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Received Zero After
Leaving Full Time Ministry:
Hi, I am so
happy to see this up. My husband left the full time ministry after 21
years. We left in 1998. I say "left" but truth be known we were raped and robbed by
the WCG, as were our two children. It made no difference that we were friends
with Greg Albrecht, Joe Tkach, Mike Feazell, or anyone for that matter. I thought we
were the only ones that were asked to give up our social security and promised a
retirement plan and then told we get neither--zero. We
are starting over really worse off than when we joined the WCG in
`75. We lost our family business due to joining the church back in 1975.
I was shocked to hear several in their 70's were told to go get a job at Wal-Mart,
or whatever, and start your life over and save for your own retirement. One
man recently had to have bypass surgery. --Former WCG member
"Transformed by Truth" Book:
We ran into a lady who left the WCG a
few years ago (she left along with several elders and deacons and now attend a non-denominational Christian church) and had a good
talk with her. She told us that she read Tkach Jr's book, Transformed by
Truth, and then decided to ask a few of the WCG members if the
members were reading it. When they said, "No," she said, "Well,
hasn't your minister recommended it?" They again answered, "No."
She then confessed to me that if they had of read it, more would leave because
they would see how much everything has just been a bunch of crock! --Former WCG
member
Enthusiastic About ESN
Pages:
I am very enthusiastic about
what I found on the ESN pages. I hope it may help many people to recover and
prevent people from getting into the WCG/PCG
in the first place. What I especially liked about the pages is that they are
leading people to Christ (and not away from Him as I saw on other sites which
are informing people about the WCG. --Former WCG member
Evangelicals Accepting WCG:
After
I found out what the ecumenical movement was all about it helped me to see why
evangelicals (led by
Billy Graham) so quickly and easily accepted the WCG. I
thought they were being duped. I think now that it has more to do with their
hell-bent desire to bring all churches into one body. To do that they have to
ignore some churches' heretical and apostate teachings. In other words, the end
justifies the means. --WCG exiter
Systematic Cultism
in WCG:
I grew up under the
WCG. The good, the bad and the ugly! With my painful conclusion despite the WCG
accepted orthodoxy, I felt there was "systematic cultism" in the group
which led me to take a long "leave of absence" from the group at age
28 nearly two years ago. No one should be able to make such a painful choice. It
angers and saddens me, that there are people in the WCG who stubbornly cling on,
believing there is no place to go or there is going to be a "great
deliverer" to straighten things out (ironically a UCG elder-friend told me in
effect to "stop dreaming" about that).
I hope there will be more from the conservative splinters (PCG,
LCG and the
like) that will come out of the kingdom of the cults into Christ's glorious kingdom
(Colossians 1:13). Mike's Testimony
was inspiring, uplifting; it was like a long drink of fresh clear water and
something to rejoice about. It's good to read stories about how God will triumph
over evil. It is my prayer that the PCG will collapse outright and many will
truly find Jesus Christ (or rededicate their lives to Him) as you have done. Blessings to you and your
work.
Your brother in Jesus Christ, --FT
Disfellowshipped for
Respecting Other Christians' Orthodox Beliefs:
I skimmed your web
site with interest. you may find it amazing, but a pastor of the WCG
disfellowshipped me from the WCG for respecting other Christians' orthodox
beliefs. He demanded that our orthodoxy be discussed exclusively. I objected. He
excommunicated me. I am trying to reconcile. So far I have had no success.
In Jesus' Love, --Anonymous
Breath of Fresh
Air Since Leaving:
I carried around a
lot of guilt for leaving the WCG and I really didn't get much support from
family and friends. I felt like I had been to hell and back. My parents (still
in the WCG) are always trying to push what they have learned on us. Developing
good friends now is like the difference between night and day when compared with
the WCG. It's like a breath of fresh air. I feel that Christ has opened the door
to freedom. I can't believe how hard we used to make things when Christ's
message was so simple. --North Carolina
What about David
Icke?
We appreciate your
thoughtful comments on David Icke's book [...and The Truth Shall Set You
Free,
1995]. We wrongly thought at first it was a very helpful book, as he detailed
the many interwoven connections of the one world government. Thank you for
cautioning us; you are right. It seems a paradox, we are so suspicious and
wanting to believe in the pure intentions of people, at the same time, thinking
on our own feet requires much more effort, and often we cannot make conclusions.
--Alabama
I Wouldn't Recommend WCG:
If anyone came to me
and asked me about he WCG as it stands today, I would give them a history
lesson, and let them know of the internal environment of this organization. I
would not recommend that they become affiliated with a clearly dysfunctional
organization. --S. T.
