Re: Michael Medved: Right wing fringe damaging Republican Party
Dec 5, 2008
Michael Medved could become a better Jew and follow Judaism to the Jewish homeland, as it requires. No need to stay among us Joes (descendants of Joseph, not Judah), when Israel is calling!
--
www.davidbenariel.org
Friday, December 05, 2008
The Untold Story
Stephen Flurry and The Philadelphia Church of God
Stephen Flurry, son of Gerald Flurry, pastor general of the Philadelphia Church of God (based in Edmond, Oklahoma), has published a book that Amazon sells, Raising the Ruins: The Fight to Revive the Legacy of Herbert W. Armstrong.
It's promoted as "the shocking, gripping untold story of the doctrinal hijacking and spiritual destruction of the Worldwide Church of God after the death of its founder." Yet it basically REPEATS what Malachi's Message taught: "Malachi's Message is the gripping story of God's true Church gone off track in this end time...".
The "untold story"? How dare Stephen Flurry deny his father's work -- the "centerpiece" of PCG literature -- with his approval. But when a Laodicean leader is blind and one follows the other, they're both bound to fall into the ditch.
What can we expect from those who fail to do what Herbert W. Armstrong clearly saw must yet be done and yet none of the groups professing to follow Herbert W. Armstrong have even expressed any interest in doing it? God's apostle said we must REACH THE CITIES OF JUDAH!
Since it appears Gerald Flurry and the Philadelphia Church of God are hard of hearing, the articles offered below, the indictments served, repeat the plain truth of this matter that God led me to share with them earlier, which I continue to stand by and testify is true.
May God grant Gerald Flurry and his son Stephen Flurry, as well as the PCG ministry and laymembers, heartfelt repentance for failing to warn the world in any major way about what is fast coming upon the world.
With all the money they've squandered the whole world could know the warning message. If the PCG continues with Flurrys' folly rather than repent and get busy and DO THE WORK OF GOD -- not merely the misleading works of men -- they will be guilty of the blood of millions, as GOD WARNS THEM:
Ezekiel 3:18
18 When I say to the wicked, 'You shall surely die,' and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand.
The Great Mideast Commission: Reaching the Cities of Judah
The Work of God Must Go Forward!
PCG: Carrying on "Business as Usual"
God has given the Philadelphia Church of God sufficient room to repent. If they don't, if they remain proud and stubborn like Sodom and Egypt, they will be removed from their position and God will see to it that HIS Work gets done! You can bet your life on it.
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Flurry's character assassination of David Ben-Ariel
Is David Ben-Ariel A Terrorist?
Apparently, the PCG would mislead you to believe that!
Why would the PCG portray David Ben-Ariel as a terrorist? Especially after complaining about character assassination of Gerald Flurry and the Philadelphia Church of God, of which he is the pastor general? Isn't that hypocrisy that stinks to High Heaven? Are they so hateful against all former members?
The Philadelphia Church of God, based in Edmond, Oklahoma, took out a full page ad in The Oklahoman. It was in livid response to FOX 25's Prime Time News at Nine Special Report on the PCG.
In The Oklahoman ad, Gerald Flurry charges that FOX 25 "built its case against us relying heavily on THAT MAN'S TESTIMONY, even featuring him prominently on their two part series," although the reports totalled nearly 10 minutes or so in duration and I was featured for roughly 40 seconds. Not even 15 minutes of fame there!
Within my very brief appearance (that thankfully flashed Beyond Babylon on the screen, my book, as well as my Philadelphia Church of God blog and photo), I made a total of four comments that were noted in my article: Fox 25 Special Report on Philadelphia Church of God -
Fox 25, Oklahoma City, Special Report:
Philadelphia Church of God: Part One
David Ben-Ariel: I was basically put out..
Reporter Nick Winkler: Former PCG member David Ben-Ariel says he was kicked out of the Church for writing a book [Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall] without the Church's approval and says all that money [15 million Art Center on their Edmond, Oklahoma site] could be better spent spreading God's Word differently...
David Ben-Ariel: Hopefully, they'll stop spending their money in Edmond, Oklahoma and use it to become a household word with our teachings and let that become known.
*****************
Philadelphia Church of God: Part Two
Nick Winkler: Before Jesus Christ returns...
David Ben-Ariel: Violence, WWIII...yes, there will be lots of violence.
Nick Winkler: Former PCG member David Ben-Ariel says he was kicked out of the Church but still defends its tithing practices...
David Ben-Ariel: Again, it's voluntary but it's understood if you're a Church of God member you will tithe and you'll want to.
*********************
Did you read anything in those four comments to justify Gerald Flurry's fury against me? He must of had a vein about to burst when he made steaming reference to me in his attack ad as "THAT MAN'S TESTIMONY" and "that man."
What was so terrible about my testimony? Doesn't the PCG believe any longer that the end of this world, as we know it, will occur with great violence? Is that why they've settled in their comfortable Edmond campus-kingdom and expensively adorn it with what will soon be spoils of war? It wasn't aired, but I had continued to share during the interview that it will get so bad that mankind will demand divine intervention to save us from ourselves, especially the targetted American, British and Jewish peoples.
"I was basically put out..." - did it disturb Flurry that this dubious practice should be made known? That I was disfellowshipped from the Philadelphia Church of God by Gerald Flurry's former wicked counsellor, Dennis Leap, for writing Beyond Babylon without being an ordained minister, and for publicly protesting his abuse of this lay member? I had written articles exposing him playing politics and shared them with brethren, which resulted in me being "marked" by the PCG. God knows my testimony is true, and it can be reviewed here:
Philadelphia Church of God Leads the Laodicean Era (Part 1)
Philadelphia Church of God Leads Laodicean Era (Conclusion)
So what is Gerald Flurry talking about? Did he see the same special report? What warranted his murderous hatred? His vile slander against me, leaving the strong and wrong impression that I am a terrorist? I even upheld their biblical practice of tithing but strongly disagreed with Flurry's misguided focus on Edmond rather than on Jerusalem and the world.
Herbert W. Armstrong always said we should focus on Jerusalem, and that involves far more than scratching the surface with archaeological digs that, at least, the PCG, is involved with in Israel. But it isn't enough, as I decry in: PCG: Carrying on "Business as Usual".
The Great Mideast Commission: Reaching the Cities of Judah
Flurry is floundering in Oklahoma, despite outward appearances. He has foundered his flock, excessively feeding themselves instead of others, feeling they're rich and fat and sassy and in need of nothing, but they're ready for slaughter - if they don't repent and do more!
The PCG does offer lots of literature, but it's nothing compared to what they could be doing with all that money squandered in Edmond. Besides, why does Flurry want to impress the world rather than warn them about a German-dominated Europe that will soon strike us with nuclear lightning?
The Watchmen are to sound the alarm and roar like a lion, not purr like a pussy cat! Once folks find out what the collective Body of Christ, the Sabbath-keeping Church of God really believes, all the various groups associated with the biblical teachings that Herbert W. Armstrong taught, not just the PCG, they'll hate us!
My unjust deportation from Israel, from the Jewish homeland that I love, was due to unwarranted hatred of the plain truth, by godless Israeli authorities who despise Torah-observant Jews and Christian Zionists who remind them of their Hebrew roots and biblical responsibilities. They prefer to worship at the altar of humanism and act like Hellenists, wanting to become like the world rather than a light to all nations.
Flurry's ad referred to me as "a man that the Israeli police suspects of being involved in terrorist activity." Of course, he offers no proof of it, as they never did either - because there isn't a shred of evidence to even suggest such nonsense! What is clear is that some are terrorized by the truth! So, yes, in that sense, I am a terrorist!
Apparently, it terrorized the Germans and the Jesuits, and their treacherous Jewish puppets, when I had an article published in The Traveller - read throughout Israel - exposing the German-Vatican plot to occupy Jerusalem. It was shortly after its publication that I was visited where I lived and worked, the Palm Youth Hostel outside the Damascus Gate, and taken for six and a half hours of nighttime interrogation by six different men.
I was NEVER arrested, because I was never charged with any crime, because I was never guilty of any of the false accusations some wickedly indulge in spewing. I was detained and later unjustly deported. Those are the facts.
When I attempted to return the same year of my unjust deportation (1996) I was detained at the airport and refused entry. In 1997 I petitioned Senator Mike DeWine to inquire about a visa for me and he received an initial reply from Itzhak Oren, Minister for Congressional Affairs, March 7, 1997, that read, in part:
"It is our understanding that Mr. Ben-Ariel will not be granted a tourist visa at this time...The Ministry of the Interior...has made the decision not to grant the visa and does not offer any information behind their decision."
That was in regard to the requested visa, not to my former unjust deportation! Note the difference. Consequent correspondence informed Senator DeWine that I would not be "eligible for a tourist visa until 2005." They never said I couldn't return. In fact, in God's good time, I expect to return to Zion.
Regarding my unjust deportation, that political prostitute, former Consul General in Jerusalem, Edward Abington, Jr., wrote the Honorable Marcy Kaptur, my Congressional representative, June 28, 1996:
"On June 6, 1996 the Consulate General in Jerusalem received your letter of May 6, 1996 about the deportation of David Ben-Ariel.
On April 2, 1996, we responded to an earlier query of yours about Mr. Ben- Ariel. In that letter we noted that Mr. Ben-Ariel was held at the Jerusalem jail from January 4, 1996 until February 1, 1996, when he was deported by the Israeli government for overstaying his permission to stay in Israel...(emphasis mine).
Blow up the Mosques or an Expired Visa?
My strong response to his incompetence, to his pro-Nazi Muslim and anti-Jewish and anti-Christian stance, has been made very public, since my letter to Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur is available for all to see and read: Why Edward Abington, Jr. Must Be Investigated!
The United States State Department, Senators DeWine and Voinovich, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur and the Israeli authorities among many others, know I was never deported from Israel for anything other than "an expired visa." Which is just another lie, since it was not expired as I had that special piece of paper from the Ministry of the Interior, but they used that lame excuse to cover themselves since the plain truth was, as Gershon Salomon, honored to help liberate the Temple Mount during the miraculous Six Day War in 1967, chairman of the Temple Mount Faithful, stated: "This is a clear cut case of politico-religious discrimination."
It's an abomination that Gerald and Stephen Flurry would conspire as two false witnesses against me, useful idiots for the corrupt Israeli oligarchy, something we can expect from the unconverted world, from those who disagree with our religious beliefs, but it's a Judas-type betrayal for professing Christians to backstab a brother!
And when the pastor general of the PCG treats such vicious rumors as fact, which he hated when supposedly done to him, and speaks of them as "that man's troubling past" and "potentially dangerous influence," and refers to me as a "dangerous critic," he's proven how unsound his judgment is and how irrational he's become - especially when honest and objective folks can see all I correctly criticized was Dennis Leap playing politics about Beyond Babylon and Gerald Flurry wasting tithe money in his own backyard.
David Ben-Ariel
Author, Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall
http://www.davidbenariel.org/
Apparently, the PCG would mislead you to believe that!
Why would the PCG portray David Ben-Ariel as a terrorist? Especially after complaining about character assassination of Gerald Flurry and the Philadelphia Church of God, of which he is the pastor general? Isn't that hypocrisy that stinks to High Heaven? Are they so hateful against all former members?
The Philadelphia Church of God, based in Edmond, Oklahoma, took out a full page ad in The Oklahoman. It was in livid response to FOX 25's Prime Time News at Nine Special Report on the PCG.
