I believe that if we hadn’t
already left Philadelphia Church of God, this issue would have sent
us on our way. I was
reading through the July-August 2004 Royal Vision article,
"Prophesy Again." Flurry’s article is entitled, "Loving
God and Thy Neighbor." It speaks about a sermon a misled minister
had given, and how many people in "the God Family" are
deceived on this subject, which he says is why God is teaching it to him
more deeply. He goes on and on, beating the fact that love towards
"God's Family" is more important than "love for thy
neighbor." He even goes so far as to come right out and say it:
"…because you ARE to
love your neighbor, but how? You could give him physical food,
or you could give him $100 a week--there are a lot of ways, but those
won’t solve any lasting problems. The most important way you
love your neighbor is by offering or giving him spiritual food."
The article goes on for a few
more pages, but the main point is just reiterated over and over again.
Until the reader gets the message: The only REAL way to love your
neighbor is to support this "end time work," with offerings
and tithes to PCG headquarters.
The very next article in this
blasphemous publication is entitled, "God commands that we avoid
certain ones IN LOVE." And it’s discussing how loving and good it
is to disfellowship and to shun people. He states,
"By disfellowshipping,
we show love towards God by obeying him. We show love towards God’s
people by saving the Church from destruction. And we even show love
towards the disfellowshipped person, because that’s the only way he
or she is ever going to repent."
He even starts making veiled
threats… stating,
"You must be a very
active member. Because there is always somebody around willing to
speak evil of the truth--of your Father--of your Husband. And if you
are a good wife, they are going to wish they hadn’t done that."
(emp. mine)
In one of the previous RV's,
"How to Be an Overcomer" (May-June 2004), apparently
Herbert Armstrong had recently come under attack, because in the article,
"Jude," Flurry dedicates quite a large amount of space in
detailing that we are required not to look at the man and his
sins, but at the message and law he delivered. [Note: Read: "None
of God's Servants Were Perfect" (for those who like to use this
reasoning)] He compares Armstrong to Moses, stating "Jude says
Michael contended with Satan over Moses' body. Why did Satan want Moses'
body? Undoubtedly to get people to look to the man, instead of the law
he delivered to them."
It’s in this RV that I came
across one of the most blasphemous statements Flurry has ever made,
which is saying a lot. I quote:
"We have a Savior, and
HE is teaching us to be co-saviors. God is teaching us how to
save people today and during the Millennium. We are becoming like
the Savior God!" (emp. mine)
It’s no surprise that in a
separate RV, "Honor your Mother," (January-February 2004) a
writer gives express, and point-by-point instructions, on how to make
sure your assets go to where you wish them to, should you die. While the
author doesn’t come right out and say to leave everything to the PCG,
they reiterate over and over statements such as "the organization
you choose." They even go so far as to give instructions on how to
get "an organization’s" tax code.
All quotes are direct, and
while the bolding is mine, the terrible grammar and sentence structure
is all Flurry’s own.
The entire publication is
filled with trigger words, and dire proclamations of the end time being
just around the corner, as one would expect, but Flurry is taking things
further than he has in the past. I recently learned that Flurry has
demanded that social security pensions, along with retirement funds be
tithed. [Read:
Brian
Davis Instructs Members in Making Budget] The church always taught that those monies
had already been tithed, and should not be tithed again. Flurry has
decided--more than likely because more and more of the PCG is made up of
elderly people, with less and less "second generation Christians"
entering the group--that to keep income flowing, it’s not only right
to tithe, but required by law to do so.
By Rob Blaize (former PCG
member)
December 30, 2004
Articles
on Understanding Mind Control and Exploitive Groups
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