Friday, May 27, 2011

The XCOG Group That Is Building It's Own Little Town



Many do not realize that of the hundred's of harlot daughters of the Worldwide Church of God, that we also have one who is striving to build it's own little city.  Welcome to the world of A Congregation of the Church of God

This little group is lead by Darryl Henson and Nelson Nichols.  Henson was part of The Church of the Great God for a while till he got bent out of shape over calendar issues. Henson is part of the "new mooner's" that have occupied the minds of many COG splinter groups. Henson, like all rebellious COG ministers,  decided to start his own splinter group.




Darryl Henson

Nelson Nichols

Gordon Gueller



Henson was intrigued by Utah and Zion National Park, in particular.  He looked at the names that made up the various natural monuments in the park and decided that God had placed his name in that area.  I guess he never realized that early Mormon pioneers had named these various natural wonders with LDS related names.

Henson has started to build his own little city with a few followers.  He has even created a township in Northern Arizona along 'the strip'.  The Arizona strip is well known for it's polygamist communities and religious isolationists seeking to be separated from mainstream society.. It runs along Hwy 89 between St. George and Freedonia, Arizona.  For some reason, Arizona has a  "hand's off" policy with this  area and allows the polygamists and others to operate freely and openly.  It is also one of the most desolate and isolated regions of the country..  Search as you might you will not find information about the town or the township though.

Darryl left CGG in July of 2000 over calendar issues, rejecting the Hebrew Calculated Calendar. Calls came from around the country asking for a Festival gathering on the correct days. As a result, a telephone hook-up began on Trumpets 2000 and 70 gathered in Zion National Park for the Feast of Tabernacles and yet another "daughter of Worldwide" was born, A Congregation of the Church of God (ACCOG). It is headquartered in Northern Arizona, maintains a Feast in Zion and now has developed a legal Township: Anatoth, Arizona. Population about 70 in 2006.

Armstrongism's Biggest Splinter Cult with 148,970 Members!!!!!!!




 
Everyone knows that of the hundred's of harlot daughters that have split off of the Worldwide Church of God over the last two decades that United Church of God was the largest. Followed by Living Church of God and then Philadelphia Church of God.  The last two are lucky if they can gather 3 - 4,000 together.

But have no fear, the largest COG is here!  Did you know that there is a splinter cult, based in Idaho that has over 148,970 members worldwide?



Welcome to to the world of Church of God Worldwide who claims as its "Assistant Pastor General, Craig Mortin.  Everyone I have talked to have never heard of the guy.  Search as you may, you also will not find out who the official Pastor General is.  For  a splinter cult that claims to be the faithful remnant proclaiming the restored truth, they are far too secretive.

The Church of God Worldwide is an organization built up of brethren around the world, devoted to practicing the true Christianity of which was found within the New Testament Church of God and to announcing the Good News of the Kingdom of God. We are found in many countries around the world.

The Church of God Worldwide has around 148,970 brethren in over 150 congregations around the world. The Church is just a small part of the body of Jesus Christ which has many other like-minded organizations and groups who also announce the same Message as we proclaim.

The Church of God Worldwide (originally Faithful Church of God) had its start at the Feast of Tabernacles in 1995 in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho with only about 500 brethren.
More About Us
The Church of God Worldwide is an active part of the body of Jesus Christ, with a beginning as a formal organization in 1995. Doctrines are based upon the Bible and are distinct to the Church of God. Our doctrines include the seventh-day Sabbath, a modern application of the ancient Hebrew Holy Day seasons (which also Jesus kept and His disciples, and also the New Testament Church), avoiding certain meats and also avoiding pagan holidays are just a few of the distinct doctrines practiced by the Church.

The Church also traces its origins to the very Church that Jesus founded at the day of Pentecost on 31 C.E. Many of the members of the Church were once members of the Worldwide Church of God (now Grace Communion International). This organization was led originally by the late Herbert W. Armstrong (1892-1986). Mr. Armstrong restored many plain and precious truths which were only kept by the original New Testament Church.

I never cease to be amazed at how these men who start these various insignificant little splinter cults will so boldly lie!  The truth be told, I bet this little cult has no more than maybe it's original 500 members.  Even that number is suspicious considering that Mortin has lied about  his 148,970 members.

Leaving The Fold

This will interest some here:


Leaving the Fold, by Dr. Marlene Winell Ph.D.

Dr. Marlene Winell is a psychologist and author of Leaving the Fold: A guide for former fundamentalists and other leaving their religion.  This book is an excellent resource for those leaving or wanting to leave religion, especially if they have had traumatic experiences and are trying to recover from them.

She divides the book into three parts.  In the first part, she not only shares her story, but also gives some brief glimpses of others who have left and are struggling with the trauma of religious indoctrination.  She also explains the five phases of recovery and provides various checklists concerning the impact of religion, benefits, manipulations, and family background in the first half of her book.

In the second half of her book, she deals with the healing process and provides exercises in which to help people heal from their experiences.  The inner child is discussed, as well as exercises in which to get in touch with one’s inner child.  She also deals with the inner adult and building a new relationship with the two concepts.  These two concepts are basically the emotional and rational or thinking side of the individual.  The emotional side of a person is one area that religion seems to suppress and sometimes the more rational side of the person can be stunted also. The exercises help to develop a balance between the two in which to have a positive relationship within the self.  In a sense, the inner adult takes the parent role and “parents the inner child”.

