next closest rival. There are a number of reasons why many scholars today believe Paul was not the author of the book of Hebrews. One obvious reason is, in the other epistles credited to him, Paul doesn't hesitate to identify himself along with his supposed credentials. The author of Hebrews is strangely silent on these matters. Many scholars believe Barnabas was the author of Hebrews, but I think Apollos is a far better candidate... but that's a different subject. The point is, no one knows for sure.  But Paul certainly couldn't be in the running as the author of Hebrews when one also considers the statistical rate of the personal pronoun usage. The author of Hebrews refers to himself only 9 times, which is approximately 1.3 personal pronouns per thousand words. To help put this in perspective, let's compare the book of Hebrews to the book of Romans. They are both relatively large books of similar length, divided into 13 and 16 chapters respectively. Yet in only the first half of the first chapter of Romans, which is 16 verses worth, Paul uses twice as many personal pronouns as the author of Hebrews uses in his entire book! In the book of Romans, Paul refers to himself 103 times, which is rate of about 18.2 per thousand! That is 13x greater than Hebrews. In 1 Corinthians, Paul refers to himself 175 times, in 2Corinthians 103 times again, and in the relatively short book of Galatians, he refers to himself 69 times which is a rate of 25 personal pronouns per 1000 words!"


In most professional ministries you simply do not employ this style of speaking when teaching about the Gospel, Jesus and all associated  (balanced and genuinely Biblical)  topics.  Paul had a bad habit of saying he would boast in Christ and then boast in himself.  It's why scholars get suspicious of Paul when he says, "I lie not..."   They think he must be lying.


Anyway...this switch form the first person to the third person is interesting.  Dave's "authorized biography" also gives the impression it is written by another about Dave's life.  Even Herbert Armstrong wrote his autobiography in the first person.  Dave chose not to.


Why do people speak in the third person anyway?  I'd feel awkward if  I said, "Mr Diehl believes that Dave writes everything on his site and no one touches it," if it was me telling you this.  Maybe it's just me. But why the third person?

From Esquire:
 

Why the F%$# Do People Refer to Themselves in the Third Person?

Esquire magazine is going to discuss the proper use of the third person, and Esquire magazine doesn't think you're going to have a problem with that.

Major Human Flaw: Some people refer to themselves in the third person. 

 
Response No. 1, by Elsa Ronningstam, associate clinical professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School and author of Identifying and Understanding the Narcissistic Personality: Referring to yourself in the third person creates distance between "I" and "he." So if you have an exaggerated view of how great you are, you could be using this distance to make yourself even bigger. Or, if you've achieved major success suddenly, using the third person could be a way to adjust to the bigger role that's been assigned to you. It's a way to enlarge yourself to fit that role.

Response No. 2, by Mike Birbiglia, stand-up comedian who currently stars in the off-Broadway show Sleepwalk with Me: People love to rip those who refer to themselves in the third person, but they don't understand the power that comes with it. The third person is how you indicate that the topic is not open for debate. You are speaking about facts that just so happen to include you. Like when Alonzo Mourning says, "Alonzo Mourning has to make the best business decisions for Alonzo Mourning," everyone steps back a little, and somebody hands him $15 million a year for seven years. But that same sentence in the first person would have sounded like, "I just enjoy playing basketball with my friends and all the free Gatorade." See the difference? ....

Speaking in the third person rather than the first is an odd habit.  It has deep roots in a kind of distancing oneself from what one says .  If I say "I did a really stupid thing..."  that sounds like I am involved with it  and both accept and take responsibility for it.  If I say "Mr Diehl did a really stupid thing..."  it sounds like I want to admit it but I don't wish to be associated with it or take responsibility for it.   It's somewhat like saying that I am not the author of a prophecy or a prophet but I am just telling you God's prophecy.  This way, if it goes wrong, I can remind you it's not me that came up with this stuff.  If it goes well, I will reap some form of power or credibility from the weak minded for it however, but if it goes sour, not to worry.  God has given us more time and there are new things to reveal that we never before could have understood. 

Why do I care about this?  I care because these types of personalities hurt people to the core in the name of religion which is supposed to free .Thirty Five years on in life, I still am cleaning up after Dave Pack and his Trail of Tears. I don't kid myself either.  Dave Pack and his Restored Church of God reminds me all to well of the kind of theological mistakes I made as a kid that resulted in me ending up in the ministry of Church that was a doomed personality cult.  I did not recognize this as a kid and young minister.  Once deeply embedded in it, I just wanted to encourage my churches with the hope given in scripture and help them get through the stinky stuff of real life.  I could not have cared less about "HQ" after just a few short years.  It was like the question in Fiddler on the Roof.  "Is there a proper blessing for the Czar," the peasants asked the Rabbi.  "Yes...May God bless and keep the Czar....far away from us!"

  These types major in the minors as if the minors mattered and get folk off the track of a genuine and encouraging spirituality.  Aside from the FACT that Dave Pack's view of himself as being spoken of by the very minor prophet Haggai is pure fantasy and a gross misapplication of scripture,   this kind of egoism can lead to disaster for all concerned as I suspect it will again.