In The Oklahoman ad, Gerald Flurry charges that FOX 25 "built its case against us relying heavily on THAT MAN'S TESTIMONY, even featuring him prominently on their two part series," although the reports totalled nearly 10 minutes or so in duration and I was featured for roughly 40 seconds. Not even 15 minutes of fame there!
Within my very brief appearance (that thankfully flashed Beyond Babylon on the screen, my book, as well as my Philadelphia Church of God blog and photo), I made a total of four comments that were noted in my article: Fox 25 Special Report on Philadelphia Church of God -
Fox 25, Oklahoma City, Special Report:
Philadelphia Church of God: Part One
David Ben-Ariel: I was basically put out..
Reporter Nick Winkler: Former PCG member David Ben-Ariel says he was kicked out of the Church for writing a book [Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall] without the Church's approval and says all that money [15 million Art Center on their Edmond, Oklahoma site] could be better spent spreading God's Word differently...
David Ben-Ariel: Hopefully, they'll stop spending their money in Edmond, Oklahoma and use it to become a household word with our teachings and let that become known.
*****************
Philadelphia Church of God: Part Two
Nick Winkler: Before Jesus Christ returns...
David Ben-Ariel: Violence, WWIII...yes, there will be lots of violence.
Nick Winkler: Former PCG member David Ben-Ariel says he was kicked out of the Church but still defends its tithing practices...
David Ben-Ariel: Again, it's voluntary but it's understood if you're a Church of God member you will tithe and you'll want to.
*********************
Did you read anything in those four comments to justify Gerald Flurry's fury against me? He must of had a vein about to burst when he made steaming reference to me in his attack ad as "THAT MAN'S TESTIMONY" and "that man."
What was so terrible about my testimony? Doesn't the PCG believe any longer that the end of this world, as we know it, will occur with great violence? Is that why they've settled in their comfortable Edmond campus-kingdom and expensively adorn it with what will soon be spoils of war? It wasn't aired, but I had continued to share during the interview that it will get so bad that mankind will demand divine intervention to save us from ourselves, especially the targetted American, British and Jewish peoples.
"I was basically put out..." - did it disturb Flurry that this dubious practice should be made known? That I was disfellowshipped from the Philadelphia Church of God by Gerald Flurry's former wicked counsellor, Dennis Leap, for writing Beyond Babylon without being an ordained minister, and for publicly protesting his abuse of this lay member? I had written articles exposing him playing politics and shared them with brethren, which resulted in me being "marked" by the PCG. God knows my testimony is true, and it can be reviewed here:
Philadelphia Church of God Leads the Laodicean Era (Part 1)
Philadelphia Church of God Leads Laodicean Era (Conclusion)
So what is Gerald Flurry talking about? Did he see the same special report? What warranted his murderous hatred? His vile slander against me, leaving the strong and wrong impression that I am a terrorist? I even upheld their biblical practice of tithing but strongly disagreed with Flurry's misguided focus on Edmond rather than on Jerusalem and the world.
Herbert W. Armstrong always said we should focus on Jerusalem, and that involves far more than scratching the surface with archaeological digs that, at least, the PCG, is involved with in Israel. But it isn't enough, as I decry in: PCG: Carrying on "Business as Usual".
The Great Mideast Commission: Reaching the Cities of Judah
Flurry is floundering in Oklahoma, despite outward appearances. He has foundered his flock, excessively feeding themselves instead of others, feeling they're rich and fat and sassy and in need of nothing, but they're ready for slaughter - if they don't repent and do more!
The PCG does offer lots of literature, but it's nothing compared to what they could be doing with all that money squandered in Edmond. Besides, why does Flurry want to impress the world rather than warn them about a German-dominated Europe that will soon strike us with nuclear lightning?
The Watchmen are to sound the alarm and roar like a lion, not purr like a pussy cat! Once folks find out what the collective Body of Christ, the Sabbath-keeping Church of God really believes, all the various groups associated with the biblical teachings that Herbert W. Armstrong taught, not just the PCG, they'll hate us!
My unjust deportation from Israel, from the Jewish homeland that I love, was due to unwarranted hatred of the plain truth, by godless Israeli authorities who despise Torah-observant Jews and Christian Zionists who remind them of their Hebrew roots and biblical responsibilities. They prefer to worship at the altar of humanism and act like Hellenists, wanting to become like the world rather than a light to all nations.
Flurry's ad referred to me as "a man that the Israeli police suspects of being involved in terrorist activity." Of course, he offers no proof of it, as they never did either - because there isn't a shred of evidence to even suggest such nonsense! What is clear is that some are terrorized by the truth! So, yes, in that sense, I am a terrorist!
Apparently, it terrorized the Germans and the Jesuits, and their treacherous Jewish puppets, when I had an article published in The Traveller - read throughout Israel - exposing the German-Vatican plot to occupy Jerusalem. It was shortly after its publication that I was visited where I lived and worked, the Palm Youth Hostel outside the Damascus Gate, and taken for six and a half hours of nighttime interrogation by six different men.
I was NEVER arrested, because I was never charged with any crime, because I was never guilty of any of the false accusations some wickedly indulge in spewing. I was detained and later unjustly deported. Those are the facts.
When I attempted to return the same year of my unjust deportation (1996) I was detained at the airport and refused entry. In 1997 I petitioned Senator Mike DeWine to inquire about a visa for me and he received an initial reply from Itzhak Oren, Minister for Congressional Affairs, March 7, 1997, that read, in part:
"It is our understanding that Mr. Ben-Ariel will not be granted a tourist visa at this time...The Ministry of the Interior...has made the decision not to grant the visa and does not offer any information behind their decision."
That was in regard to the requested visa, not to my former unjust deportation! Note the difference. Consequent correspondence informed Senator DeWine that I would not be "eligible for a tourist visa until 2005." They never said I couldn't return. In fact, in God's good time, I expect to return to Zion.
Regarding my unjust deportation, that political prostitute, former Consul General in Jerusalem, Edward Abington, Jr., wrote the Honorable Marcy Kaptur, my Congressional representative, June 28, 1996:
"On June 6, 1996 the Consulate General in Jerusalem received your letter of May 6, 1996 about the deportation of David Ben-Ariel.
On April 2, 1996, we responded to an earlier query of yours about Mr. Ben- Ariel. In that letter we noted that Mr. Ben-Ariel was held at the Jerusalem jail from January 4, 1996 until February 1, 1996, when he was deported by the Israeli government for overstaying his permission to stay in Israel...(emphasis mine).
Blow up the Mosques or an Expired Visa?
My strong response to his incompetence, to his pro-Nazi Muslim and anti-Jewish and anti-Christian stance, has been made very public, since my letter to Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur is available for all to see and read: Why Edward Abington, Jr. Must Be Investigated!
The United States State Department, Senators DeWine and Voinovich, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur and the Israeli authorities among many others, know I was never deported from Israel for anything other than "an expired visa." Which is just another lie, since it was not expired as I had that special piece of paper from the Ministry of the Interior, but they used that lame excuse to cover themselves since the plain truth was, as Gershon Salomon, honored to help liberate the Temple Mount during the miraculous Six Day War in 1967, chairman of the Temple Mount Faithful, stated: "This is a clear cut case of politico-religious discrimination."
It's an abomination that Gerald and Stephen Flurry would conspire as two false witnesses against me, useful idiots for the corrupt Israeli oligarchy, something we can expect from the unconverted world, from those who disagree with our religious beliefs, but it's a Judas-type betrayal for professing Christians to backstab a brother!
And when the pastor general of the PCG treats such vicious rumors as fact, which he hated when supposedly done to him, and speaks of them as "that man's troubling past" and "potentially dangerous influence," and refers to me as a "dangerous critic," he's proven how unsound his judgment is and how irrational he's become - especially when honest and objective folks can see all I correctly criticized was Dennis Leap playing politics about Beyond Babylon and Gerald Flurry wasting tithe money in his own backyard.
David Ben-Ariel
Author, Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall
http://www.davidbenariel.org/
Gerald Flurry Attacks David Ben-Ariel
Gerald Flurry's Outrageous Attack Against David Ben-Ariel
Gerald Flurry, pastor general of the PCG, is guilty of what he charges others. The disgruntled leader of the Edmond, Oklahoma-based Philadelphia Church of God has launched an outrageous attack against me due to his indignation over FOX 25's Primetime News at Nine special report on the PCG that aired two nights in a row. Flurry's fury was poured out in a full-page ad in The Oklahoman today.
Fox 25 Special Report on Philadelphia Church of God
Gerald Flurry has every right to offer his review of the special report on the PCG (and some of his ire is merited), but one wonders why he refused to be interviewed and set the record straight then, and even tape it himself to avoid being taken out of context?
Gerald Flurry hypocritically rants and raves against yellow journalism, scandalous unsubstantiated allegations, "telling part of the truth can make the truth out to be a lie," and then turns right around and engages in all those "dangerously demented tactics" against the Branch Davidians and against David Ben-Ariel - little ol' me!
Gerald Flurry (and son Stephen Flurry) feigns surprise that I knew about the special report allegedly before they did, but he fails to make honest mention that I sent out that information to both the PCG and many other of the Church of God branches, as many can testify. Considering how his former right-hand man and terrible sycophant (who was a cruel counsellor to many of the battered brethren), Dennis Leap, apparently withheld information from him about my book, Beyond Babylon, I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't know what was going on. I tried.
Gerald Flurry should be ashamed that he would abuse me as his straw man against reporter Nick Winkler and Fox 25, especially when I made it very clear to Mr. Winkler that I did not want to be part of any hit piece after I reviewed some questions he graciously sent me, as these emails prove:
David wrote:
I'm curious if those questions are for everybody you'll talk to or do you plan to talk to present members of the PCG too for balance or not or what? Is it a hit piece or an honest and unbiased report?
Original Message
From: Nick Winkler
Sent: Oct 14, 2008 8:25 PM
To: David
Subject: Re: (no subject)
No. I plan on contacting Flurry and members who live nearby.
I understand they may even be having an open house for the public.
Those questions will be asked of Flurry as well.
Feel free to disagree with the nature of any of the questions.
Correct anything you think is not being asked fairly.
Some of the questions are derived from law enforcement who have
investigated the church in the past.
Feel free to ask me whatever you'd like..or to add to the questions I sent.
Nick
From: "David"
To: "Nick Winkler"
Sent: Tuesday, October 14, 2008 8:28 PM
Subject: Constructive criticism
I'm pleasantly surprised by your refreshing reply, Nick. Thank you. The questions simply seemed biased and hateful IF those are the only questions that bitter former members would revel in but someone like me wouldn't want to be party to since we have constructive criticism (even TOUGH LOVE) of the PCG and still maintain the same basic beliefs as they do: Sabbath, holy days, dietary laws, no pagan holidays or traditional heaven and hell BS from Rome.
You might have noted in several articles I took Mr. Flurry to task, saying IF he truly believes we're in the last of the last days, why is he spending a fortune in Edmond (on jewels, buildings, etc.) instead of getting the Word out and becoming a household name? It is inconsistent and a squandering of time and money.
If Mr. Flurry or current Church members speak with you, I'll be surprised, since Mr. Armstrong told us all years ago how he ONCE permitted himself to be interviewed and after they "edited" it and went with it he felt totally betrayed and misrepresented. A great and deserving mistrust exists among the brethren due to such negative experiences. I'm willing to be interviewed, because what have I got to lose? :-)
Cheers,
David
Gerald Flurry, and son Stephen Flurry, wrote in his full page ad:
"Our Church briefly communicated with David Ben-Ariel in the early 1990s.
