THE IDOLATRY
WITH HERBERT W. ARMSTRONG
by
Keith Hunt
It is sad to have to report that IDOLATRY is still very
rampant in different religious groups. The Mormons have their
Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. The Jehovah Witnesses have
their William Russel. The Seventh Day Adventists have their Ellen
G. White. The Roman Catholics have their Pope, and so it goes
with other organizations of religion.
While I am somewhat familiar with the above idolatry with
the above groups, I am VERY first-hand familiar with groups that
have broken off from the Worldwide Church of God, founded by
Herbert W. Armstrong. I was a member of the WCG from 1961 to
1972. I have associated with various off-shoot groups from the
WCG since 1979, hoping that each one would see the cultic
idolatry that Herbert Armstrong produced in the WCG. Some, such
as the Church of God International, and The Christian Biblical
Church of God, and many local independant Church of God groups
that had their history in the WCG, HAVE acknowledged the cultic
idolatry of Herbert Armstrong as it developed in the 1970s, have
denounced it, and have REPENTED of it.
But sad to say a number of the larger off-shoots of the WCG,
that arose in the 1990s HAVE NOT admitted the truth of the matter
concerning the latter years of Herbert Armstrong. Such groups are
the very fanatical Gerald Flurry's Philadelphia Church of God,
and the less fanatical Rod Meredith's Living Church of God, and
the United Church of God, An International Association.
I have had no personal contact with the fanatical
Philadelphia Church of God, but have spoken to people who were a
part of them at one time. I did for a short while (in the early
1990s) have personal contact and fellowship with Rod Meredith's
Global Church of God, before he renamed it to Living Church of
God. I did have contact and fellowship for about 6 months (in
1994) with John Ritenbaugh's The Church of the Great God, who
also were into the idolatry with Herbert Armstrong.
I have had the most contact (over the last 12 years - as I
write now it is April 2007) with the United Church of God, an
International Association. But had few visits with their
fellowship in the last 7 years.
All of the above FOUR groups (and there are others), Living
Church of God, Philadelphia Church of God, Church of the Great
God, and The United Church of God, believe they are the rightful
continuation of the work of Herbert W. Armstrong. None of them to
my knowledge, admit that Herbert Armstrong apostatized himself in
the last years of his life, and led the WCG into being a CULT.
I have NO evidence from my recent few visits with the United
Church of God that the plain truth of how Herbert Armstrong
conducted himself and things he taught, and teachings of the WCG
in the last years of his life, have been acknowledge for what
they and he was - clearly fanatical vanity and idolatry, as well
as some serious teachings of ERROR, especially concerning Church
Government.
The latest I received from the pulpit of the United Church
of God (April 3rd 2007) was that the average attendance in the
local United Church of God was 52. From my observation, a good
percentage of them are elderly, and many of them will die in the
next 10 to 15 years. It was announced also that many of the
"ministers" of the United Church of God, will retire and/or die
in the next 10 years, and there is concern about enough new
younger ministers taking their place.
Overall it is the same with the Living Church of God, the
Philadelphia Church of God, and The Church of the Great God. In
the main they are slowly dying out in membership and ministers.
Then, REGARDLESS of IF they live on or eventually die out,
one thing REMAINS OF PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE!
THE MINISTRY OF THOSE FOUR OFF-SHOOT GROUPS OF THE OLD WCG
(and others that it may apply to also) NEED TO REPENT OF THE
IDOLATRY THEY HAVE TAUGHT AND ARE STILL TEACHING, CONCERNING THE
LATTER LIFE OF HERBERT W. ARMSTRONG. THEY NEED TO STOP COVERING
IT UP, TURNING THEIR MINDS FROM IT, AND IN SO DOING PERPETUATING
TO THEIR MEMBERSHIP THAT ALL WAS PERFECTLY WELL, SPIRITUALLY AND
DOCTRINALLY FINE, UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF HERBERT W. ARMSTRONG IN
THE LAST 10 TO 15 YEARS OF HIS LIFE (he died in January 1986 if
I remember correctly).
The truth of the matter, the PLAIN TRUTH, is that from,
especially from after the death of Herbert Armstrong's wife Loma,
in 1967 (I was part of the WCG then, until 1972), the Worldwide
Church of God became progressively more and more cultic in its
teaching, until at about the middle 1970s it was a full blow CULT
and one of the abusive church organizations like Mr. Enroth wrote
about in his book called "Churches that Abuse" (that is well
worth obtaining and reading - most Bible Book Stores can obtain
it for you).
Most of the people in most of the off-shoots of the WCG are
quote - "nice" people. They are pleasant, friendly (not all but
the majority are), people who are good neighbors, good workers
(if still in the work force). I'm sure they THINK they are doing
the right thing by being a regular part of those larger
off-shoots. Some it will be true are there because they have
always lived this way (or for a number a decades they have) -
their friends are there, a lot of the basic teachings are indeed
correct, hence they feel comfortable in their comfortable pew or
padded chair. Most do not have the fortitude of mind, the
sharpness of mind, the ability or the "know-how" to research the
past - the last 15 years or so of Herbert W. Armstrong's life and
how he acted, and what he taught and thought and said, often in
private, to his "right hand men." Few of them have the ability or
the know-how, sad to say even the desire, to know all that
Herbert Armstrong wrote in his co-worker letters, study papers,
books, and recorded sermons, down through the decades. It is all
there, recorded for us, and out there somewhere on the Worldwide
Internet.
Yes, though in the main, the people in these off-shoot of
the WCG, are on a one to one basis "nice" people (but so are most
Roman Catholic, Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Seventh Day
Adventists) they must take SOME RESPONSIBILITY for the false
deception they have clothed themselves with. THEIR MINISTERS MAY
TAKE THE LARGER BLAME FOR THE TRUTHS COVERED UP AND THE
DECEPTIONS THEY PAINT TO THE MEMBERS THAT ALL WAS JUST FINE AND
DANDY UNDER HWA, BUT THE LAY PEOPLE ARE ALSO RESPONSIBLE FOR THE
DECEPTIONS THEY LIVE UNDER, AND GOD CLEARLY SAYS BOTH SIDES ARE
TO BLAME AND WILL BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE.
You need to carefully read EZEKIEL 14:1-11.
As the apostle Paul once said to certain people, "In times
past God winked at such things, BUT NOW HE CALLS ALL MEN
EVERYWHERE TO **REPENT**
...................
Written during the Feast of Unleavened Bread - 2007