Kicked Out, but Glad:
My husband and I got kicked out
of the WCG a few years ago. We are glad!! We went through hell as a
family and just now God is giving us a good relationship in our marriage and
with our grown children. In WW we didn't understand grace, but now we couldn't
live without practicing it. The greatest part of being free for us has been
having a close friendship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We had a
very good exit counselor and have read some good books already, too. I know there
is more to learn. The more we all speak out against the cults, the more aware
others become. --Colorado
Loves the Freedom:
I left WCG 3 years
ago. It was a very eventful year--a difficult one full of loss and pain. I
find I don't want to make long term commitments. I find I do have some good
memories of some of the special times I shared with family and friends. The
controls and leadership were very hurtful, however. I've done quite a bit of
reading on controlling groups. I do agree it was a cult and a harmful thing. For
me, it kept me in a generally unhappy state--a life I would have liked to have
spent otherwise. I live in the present now. I love every day of my life. I make
my own choices. Again, I feel very thankful for this time, it is really the best
time of my life. It would not have been had I not left WCG. I love the freedom I
have now. --Virginia
WCG Pasting Over
HWA as "Innocent":
I just visited the
WCG site - nearly made me puke the way they pasted over HWA as being an innocent, uninformed, doctrinally weak man.
B.S.!!!! I talked to a (mainstream) minister that was actually going to give a sermon at a WCG congregation and he believed the changes were "for
real." I told him I wouldn't accept them until they denounce HWA.
He said "It's coming." Well, that was a year ago and I want to call
this man and find out if he's still holding his breath!! --WCG exiter
Read:
Has WCG whitewashed Herbert W. Armstrong?
Tithing was a Burden:
I read your article about your
experiences with the WCG and PCG. I can very well relate to it. I had quit
attending services of the WCG back in 1994. I just couldn't tithe much
anymore, first tithe or second tithe, it was becoming a heavy burden. I
started to question to myself of the 3 tithes that WCG would want you to give.
Here I was in my 20's married (a girl from WCG) and trying to make ends meet.
Most of all my money was being invested in the church or its Feast of
Tabernacles (2nd tithe), something just didn't seem right. Then they come out
with all these doctrinal changes. That was it, I had enough, I then quit.
--Exiter
Loved One in an Offshoot:
Hi,
My husband is in an offshoot of the WCG, still following HWA's
teachings. I started attending with him, for I had never heard of this church.
After hearing the things they were teaching I became unhappy so I started
reading the Bible for myself during church. Well basically I was kicked out
because they saw that reading the Bible in church was wrong, that I needed to
listen to the sermons, and that my reading the Bible showed my lack of
interest. My pain is great! I don't blame him but I do blame that church for
brainwashing him.
I've tried talking to him about the Bible but he twists the verses to mean
what he wants them to say to support his "church." I really want him to change
but I know I can't make him change. Why can't he see the truth about WCG? Is
there anything I can do?
I wasn't even a member of the WCG and yet it has caused me the greatest
pain I have ever felt. --Anonymous
WCG Not Honest With Us:
I think that if WCG leaders had been
honest with us all and forthright, we would not feel it necessary to
investigate the past, and make sense of what we can. I am still angry (at
times) about the way they "closed that chapter" of WCG's history,
before
analysis, understanding, and healing had occurred. It's very, very odd behavior
for a group that loved to control all our actions and thinking,
before the plain truth was known. --West Virginia
Need Info on United Church of God-AIA:
Hello,
Was nice to hear from you, thanks
for responding. I left the church [WCG] quite some time ago and I'm doing fine with
it but my family chose to go with UCG
[United Church of God-AIA].
I stay removed from that part of their life and don't discuss it much, but I
do have my own concerns regarding Doug Horchak. It was fairly clear that
UCG followed Armstrongism but I wasn't sure to what degree. Any information
you may have regarding [minister] and if he uses mind control would be
appreciated. Thanks.
Regards, --Former WCG member
Read:
What You Should Know About the United Church of God-AIA.
Jesus and His Blood Offended HWA:
So, so sick to see a no gospel being
preached. Comparing HWA's message style with the gospel messages of
Acts, it's so easy to see a squatty fat coward posing as a preacher-boy, afraid
to offend. Jesus and His blood offended HWA, so he left that lying in the
dirt. He never gave his audiences a chance to repent and accept Jesus'
sacrifice. No free gift of the Holy Spirit mentioned--but there was free stuben.
Over and over, I thank God for
granting us deliverance and grace.
Thanks for your interesting services.
--Recent WCG exiter
You Helped Me Communicate My
Feelings:
Your writing entitled, Questioning Why
I Was in a Deceptive Cult was just the best. It gave me a way
to communicate my own feelings about what has happened to me. I prayed many
years ago to be led out of confusion and I wandered into the WCG. I know there is a purpose.