But we quickly cut off all contact after learning about his bizarre and even radical views." And then he goes on to mention: "Ben-Ariel -- whose name used to be Hoover -- was detained by Israeli police and interrogated for six hours for allegedly plotting to blow up the Al-Aqsa mosque" and was later deported. Flurry failed to report that the Israeli authorities acknowledged to The Jerusalem Post that they "lacked sufficient evidence" to convict me - because there was no plot except the one they conspired against me, due to an article published in The Traveller magazine in Jerusalem, as revealed within: Exposing the German-Vatican Plot to Occupy Jerusalem and Still at Large!
Gerald Flurry and son failed to mention I was an official member of the Philadelphia Church of God in the early 1990s, and that I was put out of the PCG for daring to write a book, Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall, without being an ordained minister. Dennis Leap was infuriated when I told him that by his insistence that I must be a minister to write such a book, he was still looking to "men of stature" (which Flurry's book, Malachi's Message, condemns) and that he was unbiblical and playing politics by his dictates that I must "forget about Beyond Babylon" and act "like a regular lay member." I was disfellowshipped and later "marked" after exposing all this in various *articles (which is what reporter Nick Day found on the Internet and is why he contacted me).
Wayne Turgeon [Gerald Flurry's son-in-law] handed Flurry a print out of Beyond Babylon years ago and he returned it to him saying, "He's always sending us stuff." Mr. Flurry even responded to me several times on various issues including his confusion of Mount Carmel with Mount Hermon which I brought to his attention (having been blessed to live next to both of them), and my disagreement with him when he said the pope was the only religious leader to sit on a throne and I mentioned the Queen of England is also head of the Anglican Church (although agreeing with the point he was making against the Roman Catholic Cult)... Later I sent an autographed copy of a self-published BB (Beyond Babylon) [before Publish America published it] to Flurry's home for him and his wife who said to me (during the Feast of Tabernacles in Louisville) about my name, "What a strong Judah name!"
- excerpt from Politics in the Church of God Hinders Progress
When Caesar Plays God: When the State Oversteps its Bounds
*Philadelphia Church of God Leads the Laodicean Era (Part 1)
Philadelphia Church of God Leads Laodicean Era (Conclusion)
Gerald Flurry and son failed to mention that the PCG believes in the same "bizarre and even radical views" that I do, whether it's about a German-EU, under the heavy influence of the Roman Catholic Church, that will brutally betray the American, British and Jewish peoples, igniting WWIII, and that professing Christian holidays like Christmas and Easter are nothing but baptized paganism, idolatry and immorality, that are fuel on the fires of God's judgment upon our White Israelite nations, leading to destruction, defeat and deportation!
The Intelligence Summit Misses the Mark: the German-Jesuit Threat to World Peace
Gerald Flurry's attack against me failed to address the two issues I raised:
1) How I was put out of the PCG for writing Beyond Babylon, and 2) how he's wasting tithes on a $15 million Art Center on their Edmond, Oklahoma site instead of properly getting out the Word of God, as I decry in PCG: Carrying on "Business as Usual".
Gerald Flurry has been given an opportunity to go public, taking out full page ads that I called upon him to do years ago, to share our beliefs, the plain truth of the Bible, to warn the world, now that FOX 25 has afforded him coverage. May God bless Gerald Flurry to repent and do just that.
David Ben-Ariel
Author, Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall
http://www.davidbenariel.org/
Gerald Flurry, pastor general of the PCG, is guilty of what he charges others. The disgruntled leader of the Edmond, Oklahoma-based Philadelphia Church of God has launched an outrageous attack against me due to his indignation over FOX 25's Primetime News at Nine special report on the PCG that aired two nights in a row. Flurry's fury was poured out in a full-page ad in The Oklahoman today.
Fox 25 Special Report on Philadelphia Church of God
Gerald Flurry has every right to offer his review of the special report on the PCG (and some of his ire is merited), but one wonders why he refused to be interviewed and set the record straight then, and even tape it himself to avoid being taken out of context?
Gerald Flurry hypocritically rants and raves against yellow journalism, scandalous unsubstantiated allegations, "telling part of the truth can make the truth out to be a lie," and then turns right around and engages in all those "dangerously demented tactics" against the Branch Davidians and against David Ben-Ariel - little ol' me!
Gerald Flurry (and son Stephen Flurry) feigns surprise that I knew about the special report allegedly before they did, but he fails to make honest mention that I sent out that information to both the PCG and many other of the Church of God branches, as many can testify. Considering how his former right-hand man and terrible sycophant (who was a cruel counsellor to many of the battered brethren), Dennis Leap, apparently withheld information from him about my book, Beyond Babylon, I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't know what was going on. I tried.
Gerald Flurry should be ashamed that he would abuse me as his straw man against reporter Nick Winkler and Fox 25, especially when I made it very clear to Mr. Winkler that I did not want to be part of any hit piece after I reviewed some questions he graciously sent me, as these emails prove:
David wrote:
I'm curious if those questions are for everybody you'll talk to or do you plan to talk to present members of the PCG too for balance or not or what? Is it a hit piece or an honest and unbiased report?
Original Message
From: Nick Winkler
Sent: Oct 14, 2008 8:25 PM
To: David
Subject: Re: (no subject)
No. I plan on contacting Flurry and members who live nearby.
I understand they may even be having an open house for the public.
Those questions will be asked of Flurry as well.
Feel free to disagree with the nature of any of the questions.
Correct anything you think is not being asked fairly.
Some of the questions are derived from law enforcement who have
investigated the church in the past.
Feel free to ask me whatever you'd like..or to add to the questions I sent.
Nick
From: "David"
To: "Nick Winkler"
Sent: Tuesday, October 14, 2008 8:28 PM
Subject: Constructive criticism
I'm pleasantly surprised by your refreshing reply, Nick. Thank you. The questions simply seemed biased and hateful IF those are the only questions that bitter former members would revel in but someone like me wouldn't want to be party to since we have constructive criticism (even TOUGH LOVE) of the PCG and still maintain the same basic beliefs as they do: Sabbath, holy days, dietary laws, no pagan holidays or traditional heaven and hell BS from Rome.
You might have noted in several articles I took Mr. Flurry to task, saying IF he truly believes we're in the last of the last days, why is he spending a fortune in Edmond (on jewels, buildings, etc.) instead of getting the Word out and becoming a household name? It is inconsistent and a squandering of time and money.
If Mr. Flurry or current Church members speak with you, I'll be surprised, since Mr. Armstrong told us all years ago how he ONCE permitted himself to be interviewed and after they "edited" it and went with it he felt totally betrayed and misrepresented. A great and deserving mistrust exists among the brethren due to such negative experiences. I'm willing to be interviewed, because what have I got to lose? :-)
Cheers,
David
Gerald Flurry, and son Stephen Flurry, wrote in his full page ad:
"Our Church briefly communicated with David Ben-Ariel in the early 1990s.
But we quickly cut off all contact after learning about his bizarre and even radical views." And then he goes on to mention: "Ben-Ariel -- whose name used to be Hoover -- was detained by Israeli police and interrogated for six hours for allegedly plotting to blow up the Al-Aqsa mosque" and was later deported. Flurry failed to report that the Israeli authorities acknowledged to The Jerusalem Post that they "lacked sufficient evidence" to convict me - because there was no plot except the one they conspired against me, due to an article published in The Traveller magazine in Jerusalem, as revealed within: Exposing the German-Vatican Plot to Occupy Jerusalem and Still at Large!
Gerald Flurry and son failed to mention I was an official member of the Philadelphia Church of God in the early 1990s, and that I was put out of the PCG for daring to write a book, Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall, without being an ordained minister. Dennis Leap was infuriated when I told him that by his insistence that I must be a minister to write such a book, he was still looking to "men of stature" (which Flurry's book, Malachi's Message, condemns) and that he was unbiblical and playing politics by his dictates that I must "forget about Beyond Babylon" and act "like a regular lay member." I was disfellowshipped and later "marked" after exposing all this in various *articles (which is what reporter Nick Day found on the Internet and is why he contacted me).
Wayne Turgeon [Gerald Flurry's son-in-law] handed Flurry a print out of Beyond Babylon years ago and he returned it to him saying, "He's always sending us stuff." Mr. Flurry even responded to me several times on various issues including his confusion of Mount Carmel with Mount Hermon which I brought to his attention (having been blessed to live next to both of them), and my disagreement with him when he said the pope was the only religious leader to sit on a throne and I mentioned the Queen of England is also head of the Anglican Church (although agreeing with the point he was making against the Roman Catholic Cult)... Later I sent an autographed copy of a self-published BB (Beyond Babylon) [before Publish America published it] to Flurry's home for him and his wife who said to me (during the Feast of Tabernacles in Louisville) about my name, "What a strong Judah name!"
- excerpt from Politics in the Church of God Hinders Progress
When Caesar Plays God: When the State Oversteps its Bounds
*Philadelphia Church of God Leads the Laodicean Era (Part 1)
Philadelphia Church of God Leads Laodicean Era (Conclusion)
Gerald Flurry and son failed to mention that the PCG believes in the same "bizarre and even radical views" that I do, whether it's about a German-EU, under the heavy influence of the Roman Catholic Church, that will brutally betray the American, British and Jewish peoples, igniting WWIII, and that professing Christian holidays like Christmas and Easter are nothing but baptized paganism, idolatry and immorality, that are fuel on the fires of God's judgment upon our White Israelite nations, leading to destruction, defeat and deportation!
The Intelligence Summit Misses the Mark: the German-Jesuit Threat to World Peace
Gerald Flurry's attack against me failed to address the two issues I raised:
1) How I was put out of the PCG for writing Beyond Babylon, and 2) how he's wasting tithes on a $15 million Art Center on their Edmond, Oklahoma site instead of properly getting out the Word of God, as I decry in PCG: Carrying on "Business as Usual".
Gerald Flurry has been given an opportunity to go public, taking out full page ads that I called upon him to do years ago, to share our beliefs, the plain truth of the Bible, to warn the world, now that FOX 25 has afforded him coverage. May God bless Gerald Flurry to repent and do just that.
David Ben-Ariel
Author, Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall
http://www.davidbenariel.org/
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Kibbutz Adamit photos
Here are some photos of Kibbutz Adamit volunteers and kibbutzniks, in and around Kibbutz Adamit (on the border of Lebanon up on a mountain from where on clear days you could see all the way to Haifa on Mount Carmel), with a few of Rosh Hanikra, Rainbow Bridge, the valley below us where we listened to hyenas - or were they wolves? - with their hauntingly beautiful howls and wild pigs rooted in the orchards and we lived with rumors of war... and from where I wrote a letter that was published in the Jerusalem Post ...Enjoy the pics!
Kibbutz Adamit photos
Kibbutz Adamit photos
Monday, December 01, 2008
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Don't trust Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu on the Temple Mount
CFR Benjamin Netanyahu before he became prime minister:
CFR Benjamin Netanyahu before he became prime minister:
"The right of the Jewish people to its holy place - the Temple Mount - cannot be questioned...I believe it is necessary to arrange for Jewish prayer on the site, especially given that we permit freedom of worship to all the religions in Jerusalem...". And his office charged Palestinian officials with "disparaging Jewish holy sites and threatening potential worshippers" (in flagrant violation of Israel's 1967 Law for the Protection of the Holy Places and the Oslo Accords). His deputy director of communications, Michael Freund, responded to the PA mufti's declaration of war (that Jews "...must absolutely forget about having any rights over the Temple Mount...the Western Wall is just a fence belonging to a Muslim holy site") by saying "these statements are repugnant and they betray a contempt for Judaism's most sacred sites and beliefs. They are an affront to history and insulting to Jews everywhere."
