Introduction Background The files on this disk are studies undertaken to answer dis- turbing questions that have arisen in the church of God upon the breakup of the Worldwide Church of God [WCG] into various and sundry split-off groups and organizations that call themselves Churches of God [COG's]. They deal only incidentally with the doctrinal innovations made by Joseph W. Tkach and his associates, who will answer for themselves at a higher tribunal. It has be- come evident that there are problems of crisis proportion plaguing the COG organizations, and the scattered brethren who are begin- ning to wonder which organization is right and which ones are wrong, where they should attend services, and where to send in their tithes and offerings. These issues are by their nature con- fontational and controversial, and one can't avoid stepping on some toes. All I can say is, if the shoe fits, wear it. It has not been my intention to offend any specific individual, but rather to provide some orientation for the confused and scattered brethren of God's true church, scattered abroad, the genuine body of Christ, as opposed to various corporations of dubiously-credentialled min- isters who style themselves "Churches of God." To avoid ambiguity, I have tried to use the lower case "c" when referring to the church in the biblical sense as the spiritual body of Christ, and the upper case letter in referring to formally organized corporate entities that employ the term in their official legal names. It is also my usual practice to rather bluntly call a spade a spade, though that technique may at first tend to shock certain of our tender sensibilities. This is done in the interest of pointing up meanings otherwise likely to be overlooked, and to preclude the tendency to read one's own preconceived ideas into the subject at hand. The reader is requested to withhold judgment on any topic until having thoughtfully considered the context and the cited scriptural passages. Some of the perspectives presented here come only gradually into full view. New truths, or truths with which one happens to be unfamiliar, are often emotionally upsetting, but that is insufficient cause for rejecting them without due consideration. Sincere Christians should always follow the Spirit of truth in their hearts and minds where- ever it may lead, as long as the way is illumined by the word of God. That has been the author's intention throughout this treatise, im- perfect though it be. The Spirit of God will eventually lead us into all truth, if we continue to follow (John 16:13). But it won't always be easy. These articles are presented from the standpoint of one who first came in contact with the WCG in the late sixties. Although I had attended church and Sunday school throughout my childhood, and had read the Bible through two or three times before ever hearing that there was a WCG, I adopted the idea that upon baptism into "God's Church" I became a mere spiritual babe, that any previous preparation was worldly and coincidental. Even a degree from a secular university counted for little or nothing by comparison to Ambassador College training. I would have to, as Mr. Armstrong put it, "unlearn" all the error I had been taught in order to learn the truth that HWA had discovered. I dutifully discounted my previous experience, insofar as I could, as part of my understanding of what repentance was, and thus yielded my mind as a sort of clean slate for the WCG to write on. I listened to the "World Tomorrow" broadcast on radio and sent in for "The Plain Truth" magazine, the booklets and reprint articles published by WCG, the old "Ambassador College Bible Correspondence Course," receiving also "The Good News" and "Tomorrow's World" magazines. After nearly three years of diligent study I was accepted for baptism into the WCG, as I thought the exclusive body of Christ. During this period I was studying and proving out of the Bible the many doctrines that Mr. Armstrong claimed to have learned through original research. I learned that God was not a trinity, that Sunday was not the Sabbath, that the annual Holy Days portrayed the plan of God, that the identity of modern Israel was known, as opposed to that of Judah, that the New Testament did not do away with the Laws of God, and many other truths that I could prove for myself out of the Bible. Uncritically and unconsciously I made the assumption that everything taught by this work, which was said to be God's work, or "The Work," was God's truth, or "The Truth." We were taught that the WCG constituted God's work on earth for the end time. Salvation and a place of safety from the coming Great Tribulation were said to be contingent upon one's being a member in good standing of this Church. In all liklihood, according to Mr. Armstrong's end-time scenario, based upon his nineteen year cycle theory, the Work would end in 1972, the WCG would be taken on eagles' wings to its place of safety in Petra, Jordan, and Christ would show up on schedule on the Feast of Trumpets in 1975. This was never said to be 100% certain, but you could pretty well count on it. Herbert W. Armstrong taught emphatically, up until the end of his life, that the Worldwide Church of God was God's exclusive Church, and that it constituted specifically the "Philadelphia Era" of the New Testament church of God. All other Churches were false organizations of