The term "Don't drink the kool-aid" is used to caution someone to not blindly believe whatever they're told. The term originated when Jim Jones of the Peoples Temple used Flavor Aid mixed with cyanide in the murder-suicide of himself and his followers. Since Flavor Aid is similar to Kool-Aid the latter entered the lexicon.
My father entered the Radio Church of God, later renamed the Worldwide Church of God which was headed by Herbert Armstrong. Herbert Armstrong and his surrogates put out the message that the "great tribulation" was to start in 1972 leading to the return of Jesus in 1975. Even before 1970 while still a teen I rejected that as too fantastic to believe. Later on when the prophecy was shown to be false Armstrong claimed that he never said that and "we don't set dates", managing to keep most of his followers who paid 10% and more of their income to him.
Religion is not the only area where people turn over their thinking to others. In politics we have ditto-heads who believe everything Rush Limbaugh says. Either you do the same, or you're one of the straw-man liberals that Rush props up only to knock down.
Recently, Ronald Weinland who was formerly one of Armstrong's preachers has claimed to be one of the Two Witnesses prophesied in Revelation 11:3-12. He also has set very specific dates, including April 17, 2008 when he is to begin his job as one of the two witnesses and spokeman for both.
I do believe that Ronald Weinland is helping to fulfill biblical prophecy -- the one in Matthew 24:11. One the other hand, the prophecies which he foretold in his book "2008 God's Final Witness" concerning the "thunders" have not occurred. The "thunders" were predictions of events to take place between the publishing of the book in 2006 and the "Opening of the 7th seal" which he says took place March 18, 2008. One prophecy he made was concerning the deaths of the leaders of other splinters from the Worldwide Church of God which broke up after the death of Armstrong in 1986. None of them have died.
So we'll look at the progression of Ronald's train wreck as his prophecies fail to materialise. Will his followers come to their senses, or will there be a Jim-Jones-style massacre? My expectation is that neither will happen. Rather, Weinland will be able to spin the facts and maintain a grip on a sufficient number of his tithe-paying followers to fund his senior years.
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Good to see another website addressing the inconsistencies of RW's & his "prophecies".
I was "drawn" to COG-PKG after I had read 2008 God's Final Witness. I had left WCG in 1995 and not had any religious affiliation since that time - I wanted to check it out & seek "truth" of it - Perhaps it was the language or the familiarity with Sabbath & Holy Day/Plan of God teachings - not just sure. I've learned a few things during this "leg of my journey" and through my brief acquaintance with COG-PKG & RW.
The following points can be heard from RW's various sermons on COG-PKG website. These are just a few of the "red flags".
Re: Tithing - members are encouraged to not only send 10% (first tithe) but also send an additional 10% (second tithe) in view there is no planned Feast of Tabernacles for this fall season.
Re: Sabbath Keeping - RW has added restraints for the members such as their manner of dress, even as they observe Sabbath in their home i.e. ties for men & dressy casual dress for women (and make sure neither your cleavage or abdomen is showing) -No sweats allowed either - I won't even get into the length of hair stipulations.
Re: E-mail restrictions - Members are being told not to send group e-mailings to other church members.
This "kind of stuff" reminds me of the Strong-Armism of WCG.
Thankfully, I had been away from it for a number of years and was able to recognize the abusiveness pretty quickly. At first when I heard RW yelling & "sick, sick, sick" in the sermons I thought it might be zeal, but it didn't take me long to recognize RW's repetitive ranting as anger and verbal abuse.
I think about the COG-PKG members I have come to know. Since I have pulled back from RW & his church etc. (because my understandings of God and Jesus Christ are not "in unity" with RW's) they have pulled back from me. No more emails/phone calls etc. I was fortunate that I didn't have as much "invested" as they may have and I understand them to some degree, and am sad to see them in such bondage.
Truly, truly, truly (to coin a phrase, he!he!) if there are any folks reading this who are questioning RW and what he is putting forth, continue to do so.
The truth will set you free - and provide you with some more questions also.
There is an adage which just came to my mind - 'Religion is for people afraid of going to hell & Spirituality is for people who have been there'.
Blessings to ya.
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