watch12

Rock-it Man: London's Imperial College is a perfectly respectable British institution of higher learning. But out in Edmond, Oklahoma, there's another IC altogether. These excerpts, and the accompanying photograph, are from a Philadelphia News article by Lisa Godeaux.

Yes, Gerry the Rockabilly Rebel has had Herb's "prayer rock" hauled out to Edmond (or should that be Bedrock?) Yabadabadoo! Maybe the next step is to set up some chartered pilgrimages to view the relic, and a souvenir shop that sells tasteful plastic models of the sacred object (or, for those willing to shell out big bucks, maybe some actual chips off the old block.)

The PN story and photo were posted on the Flurry Yahoo group. Those interested can find the group linked, along with a number of others, on the MD Forums page..

Stan suckled at church's financial breast till the last: The LA Times carried a lengthy obituary for Stanley Rader by staff writer Larry Stammer on July 4. It contained a few surprises. Excerpts:

But, perhaps most astonishing, the revelation that Rader was still pocketing church dollars through to the bitter end.

So it seems Stan was still the beneficiary of church funds right up to his demise. Lucky fellow! Current WCG donors must be pleased that their generous support is being used so well. We're sure that all those who've been turned down for retirement on various grounds (and all those anxious about whether Joe will find them "loyal" and worthy enough when the time comes) will be delighted that Stan had no trouble at all.

Garner Ted Armstrong news: Some time ago we reported on the newly redesigned Garner Ted Armstrong's website. Now their web address has also changed. The new location is www.garnertedarmstrong.ws. While the site has had a facelift and an URL change, sadly the content seems just more of the same old formula.

On that subject, Ted's Intercontinental Church of God and Evangelistic Association recently dedicated their new offices in Tyler (pictured).

The dude should've gone into politics! Harping on a familiar apocalyptic theme, Armstrong said:

Frankly, we think Ted's finger-pointing says more about his own state of unreality than anyone else's. Armstrong would be well advised to take a deep breath and read Calvin Burrell's article in the latest Bible Advocate:

... we must not attempt to use the Bible as a handbook of modern political geography. Of nearly 200 countries in our world, just the states of Cyprus, Egypt, Ethiopia, Greece, India, Israel, Italy, Lebanon, Libya, Malta, Spain, and Syria are named in Scripture. Beyond these twelve, a few other modern states occupy the homeland of biblical nations: Iraq (Babylon), Iran (Persia), Jordan (Ammon, Moab), and Saudi Arabia.

Neither Bible history nor prophecy deal directly with specific states outside the then-known world stretching from the western Mediterranean to southern Asia. Today's world powers are not named therein: China, Japan, Russia, England, France, or Germany. The Americas are not there - Canada, the U.S, Mexico, Brazil, etc. - nor any other Western Hemisphere nation from pole to pole. No Australia, South Africa, Argentina, nor any other state of the Southern Hemisphere may be found in Scripture (Calvin Burrell. All the Nations of the World. Bible Advocate On-line. July-Aug 2002)

The End: TIME Magazine on how it got that way: A recent issue of TIME focused on the prophecy industry. Mercifully absent was any mention of those prophetic high-flyers of the 70s and 80s, Herb and his gang of renown. One article drew attention to the role of 19th century Irish clergyperson and founder of the Exclusive Brethren, John Nelson Darby. It was Darby's offbeat exegesis of the Bible that brought the "secret rapture" doctrine to prominence, which then infected American conservative Christianity to the point where it has become the default position of most evangelicals. The article is available online.

Another Herb Split: A splinter-cult that's new to us is the Church of God, In Truth. Led by a former (local?) elder named James Russell, the in-word with these folk seems to be "postponements".

Pleading Poverty while Bernie blows the bucks: Conflicting signals as to how seriously the WCG is taking budget restraints. Dateline Pasadena reports.

Ron Kelly has sent a memo out to the Department Managers explaining why the WCG has new copiers in the Hall of Ad.

"You probably know we had hoped to wait till the property sold and we were relocated to a new office facility before purchasing new equipment. However, I'm sure most of you are well aware that many of our current copy machines are dying; some are gasping their last breath. To put it mildly, copying had become a burden. To help with our need, we have arranged for three new Ricoh copy machines to be placed in the Hall of Administration."

"Of course one of our primary concerns was cost. We certainly couldn't afford to purchase new equipment. And leasing proved fairly expensive. Finally, Ricoh came through with a rental plan that, in our opinion, was the best financial decision under the circumstances. With this rental, we can use the machines as long as we want, turning them back to the company when we relocate and purchase new equipment. Or, we can purchase the machines we have rented. Normally, I don't find renting equipment that attractive, but with our current need and financial capacities, this seemed the prudent decision."

The employees find it kind of strange tat the church can't find the money to buy copiers, but yet is shelling out tens of thousands of dollars redecorating of Ambassador Hall. Painters have been working feverishly getting the offices painted for Bernie Schnippert and his staff to move into. The Bernardo did not like the light fixtures, so he had them all removed and is replacing them with new lights. New carpet is being laid in several offices. The Rosewood is being stained to cover up the years of light fading it. The Bernardo did not like the access ramp that Legacy built, so he had the Maintenance department redo it for thousands of dollars.

All this money flows freely into the Bernardo's coffers, yet the Church cannot afford to buy a new copy machine. Schnippert apparently gets to live free of charge on campus through the week along with free house cleaning.

Yet More on Rader: Just in case you want even more on the Rader story, here's excerpts from the article carried by Associated Press.