Satan the devil. The WCG was the govern- ment of God on earth in embryo, soon to be incorporated into God's Kingdom. Any member so foolish as to leave "God's Church" would by virtue of that fact forgo salvation. To become saved, one had to yield to God's government as embodied in the WCG and docilly obey its every dictate. In effect one was expected to keep one's mouth shut and pay one's tithes and offerings to Church headquar- ers on a regular basis--I know, after having done this for 25 years. Noncompliance was grounds for disfellowshipment, but compliance would in all likelihood qualify one to be taken on eagle's wings to the "Place of Safety" at Petra, Jordan and escape danger as the world went to hell in the handbasket of the Great Tribulation. WCG members were effectively locked into the "WCG cult" by these ingenius "carrot and stick" doctrines. This scenario failed to materialize of course and variants of it continued to be bandied about by some, the date being pushed back to 1982, 1985 and even to any one of several possible future dates spaced at seven year intervals. Mr. Armstrong never explained why his scenario didn't work out. There were vague rumors that all was not well at Church headquarters in Pasadena, California. High ranking officers and others began leaving the Church or being what was known as "disfellowshipped" from the Church. This was essentially the same thing that the Catholic Church does when it excommunicates dissidents or heretics. GTA was out and then in again, and pretty soon he was out for good, and Stanley Rader was in, now suddenly an "evangelist" in the Church, even though he had never been a minister. The turmoil in the Church was ascribed to the attacks of Satan the devil who was said to be influencing several high ranking ministers to disrupt the Church of God. During the receivership crisis, we were instructed to send our tithe money in to HWA at Tucson, Arizona. It was hard for the membership to understand how so many high ranking ministers and evangelists in "God's Church" could one day be regarded as stalwart servants of, God, and the next day be thrown out of the Church and regarded as evil instruments of Satan the devil who were now relegated to ge- henna fire and eternal damnation. Having never set foot in Pasadena, California, or been directly associated in the administration of the WCG, I have no firsthand knowledge of affairs that took place in the hierarchy of the Church. It is not my purpose to attempt to set forth a history of those years in the WCG. I have read HWA's autobiography and other incidental materials about WCG, but my primary interest is in the effect the teachings of the Church have had on individual members of the church of God scattered abroad. The recurring crises in the seventies, eighties, and on into the nineties, have made it increasingly evident that although the WCG was right in regard to many fundamental doctrines of the church that could be proven from the word of God, it was also wrong in regard to some of its beliefs and practices in other areas, and especially in regard to its manner of Church government. It attempted to justify its practices in Church government by references to biblical examples, especially that of Moses' administration of Israel during the wanderings in the wilderness. Yet somehow this subject never received the objective and definitive treatment it deserved, and the reason is not far to seek once one sets out to research it for oneself--it has to do with power in the Church, and cash flow. It seems in retrospect, strangely enough, that WCG dealt in the truth at the same time that it was perpetuating error, the same way all other Churches do. Whether this was deliberately done or just growed like Topsy is not mine to judge. As HWA used to point out, however, all organizations are a reflection of the top man. It is easy to assign blame in retrospect, but there is enough blame to go around-- on the leadership for perpetuating the errors and on the membership for continuing to believe in them. This "Work" These associated articles then are merely an attempt to help individual Christians to hold on to what was right and good about the WCG and its offshoots, and to revise and correct or dismiss what was wrong about them. They represent one person's approximation of the truth of these matters as one sees it, and are not intended to be definitive doctrinal exposition on any subject. I am not sure any doctrinal treatise exists that has the last word on any subject. These files are presented on disk in the interest of economy, since on principle I do not wish to sell the truth. As a retired individual, I can afford to copy and mail disks, but not to print and mail manuscripts. The subjects covered here will never see the light of day in the established COG organizations and so need to be passed along from one informed individual to another on a kind of "multi-level" basis where nobody loses--nobody at least who has no axe to grind. The total cost to purchase, copy (xcopy *.