"How are the mighty
fallen! Tell it not in
it not in the streets of
the Philistines rejoice . . . How are the mighty fallen in
the midst of the battle!" (I Sam.1:19-25)
"But if ye will not do so,
behold, ye have sinned against the
Lord: and be sure your sin
will find you out" (Numbers 32:23).
HOW ARE THE
MIGHTY FALLEN!
For many years I have remained
silent. I have said nothing. But
about
ten years ago, after 30 years as a member of the Worldwide
plain
truth. The incredible TRUTH about Herbert and Garner
Ted
Armstrong would make
the Jim and Tammy Baker scandal seem
like
small potatoes by comparison. Since that
time, new scandals
.
have
arisen, causing this "problem" to explode onto the scene once
again. In this up-to-date article, you will read
things never put in the
"official" autobiography of Herbert W. Armstrong. Prepare yourself
to be shocked
-- staggered -- and utterly dumfounded!
William
F. Dankenbring
My
connection with the Worldwide Church of God began in 1956, when I first heard
the "World Tomorrow" program on radio station KVI, 590 on the dial,
at
I remained
a faithful employee of the Church and "the Work," as we called it,
until 1974, when a crisis of believability struck the Church, and reports began
to surface of serious wrong-doing on the part of Garner Ted Armstrong, and a
cover-up perpetrated by his father, Herbert W. Armstrong. At that time, in a massive "budget
cut," I was terminated from employment in the Church's editorial division,
along with several others. Hurt and
depressed by the sad spiritual condition in the Church at that time, I began
publishing religious books, an area the Church seemed to have no interest in --
books to "keep alive" the truth of God.
I remained a member of the Church until
precisely one year after the death of Herbert Armstrong in January 1986. At that time, Joseph Tkach,
the new leader of the Church, decided he had had enough of my independent
publishing work, and had me "disfellowshipped
from the Church." It was January,
1987. I was permitted no opportunity to
defend myself, or to meet with a council of ministers -- my fate had been
decided, I was accused of rebellion and being a "false prophet," and
simply informed I was "suspended" one week, disfellowshipped
the next, and "marked" the third week!
Then
on Thursday evening,
In
fact, Joe's messenger said, it was Herbert Armstrong himself who had authored
the article, dictating it to Aaron Dean, his personal secretary. According to Joe Tkach,
Herbert Armstrong was furious at the fact that in the preface of Overcoming
Satan, a book I had published in 1981, I wrote a short "In Deepest
Appreciation" column in which I expressed my "deepest gratitude,
heart-felt appreciation, and warmest thanks" to Herbert W. Armstrong --
"the most dynamic man I have ever known."
In January 1982, 1 had sent a copy of this
book to Aaron Dean, asking him to show them to Herbert Armstrong, with a letter
I sent to him. I was seeking to renew my
acquaintance with the apostle over the
But
the messenger from Joseph Tkach said that when
Herbert Armstrong, who was about 90 years of age at the time, read that short
column in my book he went into a rage and told him to disfellowship
me, for I was using his name to make money and sell books! The messenger from Joe said that Joe at the
time flatly refused and told Herbert Armstrong he wouldn't do it. And so the matter ended, except Herbert
Armstrong dictated -- Joe Tkach said -- the slanderous
diatribe which then appeared in the Pastor General's Report in April 1982. Even Joe Tkach,
supposedly, could not stop its publication when the "apostle general"
issued such an article.
When
I heard this news, it at first made me feel satisfied, on the one hand, if it
were true, that Joseph Tkach was not
responsible for the attack on me in 1982.
Rather, his messenger said, he supposedly attempted to defend me
three separate times when Herbert Armstrong wanted to disfellowship
me. But was it really true? If so, why hadn't he told me any of these
things at the time? Why was I left in
the dark for five years? Or were these
just self-serving lies concocted by Joe Tkach
to make me think well of him after he had disfellowshipped
me from the Church?
About
that time, I checked an "Index to Church Literature" which was kept
in the Ambassador College Library, and found a list of all the articles I had
written while in the employ of the Church in the 1960's and 70's -- about a
hundred articles and booklets. Then I
saw a reference to the article in the Pastor General's Report which had
attacked Triumph Publishing Company and accused me of "merchandising the
brethren." And guess what I
discovered? Listed as the AUTHOR of the
nasty little diatribe against me was the name of none other than JOSEPH W.
TKACH! Not the name of Herbert W.
Armstrong! Was this just a case of
Joe trying to transfer blame from himself to Herbert Armstrong? Apparently so!
I
had been a member of the Church since 1957.
Since 1974 I had published the truth of God, independently, as God made
the means available, and during the following 12 years I published 19 books --
surely a miracle of God! When I left the
Church employment I had nothing but a few thousand dollars severance pay
and a typewriter -- no organization, no support, no salesmen, no promoters. Even
the Church offered no help whatsoever, despite the quality and usefulness of
the books I was publishing. Although the
Church never condemned the books, it never praised them either. The attitude over the years seemed to be to
"damn with faint praise," as the old Navy expression has it.
There seemed to be an air of jealousy over my book writing and
publishing on the part of the leadership of the Church. Nevertheless, I remained a member until Joe Tkach himself had me "disfellowshipped"
based on trumped up charges in 1987.
Looking back on that visit from
Joseph Tkach's emissary, it seems that even then Tkach must have had a very negative attitude toward Herbert
Armstrong, the man who had allegedly 'hand-picked" him to be his successor
over the Church. Over the years, I had
come to learn many unhappy truths about Herbert Armstrong myself --
disillusionment had set in with many of his teachings in 1974 -- and his
cover-up of his son's sins orchestrated by Herbert Armstrong at that time. The truth was depressing, and it took me
years to climb out of that giant cloud of depression. What was the truth about this mysterious
man? How did he become a religious teacher
and minister? What were his original
motives? What were the facts about his
life-style? And what
about his son, Garner Ted Armstrong?
What is the true story about these men?
It's time the facts were known.
The Mystery of Herbert W. Armstrong
So many today seem to almost worship
the memory of Herbert Armstrong. Since
his death on
What went wrong? Where did Herbert Armstrong go astray? There is much more to the saga and life story
of Herbert W. Armstrong than many thousands of people imagine. The truth will boggle your mind. The evidence shows, today, in retrospect,
that Herbert Armstrong was a great teacher of many truths of God, many of which
he restored to the Church during these end times -- but he was also a deeply
flawed man of God.
When I think about the life of this
man, and the Church and religious Work he built, I feel much like David felt,
when hearing of the deaths of Saul and Jonathan. David lamented their deaths, with the song
quoted at the beginning of this article.
He sorrowed for them, even though Saul had totally disqualified himself
from office. Even though Saul had been
God's selected, chosen "anointed," he had begun abusing his
office and finally sinned greatly and totally disqualified (I Sam.15). Even after that point, however, God left him
in office for many more years, until the time came for David to be given the
throne.
So
I have pondered about the truth about Herbert W. Armstrong. The parallels between the lives of King
Saul and Herbert Armstrong are plentiful.
But there are other amazing Scriptural parallels, also.
The Real Unwritten Biography
In
the days of the Judges of Israel, a young child was born who was destined to be
a prophet of the Lord God. His name was
Samuel. He grew up in the
Notice
what Almighty God had to say about His own anointed high priest, the one
occupying the highest spiritual office in the land. "Now Eli was VERY OLD (much like Herbert
Armstrong became!), and heard all that his sons did unto all
"And
he said unto them, Why do ye such things? for I hear of your evil dealings by all this people. Nay, my sons; for it is no good report that I
hear: ye make the Lord's people to transgress.
If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him: but if a man
sin against the Lord, who shall intreat for him? Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto the
voice of their father, because the Lord would slay them" (I Sam.2:22-25).
Eli
had a very serious problem in the sight of God.
He was overly indulgent of his own sons, who were committing adultery
and fornication with the women of
"And
there came a man of God unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus saith
the Lord, Did I plainly appear unto the house of thy father, when they were in
Egypt in Pharaoh's house? And did I
choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest . . .?
"Wherefore
kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering . . . and honorest
thy sons above me, to make yourselves FAT with the chiefest
of all the offerings of Israel my people?
"Wherefore
the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy
house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me forever: but now the
Lord saith, Be it far from me; for them that honor me
I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.
"Behold,
the days come, that I will CUT OFF THINE ARM, and the arm of thy father's
house, that there shall not be an old man in thine
house... And the man of thine, whom I shall not cut
off from mine altar, shall be to consume thine eyes,
and to grieve thine heart: and all the increase of thine house shall die in the flower of their age" (I
Sam.2:27-33).
As
Samuel grew older, God then spoke to him in a vision, regarding the fate of
Eli. "And the Lord said to Samuel,
Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle (this was a prophecy of the coming
judgment on Eli's house, and also a prophecy of the future Great
Tribulation! Eli was merely a TYPE of a
leader of the Church of God during this end-time generation!). In that day I will perform against Eli all
things which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make
an end. For I have told him that I will
judge his house (family) for ever for the INIQUITY WHICH HE KNOWETH; because
bis sons made themselves VILE, and he
restrained them not" (I Samuel 3:11-13).
Does
God change? Is He a respecter of
persons?
Malachi
was inspired to write, "For I am the Lord, I change NOT; therefore ye sons
of Jacob are not consumed" (Mal.3:6).
God
will deal with any modern-day servant of His who lives and acts like Eli, just
as He dealt with His servant Eli, over 3,000 years ago! And he will deal with their adulterating sons
just as He dealt with the evil, fornicating, womanizing sons of Eli!
Make
no mistake! As the apostle Paul surely
wrote, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap" (Gal.6:7).
The
sad tragedy and truth is, our generation has seen and witnessed another
"Eli and son"! It is possible
that the modern "Eli" repented late in his life, of his
"indulge" of his remaining son, who also was a high-ranking minister
in the Church -- but God Himself will have to be the judge of that.
The
1974 Debacle and Exodus
In
1974 many ministers left the Worldwide Church of God. The reason many of them left has not been
thoroughly understood. The truth has
been buried under an avalanche of false accusation, rumor, and official denials
and pronouncements from the pulpit.
But the truth should make you shudder with horror, and lament like
Jeremiah, and pray like Nehemiah, for the sins of God's people and God's
Church!
Be
sure these covered up sins shall not go unpunished in the sight of Almighty
God! Let's investigate the facts -- just the facts -- and see what the evidence
tells us.