After CFR Benjamin Netanyahu became prime minister he failed to put his promises into practice and permitted the Nazi-Muslims to continue to trample the principles he so eloquently spoke about. Never forget!
The woeful neglect of bribed Israeli politicians and bankrupt Jewish religious leaders stinks to High Heaven and demands an accounting. Watch for the German-EU offer to pick up the tab with strings attached.
Europe to Take Out Iran For Jerusalem
Paint Israel Black: Jews to Lose Jerusalem!
Woe to Ariel! (Jerusalem to Suffer EU Occupation)
Exposing the German-Vatican Plot to Occupy Jerusalem
Jews Must Demand Rights to Temple Mount
A Day of Mourning
A Day of Mourning
Naomi Ragen
After days of prayer and fear among Jews and good people everywhere, the horrible reality of the Islamic terrorist rampage in Mumbai was revealed in all its obscene and mindless savagery when members of Zaka entered the Chabad compound.
As an eyewitness told YNET, the sight was unbearable even to the practiced eyes of those whose job it is to deal with the aftermath of murderous terror attacks:
"The place was totally destroyed. Live grenades were all over the floor. Torah scrolls and holy books were scattered on the floor, covered with blood."
The bodies of the Chabad rabbi and the kashrut supervisor were found in one room, along with two other men whose hands had been tied with telephone wire. The body of the Rabbi's young wife Rivkie was found covered in a tallit. It is believed she was killed before her young husband's eyes and he wrapped her in his tallit.
A grandmother from Israel, and a Jewish woman tourist from Mexico were also identified. For photos you will not see in the New York Times of the blood-soaked floor of the house of prayer and hospitality, courtesy of the "religion of peace" whose riots kill hundreds when a Koran is desecrated, please go to: http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3630586,00.html
Police in Mumbai report that they found enough ammunition to blow up both hotels and to kill thousands, which according to a terrorist captured alive, was the intention. This carefully planned attack, which had the Chabad House at its center, was orchestrated from Pakistan. Vilasrao Deshmukh, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra state, of which Bombay is the capital, was quoted yesterday as saying there were two "British-born Pakistanis" among the terrorists, reports he later denied. A British Pakistani was involved in a terror attack in Israel at Mike's Place not long ago.
The Mail Online reports "a banned Islamic terrorist group funded with cash raised in British mosques is believed to be behind the Mumbai attacks." The Mail reports: "The only terrorist captured alive after the Mumbai massacre has given police the first full account of the extraordinary events that led to it - revealing he was ordered to 'kill until the last breath'.
Azam Amir Kasab, 21, from Pakistan, said the attacks were meticulously planned six months ago and were intended to kill 5,000 people. He revealed that the ten terrorists, who were highly trained in marine assault and crept into the city by boat, had planned to blow up the Taj Mahal Palace hotel after first executing British and American tourists and then taking hostages.
"These descriptions brought back flashbacks to me of the Park Hotel which was rocked by a murderous explosion by Hamas terrorists right before the Seder began. Perhaps it is impossible for the average human being to understand the depth of evil represented by Muslim extremists and their supporters if you didn't witness such a thing. I deal with this in my book, The Covenant. But I feel that I am whistling in the wind. People who have not seen this with their own eyes just refuse to understand that these are not people with grievances, people who can be reasoned with. These people are Nazis. Only if you think you can speak to a Nazi and convince him to not wish to kill Jews, can such a stand make sense.
No one should negotiate with any person, government official, religious leader, or member of any group that does not condemn and despise and excoriate these terrorists. No respect should be given to any religion, or member of that religion, or religious leader who does not despise and condemn these acts. When one views the bloody floor of Chabad House, one sees the bloodied face of civilization. Those who are not prepared to exterminate this evil, and those who are involved in it, are part of it.
Eyewitness Jonathan Ehrlich, a businessman who narrowly escaped death in Mumbai, sent out an e-mail of his experiences. In conclusion, he writes this: The people who did this have no souls. They have no hearts. They are simplythe living manifestation of evil and they only know killing and murder. We - all of us - need to understand that. Their target tonight was first and foremost Americans. Why? Because they fear everything that America stands for. They fear hope and change and freedom and peace. Let's make no mistake; they would have shot me and my children point blank tonight without a moment's hesitation. Most of us sorta know that but sometimes we equivocate. We can't equivocate. Not ever.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.naomiragen.com/
*********************
Behind the Veil of Islam
Ohio Mosque Promotes Murder!
Toledo, Islam, and Terrorists
Death to America: Major American Cities Targeted by Terrorists?
Naomi Ragen
After days of prayer and fear among Jews and good people everywhere, the horrible reality of the Islamic terrorist rampage in Mumbai was revealed in all its obscene and mindless savagery when members of Zaka entered the Chabad compound.
As an eyewitness told YNET, the sight was unbearable even to the practiced eyes of those whose job it is to deal with the aftermath of murderous terror attacks:
"The place was totally destroyed. Live grenades were all over the floor. Torah scrolls and holy books were scattered on the floor, covered with blood."
The bodies of the Chabad rabbi and the kashrut supervisor were found in one room, along with two other men whose hands had been tied with telephone wire. The body of the Rabbi's young wife Rivkie was found covered in a tallit. It is believed she was killed before her young husband's eyes and he wrapped her in his tallit.
A grandmother from Israel, and a Jewish woman tourist from Mexico were also identified. For photos you will not see in the New York Times of the blood-soaked floor of the house of prayer and hospitality, courtesy of the "religion of peace" whose riots kill hundreds when a Koran is desecrated, please go to: http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3630586,00.html
Police in Mumbai report that they found enough ammunition to blow up both hotels and to kill thousands, which according to a terrorist captured alive, was the intention. This carefully planned attack, which had the Chabad House at its center, was orchestrated from Pakistan. Vilasrao Deshmukh, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra state, of which Bombay is the capital, was quoted yesterday as saying there were two "British-born Pakistanis" among the terrorists, reports he later denied. A British Pakistani was involved in a terror attack in Israel at Mike's Place not long ago.
The Mail Online reports "a banned Islamic terrorist group funded with cash raised in British mosques is believed to be behind the Mumbai attacks." The Mail reports: "The only terrorist captured alive after the Mumbai massacre has given police the first full account of the extraordinary events that led to it - revealing he was ordered to 'kill until the last breath'.
Azam Amir Kasab, 21, from Pakistan, said the attacks were meticulously planned six months ago and were intended to kill 5,000 people. He revealed that the ten terrorists, who were highly trained in marine assault and crept into the city by boat, had planned to blow up the Taj Mahal Palace hotel after first executing British and American tourists and then taking hostages.
"These descriptions brought back flashbacks to me of the Park Hotel which was rocked by a murderous explosion by Hamas terrorists right before the Seder began. Perhaps it is impossible for the average human being to understand the depth of evil represented by Muslim extremists and their supporters if you didn't witness such a thing. I deal with this in my book, The Covenant. But I feel that I am whistling in the wind. People who have not seen this with their own eyes just refuse to understand that these are not people with grievances, people who can be reasoned with. These people are Nazis. Only if you think you can speak to a Nazi and convince him to not wish to kill Jews, can such a stand make sense.
No one should negotiate with any person, government official, religious leader, or member of any group that does not condemn and despise and excoriate these terrorists. No respect should be given to any religion, or member of that religion, or religious leader who does not despise and condemn these acts. When one views the bloody floor of Chabad House, one sees the bloodied face of civilization. Those who are not prepared to exterminate this evil, and those who are involved in it, are part of it.
Eyewitness Jonathan Ehrlich, a businessman who narrowly escaped death in Mumbai, sent out an e-mail of his experiences. In conclusion, he writes this: The people who did this have no souls. They have no hearts. They are simplythe living manifestation of evil and they only know killing and murder. We - all of us - need to understand that. Their target tonight was first and foremost Americans. Why? Because they fear everything that America stands for. They fear hope and change and freedom and peace. Let's make no mistake; they would have shot me and my children point blank tonight without a moment's hesitation. Most of us sorta know that but sometimes we equivocate. We can't equivocate. Not ever.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.naomiragen.com/
*********************
Behind the Veil of Islam
Ohio Mosque Promotes Murder!
Toledo, Islam, and Terrorists
Death to America: Major American Cities Targeted by Terrorists?
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Stay the Course
Re: Fox 25 Special Report on Philadelphia Church of God
David,
If your book [Beyond Babylon] was inspired by Our Heavenly Father, no one should condemn it. Of course that could be the reason, because most people don't want to accept the truth. Just stay the course, if it's right it will finally be exposed.
Good luck,
Fondly,
Iva
I'm an e-vangelist
I received this private message at the Scam.com forum:
Quote:
I was curious. I have read some of your entries. Do you have any formal training in theology or training from a seminary or yeshiva?
Thankfully not (for the most part), but hopefully folks will recognize that I've spent plenty of prayerful time in the Word, even as the religious authorities noted Peter and John - "uneducated and untrained men" (no formal training) - had spent time with Yeshua.
Acts 4
13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.
Quote:
are you self taught? do you have a mentor?
Like the noble Bereans, I search the Scriptures to see what is so and mainly did so with Herbert W. Armstrong's biblical teachings.
Quote:
are you an established minister or ordained elder in any denomination? do you operate a church or assembly in the Toledo,OH area?
No and God knows I have no desire to be one. I do what I feel I've been called to do: serve as an e-vangelist throughout the internet world.
Sabbath peace/Shabbat Shalom!
__________________
http://www.davidbenariel.org/
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Fox 25 Special Report on Philadelphia Church of God
Fox 25 Special Report on Philadelphia Church of God
Reporter Nick Winkler, of Fox 25 in Oklahoma City, presented a special report on the Philadelphia Church of God that aired Nov. 24 and Nov. 25.
I found the special report on the PCG, all things considered, unusually fair and balanced and commend Nick Winkler and Fox News for it, since the Sabbath-keeping Church of God members have always been highly skeptical of such reporters and cynical about such programs.
You can watch the Fox News' videos for yourself and see what you think:
Philadelphia Church of God: Part One
Philadelphia Church of God: Part Two
I'm pleased Fox News made mention of my book and name and showed them on my Philadelphia Church of God blog, having interviewed me as a former PCG member who was disfellowshipped for writing Beyond Babylon and who strongly disagrees with how Pastor General Gerald Flurry is squandering tithe money in Edmond, Oklahoma instead of going all out to share the plain truth of the Bible, our warning message, with the world in a powerful way that such money makes possible.
Fox 25, Oklahoma City, Special Report:
Philadelphia Church of God: Part One
David Ben-Ariel: I was basically put out..
Reporter Nick Winkler: Former PCG member David Ben-Ariel says he was kicked out of the Church for writing a book [Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall] without the Church's approval and says all that money [15 million Art Center on their Edmond, Oklahoma site] could be better spent spreading God's Word differently...
David Ben-Ariel: Hopefully, they'll stop spending their money in Edmond, Oklahoma and use it to become a household word with our teachings and let that become known.
*****************
Philadelphia Church of God: Part Two
Nick Winkler: Before Jesus Christ returns...
David Ben-Ariel: Violence, WWIII...yes, there will be lots of violence.
Nick Winkler: Former PCG member David Ben-Ariel says he was kicked out of the Church but still defends its tithing practices...
David Ben-Ariel: Again, it's voluntary but it's understood if you're a Church of God member you will tithe and you'll want to.
