"Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice
like a trumpet, and shew my people their
transgression, and the house of Jacob
their sins." --
Isaiah 58:1.
The PLAIN TRUTH about
JOSEPH W. TKACH --
APOSTLE? Or APOSTATE?
I have known many of you for many years,
as we went
through
Ambassador College together, worked in Letter
Answering,
attended Ministerial Conferences, visited the
people
of God, and did "the Work."
But now I am no
longer
in the "Church" and you are subject to the authority
of
the man responsible for my ouster over three years ago,
after
the death of Herbert Armstrong. What
kind of man
is
Joe Tkach, anyway? Where is he leading
you? Have
you
ever carefully examined his "Fruits"?
Is the Church
of
God being led astray? Have you become an
unwitting
tool
of apostasy? What are your chances under
his govern-
ment
of entering the Kingdom of God? Here are
some
provable
facts which maybe you ought to seriously
consider,
lest you and those under you lose out on the
very
purpose of our calling -- the Kingdom of God!
William F. Dankenbring
At the funeral of Herbert W. Armstrong,
Joseph W. Tkach, his successor over the Worldwide Church of God, said, "I
cannot fill his shoes, but I will follow in his footsteps." In these words Joseph Tkach promised to
follow in the direction and pathway set by Herbert W. Armstrong as leader over
the 80,000
member
Worldwide Church of God.
Did Joseph Tkach really mean what he
said?
Or has he led the entire Church of God
into gross error and apostasy?
On January 16, 1986, the very day that
Herbert Armstrong died in Pasadena, Joseph Tkach wrote in a letter to members
and co-workers about Mr. Armstrong,
"Even in the last
year of his life, with declining strength,
he
completed with God's help HIS MOST POWERFUL
AND
EFFECTIVE BOOK, Mysery of the Ages."
Tkach went on:
"I hope none of you
will miss the January 26 telecast,
which
will be a special tribute to Mr. Armstrong, and will
offer
to the viewers a softbound copy of Mr. Armstrong's
final
and most important book, Mystery of the Ages."
In the November/December 1986 Plain
Truth, Joseph Tkach wrote in his "Personal" column:
"With this issue we
complete our serialized publication
of
Mystery of the Ages by Herbert W.
Armstrong. Although
in
declining health, and for all practical purposes blind, Mr.
Armstrong
persevered during the last year of his life to complete
this,
his last book. . . .
"Herbert
W. Armstrong often likened understanding the Bible
to
putting together a jigsaw puzzle. At
first there is a jumble of
unrelated
pieces. But as you fit them together a
clear picture
begins
to emerge. Over the years, God gave him
more pieces
of
the puzzle, and he never stopped learning.
Shsortly before
he
died, he said he had understood more in the last 10 years of
his
long life than in all the previous decades.
"Mystery
of the Ages is the product of that
understanding. Mr.
Armstrong
did not underestimate the importance of this last work,
for
it contained vital keys to understanding the plan of God as
revealed
in the Bible. Mystery of the
Ages in a very real sense
was
a last will and testament, to be passed on to those who would
value
it. As we come to the last installment
of this remarkable
book,
we gratefully acknowledge our indebtedness to Herbert
W.
Armstrong, and his dogged search for the truth.
He freely
shared
his understanding with us, and we have been privileged to
make
it available to you. He loved and
respected his readers and,
in
a figurative sense, he remembered you in his will."
Mystery of the Ages -- ABOLISHED!
So said Joseph W.
Tkach. But did he really mean it? "By their fruits you will know
them," Jesus Christ declared (Matt.7:20).
Consider, therefore, the real "fruits"!
When Herbert Armstrong wrote Mystery of the Ages, he
felt it was "the most important book in my life." He felt it may be the most important book
since the Bible. He felt God directly
inspired it through the Holy Spirit. He
considered it the most valuable gift he could give to the brethren of God's Church. Three months before his death, at the Feast
of Tabernacles, Herbert Armstrong had a videotape played announcing the book as
his "most important and significant work" -- the epitome work of his
entire ministry and life!
But less than three years after his
death, Joseph W. Tkach has withdrawn the book from print -- scrapped it --
abolished it! Although the Church takes
in about $200 million dollars a year in tithes and offerings, Larry Salyer of
Ministerial Services explained in the Pastor
General's Report tat the Church simply couldn't afford to print it! Tkach explained that the book was
discontinued because some critics found fault with it because of
"peripheral or incidental points."
In the May 21, 1990 Worldwide News he went even further. Tkach declared
". . . The fact is,
Mr. Armstrong himself told me that the
book
contained errors and that he needed to rewrite it.
"When
Mr. Armstrong died, I felt that there was so much
valuable
truth in the book that we should continue using it
anyway. For a while, we did.