As
in the tragic case of Eli, whose sons perished when the Philistines attacked
and seized the ark of God, the historical record proves beyond any doubt that
Herbert Armstrong's own son, Garner Ted Armstrong, was guilty over a quarter of
a century of committing adultery and whoredom with hundreds of women, including
paid prostitutes around the world and young Ambassador college co-eds, many of
whom later became married to ministers in the Church!
I
first learned of this shocking revelation in 1972, when Ted Armstrong
was "exiled" temporarily from the Church and sent to Colorado. According to reports, he had committed
adultery with a young stewardess on his Falcon jet. He was so enamored of her that he wanted to
divorce his wife Shirley and marry the stewardess. According to a recent e-mail I received from
a friend of the girl, who died of cancer in 1998 and left a wonderful family
behind, the actual facts of the case are that Ted Armstrong victimized
her. She was not his “mistress” at all,
but she told her friend, who knew her very well, that Ted was a “crazy man” who
would manipulate and lie with complete ease.
She was his stewardess for about four months. Says the confidant, “She ran away from him
when he raped her in a motel room after tricking her into believing she was
going with him on a church trip. She ran
away from him and moved back to Minnesota and he chased after her. He would sleep in his car waiting to get a
glimpse of her. She was absolutely
petrified of him.” So far as I know,
these are the real facts of the case!
This
shocking revelation was then topped by the news that this girl, whose name was
Gail, was not the first of Ted's sexual interests. He had been living a secret life of Playboy
preacher for all the length of his ministry!
I learned that he had been committing adultery with a girl in 1965 when
another minister of the Church was also accused of committing adultery. The other minister was fired; but Ted wasn't
even reprimanded or suspended from his job as first vice president of the Work
and Church at the time!
Over
dinner one evening, this whole sordid story was poured out to me by the former
executive secretary of Herbert Armstrong.
She had several girls come to her with their problems, and the problem
was "Ted." He was having several affairs. When Mrs. Swaney
tried to talk to Herbert Armstrong about it, Mrs. Loma Armstrong defended
Ted. Ted later accused Mrs. Swaney of having a demon, and she was fired from her
responsible job, disfellowshipped from the Church,
and ostracized by all her former friends in the Church. Years later Mrs. Swaney
was allowed back in the Church, but she was never rehired by the Work. Eventually she died, a true sister in
Christ She had suffered virtual
"martyrdom" for her role in the Ted Armstrong affair.
It
was in 1972 that an associate in the Work of God confided to me that Ted
Armstrong had been having affairs with an estimated 200 or more girls during
his ministry as an evangelist in the Church, while he preached on the radio and
television. Two hundred! Some of these were former students at
Ambassador College, baby sitters, and female employees of the Work -- girls I
had known as friends and acquaintances at Ambassador College!
One
man, a friend of mine, whose name was Jerry Horton, worked in the radio studio
at the College. One day he was taking
some material up to Ted Armstrong's office.
The door was ajar, so he began to go in -- but then he noticed a strange
phenomenon. On the couch was Garner Ted
Armstrong, having sexual relations with a young, pretty college co-ed! Hurt, shame-faced, and infuriated inside,
Jerry quietly retreated. But he never
forgot the sight. Shaken to the core,
this traumatic discovery caused him to lose all respect for the leadership in
the Church, and he eventually left.
When
astonishing facts regarding Ted Armstrong's moral turpitude threatened to
become public in 1972, I remember a painful Bible study in Pasadena when
Herbert Armstrong announced the "exile" of his son to Colorado. I remember painfully how God's
"apostle" threatened the entire listening congregation, warning them
NOT to try to find out what Ted had done -- it was kept an official mystery, a
secret. All Herbert Armstrong admitted
at the time was that Ted had some sort of "breakdown,"
and
had been under a lot of
"pressure" from his many responsibilities. In other words, he lied to the entire Church
of God, and performed a masterful "cover up" that made the
"Watergate Cover Up" of President Nixon look amateurish by comparison!
What were the actual facts?
In The Broadway to Armageddon, a
book written by former minister of the Worldwide Church of God, William B.
Hinson, several sensational, shocking facts are pointed out. In his informative, very helpful book, Hinson
quotes another former high ranking minister, Al Carrozzo,
whom I knew personally many years. He
and I used to play softball together on the Church league softball teams. In answering questions put to him by
ministers, Carrozzo admitted, "Yes, it is true
that Herbert W. Armstrong forced Ted and Shirley to get married. The fact that Shirley was pregnant was a
source of great embarrassment for Herbert.
Rod Meredith relates the profound embarrassment he experienced when
Herbert Armstrong tried to explain how Shirley gave birth to a premature eight
pound baby boy. It is a matter of record
substantiated by scores of people who were there."
Carrozzo continued: "Herbert Armstrong
had known about Ted's sexual shenanigans from the very beginning. By the beginning I mean 1952 and before. The majority of the Evangelists did not
know years in advance of Ted's exile in 1972."
When asked how many women Ted had had
affairs with, Al Carrozzo answered: "Absolutely
yes, Ted admitted to having affairs with over 200 different women . . . He said
'by conservative estimate' there were 200 women. This was on January 30, 1972, in his home in
Pasadena" when he made this confession.
In a full-color, quality publication
called Ambassador Report which was published in 1977, Al Carrozzo wrote a thorough expose of Garner Ted Armstrong's
sexual misdeeds, entitled "The Profligate Son." In it Carrozzo quotes Ted Armstrong as telling him in a private
meeting, at 10:05 A.M., May 16,1973, "Al, let's get one thing
straight! I'm a no good, fornicating,
adulterating son of a bitch!"
Carrozzo goes on, "This was not the
first or the only time Ted ever admitted that he was an adulterer. In spite of repeated public denials, Ted has
privately admitted that he has been guilty of flagrant, continuous adultery and
fornication for almost a quarter of a century -- as a church member, an
executive, and an evangelist!"
Carrozzo points out how he first learned of
Ted's problem in 1965 when the "whole sordid affair was swept under the
rug, while Ted came out lily-white." In 1967 the husband of one of Ted's
victims informed Carrozzo that his wife had had
sexual relations with the handsome radio evangelist. When Al confronted Ted with
the allegations, he admitted it was
true, but blamed the girl for flaunting her exciting body in front of him,
until in weakness he gave in. Al did not
pursue the matter further, as Ted talked him out of telling his father.
In an article in the New Times, dated
December 4-10, 1997, entitled "Honey, I Shrunk the Church," by Ron Russell,
we find an astonishing report made about Ted Armstrong's infidelities, and his
own personal admissions. The author
interviewed Al Carrozzo, who had been an evangelist
in the Church. Carrozzo
told him a strange story. The author
wrote:
"The
word had leaked out during the 1960s, the result of a minister having been
caught
having
sex with an Ambassador College coed. It
was a big scandal on a campus where
Herbert
had forbidden girls to wear makeup and where holding hands was a punishable
offense. Before being
excommunicated, the fallen minister let it slip that Ted also had
been
sleeping around.
"His comments prompted Carrozzo, then dean
of students, to conduct his own
investigation, which convinced him that it was true. Among Ted's avowed con-
quests
were dozens of wide-eyed college women, including some who became
ministers'
wives. Carrozzo
says -- adding that he shared his knowledge with a
superior who told him that Ted had been fooling around for years and
that
Herbert had given up trying to do anything about it. Much later, the former dean
says,
he confronted Ted after listening incredulously to a distraught young married
woman
confess to committing a carnal sin.
After much hesitation, she declared that
the younger Armstrong had seduced her. 'He admitted it,' says Carrozzo. 'Then, I'll
never
forget, he said: "Put me behind
bars, slip my food to me, keep me in solitary
confinement, but just don't take my microphone away because I must
preach the
message God has given me"'" (New Times, Dec.4-10, 1997,
p.16).
But in mid-1971 Ted's problem once
again surfaced. Ted's promiscuity became
known to top administrators in the Church, and Herbert sent him on a leave of
absence for several months. Members of
the Church were led to believe Ted was gone for "health reasons."
During these events, Herbert
Armstrong was never candid to the Church.
He covered everything up and threatened anyone who would pry into
matters with expulsion and disfellowshipment from the
Church! In his own mind, I suppose, he
thought he was "protecting the Church." But as he allowed his son to return, without
evidence of TRUE repentance, the problems continued.
After
Ted was brought back, and allowed to preach at the Feast of Tabernacles sites
in the fall of 1971, things once again came to a head. During his stay at Squaw Valley, after he
preached a sermon entitled "What The World Needs Now Is Love, Sweet
Love," Ted spent that very night in the arms of his mistress, Gail, who
was an Ambassador college student, and the stewardess of his Falcon jet, which
he used to fly around the country. That
very night, Ted and the young girl shacked up in a Lake Tahoe cabin on the south
shore. Once again Church investigators discovered Ted's adultery -- caught him
red-handed, in the act. And his father
was again notified.
In
a subsequent letter to the members of the Church, Herbert Armstrong wrote that Ted
felt he would be up to speaking at all the Festival sites, but after speaking
at Squaw Valley "his fourth site, tensions had built up until his nerves
were at razor-edge, and he could not continue."
This
was of course a carefully constructed "lie," obviating the true
nature of the discovery of Ted's "problem." Once again Herbert Armstrong prevaricated,
and rather than face the unvarnished truth of the situation, and publicly
rebuke his philandering son, he chose to deliberately lie, to once again cover
up the adulterous liaison! Herbert
knew perfectly well why Ted was unable to continue preaching after Squaw
Valley. To say that Ted's nerves were at
"razor-edge," and therefore he could not continue, was a blatant
DECEPTION -- an absolute LIE! Herbert
Armstrong knew better. But he had known
of his son's problems all along, just as Eli the high priest had. And he did not want the truth known to the
membership whose tithes and offerings supported the Church. He felt that the revelation of Ted's promiscuity
would e devastating to the Church's finances and income. So the charade continued.
Shortly
after this, Ted was "exiled" to Hawaii with his wife and two close
friends. The friend was to
"watch" Ted every second. He
evidently failed. For while Ted was in
Hawaii "recuperating," a letter arrived at the Ambassador College
Mail Receiving Department from a woman who managed a massage parlor (euphemism
for "whore house") in Hawaii.