* [drive] /s), and mail a disk to any address in the USA can be under one dollar if one makes up one's own mailers using posterboard. Multi- million dollar religious corporations will, by their nature, not publish the whole truth about certain topics, but independent Christians are free to do so because the truth has made them free. (John 8:32). No copyright has been procured on these files, and anyone who wishes may copy and use or distribute the files, or the disk, in any way one desires, e.g., via computer, print, or audio tape. Any particular difficulties in understanding any point of doctrine may be taken up with one's local pastor, who is, of course, there to help one [isn't he?] for clarification. My sole concern is that we mutually arrive at the truth of these matters. Neither cleric nor professional, my preference is to be known merely as a "lay person," for various personal reasons. I feel no urge to set up a commercial "Ministry" with catchy name and logo, or an advertised "Work" with a P.O. Box and covert bank and checking accounts against which one may draw at will for whatever one's per- sonal reasons. A personal ministry, it seems to me, ought not to degenerate into a mail order business for profit. Let it rather be a giving work of faith that depends upon God to provide for His own. My feeling is that any diminution in credibility brought about by anonymity may be offset by the quality of the files themselves-- truth can stand on its own. Suffice it to say one lives near the Chicago metropolitan area. Era of Confusion In recent years, thousands of members who never dreamed they would ever do such a thing have severed their ties with the WCG. They were in most cases either disfellowshipped for non-compliance with the Church's authoritarian demands or left because of doctrinal changes introduced arbitrarily by the Church administration. After the initial shock wears off, and they are able to take an objective view of their situation, many come to realize that they personally still believe pretty much the same doctrines they had been taught in WCG, doctrines WCG had abandoned. They began to ask themselves, "Who moved?" In many cases, my own included, those leaving WCG found a split- off organization that taught essentially the same doctrines that Worldwide had abandoned, and began to fellowship with them. I per- sonally, after over two decades in WCG, associated with the Chruch of God, International (CGI), until the sexual harassment lawsuit was brought against that Church. It began to become apparant to me that the top leadership in these Church organizations did not really seem to believe in the doctrines they taught, at least not strongly en- ough to practice what they were preaching. I began to ask myself, who are these people really, and if their faith doesn't motivate them, what does? The various leaders of the COG organizations all purported to be ordained ministers of Jesus Christ, but how could they all be if they were teaching conflicting doctrines? And if they were truly ministers of Jesus Christ, why did some of them at least not seem to feel obligated to follow His moral precepts? I began to realize that, COG ministers or not, men who were willing to preach false doctrines, and men who lived after the flesh, could not truly be ministers of Jesus Christ. That is why I undertook the accompany- ing word studies on ordination, the laying on of hands, tithing, and others. These studies proved to me that not only were these Church leaders not ordained elders at all, but that their Church organizations were not valid churches of God, as their names pro- claimed. In all the years that the WCG taught doctrines to its mem- bership, the plain truth on ordination of elders was never treated definitively, lest it upset their authoritarian applecart. Why the selectivity? Why not teach all of the truth, and not just part of it? Could it be that these men were cloaking themselves in a part of the truth in order to promote a personal agenda? Indeed, false ministers have done this from the days of Balaam and Simon Magus, and down to the present day. A Bible study on tithing was undertaken in order to answer the question: If the Church of God authoritarian organizations are not legitimate churches after all, what right have they to collect tithe money from God's scattered people? This study, too, led to rather surprising results, and here also it became apparant that COG organizations have been very careful not to teach the definitive truth in regard to tithing. The scriptural truth about this sub- ject pierces to the joints and marrow of the raison de etre for these organizations--they are in it to make money, though they wrap themselves in their versions of "the Truth." An organized religion is not a church of God; it is a business that trades in its members' gullibility. Individual members of the body of Christ may be scat- tered sheep, but they need not remain dumb sheep. They should ad- minister their own "tithe money" on an individual basis. Churches Remiss With the fragmenting of the WCG and the emergence of its various daughter organizations, many of the myths that were able to be perpetrated by the WCG may no longer be maintained. Any minister worth his salt should be able to identify and resolve these myths or false doctrines, but the silence remains deafening. The treatment of these subjects by the COG organizations, viz. ordination of elders, the laying on of hands, and tithing, amounts to a self-serving and wilful disregard of biblical truths, if not a selective suppression of them. (Cf. Rom 1:18 in the RSV, NKJ, or NAS versions.) The associated files attempt to make plain the reasons why these and other scriptural topics are ignored in the COG