********************
PCG: Carrying on "Business as Usual"
If you truly saw what is coming on this Earth, and had a vision of tomorrow, you would know that the Gathering Storm darkens as you sip champagne and boast that you're rich and in need of nothing, woefully ignorant that the Two Witnesses will soon be wearing sackcloth and fasting, not wining and dining at black tie dinners!
Here's an excerpt from Philadelphia Church of God Leads Laodicean Era (Conclusion) that reveals the PCG ministers' initial response to Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall, and how Gerald Flurry's fomer right-hand man, PCG minister Dennis Leap, shamefully insisted on playing politics:
What's BEWILDERING to me is the different responses I've received from several of God's ministers who have read Beyond Babylon -- towards it and me -- before and after Dennis Leap's PARTIAL review! (Malachi 2:9).
When I faithfully sent a computer disk with my book on it to minister Wayne Turgeon, he graciously read all of it and responded:
"Oh, how I admire those with both the ability to write as well as the courage to put down their ideas on paper! I felt that you have a very gripping style of writing that uses twists and slants of words or phrases to make your point. I looked up every scripture you referenced and it became clear that you have really spent a lot of time in your Bible. Being Jewish, I think, gives you an added perspective that I could never have... Much of what you have written is not 'new revelation' as I'm sure that you'd readily agree... It's certainly not my place to determine if what you believe God has shown you is true or not, but would you mind presenting Mr. Flurry with an abbreviated version of what you feel is inspired... as I highly doubt that he would have time to read your whole book."
What does he mean it's not his place to determine if what I wrote is true or not? God holds every INDIVIDUAL responsible to prayerfully determine whether something is of God or not! How did we prove Malachi's Message was biblical? Did we rely solely on our minister's evaluation? Worldwide all over again?
Mind you, unlike Mr. Armstrong's lengthy manuscript of close to 300 typed pages, Beyond Babylon is only 1/2 that size, literally! I suggested Gerald Flurry read the first and last chapters. Mr. Turgeon told me Flurry returned it to him, saying something like, "He's always sending us stuff."
I have written short letters to the point, like correcting him about Mount Hermon and Mount Carmel after he continued to confuse the two in several articles. I'm familiar with them because I've been blessed to have lived next to both of them. Mr. Turgeon also wrote that I was a little "too radical" for Mr. Flurry and wondered what I'd said or done that had given him that impression. I explained it's because I took exception to his careless condemnation of those religious Jews who want the Temple built as "extremists." I wrote that it's extremist for secular, humanist Jews to oppose converting the Promised Land into a Holy Land!
Flurry was surprised and had also written against the STRONG EMOTIONS some feel over Jerusalem and Israel. How could God use someone so distant over there?! Some of us have a GOD-GIVEN LOVE for Jerusalem and a genuine passion for Judah that's most personal; we're not a stranger in OUR Homeland! (Psalms 102:14; Ps. 137; Isaiah 62). That's not "radical," it's BIBLICAL!
Minister Carl Craven also read Beyond Babylon and acknowledged it as biblical. He said he hadn't looked up every Scripture, but was sure if he had they'd also be used correctly. I commented that I know it's biblical, but that I was just waiting for headquarters to prove that to themselves as well. He expressed an understanding of how it's difficult to be patient meanwhile.
When Dennis Leap did call, it was to instruct me to STAY HOME FROM SABBATH SERVICES while he looked at the book! I didn't recall such an unusual request being made of Mr. Armstrong, and recognized it went against "innocent until proven guilty," but obliged with the hope of returning soon (John 7:51).
"Prophesy Not!"
After some time, I called Mr. Leap. He said he'd read PARTS of the book, and that it wasn't important whether Mr. Flurry had read it or not (even though I'd been led to believe he'd pass it on to him). He stated, "You use some pretty strong language in there," to which I replied, "But it's biblical, isn't it?" "Well, yes, but...". He also noted, like Mr. Turgeon, that most of it is what we already teach. I agreed and said that that should serve as a GOOD SIGN, but that the NEW REVELATION about the Two Witnesses and Europe is firmly built upon that foundation.
Dennis Leap found it difficult to accept that a LAY MEMBER would write such a book. He admitted Flurry had received bits of revelation from lay members, but NEVER a whole book! I didn't want to be judged by precedent, but by whether or not what I'd written is biblical. If I was in error, then it was his duty to clearly show me where FROM THE BIBLE, like Aquilla and Priscilla helped improve Apollos' understanding (Acts 18:26).
I was informed if I wanted to return to services, I would have to forget Beyond Babylon, act like a "regular lay member," and basically deny that it was from God! Like Mr. Armstrong, I had PROVEN what I'd written to be TRUE. Actually, Leap didn't say that it wasn't or attempt to refute it!
I told Mr. Leap I didn't want to play politics. By his insistence that I must be a MINISTER to write such a book, he was still looking to MEN OF STATURE! And since I'm not one, he was demanding that I "PROPHESY NOT!" (Amos 2:12).
He got very angry when I mentioned this and said he was severing all ties between the PCG and myself, and that I wasn't to claim any association with the PCG. He said I was now free to go and do whatever I felt God would have me to do with BB and not worry whether or not he or Mr. Flurry had read it! When I expressed the hope of reconciliation, he retorted we could when I repented. Of what? OBEYING GOD RATHER THAN MAN? Is that "rebellion?"
Mr. Armstrong WASN'T an ordained minister either when he wrote what he felt GOD would have him to share! The Identity Doctrine also wasn't so much new truth, as a new way of presenting it. I'm sure glad he didn't let those two points stop him! Aren't you? So I was UNJUSTLY DISFELLOWSHIPPED for believing God used me to write a book, and MARKED for exposing the facts about Mr. Leap's folly!
************************************
Read Beyond Babylon for yourself. It's available for free online:
Beyond Babylon
CONTENTS
Introduction
Survival Guaranteed
Why National Defeat?
Truth or Consequences
Victims of Tradition
Europe's Fate
Jesus & the Jews
Elijah's Key Role
Reporter Nick Winkler, of Fox 25 in Oklahoma City, presented a special report on the Philadelphia Church of God that aired Nov. 24 and Nov. 25.
I found the special report on the PCG, all things considered, unusually fair and balanced and commend Nick Winkler and Fox News for it, since the Sabbath-keeping Church of God members have always been highly skeptical of such reporters and cynical about such programs.
You can watch the Fox News' videos for yourself and see what you think:
Philadelphia Church of God: Part One
Philadelphia Church of God: Part Two
I'm pleased Fox News made mention of my book and name and showed them on my Philadelphia Church of God blog, having interviewed me as a former PCG member who was disfellowshipped for writing Beyond Babylon and who strongly disagrees with how Pastor General Gerald Flurry is squandering tithe money in Edmond, Oklahoma instead of going all out to share the plain truth of the Bible, our warning message, with the world in a powerful way that such money makes possible.
Fox 25, Oklahoma City, Special Report:
Philadelphia Church of God: Part One
David Ben-Ariel: I was basically put out..
Reporter Nick Winkler: Former PCG member David Ben-Ariel says he was kicked out of the Church for writing a book [Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall] without the Church's approval and says all that money [15 million Art Center on their Edmond, Oklahoma site] could be better spent spreading God's Word differently...
David Ben-Ariel: Hopefully, they'll stop spending their money in Edmond, Oklahoma and use it to become a household word with our teachings and let that become known.
*****************
Philadelphia Church of God: Part Two
Nick Winkler: Before Jesus Christ returns...
David Ben-Ariel: Violence, WWIII...yes, there will be lots of violence.
Nick Winkler: Former PCG member David Ben-Ariel says he was kicked out of the Church but still defends its tithing practices...
David Ben-Ariel: Again, it's voluntary but it's understood if you're a Church of God member you will tithe and you'll want to.
********************
PCG: Carrying on "Business as Usual"
If you truly saw what is coming on this Earth, and had a vision of tomorrow, you would know that the Gathering Storm darkens as you sip champagne and boast that you're rich and in need of nothing, woefully ignorant that the Two Witnesses will soon be wearing sackcloth and fasting, not wining and dining at black tie dinners!
Here's an excerpt from Philadelphia Church of God Leads Laodicean Era (Conclusion) that reveals the PCG ministers' initial response to Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall, and how Gerald Flurry's fomer right-hand man, PCG minister Dennis Leap, shamefully insisted on playing politics:
What's BEWILDERING to me is the different responses I've received from several of God's ministers who have read Beyond Babylon -- towards it and me -- before and after Dennis Leap's PARTIAL review! (Malachi 2:9).
When I faithfully sent a computer disk with my book on it to minister Wayne Turgeon, he graciously read all of it and responded:
"Oh, how I admire those with both the ability to write as well as the courage to put down their ideas on paper! I felt that you have a very gripping style of writing that uses twists and slants of words or phrases to make your point. I looked up every scripture you referenced and it became clear that you have really spent a lot of time in your Bible. Being Jewish, I think, gives you an added perspective that I could never have... Much of what you have written is not 'new revelation' as I'm sure that you'd readily agree... It's certainly not my place to determine if what you believe God has shown you is true or not, but would you mind presenting Mr. Flurry with an abbreviated version of what you feel is inspired... as I highly doubt that he would have time to read your whole book."
What does he mean it's not his place to determine if what I wrote is true or not? God holds every INDIVIDUAL responsible to prayerfully determine whether something is of God or not! How did we prove Malachi's Message was biblical? Did we rely solely on our minister's evaluation? Worldwide all over again?
Mind you, unlike Mr. Armstrong's lengthy manuscript of close to 300 typed pages, Beyond Babylon is only 1/2 that size, literally! I suggested Gerald Flurry read the first and last chapters. Mr. Turgeon told me Flurry returned it to him, saying something like, "He's always sending us stuff."
I have written short letters to the point, like correcting him about Mount Hermon and Mount Carmel after he continued to confuse the two in several articles. I'm familiar with them because I've been blessed to have lived next to both of them. Mr. Turgeon also wrote that I was a little "too radical" for Mr. Flurry and wondered what I'd said or done that had given him that impression. I explained it's because I took exception to his careless condemnation of those religious Jews who want the Temple built as "extremists." I wrote that it's extremist for secular, humanist Jews to oppose converting the Promised Land into a Holy Land!
Flurry was surprised and had also written against the STRONG EMOTIONS some feel over Jerusalem and Israel. How could God use someone so distant over there?! Some of us have a GOD-GIVEN LOVE for Jerusalem and a genuine passion for Judah that's most personal; we're not a stranger in OUR Homeland! (Psalms 102:14; Ps. 137; Isaiah 62). That's not "radical," it's BIBLICAL!
Minister Carl Craven also read Beyond Babylon and acknowledged it as biblical. He said he hadn't looked up every Scripture, but was sure if he had they'd also be used correctly. I commented that I know it's biblical, but that I was just waiting for headquarters to prove that to themselves as well. He expressed an understanding of how it's difficult to be patient meanwhile.
When Dennis Leap did call, it was to instruct me to STAY HOME FROM SABBATH SERVICES while he looked at the book! I didn't recall such an unusual request being made of Mr. Armstrong, and recognized it went against "innocent until proven guilty," but obliged with the hope of returning soon (John 7:51).
"Prophesy Not!"
After some time, I called Mr. Leap. He said he'd read PARTS of the book, and that it wasn't important whether Mr. Flurry had read it or not (even though I'd been led to believe he'd pass it on to him). He stated, "You use some pretty strong language in there," to which I replied, "But it's biblical, isn't it?" "Well, yes, but...". He also noted, like Mr. Turgeon, that most of it is what we already teach. I agreed and said that that should serve as a GOOD SIGN, but that the NEW REVELATION about the Two Witnesses and Europe is firmly built upon that foundation.