"After
a while, I realized that the ERRORS in the book
could
make the whole subject seem UNRELIABLE, and
I
had to do what I perhaps should have done to begin with.
".
. . I was with Mr. Armstrong while he wrote the book. For
the
majority of the text, he either used materials from other
booklets
directly or he slightly rewrote them.
"His
purpose was to put the basics of the truth all under one
cover,
not to come up with startling new revelation.
When
the
book was finished, Mr. Armstrong made some very strong
claims
regarding the book. He even called it
the most important
book
since the Bible. This was an
overstatement.
"He was human, and
he made mistakes, as he himself admitted.
He
was excited about the truth the book contained. He was
excited
for the people who would read the book.
And HE
SIMPLY
GOT CARRIED AWAY IN HIS DESCRIPTION
OF
IT. Now, will some condemn him for
that?"
Do you notice the subtlety of Joseph
Tkach's remarks? He accuses Herbert
Armstrong of getting "CARRIED AWAY," of being guilty of "an
overstatement," of making "some very strong claims" regarding
the book.
Compare Joseph Tkach's words with the
very words of Herbert Armstrong that we have quoted -- and even the words of
Joseph Tkach himself just before and soon after Herbert Armstrong's death! WHICH JOE TKACH WILL YOU BELIEVE? -- the first one, who praised Herbert
Armstrong's book? Or the SECOND one, who
CONDEMNS Herbert Armstrong's book which summed up his entire life's ministry?
The first Joseph Tkach said he will
follow in Herbert Armstrong's footsteps.
The scond Joe Tkach has debunked and destroyed the epitome of Herbert
Armstrong's life's work! He did NOT
merely "correct" the few errors in Mystery of the Ages. He DESTROYED the entire book!
Which Joe Tkach will YOU believe?
"Fiery
Language" Prophets
In this same editorial, Joseph Tkach makes it clear to those
who read Prophecy Flash that he
considers me as a "would-be prophet."
He asserts:
"I am sorry to have
to say it, but certain ones who were once
among
us have now set themselves up as special 'prophets,'
or
'watchmen' of the Church or the nation, using FIERY
LANGUAGE
to proclaim that 'This s the end!'
"In
this manner, they are able to stir up unsuspefcting people,
who
are not well grounded in the Scriptures, to support them
and
to look to them as great leaders.
"All
this can be especially effective to the unwary if these
modern-day
'prophets' are able to convince people God's Church
has
'left the faith once delivered,' is 'watering down true doctrine'
or
is 'becoming or already is Laodicean.'"
Rather than engage in perfidious
name-calling, like Mr. Tkach does, let us simply examine the FRUITS, as Jesus
said to do! Have YOU noticed a definite
trend in the Plain Truth and Good
News toward watering down prophecy,
doctrine, and a scarcity of strong-meat articles such as used to appear?
In the short space of three years since
the death of Herbert Armstrong, Joseph Tkach has led the Church of God into the
following changes --
1. Watering down Bible
prophecy of the end time!
2.
Claims prophecy can FAIL!
3.
Changed the teaching on divine healing 180 degrees -- now anything goes!
4.
Claims we do not "qualify" for our salvation!
5.
Changed the doctrine on make up and cosmetics -- 180 degrees -- now
anything goes!
6.
Changed doctrine on birthday observances 180 degrees!
7. Herbert Armstrong declared unequivocally that
the college should not be
"accredited" by organizations of
MEN. Joseph Tkach has unequivocally
stated that Ambassador College is seeking
ACCREDITATION!
8.
Joseph Tkach has withdrawn the sacred calendar from publication. Will
the Church under him now "think to
change times and laws"?
9.
Herbert Armstrong built the Church largely on the basis of the truth of our
nations identity as "modern
Israel." Joseph Tkach says this
doctrine is
UNIMPORTANT -- merely something to
"arouse our curiosity"!
10.
Herbert Armstrong put his son out of the Church when he attempted to
move Ambassador College to Big Sandy,
Texas. Now, three years after
Herbert Armstrong's death, Joseph Tkach
has done the unbelievable -- the
unthinkable -- he has moved the college,
lock, stock and barrel -- TO
TEXAS! According to Los Angeles
realtors, the Church property in
Pasadena, including the "House for
God," are up for sale!
What are the real "fruits" of
this man? If Herbert Armstrong were
alive today, do you really think he would endorse the "works" of
Joseph Tkach?
The Real Attitude Behind the Public Mask
For many years I worshipped God as a
member of the Worldwide Church of God, went to the Festivals, and rejoiced in
the truth which God had revealed to His Church -- truth which many of us had
proved for ourselves, before becoming part of the Worldwide Church of God. I myself entered Ambassador College in fall
of 1959, and graduated in spring of 1963, and began writing for the Church
magazines in 1965 on a regular basis.
