A New Home for My Blog

I have moved my blogging activity to a new location, and I'm still blogging about False Prophet Ronald Weinland.
Click the link for an easy transfer.

This Blogspot remains as an archive covering the period of April, 2008 through early July, 2009.

Friday, January 2, 2009

A Follower of Ron Reponds

I just received an interesting comment in reply to my last post, and thought it deserved more prominent coverage.

Commenter "rj" who may be a COG-PKG member and in any case is a follower of False Prophet Ronald Weinland wrote:
"I believe Ron and Laura Weinland are the two end-time witnesses and the tribulation has begun on dec 14. I think most people expected it to begin with a big bang, I most deffenently did not. If something huge happened on dec 14 and if all of those ministers [Meredith, Ames Rittenbach, Pack, and Flurry] would have all died by now, a lot more then 10% of a third of the scattered church would of reconized the Weinlands were the witnesses and the remnant would be a lot larger, but this way most have written him off as a false prophet. Also most believe that Jesus Christ will return on Trumpets, so I think something big will happen in the spring of 2009 or in 2010 so it will appear the tribulation will end on trumpets This is a blessing because it shortens the severeness of the 3&1/2 year tribulation. Also the fact that this site exists as well as others is an encouragement to me, because in order for scripture to be fulfilled there has to be mockers and scoffers, and who better for satan to use then highly intellegent, disgrunted ex-members"

This is a cut-and-paste of the entire comment, so I have not introduced any grammatical errors or taken out any paragraph breaks. I find it difficult to pick out sentences without paragraph breaks, so I'm repeating the comment again, point by point, as I respond.

"I believe Ron and Laura Weinland are the two end-time witnesses and the tribulation has begun on dec 14."

It would be very interesting to understand why you believe this. Do you have anything more than the "proof" you offered later in your comment? Why do you believe that Ron and Laura are the two witnesses? Where's the proof? Where is the evidence of the First Trumpet since Dec. 14?

"I think most people expected it to begin with a big bang, I most deffenently did not."

I disagree with that statement. I definitely didn't expect a big bang, either. Nor did "most people". Most people expected nothing to happen. Which is what happened. Or didn't happen, depending on how you want to say it.

"If something huge happened on dec 14 and if all of those ministers [ Meredith, Ames Rittenbach, Pack, and Flurry]would have all died by now, a lot more then 10% of a third of the scattered church would of reconized the Weinlands were the witnesses and the remnant would be a lot larger, but this way most have written him off as a false prophet."

(Actually it's "Rittenbaugh", not "Rittenbach", and there should be a comma after "Ames" since that's the last name of one of the ministers and not Rittenbaugh's first name.)

That's very interesting. You've admitted that the prophecy about the ministers failed, and the reason it failed was so that another wouldn't fail.

As a matter of explanation, the "remnant" to which "rj" refers is those who would have joined Weinland's one and only true church who were formerly members of WCG when the "Son of Perdition" Joseph Tkach committed the "abomination of desolation" against the rebuilt temple (WCG) when the First Seal opened. AKA Tkach's infamous Dec 17, 1994 sermon in Atlanta. With the WCG membership in the ballpark of 100,000 at that time, a tithe of 1/3 of those would be somewhere in the neighborhood of 3300 people. Weinland has mentioned the 300 often in his references to Gideon's army and the breaking of the pitchers. Communications from ex-members of COG-PKG have put the membership at the 2007 Feast of Tabernacles at the 300-450 range of which 300 could be ex-WCG. He's also mentioned in sermons "another 2700 out there". Apparently, the numbers aren't exact just like the numbers of the COG-PKG members actually sealed on September 30.

[Note: in his sermon the following day, Weinland speculated that the total could be a tithe of all, not just one-third. Perhaps not an important prophecy, except to "rj".]

In his book the False Prophet described the prophesied deaths of the five specific ministers "rj" listed as proof that he was a prophet, said they would happen "early" after the publication of his book in 2006, said they were part of the thunders that would sound loudly before the 7th seal opened and the Great Tribulation began.

"Also most believe that Jesus Christ will return on Trumpets, so I think something big will happen in the spring of 2009 or in 2010 so it will appear the tribulation will end on trumpets"

I don't know whether or not most believe that Christ returns on a Feast of Trumpets, but I find it interesting that you think God will deliberately deceive people.

Do you believe that "2008 God's Final Witness" is a divinely inspired revelation from God? If so, how can you believe that it will be as late as 2010 before something big happens? According to the book, the Fifth Trumpet has to sound before June 21 because the Fifth Trumpet is when the US is no longer an independent nation and the USA is to no longer be an independent nation by that date. In June, Weinland's story was that the book was true but he presumptuously put his own interpretation on it to come up with his first timeline. So now the story is changing again and the book is false? Either the book is true or it isn't -- so which is it?

"Also the fact that this site exists as well as others is an encouragement to me, because in order for scripture to be fulfilled there has to be mockers and scoffers, and who better for satan to use then highly intellegent, disgrunted ex-members"

Considering the source, I'm not totally sure whether to be flattered or not by being called "highly intelligent" so I'll just say "Thank you .... maybe." As far as being a "disgruntled ex-member" a read of my profile which can be accessed on the side of this blog would have shown that to be incorrect in my case. I am not nor have I ever been a member of COG-PKG, WCG, or any of the "splinters". A read of other blogs actively mocking this False Prophet show this to be the case for others. Others may be ex-WCG, but so far at least there are no ex-COG-PKG members blogging against Weinland.