The woman complained that there was a young masseuse in her employ who had
been trying to come out of a life of sin, and who often watched Ted Armstrong
on television. This young masseuse had
been "horrified into nightmarish disillusionment" Carrozzo
writes, when she recognized Ted one day, sitting in the massage parlor, waiting
to be "serviced" by one of the prostitutes! The madam indignantly wrote that her masseuse
was extremely upset from seeing the suave preacher there, especially after
learning of his real reason for
being
there! (It wasn't to preach the gospel
to the whores!)
After
this incident, Ted was sent to Colorado to ostensibly "repent.." After spending abouyt
two months in "exile," he was brought back, however. Soon, Ted's adulterous affairs were once
again discovered. Herbert Armstrong was
forced to take further action. Al Carrozzo explains what happened:
"Around 10:30 p.m. Garner Ted came home
from a Los Angeles Laker basketball game
and was
stunned to find his father, most of the headquarters leadership, and Stan Rader
waiting
in his living room. Upon learning the
purpose of their visit, he flew into a
reactionary rage during which he openly admitted he had had illicit
sexual relations with
some
200 women -- and that was his 'conservative estimate' -- during his two decades
of
association with his father's church.
Among his consorts were literally dozens of
youthful, wide-eyes coeds, plus several who became executive or
ministerial wives.
On
this occasion Ted was given an official letter of disfellowship"
("The Profligate
Son," by Al Carrozzo, Ambassador
Report, 1997, p.46).
During
this meeting Ted admitted he had been having an intimate sexual affair with an
Ambassador College stewardess ever since the summer of 1970. This clandestine, adulterous affair continued
unabated, until Herbert Armstrong had been informed of it in the summer of 1971. At that time, Herbert Armstrong took no
action at all. Says Carrozzo,
"Instead of removing Ted from the ministry for good -- as he had done with
other ministers guilty of adultery -- he precipitated a vast cover-up, much
like former President Nixon attempted.
There is one major difference though: Herbert had been covering up Ted's
sexual looseness since the early 1950s" ("The Profligate Son,"
by Al Carrozzo, Ambassador Report, 1997,
p.46).
Ted
Armstrong was again exiled to an A-frame in Colorado, for several months. During this time David Antion
was commissisoned to write a research paper on
"Qualifications for the Ministry," for Herbert Armstrong. Antion's thorough
paper, citing Biblical references in I Timothy 3 and Titus 1, showed that Ted for
his vast womanizing was no longer qualified to remain a minister in God's
Church, according to the Bible. However,
Al Carrozzo continues his account, apparently neither
Ted or his father Herbert accepted the conclusions of the paper. Says Carrozzo of the
situation:
"At the time, the leading ministers and I
all thought Herbert really wanted to know
about
Ted's qualifications, but later we found out he was trying to learn all the
main
arguments against his son's return so he could persuasively refute
them. Herbert
forwarded Antion's paper to Ted, who promptly
dismissed it, claiming the Biblical
arguments didn't apply to him because he had been 'called to preach the
gospel from
his
mother's womb.' This defense, then,
turned out to be Herbert's argument in favor
of
Ted's return to full status and authority, in spite of Herbert's earlier
pronouncement
that Ted, even if returned, would not
occupy ministerial office" (ibid., p.46).
In
contrast to Herbert Armstrong's handling of his son's flagrant and continuous
adultery, it might be germane to mention that when another minister was caught having
committed a single act of adultery in 1968, he was fired from his job,
put out of the ministry, and disfellowshipped from
the Church. Not only that, but his sin
was detailed publicly before the entire student body of Ambassador College in a
special assembly for students and employees.
On
June 8, 1972, Ted was reinstated to an elevated position in the Church, and
allowed to make radio and television broadcasts. On July 20, he was reinstated to full rank as
an evangelist in the Church, and placed back on both college and church boards,
and named executive vice-president of the Worldwide Church of God.
Did
Ted Armstrong ever really repent of these carnal sins of adultery and lustful
passion? He certainly professed
repentance -- many times. Al Carrozzo, who counselled with him
many times concerning his adulterous affairs, writes about Ted's amazing
ability to shed crocodile tears and to show incredible "remorse" when
confronted with his sins. He declared,
"Later it dawned on me that Ted is a
sterling actor, a pwerful persuader -- one who
can
make you feel guilty for even approaching a delicate subject. One Worldwide
Church
evangelist summed it up succinctly: 'Tec
can charm the rattle off a snake.'
Unfortunately, he charms people too.
Glib as an orator and possessing awesome
mental
dexterity, Ted can change black into white, turn silk into wool, and refine
sin
into baseless allegation and rumor" (ibid., p.44-45).
However,
in a newspaper interview in 1987, in Orange County, California, the Pasadena Star
News asked Ted Armstrong about the allegations of his having committed
adultery in the past. The writer wondered if Ted Armstrong had really been
guilty of sexual sins, in the mid-1970s.
Here was an excellent chance for Ted to
"come
clean" about his womanizing past and admit the truth, showing the
sincerity, if any, of his repentance!
In
the January 4, 1987 article, the reporter asked Ted Armstrong about the charges
of adultery and womanizing which were made back in 1974. His answer?
The article declared:
"Armstrong
FLATLY DENIED old stories that
he had sexual
encounters with Ambassador
students and other women.
'There
was never a whisper of
anything immoral and hadn't been for
years and years."
The
tragic truth is that Ted Armstrong has never "come clean" publicly
about his horrendous immorality and sexual sins under the cover of evangelical
saintliness. He has never admitted that
as a "man of God" he seduced women, countless women, and bedded them
like a satyr -- a sex-crazed monster.
Showing
his own utter hypocrisy, in a meeting with ministers of the Worldwide Church of
God in Big Sandy in 1974, Ted Armstrong personally suspended four ministers --
Walter Sharp, Dale Haynes, Bob McKibben and Jim
Morrison -- who were all concerned about Ted's "qualifications" for
the ministry. During this seven and one
half hour meeting, Ted denied ever having full sex with any woman other
than his wife. He admitted having fallen
for one "silly young girl," as he then put it, but he denied
having gone "all the way" with her.
So he himself continued the "cover-up" and refused to admit
the plain truth, which by then, had become common knowledge among the field
ministry! Those who complained -- or who
sought the truth -- were simply FIRED!
This
hypocritical "cover-up" continued throughout the seventies. Herbert Armstrong NEVER made public mention
of his son's sexual indiscretions, adulteries, and wickedness. We will see shortly the probable reason why
Herbert was so loathe to publicly attack or humiliate his son, and to rebuke
him for his on-going hedonistic charade.
Only
after Ted himself was disfellowshipped from the
Church, for other reasons, in 1978, did any one in an official capacity in the
Worldwide Church of God admit to Ted's adultery. Interestingly, it was Stanley Rader, Herbert
Armstrong's personal assistant and the attorney for the Church, who had the
temerity to admit Ted's adultery in public.
He did this on the Tom Snyder late night television show.
What
does Almighty God think of these things?
Ted
Armstrong seems to think that he can do anything -- that he was "born to
preach the gospel." In his own
words to one critic, he exclaimed, "My father and I are ABOVE THE
LAW!" According to him, the normal
qualifications for being a minister in God's Church, as they are outlined in I
Timothy 3 and Titus 1, are not applicable to him -- because he was
"specially called" to preach, regardless of how he lives his
life!
Paul
wrote to Timothy, explaining, "A bishop then must be BLAMELESS, the
husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, OF GOOD BEHAVIOR . . ." (v.2). To Titus, Paul writes that an
"elder" in the Church must be "blameless, the husband of one
wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly. For a bishop must be blameless, as the
steward of God, not self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker,
not given to filthy lucre; but a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men,
sober, just, HOLY, temperate: Holding
fast the faithful word as he has been taught . . ." (Titus 1:6-9). How does Ted Armstrong "stack up"
alongside these Scriptures?
What
does the Word of God say about his kind of attitude and conduct?
Jeremiah
the prophet, under divine inspiration, thunders, with the message of God, to
these modern day "prophets" and "ministers" - - regardless
of WHO they themselves think they are --
"For the land is
full of adulterers . . . For both prophet and priest are
PROFANE; yea, IN MY HOUSE have
I found their wickedness, saith
the Lord. . . . And I have seen
FOLLY in the prophets ... they prophesied
in Baal, and caused my people
to err. I have seen also in the prophets
. . .
an horrible thing: they
commit ADULTERY, and walk in LIES: they
strengthen the hand of
evil-doers, that none doth return from his wicked-
ness: they are all of them
unto me as SODOM, and the inhabitants
thereof as GOMORRAH"
(Jer.23:10-14).
The
adultery and lies of Garner Ted Armstrong, a modern "son of Eli," and
the sins of Herbert W. Armstrong, a modern "Eli," will not go
unaccounted for or unpunished. God will
not be mocked!
Has
Garner Ted Armstrong ever repented of his sins of adultery and sexual
immorality? Frankly, he has never even
publicly confessed to them in cldar and unmistakable
language. Wrote Al Carrozzo
about twenty years ago, when Ted's sins had surfaced at that time,
"Has Garner Ted changed? Did he really repent? One thing is sure: Ted
'repented, many, many
times. He has been called 'the
professional repenter.'
He
can cry on cue" ("The Profligate Son," ibid., p.47).
Shocking New Revelations
In
more recent days, of course, the sins of Garner Ted Armstrong have returned
with a "vengeance." Just a few years ago he was caught and filmed on
video-tape in a massage parlor in Tyler, Texas, attempting to force himself
sexually upon a massage therapist, Sue Rae Robertson. As a result of his being caught on
video-tape, in the act of masturbating himself in front of the masseuse,
singing a song to himself, and trying to force himself on the masseuse,, the
masseuse and her husband have SUED both Garner Ted Armstrong and the Church of
God, International, in court for damages and legal fees. The case is still pending in Texas court. and
is due for a jury trial soon.
However,
bad as this is, now word comes to us that the Church of God, International Board
of Directors has finally FIRED Ted Armstrong from all positions he has held in
the Church. According to a letter sent
out to all Church members, they have found out that he has been having an
ongoing sexual relationship with a female Church member in the Tyler area. This information just surfaced a few months
ago. According to reports, Ted Armstrong
has taken this woman, less than half his age, on vacations to Disney World, and
it is even alleged that she is now pregnant!