However, there can be some problems with old mental tapes, which she calls the Idea Monster, and it needs to be overcome in the process of recovery.  In the chapter concerning “the Idea Monster”, she provides various exercises to at least tame such thoughts stemming from one’s traumatic experiences.  Most of these exercises deal with creating new and more positive messages to replace the old ones.  They also deal with emotional recovery after leaving harmful religious teachings and ideology.  The religious sect one left or is leaving does not have to be Evangelical Fundamentalist for the book to be helpful.  This book can be useful for one leaving almost any sect.

The rest of the article is here: Leaving the Fold

Death By God: Thoughts On Faith vs Medicine



A couple of years ago this article was on God Discussion.  It is as timely today as ever since people continue to die in PCG and LCG because of it's rejection of doctors (unless of course you are the fearless leader and then no expense is spared.)

Years ago, my brother almost died because of a ruptured appendix. This was not the fault of the local physicians. It was the fault of the Worldwide Church of God, which at that time was headed by Herbert W. Armstrong. Because of the church's stronghold on my parents' intellectual reasoning, they and the minister prayed over my sick brother for months, putting stupid little "anointing cloths" and oil described in the bible on him. He became sicker and sicker, wasting away to nothing except for a grossly bloated stomach. He was so weak he could not walk.   He suffered tremendously.
 Fortunately, my parents allowed reason, love and compassion to prevail and took him to the emergency room, despite the instructions of the church. They did so in the nick of time. The appendix had ruptured and my brother hovered near death. My parents felt guilty about this for the rest of their lives. In fact, my mother manifested appendicitis in her late 50s.Death by God

Facebook: WCG Survivors

 

There have been some interesting stories popping up on the Facebook page WCG Survivors.

I just found out about this site & I think it's wonderful! I've been reading alot about horrible experiences each of you endured and want to speak up a little about some of the horrors visited upon members. Not long before we came into the Church, if it was discovered that the Minister was coming to you home, members would show up at your house with cleaning products & would clean you house! Also, they would go into your cabinets & throw away any food items not acceptable by the church, white suger, white bread, white flour & of course anything possibily related to pork. When we came into the church in the early 70's they no longer did this type of intrusion. However, I was told I would not be allowed to go into the medical field, and a very good friend of ours who was a RN, was told she had to give up her career, which she did. During the time of the Minister from Hell, people turned on one another, spreading rumors if they couldn't find any truth to take to the Minister. Teenagers were told to "turn in" any other teens who weren't doing what the Minister said. My little family got to the point you didn't trust anyone. Some good friends of ours took in a lady who was literally homeless. What happended, yep, she would run to the Minister or his wife with "stuff" that was going on in the home. The same home she was welcomed into. This is just a sample of some of the things that went on. My regret???? We allowed our daughter to be looked down upon, treated like dirt & made fun of, because we didn't have a lot of money & lived in a mobile home. Which is all we could afford, since so much went to the Church. She also had to endure the same type of crap at school, because she couldn't partake of a lot of school stuff due to the Church

The ever compassionate, church hopping Larry Salyer is exposed as the hypocrite he is.  Of course this was typical of many COG ministers who felt they had the right to tell people what kind of jobs they could work in.  I find it pretty sad that these ministurds were telling people they could no longer be doctors when the Pasadena are was filled with Church doctors and Herb surrounded himself with them.
My dad was a policeman, had four stai-rstepped kids, and we were poor as church mice. Minister of the day (Larry Salyer) told my dad he was sinning by carrying a gun and was told to quit his job. My dad said 'And then how am I supposed to feed my kids?' The answer: (I'll bet you already know).....trust God. Well, my dad apparently didn't have that type of trust, never quit his job, and went on to retire from the police force 30 years later. He was never made a deacon or elder or given any sort of responsibilities because of his "attitude". Although a (pretty) faithful member for many years. In fact, still hasn't come "out", even though he did switch horses many years before the WCG transformation......and all of the splinters he had followed have splintered and he doesn't attend much any more. My dad is a tough one to figure out.....he's 70 and still pretty much does his own thing.
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I've always had a natural bent towards science. It doesn't require much faith if you can prove the outcome with repeated experiments, so that's more comforting to me than wondering if some big deity in the sky will or will not talk to me.

I lost my faith when I was 16. I reached out to god and he turned away. I remember the day that I felt that abandonment. Over the next few years I looked at other religions and realized that all the Christian ones I looked at had the exact same formulas for services, scriptures, ostracism, and etc. That's not what I was looking for, so I started to look at pagan religions. Wicca was just the same thing with another god(dess). Oddly, most of the non-wicca pagans I have met seem to know the Bible better than I learned it. I never thought to ask why there are two creation stories, for example.

I used to hate any and all religions. Over the years I have relaxed my approach. Because all cultures have some form of deity, I realize that it is an essential thing for humans to try to make sense of the world and also create social customs for living with lots of humans in small spaces (as opposed to hunter-gatherer tribes) so that we can ensure our survival. Ultimately I am agnostic. Somethings can't be fully explained yet, so the question is still out there for me, but I am not looking to find anything either. If there is a god or goddess and they need me for something, they will have to find me