Dennis Leap found it difficult to accept that a LAY MEMBER would write such a book. He admitted Flurry had received bits of revelation from lay members, but NEVER a whole book! I didn't want to be judged by precedent, but by whether or not what I'd written is biblical. If I was in error, then it was his duty to clearly show me where FROM THE BIBLE, like Aquilla and Priscilla helped improve Apollos' understanding (Acts 18:26).
I was informed if I wanted to return to services, I would have to forget Beyond Babylon, act like a "regular lay member," and basically deny that it was from God! Like Mr. Armstrong, I had PROVEN what I'd written to be TRUE. Actually, Leap didn't say that it wasn't or attempt to refute it!
I told Mr. Leap I didn't want to play politics. By his insistence that I must be a MINISTER to write such a book, he was still looking to MEN OF STATURE! And since I'm not one, he was demanding that I "PROPHESY NOT!" (Amos 2:12).
He got very angry when I mentioned this and said he was severing all ties between the PCG and myself, and that I wasn't to claim any association with the PCG. He said I was now free to go and do whatever I felt God would have me to do with BB and not worry whether or not he or Mr. Flurry had read it! When I expressed the hope of reconciliation, he retorted we could when I repented. Of what? OBEYING GOD RATHER THAN MAN? Is that "rebellion?"
Mr. Armstrong WASN'T an ordained minister either when he wrote what he felt GOD would have him to share! The Identity Doctrine also wasn't so much new truth, as a new way of presenting it. I'm sure glad he didn't let those two points stop him! Aren't you? So I was UNJUSTLY DISFELLOWSHIPPED for believing God used me to write a book, and MARKED for exposing the facts about Mr. Leap's folly!
************************************
Read Beyond Babylon for yourself. It's available for free online:
Beyond Babylon
CONTENTS
Introduction
Survival Guaranteed
Why National Defeat?
Truth or Consequences
Victims of Tradition
Europe's Fate
Jesus & the Jews
Elijah's Key Role
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Lyndon Johnson and the Jews
Lyndon Johnson -- A Friend in Deed
By Lenny Ben-David
A few weeks ago, the Associated Press reported that newly released tapes from US president Lyndon Johnson's White House office showed LBJ's "personal and often emotional connection to Israel." The news agency pointed out that during the Johnson presidency (1963-1969), "the United States became Israel's chief diplomatic ally and primary arms supplier."
But the news report does little to reveal the full historical extent of Johnson's actions on behalf of the Jewish people and the State of Israel. Most students of the Arab-Israeli conflict can identify Johnson as the president during the 1967 war. But few know about LBJ's actions to rescue hundreds of endangered Jews during the Holocaust - actions that could have thrown him out of Congress and into jail. Indeed, the title of "Righteous Gentile" is certainly appropriate in the case of the Texan, whose centennial year is being commemorated this year.
Appropriately enough, the annual Jerusalem Conference announced this week that it will honor Johnson in February 2009.
Historians have revealed that Johnson, while serving as a young congressman in 1938 and 1939, arranged for visas to be supplied to Jews in Warsaw, and oversaw the apparently illegal immigration of hundreds of Jews through the port of Galveston, Texas.
A key resource for uncovering LBJ's pro-Jewish activity is the unpublished 1989 doctoral thesis by University of Texas student Louis Gomolak, "Prologue: LBJ's Foreign Affairs Background, 1908-1948." Johnson's activities were confirmed by other historians in interviews with his wife, family members and political associates.
Research into Johnson's personal history indicates that he inherited his concern for the Jewish people from his family. His aunt Jessie Johnson Hatcher, a major influence on LBJ, was a member of the Zionist Organization of America. According to Gomolak, Aunt Jessie had nurtured LBJ's commitment to befriending Jews for 50 years. As a young boy, Lyndon watched his politically active grandfather "Big Sam" and father "Little Sam" seek clemency for Leo Frank, the Jewish victim of a blood libel in Atlanta. Frank was lynched by a mob in 1915, and the Ku Klux Klan in Texas threatened to kill the Johnsons. The Johnsons later told friends that Lyndon's family hid in their cellar while his father and uncles stood guard with shotguns on their porch in case of KKK attacks. Johnson's speechwriter later stated, "Johnson often cited Leo Frank's lynching as the source of his opposition to both anti-Semitism and isolationism."
Already in 1934 - four years before Chamberlain's Munich sellout to Hitler - Johnson was keenly alert to the dangers of Nazism and presented a book of essays, Nazism: An Assault on Civilization, to the 21-year-old woman he was courting, Claudia Taylor - later known as "Lady Bird" Johnson. It was an incredible engagement present.
FIVE DAYS after taking office in 1937, LBJ broke with the "Dixiecrats" and supported an immigration bill that would naturalize illegal aliens, mostly Jews from Lithuania and Poland. In 1938, Johnson was told of a young Austrian Jewish musician who was about to be deported from the United States. With an element of subterfuge, LBJ sent him to the US Consulate in Havana to obtain a residency permit. Erich Leinsdorf, the world famous musician and conductor, credited LBJ for saving his life.
That same year, LBJ warned a Jewish friend, Jim Novy, that European Jews faced annihilation. "Get as many Jewish people as possible out [of Germany and Poland]," were Johnson's instructions. Somehow, Johnson provided him with a pile of signed immigration papers that were used to get 42 Jews out of Warsaw.
But that wasn't enough. According to historian James M. Smallwood, Congressman Johnson used legal and sometimes illegal methods to smuggle "hundreds of Jews into Texas, using Galveston as the entry port. Enough money could buy false passports and fake visas in Cuba, Mexico and other Latin American countries.... Johnson smuggled boatloads and planeloads of Jews into Texas. He hid them in the Texas National Youth Administration... Johnson saved at least four or five hundred Jews, possibly more."
During World War II Johnson joined Novy at a small Austin gathering to sell $65,000 in war bonds. According to Gomolak, Novy and Johnson then raised a very "substantial sum for arms for Jewish underground fighters in Palestine." One source cited by the historian reports that "Novy and Johnson had been secretly shipping heavy crates labeled 'Texas Grapefruit' - but containing arms - to Jewish underground 'freedom fighters' in Palestine."
ON JUNE 4, 1945, Johnson visited Dachau. According to Smallwood, Lady Bird later recalled that when her husband returned home, "he was still shaken, stunned, terrorized and bursting with an overpowering revulsion and incredulous horror at what he had seen."
A decade later while serving in the Senate, Johnson blocked the Eisenhower administration's attempts to apply sanctions against Israel following the 1956 Sinai Campaign. "The indefatigable Johnson had never ceased pressure on the administration," wrote I.L. "Si" Kenen, the head of AIPAC at the time.
As Senate majority leader, Johnson consistently blocked the anti-Israel initiatives of his fellow Democrat, William Fulbright, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Among Johnson's closest advisers during this period were several strong pro-Israel advocates, including Benjamin Cohen (who 30 years earlier was the liaison between Supreme Court justice Louis Brandeis and Chaim Weizmann) and Abe Fortas, the legendary Washington "insider."
Johnson's concern for the Jewish people continued through his presidency. Soon after taking office in the aftermath of John F. Kennedy's assassination in 1963, Johnson told an Israeli diplomat, "You have lost a very great friend, but you have found a better one."Just one month after succeeding Kennedy, LBJ attended the December 1963 dedication of the Agudas Achim Synagogue in Austin. Novy opened the ceremony by saying to Johnson, "We can't thank him enough for all those Jews he got out of Germany during the days of Hitler."
Lady Bird would later describe the day, according to Gomolak: "Person after person plucked at my sleeve and said, 'I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for him. He helped me get out.'" Lady Bird elaborated, "Jews had been woven into the warp and woof of all [Lyndon's] years."
THE PRELUDE to the 1967 war was a terrifying period for Israel, with the US State Department led by the historically unfriendly Dean Rusk urging an evenhanded policy despite Arab threats and acts of aggression. Johnson held no such illusions. After the war he placed the blame firmly on Egypt: "If a single act of folly was more responsible for this explosion than any other, it was the arbitrary and dangerous announced decision [by Egypt] that the Strait of Tiran would be closed [to Israeli ships and Israeli-bound cargo]."
Kennedy was the first president to approve the sale of defensive US weapons to Israel, specifically Hawk anti-aircraft missiles. But Johnson approved tanks and fighter jets, all vital after the 1967 war when France imposed a freeze on sales to Israel. Yehuda Avner recently described on these pages prime minister Levi Eshkol's successful appeal for these weapons on a visit to the LBJ ranch. (Pictured: LBJ receiving Yitzhak Rabin in the Oval Office.)
Israel won the 1967 war, and Johnson worked to make sure it also won the peace. "I sure as hell want to be careful and not run out on little Israel," Johnson said in a March 1968 conversation with his ambassador to the United Nations, Arthur Goldberg, according to White House tapes recently released.Soon after the 1967 war, Soviet premier Aleksei Kosygin asked Johnson at the Glassboro Summit why the US supported Israel when there were 80 million Arabs and only three million Israelis. "Because it is right," responded the straight-shooting Texan.
The crafting of UN Resolution 242 in November 1967 was done under Johnson's scrutiny. The call for "secure and recognized boundaries" was critical. The American and British drafters of the resolution opposed Israel returning all the territories captured in the war. In September 1968, Johnson explained, "We are not the ones to say where other nations should draw lines between them that will assure each the greatest security. It is clear, however, that a return to the situation of 4 June 1967 will not bring peace. There must be secure and there must be recognized borders. Some such lines must be agreed to by the neighbors involved."
Goldberg later noted, "Resolution 242 in no way refers to Jerusalem, and this omission was deliberate." This historic diplomacy was conducted under Johnson's stewardship, as Goldberg related in oral history to the Johnson Library. "I must say for Johnson," Goldberg stated. "He gave me great personal support."Robert David Johnson, a professor of history at Brooklyn College, recently wrote in The New York Sun, "Johnson's policies stemmed more from personal concerns - his friendship with leading Zionists, his belief that America had a moral obligation to bolster Israeli security and his conception of Israel as a frontier land much like his home state of Texas. His personal concerns led him to intervene when he felt that the State or Defense departments had insufficiently appreciated Israel's diplomatic or military needs."
President Johnson firmly pointed American policy in a pro-Israel direction. In a historical context, the American emergency airlift to Israel in 1973, the constant diplomatic support, the economic and military assistance and the strategic bonds between the two countries can all be credited to the seeds planted by LBJ.
***************
It's great to read of cooperation between Joes and Jews, Joseph and Judah, since the United States (Artzot Habrit) - "the lands of the covenant" - is the prophesied biblical inheritance of Menashe ben Yosef.
Interesting (and controversial) to read about the illegal immigration of Jews into Galveston, Texas. I was in a work-study program at Kibbutz Sdot Yam, famous for illegal immigration and mentioned in Leon Uris' book, Exodus.
My kibbutz mother, Miriam Weiss, had been in the Warsaw Ghetto with her mother.
Miriam Weiss: Holocaust Survivor and Kibbutz Mother
Yom Kippur at Sdot Yam
Waves of Memories of Sdot Yam
Joseph isn't Jewish!
By Lenny Ben-David
A few weeks ago, the Associated Press reported that newly released tapes from US president Lyndon Johnson's White House office showed LBJ's "personal and often emotional connection to Israel." The news agency pointed out that during the Johnson presidency (1963-1969), "the United States became Israel's chief diplomatic ally and primary arms supplier."