Nor am I fulfilling scripture. I am not mocking a true prophet of God. Speaking of my being a mocker, I have a question: "How long is 'speedily'?" Weinland said I was going to die speedily from the inside, so what's the longest I can expect to live? It's been 13 days so far -- doesn't seem particularly speedy.

So "rj", what will it take and how long will it take for you to recognize that Weinland has deceived you? Will you still be following Ron during the 2012 Feast of Tabernacles when Christ still hasn't returned? Indications are that you only have ears to hear what Weinland said in his latest sermon, and you'll never even attempt to draw a line in the ever-shifting sands of his prophecies.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

"....so I think something big will happen in the spring of 2009 or in 2010 so it will appear the tribulation will end on trumpets."

Well I think something big will happen by the spring, maybe summer, fall or next winter of 2009 or 2010 on into 2012, ok maybe the spring of 2015 or summer, fall or winter shortly after that , no more than 3-5, 10 at the most , 20 max in our lifetime or not.

Time is short again or still after all these years.

Mike (Don't Drink the Flavor Aid) said...

That's right. When you consider 6000 years of human history, a few decades can be considered "shortly".

Anonymous said...

I feel sorry for this guy. Over the years, we've all seen some of the most illiterate people take up the defense of Armstrongism, and this poor guy is no exception. I guess in his world, someone who knows how to read, spell, and punctuate is considered highly intelligent. My heart breaks when I see such people being exploited.

This whole sad Weinland saga is reminiscent of what Lenny and Squiggy might have done had they been old school WCG-style ministers. Pure religious satire.

BB

jack635 said...

All of you who read Don't Drink The Flavor Aid should consider yourselves fortunate to have just received a semester's worth of psychology studies, in a 200 word comment. Mike's blog has fished out a comment which allows us to peer deep into the mind of an innocent victim who has been brainwashed by a cult. We now have witnessed the mindset of one deceived by a false prophet. This "rj" will believe only what is written and/or lectured by Ronald Weinland, while disregarding any contradictions clearly stated in the Bible (which is apparently the book ALL ministers use). And no matter how hard anyone tries to point out the errors, the deceived will refuse to acknowledge the truth of reality.
I will summarize my comment with this quote:

Upton's analogy of religion: If you don't get it, no explanation will do. If you do get it no explanation is necessary.


Incidentaly, the word victim comes from the Latin victima--person or animal killed as a sacrifice.

Anonymous said...

A lack of education doesn't necessarily mean a lack of intelligence.

For example, RJ can look for further evidence - say for example, when will Ron stop the rain?

He could also ask himself this question about the Great Tribulation:

If no one notices the Great Tribulation has started for a year, how great a tribulation is it? Or...

Is the Great Tribulation suffering and terror going to be back loaded to last 2 1/2 years?

Well, maybe Ron will provide some answers.


Dill Weed

Mike (Don't Drink the Flavor Aid) said...

RJ's problem is not the lack of an education. Even though his grammar is not exactly perfect, he's proved his literacy.

Rather, rj lacks the desire to think for himself. He believes that he's following God, but he's actually following Ron. He'll never look for any evidence to test whatever Ron pours directly into his brain. If Ron said that the Moon was made of cheese, his only question would be whether it was green cheese or another kind of cheese such as Limburger.

Richard said...

So one prophecy has to FAIL, to make another one succeed?

Prophecies WILL fail, I Cor. 13:8 says. Does that then prove Mr. Weinland is a real prophet?

This is so confusing. Maybe Mr. Weinland prayed for God to rain down on me a "strong delusion" (II Thes. 2:11).

Anonymous said...

Hi Mike,

First of all, I think you are "extremely intelligent." And as someone who has listened to Weinland and wanted soo much to believe; you make a very strong case. It must have something to do with his delivery and speaking and quoting the Bible, that catches eveyones attention? I don't know? All I know is, I am living my life NOW. I am a good and honest person, and I treat others with respect. Isn't that what life is all about?

Thanks Mike, you do put his "stuff" into perspective!

Mike (Don't Drink the Flavor Aid) said...

Stephanie: Thanks for the good word. Also, thanks for posting and letting me know this blog has helped someone. I don't have hundreds of followers giving me their life savings to promote this site with paid Google ads.

I'm glad to be "doing a service" as Weinland puts it. Those few I've helped are a few who don't have their lives ruined by this exploiter.

And that's what it's about. Live your life as best you can for yourself and those around you, and not for the benefit of someone like Weinland.

KJ said...

This is in response to richard's comment:
I don't think that 1 Cor. 13:8 is saying that "prophecies WILL fail" does it? I mean the only thing it says is that they will cease. Doesn't that just mean that one day there won't be anymore prophecies some day? If that's what this verse is saying then if someone is a true prophet then not even one little prophecy can fail right? I wanted to bring this out in a question form because I didn't want it to seem like I was preaching or anything. But anyway, that's what this verse means right?