On Saturday 19th March 2016 I ‘happened’ upon a TV broadcast being shown on FREEVIEW channel 74. It was called ‘Tomorrow’s World’ and the presenter spoke for the best part of 30 minutes on the subject of ‘The Anti Christ’.
He was very clear in his presentation which was slick and professional including various graphics and scripture references However, I sensed that ‘all was not right’ as he repeatedly made reference to the ‘keeping of God’s law’. Now, please don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that Christians shouldn’t live in accordance with the precepts of God’s moral law – after all God has ‘written’ that on the hearts and in the minds of true believers (Hebrews 8:10 and Hebrews 10:16) but as we live out those moral precepts we demonstrate evidence of having been saved, we are not obeying in order to be saved.
A free booklet was offered several times during the programme and in appearance it reminded me of publications offered in the past by those who held to the teachings of the false ‘prophet’, Herbert W Armstrong who founded what was known as ‘The Worldwide Church of God’. Since Mr Armstrong’s death there have been many changes and breakaways from that group – one grouping actually ditched many of Mr Armstrong’s heresies and were accepted by some relatively orthodox Christian groupings.
However, various splinter groups have formed over the years and each seeks to perpetuate many of the false teachings of Mr Armstrong. My feeling was that this ‘LIVING CHURCH of GOD’ was one such group so, after doing some ‘surfing’ on the net, I came across a very enlightening and helpful article that basically confirmed my suspicions. These article can be accessed on these links –
https://exitsupportnetwork.com/worldwide-church-of-god-expose/ https://exitsupportnetwork.com/herbert-w-armstrong/ https://exitsupportnetwork.com/site-map/
This last link exposes similar-type groups such as the ‘Philadelphia Church of God’ on
https://exitsupportnetwork.com/information-on-philadelphia-church-of-god/
This has been my first encounter with ‘Exit and Support Network’ and I have not had opportunity to fully ‘investigate’ this ‘network’ but from first impressions I believe they are moving in ‘good circles’ as can be evidenced by some of their resource links as found on http://www.exitsupportnetwork.com/resource/links.htm – these included links to http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/index.html and http://www.spiritual-research-network.com/home.html – two ministries that I myself have profited from in times past.
Another breakaway group from Mr Armstrong’s ‘Worldwide Church of God’ was the subject of an article I wrote back in 2007 and they styled themselves as ‘UNITED CHURCH of GOD’ – that article can be accessed on this link –
https://www.takeheed.info/united-church-of-god/
Even further back, I wrote an article in my June 1993 ‘News From The Front’ newsletter about a grouping called ‘CHURCH OF GOD INTERNATIONAL’ that had been formed by Mr Armstrong’s son, Garner Ted Armstrong. Around 1995 he had to leave that grouping due to alleged sexual impropriety but he then set up a further ministry under his own name. Garner Ted eventually died in September 2003. A helpful bio of his life can be accessed on this link –
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garner_Ted_Armstrong
Referring back to my June 1993 article on the ‘CHURCH OF INTERNATIONAL’ it is not available to view online but if anyone would like a photocopy of it then just email a request to me on takeheed@aol.com
Now, by way of conclusion, this article poses the question
‘LIVING CHURCH of GOD’ – Is it?
The clear biblically-based answer to that question is ‘NO’.
Cecil Andrews – ‘Take Heed’ Ministries – 22 March 2016
APPENDIX – My Facebook post of 24 March 2016
A new article has been posted to the ministry web site to warn people about the teachings of a group that has a regular programme on television called ‘Tomorrow’s World’. The group call themselves the ‘LIVING CHURCH of GOD’ and are basically a spin-off from the old ‘Worldwide Church of God’
that was founded by the false prophet Herbert W Armstrong and that for years had a radio broadcast called ‘The World Tomorrow’. In the article I simply pose the question – ‘Is it’?
The article can be accessed on –
https://www.takeheed.info/pdf/2016/March/Living-Church-of-God.pdf
There is also an interesting web site where a group calling itself ‘The Restored Church of God’ (not referenced in my article) claim to be the true and faithful successors of Herbert W Armstrong and they detail why they will not and cannot united with splinter groups such as ‘Living Church of God’ and ‘United Church of God’ (also mentioned in my article).
The link to that web site and to how they differ from these other splinter groups is located on –
https://rcg.org/sep/articles/sep_htrcgd.html
Their beliefs are also critiqued by ‘Exit and Support Network’ on this link –
https://exitsupportnetwork.com/the-restored-church-of-god-david-c-pack/