In
the letter to the membership announcing the action they are taking against Ted
Armstrong, dated December 7, 1997 -- interestingly, "Pearl Harbor
Day" -- three ministers and members of the Board wrote:
"Contrary to his accusations, it has
absolutely nothing to do with church politics or
a power
play. What is at issue is Mr.
Armstrong's privilege to carry ministerial
credentials from the Church due to recent disclosures of a very personal
nature.
[Their emphasis.]
"Inside of the last three months, the Ministerial Council
learned of conduct on the
part of
Mr. Armstrong that disqualifies him as a minister. This new information
involves
a long-time relationship with a woman in the church. [My emphasis.]
"With prayerful consideration and open-mindedness, the
Council, after hours of
deliberation, unanimously concluded that Mr. Armstrong's conduct,
measured
against the scriptural qualifications for a minister, gives us no choice
but to remove
him as
a minister" (Letter dated December 7, 1997).
Has
Ted repented? He professes repentance,
even today, in 1998. In his letters to
the members and leaders of the Church of God, International, written in
December 1997, he declares that the Board of that Church has done him a great
injustice -- and that they are guilty of treachery and betrayal! He alleges that he has "repented"
of any sins he may have committed, and accuses them of breach of
confidentiality of things he told some of them in private ministerial
sessions.
Nevertheless,
as Jesus Christ Himself declared, "You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of
thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree
bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into
the fire. Wherefore by their fruits you shall KNOW them" (Matt.7:16-20).
By
"fruits," Jesus means fruits of RIGHTEOUSNESS and OBEDIENCE to God's
Law! He does not mean human works, financial
figures, or "numbers" of members brought into a
"church"! He Himself goes on
to state with firm clarity and finality:
"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of
heaven;
but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
"Many will say to me in that day, Lord, have we not prophesied in
thy name? and
in
thy name have cast out demons? and in
thy name done many wonderful works?
"And then will I
profess unto them, I NEVER KNEW YOU:
depart from me, ye
that
WORK INIQUITY" (Matt.7:21-23).
Truly,
the prophet Jeremiah was right when he wrote, "Were they ashamed when they
had committed abomination? nay, they
were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among them that
fall: in the time of their visitation
they shall be cast down, saith the LORD"
(Jer.8:12).
Jeremiah
also warns us to beware of those who are flagrant sinners -- who are
"addicted" to sin. He
declared, "Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely,
and burn incense to Baal ("the Lord"), and walk after other gods whom
ye know not; and come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my
name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations? Is this house, which is called by my name
[that
is,
God's Church], become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD" (Jer.7:9-10).
God
says of such men, "How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by
them that are no gods: when I had fed
them to the full, they then committed ADULTERY, and assembled themselves by troops
in the harlots' houses [dens of prostitution]. They were as fed horses in the morning; every one neighed
after his neighbor's wife. Shall I
not visit for these things? saith the LORD: and
shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?" (Jer.5:7-9).
Jeremiah
wrote with deep insight, "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the
leopard his spots? then may ye also do
good, that are accustomed to do evil" (Jeremiah 13:23).
We
have been waiting for twenty five years to see true remorse and sincere
repentance in the life of Garner Ted Armstrong.
Alas, it has never come. Of
course, as long as there is life, there is hope. But when one "repents on cue," as
it were, over many years, and it always turns out to be false, people tend to
become harder and harder to convince.
With his last profession of remorse and repentance, has Ted gone
"once too often to the well"?
But
there is an old saying which says, "The acorn falls close to the
tree." There is another old saying,
"Like father like son." What
about Herbert Armstrong? What was the
real reason he never publicly acknowledged the egregious sins of his son, even
when he disfellowshipped him three times, and
finally banished him from the Church permanently in 1978?
As
enormous and terrible as the sins of Garner Ted Armstrong, the long-time voice
of the World Tomorrow radio and television program, really were, in many
respects the sad truth about Herbert Armstrong himself is even more difficult
to believe. Herbert himself was deeply
flawed, in many ways. It is time we take
a close look at the true life of Herbert W. Armstrong. Those who worship Herbert Armstrong, and
regard him as the "End-time Elijah," are in for a shock! But anybody willing to face the truth --
without fear or flinching -- will be strengthened spiritually as a result.
The
Life of Herbert Armstrong
Initiating
a vast cover-up of his son's sins of continuous adultery is one very
blameworthy act for which Herbert Armstrong will no doubt be held accountable
by Almighty God.
However,
the record shows also that Herbert Armstrong, while he led the Worldwide Church
of God during more than fifty years, himself was also guilty of gross sins and
abuse.
Former
minister David Robinson details some of the evidence in his shocking book, Herbert
Armstrong's Tangled Web, written in 1980.
After
the death of Loma D. Armstrong in 1967, his wife of nearly 50 years, Herbert W.
Armstrong was very lonely. He confided
to David Robinson and several other ministers at Big Sandy how lonely the
evenings were without a woman, and how badly he needed one. He told them about a romance he had been
having with his secretary who was about 25 at the time. He thought he had been in love with her. Others have told me that he even fondled her
breasts at times, but she wanted nothing to do with him. Eventually they were separated by the
intervention of Ted Armstrong.
Nevertheless,
sex was often on the mind of Herbert Armstrong.
Herbert Armstrong confided to David Robinson at Big Sandy, Texas, that
his wife Loma had been a very poor bed partner, so he would often just turn
over and relieve himself through masturbation.
He then told Robinson that he still masturbated -- the last time had
been just two weeks previously.
Herbert
Armstrong then got up, reached into his briefcase, and pulled out a small black
book and showed him the last entry. As
Robinson writes, "HE HAD KEPT BOOKS ON HIS OWN MASTURBATION! He said, when checking over the record, it
occurred about every two weeks" (p.80).
When
Robinson asked him when he started masturbating, Armstrong replied he could
never remember when he didn't.
With
this in mind, it is interesting to note that Herbert Armstrong fancied himself
a great authority on sex and marriage.
In his book God Speaks Out on the New Morality, he wrote,
"On the other hand, masturbation is a form of PERVERSION. It is a SIN!"
Strange,
for one who wrote such words, that he himself had been one who constantly
indulged himself in this "perversion" -- this "SIN"!
"Incest!"
During
the years when he was "used of God" to begin the
"Philadelphia" Church of God, he was also committing the heinous sin
of incest with his own daughter! For ten
years this incestuous relationship continued, into the early 1940s. This fact is very thoroughly documented, for
those willing to look at the evidence.
Chapter twenty of David Robinson's
book Herbert Armstrong's Tangled Web is simply titled,
"Incest!" Incest has long been regarded as one of the most traumatic
of sins performed against one's own children or relatives. As shocking as it may seem to some, as
unbelievable and cruel as it may sound, Herbert
Armstrong committed this evil sin
over a period of some ten years with one of his daughters!
Writes Robinson: "Incest is a
terrible and unnatural crime, an extreme perversity. That is why I was shocked beyond measure to
hear that Herbert Armstrong was, himself, guilty of this vile sin. I learned of this in the summer of 1979 from
members of his own family. The story,
sordid beyond imagination, was told in awful detail.
"One family source was Garner
Ted Armstrong. Last summer, as HWA
attacked his own son in such savage fury, his son was in the depths of
despair. His emotional mix included
anger and deep hurt. In such a state he
told secrets that otherwise would have been locked within him forever. He said he had learned in 1971 of his
father's incredible conduct during the '30s and '40s. The story came directly to him in lurid detail,
but he kept it sealed in his own consciousness for all those years. But, in the spring of 1978 while in his
father's house for the last time, his father had threatened to 'destroy him.' Ted, in response, replied, 'Dad, I will
destroy you. I know about
you and --------- (He was speaking of the younger of his two sisters.)
"His father had been on a
high-handed autocratic binge. But at
that comment he sat down quietly and responded, 'Well, Ted, there have been
times when I have been very far away from God'" (Robinson, Tangled Web,
p. 266).
Robinson goes on, "None who have
objectively heard of the incest story in its awful detail doubt it. This is a vital chapter left out of HWA's own autobiography.
This sin occurred over a long span of years -- about ten years -- from
the 1930s into the 1940s -- for a decade after his ordination to the ministry,
according to his own family members" (p. 267).
The
Ambassador Report (April 1984) relates, "In 1971 Garner Ted
Armstrong paid a visit to his younger sister Dorothy. He had long been suspicious of the kind of
relationship his father and sister maintained during his youth. They chatted over a few drinks and then Ted
told her bluntly of his suspicions. She
did more than admit the allegations.
With candor she related detail after shocking detail.
"For
a number of years GTA kept the information to himself. But Dorothy did not. She divulged the same information to many
others including David Antion (GTA's
brother-in-law) and Lois Chapman (who had been married to the late Richard
Armstrong, Ted's older brother)."
Dorothy
told Ted and others that Herbert had begun fondling and heavy petting her in
1933 when she was thirteen years old, but he did not begin going "all the
way" with her until three years later, when she was 16. What happened was, one day she came home from
a date and informed her father she had been "half raped."
This
report was traumatic enough. But after
hearing the story, Herbert decided it was time to show her how sex should really
be done. It was 1936 and Dorothy was 16
years of age. He took it upon himself to
teach her about sexual intercourse by having sex with her himself! From that moment the incestuous relationship
lasted for many more years.
On
one occasion in a hotel room Dorothy so strongly resisted her father's advances
that the hotel manager came knocking on the door to find out why they were
making so much noise. Herbert told him
that his "young bride" was a little uncooperative due to
inexperience. Satisfied, the manager
left.
"Dorothy has claimed that Herbert then
overpowered her, and after tying her to the
bed and
gagging her, proceeded to rape her" (Ambassador Report, April
1984).
During
those year while Herbert was preaching the gospel and ministering, he would
sometimes take Dorothy out dancing on Friday nights. When she asked him if he wasn't afraid Church
members would discover what he was doing, he told her gruffly that they were
well trained in Sabbath observance and would never see them.
In
1980, shortly after the Robinson book appeared, Henry Cornwall, then one of
Herbert Armstrong's assistants, asked him point blank if the chapter about
incest was true. Herbert told him it
was. Later his wife Ramona, who also had
a copy of the book, asked Herbert about the incestuous relationship. He admitted to her it was true, also, and
pleaded with her not to let it get in the way of their marriage. He blamed the problem on his first wife Loma.