But the news report does little to reveal the full historical extent of Johnson's actions on behalf of the Jewish people and the State of Israel. Most students of the Arab-Israeli conflict can identify Johnson as the president during the 1967 war. But few know about LBJ's actions to rescue hundreds of endangered Jews during the Holocaust - actions that could have thrown him out of Congress and into jail. Indeed, the title of "Righteous Gentile" is certainly appropriate in the case of the Texan, whose centennial year is being commemorated this year.
Appropriately enough, the annual Jerusalem Conference announced this week that it will honor Johnson in February 2009.
Historians have revealed that Johnson, while serving as a young congressman in 1938 and 1939, arranged for visas to be supplied to Jews in Warsaw, and oversaw the apparently illegal immigration of hundreds of Jews through the port of Galveston, Texas.
A key resource for uncovering LBJ's pro-Jewish activity is the unpublished 1989 doctoral thesis by University of Texas student Louis Gomolak, "Prologue: LBJ's Foreign Affairs Background, 1908-1948." Johnson's activities were confirmed by other historians in interviews with his wife, family members and political associates.
Research into Johnson's personal history indicates that he inherited his concern for the Jewish people from his family. His aunt Jessie Johnson Hatcher, a major influence on LBJ, was a member of the Zionist Organization of America. According to Gomolak, Aunt Jessie had nurtured LBJ's commitment to befriending Jews for 50 years. As a young boy, Lyndon watched his politically active grandfather "Big Sam" and father "Little Sam" seek clemency for Leo Frank, the Jewish victim of a blood libel in Atlanta. Frank was lynched by a mob in 1915, and the Ku Klux Klan in Texas threatened to kill the Johnsons. The Johnsons later told friends that Lyndon's family hid in their cellar while his father and uncles stood guard with shotguns on their porch in case of KKK attacks. Johnson's speechwriter later stated, "Johnson often cited Leo Frank's lynching as the source of his opposition to both anti-Semitism and isolationism."
Already in 1934 - four years before Chamberlain's Munich sellout to Hitler - Johnson was keenly alert to the dangers of Nazism and presented a book of essays, Nazism: An Assault on Civilization, to the 21-year-old woman he was courting, Claudia Taylor - later known as "Lady Bird" Johnson. It was an incredible engagement present.
FIVE DAYS after taking office in 1937, LBJ broke with the "Dixiecrats" and supported an immigration bill that would naturalize illegal aliens, mostly Jews from Lithuania and Poland. In 1938, Johnson was told of a young Austrian Jewish musician who was about to be deported from the United States. With an element of subterfuge, LBJ sent him to the US Consulate in Havana to obtain a residency permit. Erich Leinsdorf, the world famous musician and conductor, credited LBJ for saving his life.
That same year, LBJ warned a Jewish friend, Jim Novy, that European Jews faced annihilation. "Get as many Jewish people as possible out [of Germany and Poland]," were Johnson's instructions. Somehow, Johnson provided him with a pile of signed immigration papers that were used to get 42 Jews out of Warsaw.
But that wasn't enough. According to historian James M. Smallwood, Congressman Johnson used legal and sometimes illegal methods to smuggle "hundreds of Jews into Texas, using Galveston as the entry port. Enough money could buy false passports and fake visas in Cuba, Mexico and other Latin American countries.... Johnson smuggled boatloads and planeloads of Jews into Texas. He hid them in the Texas National Youth Administration... Johnson saved at least four or five hundred Jews, possibly more."
During World War II Johnson joined Novy at a small Austin gathering to sell $65,000 in war bonds. According to Gomolak, Novy and Johnson then raised a very "substantial sum for arms for Jewish underground fighters in Palestine." One source cited by the historian reports that "Novy and Johnson had been secretly shipping heavy crates labeled 'Texas Grapefruit' - but containing arms - to Jewish underground 'freedom fighters' in Palestine."
ON JUNE 4, 1945, Johnson visited Dachau. According to Smallwood, Lady Bird later recalled that when her husband returned home, "he was still shaken, stunned, terrorized and bursting with an overpowering revulsion and incredulous horror at what he had seen."
A decade later while serving in the Senate, Johnson blocked the Eisenhower administration's attempts to apply sanctions against Israel following the 1956 Sinai Campaign. "The indefatigable Johnson had never ceased pressure on the administration," wrote I.L. "Si" Kenen, the head of AIPAC at the time.
As Senate majority leader, Johnson consistently blocked the anti-Israel initiatives of his fellow Democrat, William Fulbright, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Among Johnson's closest advisers during this period were several strong pro-Israel advocates, including Benjamin Cohen (who 30 years earlier was the liaison between Supreme Court justice Louis Brandeis and Chaim Weizmann) and Abe Fortas, the legendary Washington "insider."
Johnson's concern for the Jewish people continued through his presidency. Soon after taking office in the aftermath of John F. Kennedy's assassination in 1963, Johnson told an Israeli diplomat, "You have lost a very great friend, but you have found a better one."Just one month after succeeding Kennedy, LBJ attended the December 1963 dedication of the Agudas Achim Synagogue in Austin. Novy opened the ceremony by saying to Johnson, "We can't thank him enough for all those Jews he got out of Germany during the days of Hitler."
Lady Bird would later describe the day, according to Gomolak: "Person after person plucked at my sleeve and said, 'I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for him. He helped me get out.'" Lady Bird elaborated, "Jews had been woven into the warp and woof of all [Lyndon's] years."
THE PRELUDE to the 1967 war was a terrifying period for Israel, with the US State Department led by the historically unfriendly Dean Rusk urging an evenhanded policy despite Arab threats and acts of aggression. Johnson held no such illusions. After the war he placed the blame firmly on Egypt: "If a single act of folly was more responsible for this explosion than any other, it was the arbitrary and dangerous announced decision [by Egypt] that the Strait of Tiran would be closed [to Israeli ships and Israeli-bound cargo]."
Kennedy was the first president to approve the sale of defensive US weapons to Israel, specifically Hawk anti-aircraft missiles. But Johnson approved tanks and fighter jets, all vital after the 1967 war when France imposed a freeze on sales to Israel. Yehuda Avner recently described on these pages prime minister Levi Eshkol's successful appeal for these weapons on a visit to the LBJ ranch. (Pictured: LBJ receiving Yitzhak Rabin in the Oval Office.)
Israel won the 1967 war, and Johnson worked to make sure it also won the peace. "I sure as hell want to be careful and not run out on little Israel," Johnson said in a March 1968 conversation with his ambassador to the United Nations, Arthur Goldberg, according to White House tapes recently released.Soon after the 1967 war, Soviet premier Aleksei Kosygin asked Johnson at the Glassboro Summit why the US supported Israel when there were 80 million Arabs and only three million Israelis. "Because it is right," responded the straight-shooting Texan.
The crafting of UN Resolution 242 in November 1967 was done under Johnson's scrutiny. The call for "secure and recognized boundaries" was critical. The American and British drafters of the resolution opposed Israel returning all the territories captured in the war. In September 1968, Johnson explained, "We are not the ones to say where other nations should draw lines between them that will assure each the greatest security. It is clear, however, that a return to the situation of 4 June 1967 will not bring peace. There must be secure and there must be recognized borders. Some such lines must be agreed to by the neighbors involved."
Goldberg later noted, "Resolution 242 in no way refers to Jerusalem, and this omission was deliberate." This historic diplomacy was conducted under Johnson's stewardship, as Goldberg related in oral history to the Johnson Library. "I must say for Johnson," Goldberg stated. "He gave me great personal support."Robert David Johnson, a professor of history at Brooklyn College, recently wrote in The New York Sun, "Johnson's policies stemmed more from personal concerns - his friendship with leading Zionists, his belief that America had a moral obligation to bolster Israeli security and his conception of Israel as a frontier land much like his home state of Texas. His personal concerns led him to intervene when he felt that the State or Defense departments had insufficiently appreciated Israel's diplomatic or military needs."
President Johnson firmly pointed American policy in a pro-Israel direction. In a historical context, the American emergency airlift to Israel in 1973, the constant diplomatic support, the economic and military assistance and the strategic bonds between the two countries can all be credited to the seeds planted by LBJ.
***************
It's great to read of cooperation between Joes and Jews, Joseph and Judah, since the United States (Artzot Habrit) - "the lands of the covenant" - is the prophesied biblical inheritance of Menashe ben Yosef.
Interesting (and controversial) to read about the illegal immigration of Jews into Galveston, Texas. I was in a work-study program at Kibbutz Sdot Yam, famous for illegal immigration and mentioned in Leon Uris' book, Exodus.
My kibbutz mother, Miriam Weiss, had been in the Warsaw Ghetto with her mother.
Miriam Weiss: Holocaust Survivor and Kibbutz Mother
Yom Kippur at Sdot Yam
Waves of Memories of Sdot Yam
Joseph isn't Jewish!
Monday, November 24, 2008
The Gospel of the Kingdom of God
How Adam and Eve Reflect the Kingdom of God
"For we are members of his Body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined to his wife, and they TWO shall be ONE FLESH. This is a GREAT MYSTERY: but I speak concerning Christ and the Church" (Ephes. 5:30-32).
Overcome in Christ Daily
GOOD NEWS: Yeshua is able to break the bonds of sin and set free those who are slaves, saving us from both sin's eternal death penalty and delivering us from the sin. Some deny this POWER and only want the pardon but the Throne of Grace offers both.
Man Questions Whether We'll Be Angelic Or Divine
Even as we have been fully mortal and human like Adam, we shall be fully divine and holy Spirit like Christ the Second Adam, being born again into the literal Kingdom-Family of God. How Satan is insanely jealous of this fact!
Born Again and Heaven and Hell
Yeshua said that which is born of the flesh is flesh (like we are now in this life), but that which is born of the Spirit IS SPIRIT. He also said you can't even see or enter into that Kingdom of God unless you're born again...
Sneak Preview of the Kingdom of God
If I may, as God is my Witness and Judge, when I was only 17 years young, God UNEXPECTEDLY gave me a VISION while I was in prayer. I was within that vision as a glorified Spirit-Being, whiter than glistening snow and like a brilliant white cloud with the sun shining on it, appearing smooth, dressed in a white robe - even my hair was that brilliant white - holding a Book in my hands and teaching two flesh and blood mortals who were sitting on the ground, in an outdoor setting like a park or meadow.)
Born Again: The Kingdom of God!
GOD IS REPRODUCING HIMSELF! That's the glorious Good News that Jesus boldly proclaimed! The Gospel of the KINGDOM OF GOD announces the GOD KINGDOM: a Spirit-Born Kingdom of God-Beings! A Royal Family that we can enter (Rev. 3:21). A Divine Family that will administer God's Government throughout the universe and eternity (Isa. 9:7; Dan. 7:18).
A Higher Calling: Quest for the Kingdom of God
Jesus clearly said, "No man can come to Me, except the Father who has sent me draw him..."(John 6:44). Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. The Christian calling includes recognizing Jesus is the only way to the Father, learning all about Him as the Incarnate Word of God and walking in that light as a way of life, following Jesus by the lead of the Holy Spirit, the power and influence of God (Romans 8:14, 1 John 2:6).
Kingdom of God-Beings to Rule Earth from Jerusalem!
Yeshua has gone to Heaven and is preparing for the coming Kingdom of God, making room for us (converted Christians then transformed) in His Administration, preparing our positions and government seats in the Kingdom-Family of God, and will then return and receive us to Himself, sharing His glory and power and honor with us from Jerusalem, the seat of God's government, the Throne of David, the Throne of the LORD.