I find that I just do not fit into mainstream churches. I see their
problems clearer now, too, and many of them judge me for my choice to go to a
church like the WCG. I either get condescending pity, or accused of baggage,
because of when I don't agree with them. Oh well, we suffer for Him! Thanks
again! God is Faithful! --Recent WCG exiter
Comment:
Members heard a sermon from Joseph Tkach Jr.on November
9, 1996 where he told them to "let go of the baggage."
Spared from the WCG:
I was never in the Old WWCOG but my
father subscribed to the Plain Truth for many years while I was growing up in
the 60's and I used to read it as a young man looking for spiritual answers.
We also used to listen to GTA and HWA's radio broadcasts. We were not Christians at the
time--just mainline
Protestant Church attenders. I am now a Christian.
I often wonder what would have
happened if we had ever gone to a WWCOG meeting; we may have ended up joining.
That brings up a question. What criteria did the WWCOG use to approach people?
We were subscribers to the magazine and my father even occasionally
sent in a small contribution. Once we ordered the Ambassador College Bible
Correspondence
Course, but never completed it. No one ever called us or invited us to attend
church. I cannot understand how the church grew if our family was an
example of the recruitment technique (or lack thereof!) We would have been
"prime meat" for the church in view of the fact that we were
disillusioned with [a liberal church] and looking for some answers which
were not being given to us in that institution.
In God's Providence, my parents
withdrew from [a liberal church] and started attending an independent
Bible church where the Gospel of the Grace of God (I Cor 15:1-5) was preached.
What a blessed change we saw. But anyway, how did the old WWCOG approach
people and why do you think we were never solicited?
I find your website very interesting
and want to order some more tapes also. Thanks again for your fine information
service. I am thankful for a ministry such as yours which takes a strong
stand. --Virginia
Read: How Did
Herbert W. Armstrong Recruit People?
Leaving WCG After 29 Years:
After 29 years of being a member of
Worldwide Church of God I have just prepared a letter of intent for my pastor
that I will no longer attend WCG. I have not been able to make this move
lightly or without much prayerful consideration. However, I strongly feel I
must move on. This comes about after a long and difficult struggle.
...
I very much appreciate your being
there for us. My wife is traveling this road with me. You seem to
very well understand that this isn't easy to do. I've attended a number of
other churches; I've walked out of several. I haven't found where I will
really fit in.
Thank you so much. I'm considering writing you part of my story of my times
within WCG. It has been very hard at times and I am now completely free.
Sincerely, --Florida
I Like Your Site!
Dear Friends:
I am a former WCG member. I was baptized
into WCG by Pastors Larry Salyer and Doug Horchak as then they were pastoring the Washington DC
churches. I exited in 1980 and finally found Jesus as my Lord and Savior shortly afterward!! A couple of years afterward, I was led
to work for seven years in an apologetic ministry exposing in the cults as well as in the local churches.
I love your site and feel it has many
valuable materials and helps for those who have been "spiritually raped" by the WCG and
PCG.
The ESN website confirmed what I had long suspected, that the "new,
improved WCG" is a total phony. I wasn't surprised at all upon reading
about this. People are always asking me about the WCG and I always have
been telling that I didn't recommend it. Now I have some proof to pass on to
those who ask. God bless you for your burden to help those who are coming out.
Yours in Christ --Washington D.C.
Albrecht Replicating Hanegraaff Material:
I visited the PTM [Plain Truth
Ministries] website. It seemed that Greg Albrecht had just
replicated a lot of the Hanegraaff material and put it out there earlier. I
also wanted to tell you that I enjoyed your critique
of Tkach, Jr's book. You really hit the nail on the head when you said
that they had been schooled in the verbiage of the evangelicals. It really was
obvious on the EMNR taped discussion with Jr. and Albrecht. They knew all of
the right words and phrases to disarm the Neo-evangelicals. I would have
missed that if I had not noted the comment you made in your critique.
Sincerely in Christ --Eastern United States
So Glad to Have Found Your Site:
I am so glad to have found your web
site. I've been searching the web for sites on Herbert W. Armstrong and or the
Worldwide Church of God and or cults. You see I was an member of the WCG,
Philadelphia Church of God and
Restored
Church of God for a total of 18 years and only now am I beginning to have my eyes
open to how truly evil these so called churches really are. I have much to say
and many questions but the time is not right yet. Thanks for your help so very much. Yours truly, --Exiter
Those in Mexico Need Our Help!
Thanks for your answer again. Yes,
you understood my questions, and now I feel free, it is a blessing that Jesus
loves us no matter what we do or don't. I understood the point, but I still
would like to know, how HWA made us believe that the original Church of God
persevered from the days of Jesus until our days. Was a group or church
keeping all these things and saying they were the chosen people at that time?