Dorothy
has said that her sexual relationship with her father continued into the early
forties. She married Vern Mattson in
1943. Around the time of her engagement
however, her father told her that her marriage need not put an end to their own
special relationship!
The
July 1984 issue of Ambassador Report stated that one reason Herbert
Armstrong was able to exert great coercion over his daughter wasn't only
because he was her father, and physically stronger, but also because he
repeatedly told her, "God gave you to me."
It
is interesting that although David Robinson's book first exposed the incest
committed by the errant apostle, the publication of his book was vigorously
fought by the Worldwide Church of God attorneys, who attempted to suppress
it. Although they totally failed in
their attempt, it is interesting that since publication they did not assert
even once that the incest allegation was untrue. Dorothy Mattson, Herbert Armstrong's younger
daughter, never denied the truth of the allegations,
either.
A
friend of mine, when he learned of these allegations years ago, went directly
to Mr. Vern Mattson, who had married Herbert Armstrong's younger daughter. He was a golfing buddy and friend of Mattson,
so he asked him point-blank if the accusations and rumors were true. Mr. Mattson sadly informed him that they
indeed were factual. In fact, when Mr.
Mattson himself learned of the truth of Herbert having had sex with the woman
who later became Mattson's wife, he was furious, and in a rage took a pistol,
and burst into Herbert Armstrong's private office, waving the pistol around.
Herbert, shaking like a leaf, apologized profusely and promised to never do
such a thing again.
According
to the law of God, we should not receive an allegation against a man, unless it
be confirmed by two or three witnesses.
The evidence against Herbert Armstrong is very strong and
convincing. He was not the man thousands
thought him to be. As a spiritual
leader, he was not above the Law of God, and one day he will have to appear
before the Throne of God to answer for his actions.
Some may object that these sins
occurred over 40 years ago (when Herbert Armstrong was in his forties and
fifties). They are now "water under
the bridge." That, of course, may
well be true. Certainly God can forgive
sin, if and when it is sincerely and totally repented of.
Sex and the Single Apostle
But the towering sin of hypocrisy,
deceit, lying and immorality that continued right up until Herbert Armstrong's
last years is another matter entirely.
Robinson wrote in 1980, "Herbert
Armstrong has been 'in love' a number of times during the past decade. He said himself he had been 'in love' with
Amy [his secretary on the fourth floor of the Hall of Administration] when she
was 25 years old. He reported this to a
group at Big Sandy in 1974. He did say,
when it was over, that he thought it might have been infatuation.
"But earlier there had been the
young Filipino girl whom he had brought over to this country, according to
widespread reports. However, he never
did bring her to church with him! He
apparently kept her under wraps" (p. 88).
Along
these lines, a former evangelist in the Worldwide Church of God -- Albert J. Portune -- told me personally that Herbert Armstrong had
brought two Filipino girls to the U.S. and had put them in an apartment in
Pasadena -- nobody knows what for.
However, later upon learning that one of the girls had found another boy
friend, her own age, he grew furious and shipped them back to the
Philippines! Knowing about his
preoccupation with
sex,
the purpose those nubile young girls served for him seems rather obvious.
Another
woman, secretary to the head of the Personal Correspondence Department manager
some years ago, told my wife and I she was privy to a mysterious secret
concerning Herbert Armstrong. This
woman's credentials and respectability are impeccable. She told us that one day an elderly woman who
was a Church member came into the office and began talking to her. She told her she lived in an apartment house
in Pasadena, and across the hall from her own apartment there lived a
prostitute. She knew the woman was a
prostitute.
One
day, she saw two men -- whom she says were Stanley Rader and Herbert Armstrong
-- go into that woman's apartment. She
was shocked. So the next time she saw
them coming, she stood in front of the other woman's door, barring their
way. When they asked her why she was
there, she explained that she didn't think God's apostle should be visiting a
prostitute! They denied that they were
aware that the woman was a prostitute, and beat a hasty retreat, and she never
saw them there again.
However,
the incident so distressed this elderly church woman, that she felt she had to
confide in someone -- and that is the reason she showed up at the office of the
Personal Correspondence Department, to speak with the minister.
Herbert
Armstrong Remarries
Herbert
Armstrong remarried when he was in his mid-80s.
Ramona Martin, his new wife, was a divorcee who was in her forties. Although some might consider such a
"September-March" marriage unusual because of the disparity in age,
this alone would not necessarily invalidate a marriage where there was true
love. What few realize, however, is that
there is evidence which would have could out at their divorce proceedings which
would have shown that Herbert and Ramona were sleeping together, having a
sexual relationship, as much as THREE YEARS prior to their 'legalizing"
their relationship!
Herbert
Armstrong, who was 91 in 1984, divorced his wife Ramona, 45 years of age, on
May 11 of that year, after seven years of marriage. After a bitter divorce fight, the couple
settled out of court, thus ending their seven-year-old marriage.
In
the divorce proceedings, reported the Los Angeles Times (May 12, 1984),
"Armstrong's lawyers had sought to limit evidence of a sexual nature." Ramona's attorneys felt such evidence was
crucial, however, to their case.
According to Ramona's attorney, the couple had an
"understanding" about Herbert's "prior incestuous conduct
with his daughter for many years."
Ramona's
own intimate relationship with Herbert Armstrong predated their marriage by a
number of years, according to Ambassador Report. The Report asserted in the April
1984 issue, "In recent months Ramona has admitted to friends that she
and Herbert maintained a sexual relationship for THREE FULL YEARS PRIOR TO
THEIR MARRIAGE" (emphasis mine). The
Ambassador Report article continues,
"At
some point along the way Ramona had some misgivings and so asked Herbert
what he
would do if he discovered some man in the church was involved in a non-
marital
sexual relationship with one of the church women. He answered that he would
immediately disfellowship them both. 'But, questioned Ramona, 'isn't what we are
doing
also wrong?' To her surprise Herbert said, 'No.' When she asked why, Herbert
explained, 'Because I
am an Apostle!'"
During
the divorce trial, Ramona said she was sterilized in 1976 at Herbert
Armstrong's insistence. (In The Tangled Web, David Robinson
claimed Herbert Armstrong admitted this same thing to him personally.) However, Herbert and Ramona were not married
until April 1977! This
"footnote" to the marriage of the elderly "apostle" to the
younger woman provides further insight into the thinking of Herbert
Armstrong. Why did Herbert insist Ramona
become sterilized in 1976, unless they were already having sexual relations at
that time? Was he afraid that Ramona
might become pregnant, while they were still unmarried, and he might be the
father of a bastard child? Was he
remembering the fact that his own son got Shirley pregnant before they were
married, and the shame and consternation it caused him at the time?
We can only guess at the
answers, until those who were involved are more forthcoming.
However,
when I stop to think about these shocking, disturbing revelations about a man
many believed was "God's true apostle" for this end-time generation,
I can only shake my head for sadness and grief, at the sad spectacle of a man
of God straying so far from God and His commandments!
Truly,
as David lamented the fate of Saul,
"How are the mighty fallen!"
The
sex life of Herbert Armstrong would normally be something of a private nature,
something the public would not be interested in. However, when a public figure such as Herbert
Armstrong preaches one thing and lives in a totally inconsistent manner, that
is something else again. For fifty years
or longer, Herbert Armstrong preached the Word of God. He stood for chastity, fidelity, and thundered
against adultery, fornication, and sexual
vices. For many years, he claimed the marriage
relationship was a "GOD PLANE RELATIONSHIP." Yet when it came to his
own life, the truth becomes much more mundane, carnal, and physical.
As
shocking as it may seem to many who read this, because of the enormous respect
they have held toward Herbert Armstrong, the sad facts of the case are that he
was much less than he appeared in public.
His private life reads more like a lurid novel fantasy, than the life of
a true, bona fide servant of God.
Other
men who knew Herbert Armstrong personally, testify to his being drunk and
inebriated on many occasions. One former
minister, Dale Hampton, himself a recovered alcoholic, told audiences that in
fact Herbert Armstrong was an "alcoholic." After Herbert heard this, he canceled Hampton's special ministerial program dealing with
alcoholics in the Church. Al Carrozzo sums up the truth in these poignant words, saying
that 1973 was a "Year of Revelation" to him:
"During this time I maintained a
wait-and-see attitude. It was difficult
to make myself
believe
that the two men I respected most -- Garner Ted and Herbert Armstrong -- were
total
frauds! It was even more difficult for
me to believe that Herbert was less than
100%
sincere and honest. However, on May 22,
1973, at 1 p.m., Ted left me with
no
doubts as to his father real motivatin, intentions,
and modus operandi. In a private,
three-hour meeting in his office, Ted told me he specifically disagreed
with his father
on many
issues, including doctrine. He explained
that his dad desperately wanted to
be
accepted by the world, and that was the reason lhe
was traveling around the world
continuously, seeking the favor and audience of world leaders.
"Ted admitted that he had seen his father 'stone drunk' on dozens
of occasions. He
stated
that his father had told him that he (Herbert) would do anything to keep the
'Work'
afloat -- including lying, stealing, and bribery. I was shocked, of course, but
I later
saw Herbert 'stoned' on several occasions and caught him in numerous lies.
I began
to see those lies in his member and co-worker letters, and these lies have
to this
very day" ("The Profligate Son," ibid., p.46-47).
Shocking
as these statements no doubt are, to many people, Carrozzo
goes on:
"The year 1973 was one of revelation for
me. I learned of Ted's profound and
long-enduring sexual activities.
Herbert's total cover-up, corruption at the highest
level
in the WCG, Herbert's pleasure blasts around the world under the guise of
preaching the true gospel, squandering of vast sums of money on
extravagant art
treasures, exploitation of
gullible and hard-pressed people, gross doctrinal error,
and
suppression of human beings -- mentally, emotionally, physically and spirit-
ually. Yes 1973
proved to me that dishonesty was a way of life with Ted and
his
father, and that way of life hasn't changed to this very day" (p.47).
Al
Carrozzo came to his conclusion back in 1973. Of course, much more evidence of sin and
dishonesty have come to the fore since that time.
When
I read first-hand accounts of the many"sins"
of a man who claimed to be "God's apostle" on this earth during these
end times, and who on occasion hinted or claimed that he was the
"prophesied Elijah to come" at the very end, I can only shake my head
in horror and disgust.
How
could such a man be "Elijah"?