The Great Mideast Commission: Reaching the Cities of Judah
So there is a physical preparing, as well as a spiritual, in preparing the way for Messiah's Coming! Further, God says we are to SHOUT, with amplified power, to the CITIES OF JUDAH the glad message that the Messiah is soon coming" - Autobiography of Herbert W Armstrong, Volume II, pages 469-470
"For we are members of his Body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined to his wife, and they TWO shall be ONE FLESH. This is a GREAT MYSTERY: but I speak concerning Christ and the Church" (Ephes. 5:30-32).
Overcome in Christ Daily
GOOD NEWS: Yeshua is able to break the bonds of sin and set free those who are slaves, saving us from both sin's eternal death penalty and delivering us from the sin. Some deny this POWER and only want the pardon but the Throne of Grace offers both.
Man Questions Whether We'll Be Angelic Or Divine
Even as we have been fully mortal and human like Adam, we shall be fully divine and holy Spirit like Christ the Second Adam, being born again into the literal Kingdom-Family of God. How Satan is insanely jealous of this fact!
Born Again and Heaven and Hell
Yeshua said that which is born of the flesh is flesh (like we are now in this life), but that which is born of the Spirit IS SPIRIT. He also said you can't even see or enter into that Kingdom of God unless you're born again...
Sneak Preview of the Kingdom of God
If I may, as God is my Witness and Judge, when I was only 17 years young, God UNEXPECTEDLY gave me a VISION while I was in prayer. I was within that vision as a glorified Spirit-Being, whiter than glistening snow and like a brilliant white cloud with the sun shining on it, appearing smooth, dressed in a white robe - even my hair was that brilliant white - holding a Book in my hands and teaching two flesh and blood mortals who were sitting on the ground, in an outdoor setting like a park or meadow.)
Born Again: The Kingdom of God!
GOD IS REPRODUCING HIMSELF! That's the glorious Good News that Jesus boldly proclaimed! The Gospel of the KINGDOM OF GOD announces the GOD KINGDOM: a Spirit-Born Kingdom of God-Beings! A Royal Family that we can enter (Rev. 3:21). A Divine Family that will administer God's Government throughout the universe and eternity (Isa. 9:7; Dan. 7:18).
A Higher Calling: Quest for the Kingdom of God
Jesus clearly said, "No man can come to Me, except the Father who has sent me draw him..."(John 6:44). Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. The Christian calling includes recognizing Jesus is the only way to the Father, learning all about Him as the Incarnate Word of God and walking in that light as a way of life, following Jesus by the lead of the Holy Spirit, the power and influence of God (Romans 8:14, 1 John 2:6).
Kingdom of God-Beings to Rule Earth from Jerusalem!
Yeshua has gone to Heaven and is preparing for the coming Kingdom of God, making room for us (converted Christians then transformed) in His Administration, preparing our positions and government seats in the Kingdom-Family of God, and will then return and receive us to Himself, sharing His glory and power and honor with us from Jerusalem, the seat of God's government, the Throne of David, the Throne of the LORD.
The Great Mideast Commission: Reaching the Cities of Judah
So there is a physical preparing, as well as a spiritual, in preparing the way for Messiah's Coming! Further, God says we are to SHOUT, with amplified power, to the CITIES OF JUDAH the glad message that the Messiah is soon coming" - Autobiography of Herbert W Armstrong, Volume II, pages 469-470
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Thanksgiving Day
"Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, 12 lest—when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; 13 and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; 14 when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God...17 then you say in your heart, 'My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth...'
Thanksgiving: Attitude of Gratitude
Thanksgiving: Attitude of Gratitude
Friday, November 21, 2008
Brady Births
William Brady December 22, 1884
Ella Mohon Brady May 10, 1888
George Elmer Brady December 10, 1905
Joe Manuel Brady June 25, 1908
Memphis Carmetta Brady June 25, 1910
Mary Lillian Brady March 12, 1912
Esther Brady May 16, 1914
Isabella Brady June 10, 1918
Laurence Brady June 21, 1920
Mavellena Brady March 6, 1922
Thelma Mae Brady December 24, 1924
Catherine Latherea Brady December 1, 1926
Bernard Edward Brady June 25, 1928
Marie Brady February 14, 1930
Elizabeth Jeanette Brady June 7, 1932
Ella Mohon Brady May 10, 1888
George Elmer Brady December 10, 1905
Joe Manuel Brady June 25, 1908
Memphis Carmetta Brady June 25, 1910
Mary Lillian Brady March 12, 1912
Esther Brady May 16, 1914
Isabella Brady June 10, 1918
Laurence Brady June 21, 1920
Mavellena Brady March 6, 1922
Thelma Mae Brady December 24, 1924
Catherine Latherea Brady December 1, 1926
Bernard Edward Brady June 25, 1928
Marie Brady February 14, 1930
Elizabeth Jeanette Brady June 7, 1932
Brady Marriages
William Brady & Ella Mohon Mar. 6, 1905
Memphis Brady & Fuson Peace Nov. 19, 1928
Christine Brady & Lee King 1932
Isabella Brady & Edward King 1937
Thelma Brady & Hubert King 1938
Katharyn Brady & James Overton Feb. 22, 1941
Mavallena Brady & Charles King Apr. 12, 1941
Thelma Brady & Sam Pitts Jan. 16, 1948
Edward Brady & Vina Hamilton Aug. 18, 1947
Elizabeth Brady & Jimmie Powers Jun 1949
Memphis Brady & Fuson Peace Nov. 19, 1928
Christine Brady & Lee King 1932
Isabella Brady & Edward King 1937
Thelma Brady & Hubert King 1938
Katharyn Brady & James Overton Feb. 22, 1941
Mavallena Brady & Charles King Apr. 12, 1941
Thelma Brady & Sam Pitts Jan. 16, 1948
Edward Brady & Vina Hamilton Aug. 18, 1947
Elizabeth Brady & Jimmie Powers Jun 1949
Xmas
Christmas condemned!
C.H. Spurgeon on Christmas and Roman Catholicism
First, because we do not believe in the mass at all, but abhor it, whether it be sung in Latin or in English. Secondly, because we find no Scriptural warrant whatever for observing any day as the birthday of the Savior; and consequently, its observance is a superstition
Christmas is About Giving -- Says Who?
Going into debt certainly isn't biblical, so why not break free from the trance? The "Christmas" rush is a "drug" pushed by commercial pimps prostituting a supposedly Christian holiday for their ungodly profits! They hold hands around the cash register and sing, "What a friend we have in Jesus."
Why I No Longer Celebrate Christmas
I was blessed to grow up in Risingsun, Ohio next door to my Grandma and Grandpa Hoover on their farm that embraced where we lived, surrounding us with its loving arms on both sides (until the age of 11) and behind, with our woods over yonder a bit, that I loved to walk through as a boy, always looking for my "brother" hawk, circling overhead, to greet me...
Will God Curse Our Countries for Christmas?
Abominable Christians, those who have the perverted religious preference of tradition over truth, are just like every other sinner unwilling to confess and forsake their sins and seek to whitewash or justify them. The difference is such professing Christians often pretend to be better or more righteous than those physical idolaters and immoral folks (who also refuse to repent) while they engage in spiritual idolatry (putting tradition over truth) and spiritual immorality (whoring around with other gods and foreign ways) bringing divine judgment upon our nations.
Plea to Diehard Catholics & Protestants to Repent
Having clearly seen how the practice of homosexuality is a sin (as I testify in God and the Gays), I can now see clearly how SPIRITUAL HOMOSEXUALS, the bloody Roman Catholic whore and her Protestant prostitute daughters (Rev. 17:5), prefer tradition over truth.
Do You Prefer TRADITION Over Truth?
If anybody is honestly interested in knowing whether or not this or that doctrine is actually biblical or merely traditional, all they have to do is objectively search the Scriptures like the noble Bereans did in Acts 17:11, after hearing Paul out, to see whether what he taught was true...
Is the Plain Truth Too Strong?
"Cry aloud, spare not; Lift up your voice like a trumpet; Tell My people their transgression [the Church and Synagogue], And the house of Jacob [the family of Israelite nations - all Twelve Tribes of Israel] their sins. 2 Yet they seek Me daily, And delight to know My ways, As a nation that did righteousness, And did not forsake the ordinance of their God. They ask of Me the ordinances of justice; They take delight in approaching God" (Isaiah 58)
C.H. Spurgeon on Christmas and Roman Catholicism
First, because we do not believe in the mass at all, but abhor it, whether it be sung in Latin or in English. Secondly, because we find no Scriptural warrant whatever for observing any day as the birthday of the Savior; and consequently, its observance is a superstition
Christmas is About Giving -- Says Who?
Going into debt certainly isn't biblical, so why not break free from the trance? The "Christmas" rush is a "drug" pushed by commercial pimps prostituting a supposedly Christian holiday for their ungodly profits! They hold hands around the cash register and sing, "What a friend we have in Jesus."
Why I No Longer Celebrate Christmas
I was blessed to grow up in Risingsun, Ohio next door to my Grandma and Grandpa Hoover on their farm that embraced where we lived, surrounding us with its loving arms on both sides (until the age of 11) and behind, with our woods over yonder a bit, that I loved to walk through as a boy, always looking for my "brother" hawk, circling overhead, to greet me...
Will God Curse Our Countries for Christmas?
Abominable Christians, those who have the perverted religious preference of tradition over truth, are just like every other sinner unwilling to confess and forsake their sins and seek to whitewash or justify them. The difference is such professing Christians often pretend to be better or more righteous than those physical idolaters and immoral folks (who also refuse to repent) while they engage in spiritual idolatry (putting tradition over truth) and spiritual immorality (whoring around with other gods and foreign ways) bringing divine judgment upon our nations.
Plea to Diehard Catholics & Protestants to Repent
Having clearly seen how the practice of homosexuality is a sin (as I testify in God and the Gays), I can now see clearly how SPIRITUAL HOMOSEXUALS, the bloody Roman Catholic whore and her Protestant prostitute daughters (Rev. 17:5), prefer tradition over truth.
Do You Prefer TRADITION Over Truth?
If anybody is honestly interested in knowing whether or not this or that doctrine is actually biblical or merely traditional, all they have to do is objectively search the Scriptures like the noble Bereans did in Acts 17:11, after hearing Paul out, to see whether what he taught was true...
Is the Plain Truth Too Strong?
"Cry aloud, spare not; Lift up your voice like a trumpet; Tell My people their transgression [the Church and Synagogue], And the house of Jacob [the family of Israelite nations - all Twelve Tribes of Israel] their sins. 2 Yet they seek Me daily, And delight to know My ways, As a nation that did righteousness, And did not forsake the ordinance of their God. They ask of Me the ordinances of justice; They take delight in approaching God" (Isaiah 58)
Murderous Arab hatred of Jews
Pure Jew Hate On "Palestinian" AUTHORITY TV
Sheikh Ibrahim Mudeiris instigates against Jews on "Palestinian" T.V. There's no such thing as "Palestine":
http://www.israelforum.com/board/showpost.php?p=226539&postcount=1
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The Plain Truth about Imam Khattab
Ohio Mosque Promotes Murder!
Muslims incited to kill Jews
Behind the Veil of Islam
Toledo, Islam, and Terrorists
Sheikh Ibrahim Mudeiris instigates against Jews on "Palestinian" T.V. There's no such thing as "Palestine":
http://www.israelforum.com/board/showpost.php?p=226539&postcount=1
*******************
The Plain Truth about Imam Khattab
Ohio Mosque Promotes Murder!
Muslims incited to kill Jews
Behind the Veil of Islam
Toledo, Islam, and Terrorists
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