Growing Up in the Worldwide Church of God. The "True Church", "Satanic Counterfeits", and Salvation

What the Worldwide Church of God in the 1970's taught about them as a church, what they taught about other churches, and what they taught about salvation. All from a child's perspective

[@helenaribeiro7274]

He who endures to the end....he shall be saved......

[@drummerjbmybands46]

I came into contact with the worldwide Church of God as a teenager, that was in the early 1970s. Learning the biblical truths the church taught and proved straight from the holy scriptures, saved me from making a lot of mistakes in my life, greatly enriched my life spiritually physically mentally and emotionally. God's word is truth. Men too often pervert and twist it , but the one true church of God continues in the biblical truth of God. It is the only light in the Darkness of this world's false and Confused religious teachings. Folks look to your Bibles spiritual guidance, not to the teachings of men.

[@raybo1018]

Thank you for watching, I hope you enjoyed the video, and thank you for leaving a comment, it greatly helps the algorithms. God bless!

[@barendkamperman1471]

I got sucked into the W.W.C.G. as a naive teen. I let H.W.A. write my dictionary. As I matured it became stifling and left it a few times. '79 - '83 I was deeply re-involved but hitting the bars and discos when I could. I left cold turkey feeling damned. But life became wider and brighter, It took years to identify the toxic self hatred I had bought into and dismantle it. I got involved in Anglican lay ministry till retirement. I listen to a few evangelists and attend a Presbyterian church.But no cleric or denomination or cult will ever again meddle in my life or alienate me from my God Jesus Christ.

[@raybo1018]

Thank you for your comment. I wish you God’s richest blessings in the days ahead.

[@doreenmoquin5345]

Yes, that lack of community was very painful for me. It's innate. I know that now. Praise our Lord Jesus Christ.

[@bridgetazaz]

This is the second vid of yours i.ve seen, i.m hooked! I got to have lunch with a small group of former wcog here in tucson a few years ago. I love your balanced, gospel centered approach. 😊

[@raybo1018]

Thank you so much for the encouragement. Please share these with other former members of the cult.

[@raybo1018]

@@maxamahnken7325 what is the gospel exactly?

[@raybo1018]

@@maxamahnken7325 it actually is His resurrection and death. It’s through what Jesus accomplished that saves us. From 1 Corinthians 15…” Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you-unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,”. Paul doesn’t even mention a “government of God” when describing the gospel. Do you even READ the Bible?

[@raybo1018]

@@maxamahnken7325 thank you for proving to me that you don’t read the Bible. You’re simply repeating Armstrong‘s rhetoric. But there’s a better way, you can know Jesus and be saved today. All we have to do is believe in him. “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved”. Romans 10:9

[@raybo1018]

@@maxamahnken7325 Luke 17:21 nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”

[@michaelslane6654]

I graduated from Imperial High School on the Pasadena Ambassador College campus. Not really harmed by the experience and even have some nostalgia about it. I used to see Herbert's limo drive by almost every school day. Most of my classmates were the children of people high in the Worldwide Church of God hierarchy. My classmate, Aaron Dean went on to be the personal assistant of Herbert. Went to Garner Ted's house--yeah, he was living high on the hog. Garner Ted's son was kind of a jerk. It was interesting to be sort of on the edge of the inner circle. Met Herbert once--shook his hand--very stubby hand lol. Was great to hear Garner Ted preach, but Herbert came across as a cranky grandpa. Dr. Hoeh? Now there was a real wacko.

[@twelter7997]

I too went to imperial high school and lived in Pasadena when Mr. Armstrong died, all of my family left. What year were you there?

[@lordmonty]

Please put these WWCOG videos in a playlist. I must have beef 5 when my mom started taking me and my brother. Lucky my father didn't buy into the church and he wasn't a member. But father was a good man and he didn't stand in our way and in the end I am thankful for him because of how he dealt with the craziness.

[@sally9955]

I can see that God is using you to help others who have that same experiences!

[@susanepp2707]

Hello, again. My grandfather knew HWA and my parents knrw Garner Ted so we went by private invite but never became members.