organizations. Individual members should be asking the ques- tions their ministers fail to address and requiring straight an- swers to them, so that all may progress toward the truth in these matters. This is not meant to imply that all of the ministers in all of the COG organizations are knowing imposters and charlatans. Many of them are doubtless sincere, and feel that they have been doing the right things. But when their idols are broken, and they learn the plain truth about the religious organizations and deceptive masters they have been serving, they have crucial decisions to make, and their own consciences to answer to. In most cases they have been sucked into these systems the same way the rest of us have. But theirs is the greater responsibility and the more severe stan- dard of judgment, because as teachers of others they are required to know whereof they speak. They may not indulge themselves in the luxury of remaining ignorant of biblical truths for which Christ is going to hold them accountable in the judgment (Jas 3:1). Members' Quandary When we as individual members of God's church come to realize that our Church organization has gone astray, we may pause to ask, was my conversion for real? I think that we may take comfort in the fact that God looks upon the heart. If we were sincerely re- pentant, then He will have honored that sincerity according to His promise in Acts 2:38. Paradoxical as it may seem, a false prophet whose intention is to fleece you of your substance can lead you to conversion--read Jer 23:21-22. God's word cleanses and converts one, not the preacher or organization through whom one happens to to hear it, who may have interests extending beyond the free dis- semination of the truth. Thus I know that I have been converted, and the evidence in my life proves to me that I have received of the Holy Spirit. I am not, however, and do not aspire to be a minister in the sense of a prea- cher of the Gospel. Like many others, I had to come out of the WCG when it changed its doctrinal positions. I had to leave the CGI, in turn, when the moral caliber of its leadership was exposed. I had struck out twice on COG organizations; what was I do to next? My instinct was to affiliate with a third one, but which one? If some of the COG organizations were false, why hook up with another one that might also turn out to be false? If some of these organizations were false, what of the ministers who served them? Were they false, too? Well, at least some of them had to be--those who were teaching false doctrines, and those who lived after the flesh (cf. Eph 5:3-7). Where was Christ's true church and His true ministry? So what was I to do? Where was I to go? Well, I was to cling to the truth and come out of error, that is what I was to do. And why go to another COG organization? The Ethiopian eunuch went to Ethi- opia, all by himself, after his conversion, and baptism by Philip. I could go it alone, too, if need be, at least until I got things sorted out. Indeed, that is what I would have to do, not knowing which COG organization was for real. Well, I'm still looking. Re- ligious corporations that bill themselves "Churches of God" are not God's churches at all--scattered believers in Jesus Christ are God's churches. They should meet together if feasible, but often they can not. Nevertheless they can endure, and they can grow. They still have the same Bible they had before the crises developed in God's church. What of the unified "work" that we were supposed to be doing by sending our tithe and offering money, and donations and contribu- tions, in to a headquarters P.O. Box number in order to enhance corporate coffers and bank accounts? This is a very disturbing question, best answered by a definitive Bible study on tithing. The Church of God corporations are bureaucracies that suffer from all the inherent inefficiencies of such organizations. That is the charitible reading. The studies on the subjects of ordination and the laying on of hands show, however, that they are not legitimate. If this is true, why do they seek our tithe money? Why do their top ministers draw six figure salaries annually? What really is their primary work? Do they deal in their own tailored versions of the truth of the Bible for their own selfish ends? Let the reader decide for himself. A Christian may keep the weekly Sabbath day by himself if need be, but what of the annual holy days? Is he not supposed to show up at commanded holy day convocations with generous offerings? If so, which convocations? WCG's? CGI's? PCG's? GCG's? UCG's? ECG's? None of the above? One can't show up at all of them and give all of them one's generous offerings, can one? Some of these organi- zations have proven false. What of the others? Which idol should one serve? Which has legitimate authority to demand that you show up at its commanded assembly and bring your generous offering with you? One begins to wonder if this is really necessary--might it not be just as well to observe the holy days quietly at home? These are logical questions, but hard ones to answer when one has been indoctrinated over the years instead of truly educated--when one has let others tell him what to do and what to think rather than thinking and deciding for oneself. The associated Bible studies may be helpful in that regard. Past and Future The COG organizations have in common that they revere