Are they mentioned in the Bible?
I am worried for the people in Mexico that are doing all possible to
"obey God" in the UCG, PCG,
GCG [Global Church of God,
founded by Rod Meredith, who later founded Living
Church of God in 1998], and others, what can I do to help?
Has anyone from Mexico has contacted you? Do you think that in the future you
can have this information available in Spanish? For me, it was very difficult
to find you. I started to look for something that I didn't know what it
was. .... I asked these people (4 different people) if they had
something concerning HWA or WCG. They said they didn't have anything but they
promised me to make an investigation (once they had time, because they receive
many e-mails from the people). But one of them told me to take a look at
another website on cults and that's how I found you. As you can see, it took
me some time to know all the truth about this cult.
I feel sorry for all the people in Mexico that are unaware, most of them are poor and they are giving the little money they have to them. Well, I'm
going to send your answers to my mother in Spanish and if she still has
questions, I let you know. If there is a way I can do something to help,
please let me know, it would be good to meet you some day, please keep in
touch.
With love and concern, --Mexico
Update:
The Spanish
lady above was helping her mother who is in UCG. She later wrote back and said that her mother
finally left
UCG. Since then she has been helping the ESN by translating some of our
webpages into Spanish, which are posted on another website. Many thanks to this lady for her devotion and hard work!
Incredibly Destructive:
The ESN material arrived safely.
Thanks. I was raised in Worldwide Church of God. It was incredibly destructive
to our family... [Our father] would take some of their authoritarian ideas
considerably further ... there is no reasoning or dialogue, as all is seen
as Satan speaking through us. The stories I could tell of extreme violence,
treachery, duplicity, etc. to enforce total control of his will would be hard
to believe by most normal people. --WCG exiter
I Detected Lies as Early as 1988:
As a witness to all the events in the
Pasadena congregation from 1965 to today--I still attend there--I am
intensely interested in what is behind the scenes. I detected lies as early as
1988, although it was not at all clear how, or why, this was happening. JWT's
premature death was a great surprise, we expected him to last for 25 years or
more. I am sure that God struck him down.
Apart from spiritual warfare, the bottom line has yet to be defined. I will read
what you have provided with great interest. --J. H.
Comment:
Read the
OIU Newsletters
for more on the reasons
behind the changes.
WCG Only in it for the Money:
I was surfing yesterday and came
across your webpage. I must have spent 3 hours reading. I have
attended WCG since August 1966, and my family "dates" back to
around 1963, receiving Plain Truths, Correspondence Courses, etc. I
still attend sporadically (8 or 10 times a year), but think I've made
an exceptional "recovery." Your
newspaper on the real
purpose behind the church, i.e., that they are only in it for the money, and
have been from the very beginning, is nearly identical to the theory I
concluded on my own. The similarities were incredible!
After so many decades in
WCG, most of my conscious life, I guess I'm loathe to leave. Part
of me doesn't want to "be a rat leaving a sinking ship" but part
of me gets a sadistic pleasure in seeing them squirm for money. (They
no longer get mine, and haven't for years. Nor will they ever again.) Also, if they ever do unload the California property, I'd like to still be
around to collect, if there is a class action lawsuit.
I've thought for a long time that
after they sell the property they'd shut down the church, after they had set
up their retirement accounts. I actually had a positive opinion of
JWT [Joseph W. Tkach, Sr.], but never have trusted his son. This dates back to the late
1980's when I saw Jr. at the Feast of Tabernacles in Pasadena. He said a few
things that made my radar go up. I've never trusted him since.
The minister who used to be here in
Tennessee, I never cared for, and this congregation's indifference toward me and
my family have made my wife determined never to set foot there again. ...
The congregation seems to be friendlier to me now, but I usually blow them
off. If I wasn't good enough for them 3 years ago, they're not good
enough for me today. Even if they are sincere, I read it as fake and
phony. It's too late for them to redeem themselves in my eyes.
A word of 20/20 hindsight: After
January 8, 1972, HWA was proven to be a false prophet. All bets were
off then! C an you believe
I actually heard someone say from the pulpit (in response to the Scripture that says no man shall know the exact date and time of His return) that the reason that 1972 came and went with nothing was because HWA had
"figured it out," and that God had to change His time frame, since
the Bible says that no man would know. The same deification of the man
continues in Philly [Philadelphia Church of God] church. (Boy did I
send Flurry a scathing letter after I received a copy of his literature
unsolicited!
Sorry for rambling on and on. Thanks for giving me a place to get stuff off of my chest. Sincerely,
--Tennessee
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