[@HEADBANGERSBALLER]

Hello Ray. Fellow survivor here originally from Cincinnati. I grew up in the WCG also. You might laugh but, basically, I had to choose between the WCG and Hard Rock and Heavy Metal when i was a teenager. I chose the music. Sewed a lot of wild oats for quite a few years but the Lord brought me to Him a true way in my mid 20s and I have especially grown close to Him recent years and has truly blessed me abundantly more than I deserve both spiritually and family wise and also by helping me deal with numerous health issues on a daily basis. I'm now in my 50s. I remember the great awakening in the early 90s of the WCG and was was coming to God about that time. I still believed that they were the "true church" as i was taught as a child and was sort of headed back towards them. I was so relieved and joyful when they announced they were changing the doctrine, as i understood, to mainstream Christianity. I realized and really understood what it meant to simply be Christian without any doctrinal law. It was so liberating. Anyhow, God Bless you and your family and friends. I pray daily for Christ to return soon.

[@raybo1018]

Thank you for the kind words. I hope you get to watch the rest of the series

[@Mrz-sb1hw]

I don't think it's in Christians thinking process to regard other people as being human. So much for loving your enemies. A delightful fantasy. It's funny watching Christians bad mouthing other people. I like to observe them like a science teacher observeing mice.

[@KenjiHouston]

To baptized, you had to produce fruits of repentance first. So I to prove I didn't need to be baptized in order to be baptized

[@ldyridr805]

I rejected the whole thing when I was 13/14 when my parents had just joined and they were SO gung-ho. I ended up being shunned by my dad to the point that he even told my younger siblings that they were to stay away from me. Avoid me. He had a few names for me (I can't remember them all) one being "the whore of Babylon". Those first few years were incredibly painful. Somehow, through it all, God protected me and I have a very healthy, LOVING relationship with God. My siblings, on the other hand, who were forced to go to WWCG are very anti-church and anti-follow any type of religion.

[@raybo1018]

Thank you so much for watching. God bless you on your journey

[@jaysant6958]

10:10 I actually really like those hymnals and still hum them in my head from time to time.

[@KenjiHouston]

The hymns was about the only good that came out of the COG movement. If interested Crown & Covenant has psalms set to traditional hymn tunes music.kzbin.info/door/B0MIDCvaJkNAsxZO9MITkw?si=XRWlF0RSSbTDzRny

[@Mrz-sb1hw]

I used to receive the plain truth magazine but l could hardly make sense of what they were waffleling on about. It's impossible to obey the ten commandments. Glad l didn't join as lm not religious. Failed predictions a plenty.

[@Mrz-sb1hw]

All religious groups are the one true church.

[@doreenmoquin5345]

The "church's" place of safety was called Petra. Do you remember that word? I will never forget. My father mentioned that term around the time of Jim Jones. He thought Jim Jones was bad. Well, yeah, the koolaid was very bad. He didn't agree with that. But, me being a child at the time, I wasn't able to connect the dots. I never cared to ask "what" or "why". So confusing.

[@raybo1018]

I do remember hearing about the place of safety. For some strange reason that part of church doctrine was seldom a topic of conversation in our house.

[@Mrz-sb1hw]

Herbert w Armstrong was in Glasgow Scotland in 1982 at the Ingram hotel a very expensive place. He was recruiting new members. I got an invite but my instincts told me to stay away.

[@doreenmoquin5345]

I wish my parents had stayed away, but great lessons learned since about 1967, and ten years later we were out.@@Mrz-sb1hw

[@Jehovahsway]

I used to subscribe to The Plain Truth until i found the Real Truth . Armstrong made a mix match of different teaching from Mormonism Judaism SDA and my own faith as a Jehovahs witnesses

[@raybo1018]

Jesus said that HE is the truth. I hope you come to know him someday.

[@errolreid8242]

The True Church Of God Is: ○ Those who are Called, Chosen and are Faithful to the end. ○ When one is called, there is Repentance, Baptism, and the Receipt of God's Holy, which enable and empower us to keep God's Commandments. ○ The Great Commission given to the Apostles by Christ, was that they should go into all the world and teach all that He had taught them. We should search the Scriptures for ourselves and be obedient to the Word.

[@raybo1018]

And what exactly are his commandments?