the memory of Herbert W. Armstrong, and the sound biblical doctrines he taught. Granted, he had a lot of doctrine right, though he had some things wrong as well. A little research shows, however, that he does not deserve to be idolized and idealized by the Church of God organizations, that he had feet of clay, and was, indeed, a sex pervert who molested his own daughter, among other sexual aberrations. It is time the Church of God organizations stopped giving him a clean bill and faced up to the plain truth about Herbert W. Armstrong. Understandably, business could be adversely affected, if the COG's were to start questioning their father figure and progenitor. Recent events have confirmed that his son is cut from the same cloth his dad was--ministers of Jesus Christ, indeed! Rather, are they not proven to be Nico- laitane practitioners of the doctrine of Balaam peculiar to the synagogues of Satan? Re: "Herbert Armstrong's Tangled Web," by Mr. Dave Robinson, and the associated files in this series. Ultimately, the problems being experienced by the WCG and its spiritual descendants may be laid at the door of Herbert w. Armstrong. The Churches of God, in common with the evangelical Churches, the Protestants, and the Catholics, have their central cores of belief beyond which they are reluctant to go. They are in effect frozen in their various respective doctrinaire positions like so many political parties. Any who dare stray from the reservation become suspect, off limits, dangerous. It is well and good to be conservative about doctrinal change, but the Spirit of God, Jesus said, will lead you into all truth (John 16:13). It cannot lead us into "all truth" if we fail to follow its lead. It would seem rather presumptuous of us to assume that since we already have "the Truth" that we need look no further. Our faith should on the contrary be Spirit-led, dynamic, and growing rather than static, sterile, and convoluted. The fact that a Church deals in the truth of God does not necessarily make it "God's Church." Where are the COG corporate entities going? Down the tubes? The WCG has fragmented into many splinter groups--five or six main ones and literally dozens of minor ones. It seems to have become a cottage industry to form organizations to garner a piece of Worldwide's action. They come out of the woodwork, organizations with a "Work" to do that requires your tithe and offering money to do it. Is it not high time that individual Christians wised up and took control of their own purse strings? None of the COG corpor- ations is "God's Work." Each is its own work. They are men's businesses. When you find God's work, it will be giving freely, not soliciting your money. I look for the COG organizations to diminish as individual members educate themselves beyond the need any longer to rely upon them. Although the order in which the files are read is not critical, some do provide background material useful for others. The sug- gested order of reading is: intro.fil, ordain.fil, loh.fil, tithe.fil, nico.fil, balaam.fil, teach.fil, and ccg.fil. Disturbing Facts The following statements are appended at random as a sampler of ideas brought out by the accompanying Bible studies: * Falsely ordained ministers are false ministers. * The church of God has been engaging in idol worship. * No rites of ordination are prescribed in the Scriptures for the church of God. * Ministers of Jesus Christ do not solicit tithe money. * Christians are not required to attend meetings convoked by false Church organizations. * Spiritual gifts are given by God regardless of men's ordinations. * Genuine Christian elders are mostly non-ordained individuals except in the sense that all Christians are ordained. * Elders are persons mature in the faith, whether men or women. * God has placed no price tag on His truth. * Congregations of God's church should ordain their own elders, if any are required. * Valid ordination of elders is a democratic process. * Congregations of Christians should not submit to or support any so-called elder from a remote Church organization who seeks to act as their spiritual leader. * We should submit to civil governments, but not to the governance of a body of incorporated ministers. * Nicolaitanes and Balaamites are false ministers, often acting in concert, who seek ascendency over the "laity" for the purpose of self-perpetuation. * Large bureaucratic organizations with massive budgets are not required in order to disseminate the truth of God. * Religious corporations are idols in need of breaking. * Have we not seen enough of California- and Texas-based religious corporate entities who bill themselves "Churches of God," but are not? * The Scriptures do not support the idea of a tithing system be- ing instituted by the church of God. * The Levitical priesthood in the Old Testament collected only a "tithe of the tithe" or one percent of the people's increase for the "Headquarters Work" at Jerusalem. * False ministers turn the grace of God into license to pursue the error of Balaam for monetary reward. * Practitioners of the perverse way of Balaam earn their remunera- tion by making merchandise of God's people. * True Christians are those who will follow the Spirit of God wherever it may lead--others are only nominally Christians (Rom 8:14). * In the judgment, false ministers will not be permitted to plead ignorance of the word of God.