How could entire churches today literally revere his memory and idolize
him? Personally, when I think of the
evil things he did, and how abusive he often was in the conduct of his
ministry, and unfair in judgment, I can only think of the terrible words of
Christ Himself who said, in a prophecy for the days just before His second
coming,
"But and if that EVIL
SERVANT shall say in his heart, My lord
delayeth
his coming; and shall begin to SMITE his fellow-servants,
and to eat and drink with the
DRUNKEN; the lord of that servant
shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour
that he is not aware of, and shall CUT HIM
ASUNDER, and appoint
him his portion with the
hypocrites: there shall be weeping
and
gnashing of teeth"
(Matt.24:48-51).
For
years I suffered in silence and said nothing.
I watched as the Church drifted away from some of the foundational
principles of the Word of God. I
watched, horrified, as Herbert Armstrong compounded error on error, and at
times falsely accused and attacked his fellowservants. For years I saw his famous volcanic temper
work its way. I saw him threaten, bully,
and bluster
others
in sheer indomitable intimidation.
I
kept silence. What could I do about
it? What could I say? Who would listen to me?
So,
in 1974, upon being terminated from the position of being a writer for the
Church and its magazines, I began the lonely work of publishing the truth of God, in books, as God
made me able, and as He opened the doors.
I wrote and published such books as The Keys to Radiant Health, The
First Genesis: A New Case for Creation, Beyond Star Wars, The Last Days, Escape
from Armageddon, Overcoming Satan, and others. I remained in the Church, but operated on my
own, as God blessed my endeavors. I
turned my attention to serving God as he enabled me.
But
in the meanwhile, these terrible buried truths gnawed at my stomach. I was greatly depressed by the state of the
Church, and more directly, the sad state of the "apostle" who was
leading the Church, and his sinning son.
It made no sense. Why would a man
of God allow these things to happen?
Even more, why would God in heaven allow such things to go on in His
very Church?
I
was baffled.
I
thought to myself, no wonder Mrs. Loma D. Armstrong died, willingly, in
1967. If she had lived to know of these
terrible revelations about her own husband, it would have been a terrible
jolt. But on the other hand, how much
did she really know? Was she aware all
those years? Did she suspect?
Who
knows?
But
one thing we can all know, if we trust God and have faith in Him. God will not justify or excuse the
wicked. No matter how righteous and pure
they may look on the outside, Jesus Christ said of such miserable hypocrites,
"WOE unto you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like
unto whited
sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward,
but
are within full of DEAD MEN'S
BONES, and of ALL UNCLEAN-
NESS. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous
unto men, but
within ye are FULL OF
HYPOCRISY and INIQUITY. Woe unto
you scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! . . . . Fill ye up then the
measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generatio
of vipers, how
can ye escape the
damnation of hell?" (Matt.23:27-29, 32-33).
A
more fitting description of the hypocrisy and venality of some of the most
"righteous appearing" men of God, and so-called modern
"apostles," during these "Last Days," I could scarcely
begin to remotely imagine.
Should
These Things Be Made Public?
Some
people might ask, "Why do you bring up these old sins of the past? Isn't this just a form of muckraking? Shouldn't we just forget these scandalous
things? Aren't you engaging in wallowing
in filth and mud-slinging? Besides, if
Herbert and Ted have sincerely repented o their sins, then shouldn't we forgive
and forget them?"
Those
are honest questions. However, any truly
accurate, historical account of the facts would not be honest if any relevant
part of the story were left out. God
forgave David his sin with Bathsheba, but He still recorded it in His Word,
the Bible, for all to read! He still
made a PUBLIC EXAMPLE of it before all Israel!
Even though David repented bitterly, that did not allow him to escape
public exposure and rebuke!
It
is true that love covers a multitude of sins (I Pet.4:8). However, God also
inspired to be written, "Be sure your sin will find you out"
(Num.32:23). God also tells us, "He that covereth
his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy" (Prov.28:13).
Neither
Herbert Armstrong nor Garner Ted Armstrong ever confessed the enormity of their
sins, publicly. For years they covered
them up and hid them from view. David's
sins were written about in Scripture.
But the sins of Herbert Armstrong and Garner Ted Armstrong were NEVER
admitted to the Church membership! They
were denied, covered up, whitewashed, and glossed over. Those brave individuals who sought to have
them revealed were summarily disfellowshipped and put
out of the Church!
What
does Almighty God say about spiritual "cover ups"? The apostle Paul wrote, "Against an
elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses. Them that sin REBUKE BEFORE ALL, that others
also may fear" (I Tirn.5:19-20).
The
Living Bible has this, "If he has really sinned, then he should be
REBUKED IN FRONT OF THE WHOLE CHURCH." The Good News Bible says,
"REBUKE PUBLICLY all those who commit sins, so that the rest may be
afraid."
When
sins are covered up, made little of, ignored and swept under the carpet, this
encourages other ministers to play around, commit adultery, fornication, sexual
perversion, thinking they can get away with it.
It also encourages a spirit of immorality among the Church membership in
general as well. In a Church where sin
is tolerated, sin will soon become the rule!
Should
such sins be kept secret? Should they be
covered up, to protect the office and image and prestige of the guilty?
The
apostle Paul declared, "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works
of darkness, but rather REPROVE THEM.
For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them
in secret" (Eph.5:11-12).
What is God's attitude toward
spiritual "cover-ups"?
"These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination
unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent
blood. An heart that deviseth
wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness
that speaketh lies, and he that soweth
discord among brethren" (Prov.6:16-19).
Those who commit adultery and cover it up, and then disfellowship
those who seek justice to be done, are guilty of ALL these sins!
Let us not hide our eyes from the
truth. How does God view the sins of one
who rapes and commits incest with his own daughter for ten years? The Word of God says, "If a man has
sexual intercourse with a woman and with her mother, it is a GREAT EVIL. All three shall be burned alive to
wipe out wickedness from among you" (Lev.20:14).
Not only did Herbert Armstrong have
sex with a woman and her daughter -- he did it to his OWN daughter! Not just once, but repeatedly, over TEN
YEARS! And then he covered it up for
over 40 to 50 years!
Therefore I make no apology for
having to write these things, and exposing the TRUTH, no matter how unpalatable
it may be. It is high time the truth
were told! We need to have the courage to
face the truth, honestly, unafraid -- no matter what the consequences! I know it seems like a dirty job. But somebody has to do it! And it seems of all those who came out of
Worldwide, during the past ten years, I am the only one who has been
publicly willing to confront these things head on!
Why is that? Why haven't the leaders of Worldwide faced
these issues all these years? Why hasn't
Global Church of God and Roderick Meredith admitted these things? Why hasn't United Church of God faced up to
the truth? Why hasn't Gerald Flurry and
his "Philadelphia Church" admitted the truth? Is it because they are fattening their
pocketbooks by idolizing the memory of Herbert Armstrong, and sucking in
millions of dollars from naive, gullible, well-intentioned but foolish
followers who don't know the truth?
Jesus Christ said, "You shall
know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). Free from the shackles of deception and
sin! But sometimes, we must face it, the
truth hurts! It hurts to be
deceived, and it hurts to have to admit we have been deceived!
"With Force and CRUELTY"
In
prophesying of an "evil servant" who would rule the flock before His
second coming, Jesus said he will "cut him asunder, and appoint him his
portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth"
(Matt.24:51).
In the prophesy of Ezekiel 34, God
thunders, "Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves!
should not the shepherds feed the flock?
Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool (from the flock), ye
kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock. The diseased have ye not strengthened,
neither have ye healed that which was sick . . ." (Ezek.34:2-4).
Ezekiel
prophesied against end-time ministers in
His very own church, against the very "shepherd of Israel," when he
wrote, "Neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither
have ye sought that which was lost; BUT WITH FORCE AND WITH CRUELTY HAVE
YE RULED THEM" (Ezek.34:4).
"The Scattered Sheep"
The prophet Zechariah foretold of these days,
"Awake, 0 sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my
fellow, saith the Lord of hosts; SMITE THE SHEPHERD,
and the sheep shall be scattered [the scattering of the sheep will occur in the
Great Tribulation shortly to come!]: and I will turn mine hand upon the little
ones" (Zech.13:7). Who is this
end-time shepherd, who was to be "smitten," that is, die, and then
the sheep would be "scattered"?
As
long as he was alive, Herbert Armstrong ruled the Church with an iron
hand. For the most part, he kept the
Church together, united at least on the surface, and fought off all who
attempted to change doctrines and to divide the flock. But after he died, difficult times came upon
the flock, and in the twelve years since his death the Church has been rocked
to its foundations! Hundreds of factions
and groups have split off from the parent Church, and the former Worldwide
Church of God has been shrunk in size to a mere shadow of its former self. Its heyday of glory has past, and Church
membership has shrunk from 125,000 to about 31,000. Income has shrunk from over $211 million in
1990 to a comparatively paltry $38 million.
All but about 200 of its headquarters staff, which once number 1,200,
have been laid off. The
"successors" to Herbert Armstrong, hand-picked by the apostle-general
himself, unfortunately, have taken his church, buried his legacy, and destroyed
his writings, and changed most of the significant doctrines of the Church -- while
claiming his approval and authority for so doing!
Among
the off-shoot Churches, the Arcadia-based United Church of God, headed by David
Hulme, claims a membership of about 18,000. Global Church of God, headed by Roderick C.
Meredith, claims about 4-5,000 members, and Philadelphia Church of God perhaps
about the same. But of the former
members of the Worldwide Church of God, an estimated 40,000 or so no longer bother
to attend any church, having become jaded, dispirited, and unhappy with
the whole lot! Truly, as the Word of God
prophesied, "the shepherd was smitten" and the "sheep
scattered"!
But
the prophecy in Zechariah goes on to state that two thirds of the Church
of God people will suffer greatly, and will be "cut off and die"
during the Great Tribulation, the time of Jacob's Trouble (compare Jer.30:7).
The "third part" shall be brought "through the fire," and
God will "refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is
tried" (Zech.13:8-9).
"The IDOL
Shepherd"
In these last days, many members of
the Worldwide Church of God, and all of its split-off groups, such as
Philadelphia, Global, and United Church of God, are for some reason or another
BLIND to the faults and flaws of Herbert Armstrong. Many refuse to admit he could do any wrong,
that he could have made MAJOR mistakes in his life. They hold him up on a pedestal; they
virtually WORSHIP the man, although they would deny it if you mentioned this to
them. Others have gone to the opposite
extreme. They pillory and ridicule the
man, accuse him of being a great deceiver, charlatan, wolf in sheep's clothing,
and a spiritual FRAUD! They "throw
the baby out with the bath water" and reject the good along with the evil!
