I would think that this disclosure would be a very important sign of whether they really repented. When the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, he told him in 1 Timothy 1: 15, "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief" he was demonstrating his conversion from that life of sin.

The WWCG refuses to say that they were not Christian in the past. They instead point to HWA as "a man of God." They are quick to defend HWA as wrong in some areas but nevertheless a man of God, when in fact he has been proven a false prophet and a heretic! Did the booklet 1975 in Prophecy² come true, is the Holy spirit a power, will all Christians "become God, as God is God"?³ Will those that do not keep the Holy days be thrown into the lake of fire, as he taught?

Is it a sin to be in the armed forces, celebrate birthdays, to worship on Sundays instead of Saturdays [the Sabbath], eat unclean meat? Is going to a doctor sin? Is going to the doctor for treatment a sign of a lack of trust in God as HWA taught? Can the WWCG deny that these are the things that HWA taught? A better question would be, do you think a Christian organization would want to cover all this up, and when they are questioned about it want to defend their founder? Knowing all these things, why would this organization say as they have said, "God wants you to stay where you were called, right here in the WWCG?"⁴

The Bible tells us what to do when we find those out that "have a form of Godliness." 1 Tim. 3: 5 tells us, "from such turn away." The WWCG. fits the "turn away" from category to a tee that is talked about in 1 Tim. 3:1-9. They have been there, and done that, and are continuing to do it.

The WWCG has ruined thousands upon thousands of lives, some have committed suicide, some have no retirement, some have family members that have died that were not in the faith. Some will recover in a short time, others will not ever recover. Some will reject the true gospel because of them, and others will never listen to anyone again that tries to bring the gospel to them, because they do not trust anyone any more when it comes to God.

The more I think of the ruined lives that the WWCG left behind the more I hate Satan and his false churches and leaders. I don't hate the people, I hate him which they follow, that being Satan.

I pray that God would shake the WWCG to their foundation! That the leadership will be brought down in shame before the living God. That He would expose them for what they are, that they would repent. That the members would be fed the truth of the Word of God and those that are staying there for fear of leaving would receive strength from God to leave, if the leadership does not genuinely change. This is my prayer.

By John Miller (real name used with permission)
August 2003

Footnotes by ESN:

¹ Read: Transformed by Christ (A Review of Worldwide Church of God's Book) (shows WCG's whitewashing of Herbert Armstrong)

² Basil Wolverton (a comic artist and WCG elder) was behind the grotesque and horrifying pictures in 1975 in Prophecy and other WCG literature. Read on our site more about Wolverton.

³  "We shall be as much God as God Himself is God" ("CONGRESS OF LEADING MINISTERS," Herbert Armstrong, 1981, p. 2.); "The PURPOSE of life is that in us God is really re-creating His own kind—reproducing Himself after His own kind— ...we shall be instantaneously CHANGED from mortal to immortal—we shall then be BORN of God—WE SHALL THEN BE GOD! ...The PURPOSE of your being alive is that finally you will be BORN into the Kingdom of God, when you will actually BE GOD!... "You are setting out on a training to become creator—to become God!" (Why Were You Born? Herbert W. Armstrong, pp. 21-22). "You are destined to become God! Shocking? Unbelievable? If you understand the purpose of God's government, you will not be surprised... God is in the process of reproducing Himself in you! ... You will be what he is—God." (Good News, Nov./Dec. 1988, p. 5)

⁴ Members were told to "stay where God has placed you," they were "not justified in leaving," and if they do leave, they were "seeking an easier road," and "bailing out on the God of grace and love." Also, "We have an obligation to the denomination into which God called us." (The Worldwide News, 11-29-94, Personal, p. 2; The Worldwide News, 12-13-94, Personal, p. 5 ) [Note: In February 2005, The Worldwide News in the United States was changed to WCG Today. In May 2006 it was changed to Together.]

OIU Newsletters (especially Vol. 5 and 6) (Reveals the reasons for the WCG's changes)

Articles For Those Who Were Emotionally and Spiritually Abused 

Back to Stories & Testimonies by Former Members of WCG and Offshoots