Many
people today are blind to the real truth. When we look at the fruits of his
life, with honesty and willingness to face the facts, then we find that Herbert
Armstrong was seriously flawed. He was
far from perfect. However, Almighty God
did use him mightily at various points in his life to restore and recapture
certain major truths of God's Word.
Nevertheless, God also allowed him to make incredible mistakes and
blunders -- both in prophetic utterances, in certain doctrinal teachings that
impacted severely on the lives of people, and in his method of government of
the Church of God.
There
is an amazing prophecy found in the book of Zechariah. Some have wondered if it is actually a
prophecy of Herbert W. Armstrong. Dr.
Herman L. Hoeh, years ago, raised this possibility to
me as I sat in his office. It was around
1972. We were discussing the Work of
God, and Herbert Armstrong and some of the problems in the Church. Herman Hoeh turned
to the prophecy of Zechariah 11, where we read that God told His prophet,
"Take unto thee yet the instruments of a FOOLISH SHEPHERD. For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the
land, which shall NOT visit those that be cut off, neither shall seek
the young one, nor heal that is broken, nor feed that that standeth still; but he shall eat the flesh of the fat (live
high and
mighty
off the tithes of Gods people!), and tear their claws in pieces.
"Woe
to the IDOL shepherd [an "idol" shepherd is one who is worshipped
and esteemed like a "god"!] that leaveth
the flock! [Herbert Armstrong was noted for his many trips abroad in his
private corporate jet plane, meeting and hobnobbing with the princes of this
world, leaving the Church behind]. The
sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye [as he grew older,
Herbert Armstrong went blind in his right eye and almost blind in his left
eye]: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be
utterly darkened" (Zech.11:15-17).
What
was Herbert Armstrong's "arm"?
For
many years, his right arm was his son, Garner Ted Armstrong. Could this prophecy be a reference to the
fact that Ted Armstrong would himself eventually "dry up" completely,
spiritually? With all the evidence of
Ted Armstrong's incessant philandering and womanizing, even up to the present
time, he certainly did become totally "dried up" as to being the
"right arm" of Herbert Armstrong!
In fact, he has been his "enemy," leading a competing branch
of the Church of God, since 1978 when he was finally disfellowshipped
by his father!
Is
this a prophecy that Garner Ted Armstrong -- Herbert Armstrong's "right
arm" for MANY YEARS -- the one whom he at one time appointed as his heir
and successor, even as David so appointed Solomon his son to succeed him three
thousand years ago -- that he would go astray and become "clean dried
up" spiritually, bereft of the Spirit of God? Look at the evidence! Let's face the facts, honestly, boldly,
courageously, without pity or compromise!
Almighty
God Himself speaks of this end-time shepherd as a "foolish"
shepherd. Herbert Armstrong in his later
years, and during various times of his ministry, was indeed a very
"foolish" man. An old saying
says, "There is no fool like an old fool." In his later years, Herbert Armstrong often
completely misjudged people. He himself
"ordained" as evangelists in the Church the likes of such men as
Stanley Rader, church attorney, and Joseph Tkach, who
later betrayed both his memory and his doctrinal teachings. Was this not an example of outright
"foolishness"?
Yet
in the prophecy of Zechariah, God refers to this "foolish shepherd"
(Zech.11:15) as one who He said "I will raise up" (v.15). This shepherd was specifically prophesied to not
heal that which was broken, but would live off the fat of the people. Herbert Armstrong's teaching on
"healing" for decades referred to drugs as poisons, and medicine as
"idolatry." Thus in fact he
taught against the medical establishment and taught those who went to doctors
had no faith in God. As a result of this
teaching, many heart-wrenching stories can be told of church members, refusing
operations, who lost their eye-sight, who died
when
a simple operation could have saved them, and many small children were
sacrificed to this false teaching. In
retrospect, this example of church fanaticism did untold and incalculable
evil.
This
end-time shepherd whom God says He "raised up" (Zech.11:16), also
spent MILLIONS of dollars on expensive jewelry, original paintings, candelabra,
ornate salt cellars, and fabulous dinner settings for his table. He lived in a mansion in Pasadena, and owned
other mansions in Big Sandy, Texas and Bricket Wood,
England. He flew around the world in his
own jet airplane, and commanded a salary from the Church of over $250,000 a
year plus an unlimited expense account.
As the prophecy states, "he shall eat the flesh of the fat."
Does
Herbert Armstrong fulfill this amazing Biblical prophecy? Think about it.
Gene
Scarbrough, who has been an elder in God's Church for
over forty years, was ordained in 1967, and came out to Pasadena, California,
in that year to serve full-time in the ministry. He told me that years ago his daughter Peggy,
spent some time visiting with Mrs. Loma D. Armstrong, who took a liking to
her. While they were together one time,
Mrs. Armstrong reminisced about how the Work and Church began. While reflecting on how the ministry of her
husband Herbert and his eldest son, Richard David Armstrong, originally got started,
Mrs. Armstrong told Peggy, "They got into it for the money!"
This
type of candid statement would not be surprising if heard from the lips of an
enemy of the Church. But, coming
straight from the lips of Mrs. Loma D. Armstrong, it packs a wallop!
Another
friend corroborates the above story in part.
According to his information, Garner Ted Armstrong once told a teacher
in the church at Big Sandy and a personal friend that when his father was in
the aluminum siding business back in Oregon, he got a call from far away to
make a bid on a job. Herbert jacked up
the price because he didn't want the job, the location was so distant. To his surprise, the customer said, "When
can you get started?" It turns out
the customer was the minister of a Seventh Day Adventist Church, and had plenty
of money from tithes and offerings.
According to Ted Armstrong, upon returning home that evening, Herbert --
who all his life wanted to be considered succesful in
business and make lots of money -- told his wife, "Honey, I now know how
we're going to get rich!"
Contrary
to his own Autobiography, then, it seems clear that at least originally
Herbert Armstrong got into religion to make money. During his ministry, he certainly
accomplished this feat. Along the way,
however, it seems clear that he also learned a great deal of spiritual and
Biblical truth which he began teaching.
It is also possible that as he learned Bible truth, that Herbert
Armstrong came to true repentance and conversion. As
he
began to learn much truth, he began to preach it. Only God truly knows the depth of his
ultimate sincerity.
"Tried Them Which Say They Are
Apostles"
God says to His Church of Ephesus,
"I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou canst not
bear them which are evil: and thou hast TRIED them which say they are APOSTLES,
and are not, and hast found them LIARS . . ." (Rev.2:2).
The apostle Paul wrote, "For such
are FALSE APOSTLES, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into
the apostles of Christ. And no marvel;
for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his
ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose
end shall be according to their works" (II Cor.11:13-15).
Paul was saying there are ministers
who have entered the Church of God down through history who have not been true
apostles of God. They misled the
Church. They claimed to be apostles,
even transformed themselves into apostles, but God Himself never made them
such.
God commands us to beware of such
men. They may appear just like a true
minister of God, but they are spiritual "tares" in the sight of God
and will burn up in the lake of fire!
What about Herbert W. Armstrong? Was he a true apostle of God, although
severely flawed? Or was he a false
apostle?
The apostle John tells us,
"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but TRY [TEST, PROVE] THE SPIRITS
[messages, attitudes, teachings] whether they be of God: because many false
prophets are gone out into the world" (I John 4:1).
Like many others, I carefully checked
up and investigated the teachings of Herbert W. Armstrong back in the late 50s
and early 60s, before I became involved with the Church and became a
member. At the time, I was convinced
that what I had read and proved was true.
I studied diligently. I looked up
every Scripture. I proved Christmas was
pagan, Easter was pagan, the Sabbath should be observed, and even the annual
Holy Days should be remembered and observed.
As time went on, I found that many of
Herbert Armstrong's teachings were truly based on the Bible, and I could prove
them. But some others I came to see,
over the years, were in error to one degree or another.
Many of these doctrinal
"shady" areas came to the light in the mid-1970s. At that time, many ministers left the Church
for two essential reasons: First, they despised the cover up and misuse of
authority shown by Herbert Armstrong in dealing with his son's sexual sins. Second, their were honest questions and
disagreements on certain doctrines. Some
of these questions were discussed and changes were made; others were buried and
suppressed at the time. Nothing could be
changed except what Herbert Armstrong wanted to change. At that time, he made a change in Pentecost,
changing the manner of "counting," and he made a more fundamental
change in the doctrine of divorce and remarriage. Interestingly, with the change that was made,
he gave himself the "right" to marry a divorcee! Most other areas demanding investigation and
change -- such as the doctrine of divine healing, wearing make up, and the like
-- were ignored.
Over the years I have come to see
that flawed as he undoubtedly was, in many areas, nevertheless, Herbert
Armstrong did teach the truth of God in a way unlike any other man I ever
knew. It was sad for me to see him
gradually go further and further astray, after the death of his wife in 1967.
The Example of Solomon
The
fact that a man can make many mistakes, and still serve God is evident from the
Scriptures. How such a man will be
judged by God is an altogether different matter.
During
his early life Solomon was a man who feared God, and was used by God to write
the Biblical books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon. He was the wisest, most understanding man who
ever lived, apart from Christ. Solomon's
wisdom was so famous that kings and queens from around the world came to hear
his wisdom, including the Queen of Sheba.
He possessed vast scientific understanding as well, being a student of
animals and plants.
Soon
after Solomon became king, God came to him in a dream, and then said to him,
"Lo, I have given thee a wise and understanding heart; so that there was
none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto
thee" (I Kings 3:12).
God
allowed Solomon to build the Temple of God in Jerusalem, even as He allowed
Herbert Armstrong to build the "house for God" in Pasadena.
But
did all this guarantee that Solomon would remain faithful to God? Solomon had the same kind of problem as
Herbert Armstrong -- sex. We read,
"But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the
daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomnites,
Ziodonians, and Hittites; of the nations concerning
which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in unto them,
neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your
heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love.
"And
he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his
wives turned away his heart.
"For
it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his
heart after other gods: and HIS HEART WAS NOT PERFECT with the Lord his God, as
was the heart of David his father.
"For
Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the
abomination of the Ammonites. And
Solomon DID EVIL in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the
Lord, as did David his father.
"Then
did Solomon build an high place Chemosh, the
abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. And likewise
did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their
gods.
"And
the Lord was ANGRY with Solomon, because his heart was turned away from the
Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, and had commanded
him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept
not that which the Lord commanded.
"Wherefore
the Lord said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast
not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will
surely REND the kingdom away from thee, and will give it to thy
servant" (I Kings 11:1-11).
Notice
the incredible parallels. Solomon, like
Herbert Armstrong, had a problem with "sex." It undoubtedly caused
him grief throughout his life. Even so
Herbert Armstrong's sexual problems lasted all through his marriage. Some might blame his first wife for being
frigid and say she caused some of his problems.
Whatever the case, his incest with his younger daughter has been
carefully documented. His masturbation
throughout his life was admitted to by himself.
Other stories of adultery have surfaced from time to time. His sexual sins after the death of his first
wife have also been reported and documented.
The
comparison between Herbert Armstrong, to whom God granted much precious, divine
knowledge, during the years of his ministry, and Solomon, to whom God granted
great wisdom and understanding, cannot be denied.
And
both of them, as they grew old, began to compromise with the truth and
knowledge of God. Both of them became
autocratic and tyrannical demagogues and abusive in their administration of
authority. Of course, this goes hand in
hand with departure from the laws and commandments of God, two of which are:
"Thou shalt not commit adultery," and,
"Thou shalt not bear false witness."
Solomon
became a despot. After God sent a
prophet to tell Jeroboam he was to become king over ten tribes of Israel,
Solomon learned of it (he had "eyes" and "ears" throughout
his kingdom, like the CIA), and "sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. And Jeroboam arose, and fled into Egypt, unto
Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the
death of Solomon" (I Kings 11:40).
Solomon sought to stop the prophecy from being fulfilled! He was no longer the "friend" of
God. He had become God's enemy!
Even
so, Herbert Armstrong went astray during various stages of his life, as he
himself admitted to his own son. Even
during the last years of his life, he sinned.
He sinned against God, and like Eli, he put his son before God. When he finally put his son out of the
Church, it was not for the reasons of adultery and immorality, but because of a
difference in opinion over administrative decisions in the Church.
Like
Solomon, Herbert tried to cover up his own sins, and his sexual
weaknesses. No mention of these things
can be found in his official autobiography.
Not even a hint!
How,
then, will God judge this man?
How
will God judge Solomon?
In
the examples of faith listed in Hebrews 11, the name of king Solomon is
conspicuously absent. Does this mean he
will not be in the Kingdom of God, at the resurrection of the righteous at the
coming of Christ? Apparently so. He will come up in the second resurrection,
it would seem, with those who have not yet proven faithful, and will be judged
according to his "works."
In
his old age, the high priest Eli went astray from God, and sinned grievously,
bringing upon himself and his family the wrath of God. In his old age, Herbert Armstrong likewise
sinned grievously against God, and ruled the Church of God with an iron
tyrannical hand. How will God judge him?
In
another Scriptural parallel, God Himself chose Saul to be king over
Israel. In the beginning Saul was very
humble and meek. He even "hid among
the baggage" when they came to make him king! (I Sam.10:22). But after he
became king, Saul never quite turned wholeheartedly to serve the Lord. He himself became a "problem" to
the congregation of Israel, and at one time in misguided zeal even threatened to
kill his own son Jonathan who had brought great victory to Israel (I
Sam.14:44-45). Saul began to listen to
the people rather than the simple commands of God (15:24). He "feared the people."
In
the beginning, I do not doubt the conversion of Herbert Armstrong and the way
God used him in his ministry. In the
early years he discovered much new truth, the Sabbath, holy days, healing,
truth about hell fire, the mortality of the soul, the identity of the
"lost ten tribes of Israel," the pagan origin of Christmas, Easter,
and many other foundational truths. But
like Saul, as he grew and the Church grew, Herbert at times became a
"problem"
to himself, his own family, the Church, and to God. Like Saul, he turned away from the pure and
simple commandments of God, and His law, and at times became a "law unto
himself."
What
shall we say, then? How will God judge
such a man? Frankly, I don't know. That is something that God Himself will
decide.
God's
Warning
God's
Word warns us not to place our trust or hopes in mere mortal men. In fact, God warns, "It is better to
trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put
confidence in princes" (Psalm 118:8-9).
God
commands us, "Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in
whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he retumeth to his
earth; in that very day his thoughts perish" (Psalm 146:3-4).
No
man can save us or give us salvation.
Only God and Jesus Christ can do that!
As Peter said in the book of Acts, "Neither is there salvation
in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men,
whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).
As
the apostle Paul wrote, "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with
so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which
doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set
before us, LOOKING UNTO JESUS THE AUTHOR AND FINISHER OF OUR FAITH; who for the
joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set
down at the right hand of the throne of God.
"For
consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest
ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin" (Hebrews
12:1-4).
We
should keep our eyes focused on Christ.
We should keep our eyes riveted, fixed on the Lord.
When
the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water at night, while the sea tossed and
heaved, they were afraid. But Jesus told
them, "Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid" (Matt.14:27). Peter, bold and brash as usual, said,
"Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water." Jesus told
him to do so, and Peter began walking on water!
Can
you imagine the sensation?
"But
when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he
cried, saying, Lord, save me. And
immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him,
0 thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?" (Matt.14:28-31).
Are
your eyes on Christ? Or are you still looking
to men?
David
prayed to God, "Shew me thy ways, 0 Lord; teach
me thy paths. Lead me in thy TRUTH, and
teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the
day" (Psalm 25:4-5).
David
said, "Mine eyes are EVER TOWARD THE LORD; for he shall pluck up my feet
out of the net" (Psa.25:15).
Where
are YOUR eyes centered? "But mine
eyes are unto thee, 0 God, the Lord: in thee is my trust; leave not my soul
destitute" (Psalm 141:8). Isn't it
about time we start putting our trust in God, and Jesus Christ, and not in
mortal, sinful man?
God
inspired Jeremiah to write, "Cursed be the man that trusteth
in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord" (Jer.17:5).
Jeremiah
continued, "For he shall be like the heath in the desert and shall not see
when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a
salt land and not inhabited. Blessed is
the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the
Lord is. For he shall be as a tree
planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her
roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be
green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease
from yielding fruit" (Jer.17:6-8).
In
the mid-1970s I was devastated when I learned about the terrible "cover
up" perpetrated by Herbert Armstrong over the heinous sins of his son,
Garner Ted Armstrong. I was plunged into
a morass of despair, and grief, and sorrow -- and discouragement.
Shortly
after that time, God used me to begin publishing books through Triumph
Publishing Company, which He raised up.
He began Triumph with nothing but faith, prayer, and a "little
mustard seed" of capital. During
the ensuing years, He blessed me greatly with spiritual blessings, and
sufficient money to publish 19 full length books.
During
the past ten years, God has enabled me to begin publishing a bi-monthly
Newsletter called PROPHECY FLASH, now grown into a magazine of some 88
pages. He has also revealed incredible,
amazing, sensational new prophetic truths to me -- things not revealed before
to any other man, woman or child on this earth, to my knowledge.
Why has God chosen to do this through me, an insignificant person, but one whom He has used and trained -- even at the feet of Herbert Armstrong from 1959 to 1974? Why? Of course, it is not for me, at all -- but for His own glorious purpose. Perhaps He wants to show the world what He can do with a veritable "nobody."
The
truth is the truth, and the truth will prevail!
During
the past 25 years, since I discovered that both Herbert Armstrong and Garner
Ted Armstrong were leaders with "feet of clay," and not the great men
of God I had once thought, I have learned not to depend on men at all, but to
look to Jesus Christ for His guidance and mercy and deliverance and help. I have learned that He is a very competent Saviour. Even if men
prove unworthy, He is always worthy and true.
Even when men fail, God remains loyal and steadfast, true and reliable,
a faithful Friend.
What
about you? What will you do now that you
have learned the truth about Mr. Armstrong's sins? Will this destroy your faith in the Word of
God? Will you go off, jettison the
truth, and throw away all religious faith?
As
Thomas Paine wrote some two hundred years ago, "These are the times which
try men's souls." To learn unhappy
truths about men we have once admired, is a depressing thing, but it need not
cause us to lose our faith in God. As
Paul wrote to the Romans, "Yea, let God be true but every man a liar"
(Rom.3:4).
As
David wrote so powerfully, "Truly my soul waiteth
upon God: from him cometh my salvation.
He only is my Rock and my salvation; he is my defence;
I shall not be greatly moved. How long
will ye imagine mischief against a man? ye shall be slain all of you: as a
bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence. They only consult to cast him down from his excellency: they delight in lies: they bless with their
mouth, but they curse inwardly.
Selah. My soul, wait thou only
upon God; for my expectation is from him.
He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence;
I shall not be moved. In God is my
salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour
out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah" (Psalm 62:1-8).
David
goes on, in this wonderful Psalm, "Surely men of low degree are vanity,
and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are
altogether lighter than vanity."
From
the ditch digger to Solomon, from the lowly landscape worker to Herbert
Armstrong, they are all vanity and lies, less than nothing before God.
But,
David concluded, "God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that
POWER belongeth unto God. Also unto thee, 0 Lord, belongeth
mercy: For thou tenderest to every man according
to his work" (Psa.62:9,11-12).
Whatever
we may think of Herbert W. Armstrong, or Garner Ted Armstrong, and the
shenanigans men will do, one thing is crystal clear: All will have to answer to
God in the final judgment! Every work
will be brought into judgment, whether it be good or evil.
Even
wise Solomon, who forgot more wisdom than most men will ever know, wrote in his
divinely given wisdom, "Let us hear the conclusion of the matter: Fear
God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole man." We often quote that verse, and then
stop. But this time let us go on to
quote the final verse in all the book of Ecclesiastes: "For God shall
bring EVERY WORK INTO JUDGMENT, with EVERY SECRET THING, whether it be good, or
whether it be evil" (Eccl.12:13-14).
This
is truly the "conclusion of the matter." God will judge each man's work, to reward him
accordingly. Only those sins truly covered
by the blood of Christ will be forgiven and forgotten. It is to Christ that we should look for
salvation, mercy, and help in time of need.
Let's keep our eyes and hearts on Him!
God will bless us if we do!