During the next nine years I wrote about one hundred articles, booklets,
and Correspondence Course lessons for the Church, besides thousands of personal
letters as a member of the Letter Answering staff for a number of years.
But now it is no more. Many changes have occurred during the past
thirty years, since I was a student at Ambassador, and thrilled to hear of the
"progress" of the Work.
Terrible scandals have ripped through the Church, cover ups of enormous
sexual sins, and perfidy and betrayal among top ministers, as well as a
"Receivership Crisis" when the state of California sought to seize
control of the Church, alleging theft, impropriety and mismanagement of the use
of Church funds.
When he was in his nineties, Herbert
Armstrong was extremely dependent on other men around him to support him and
carry on the Work. In his weakened
condition, he still knew his limitations, and admitted that one of his chief
weaknesses was his inability to judge human character. Before his death, he gave control of the
Church of God and all its resources to a man he trusted above all others at
that time, yet a man he scarcely knew, and had only known for a very few years
to any extent -- after the Receivership Crisis struck. How was it that Herbert Armstrong picked this man, virtually out of nowhere,
who had never been more than a local elder, most of his life, and only raised
to preaching elder in 1974, but suddenly became personal assistant to Herbert
Armstrong in 1979, was raised to evangelist, and placed over Church
Administration the same year. Why did
he pick him, as death drew near in January, 1986, to take complete charge as an
"apostle" to rule the Worldwide Church of God and its 200 million
dollar a year income? Doesn't the
thought boggle your mind? Just what kind
of man is Tkach, anyway? What do YOU
really know about him? Is it just
remotely possible that Satan the devil pulled off his master stroke when
Herbert Armstrong appointed Joseph Tkach as his successor over the Worldwide
Church of
God?
Satan's Master Stroke?
Jesus said, "You will know them by
their fruits." His exact warning to
us was, "Watch out for false prophets.
They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious
wolves. By their fruit you will
recognize them" (Matt.7:15-16, NIV).
What are the real "fruits" of Joe Tkach?
John Trechak, a former Ambassador
College student, law student at Loyola University, and an exceptional
investigative reporter, in researching the background of this mysterious
figure, put the lie to the claims of Tkach and his Worldwide sychophants who
said that he attended the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, studying
industrial management, industrial safety and human factors in industry, claimed
that he was a supervisor with Hupp Aviation, and one time when he was allegedly
"fired" for refusal to work on the weekly Sabbath almost 2,000 people
milled around on a wildcat strike because they had heard of his firing. How many of these claims were true?
The reporter found out that Hupp
Aviation, now Aircraft Gears Corp., has never had more than a few hundred
employees at the very most, that Tkach was never a manager or a supervisor or
even a union leader, and that the "wildcat strike" was a complete
fabrication with no basis in fact whatsoever.
An engineer who worked at the plant during those years recalled that
even an incident involving a handful of employees would have been big news at
the plant, but nothing of the kind cited by Tkach or his public relations
experts ever took place. Rather, while
he worked there Tkach was "just one of the guys." He was only an hourly wage employee and did
"assembly work."
Says Trechak, "So Tkach was not born in 1926 [as the
Church official biography claimed], was never a Jew, did not establish churches
during the sixties, was never a Chicago businessman, was never an aviation
industry production supervisor, and never had thousands of fellow factory
workers demonstrating on his behalf."
The reporter also found out thast Tkach had never been enrolled at the
Illinois Institute of Technology either.
There is no record of his ever having attended ITT. Officials were adamant. Emphatically, they declared, Tkach had never
taken "industrial management, industrial safety, and human factors in
industry" -- in fact, the institute had never offered such courses!
In Slavic tongues, the name Tkach means variously
"weaver," "tailor," or "spider." Worldwide leaders have often made a big point
of Tkach being "the Master Weaver" who will "weave" the
Church together during the last days.
But "spider's" also weave a web -- and Tkach has certainly
lived up to his name in the web of deception he has woven to hide and obscure
his
background,
and to "exalt himself" with a tissue of lies concerning his past
"exploits."
U.S. Navy Record
Does it surprise you to learn that Joseph Tkach has lied
extensively about his background and history?
But this is only the beginning.
Tkach and his supporters have also made a very big deal of his supposed
military prowess during World War II.
His leadership skills have been compared to General George Patton. In sermons it was claimed that Tkach had been
a navy gunner who had gained fame and notoriety for his exploits in downing
Japanese kamikazes in the Pacific theater.
Tkach was a seaman on the USS Austin.
Did the Austin ever encounter Japanese kamikazes?
The U.S. Navy's own records show that
the Austin was not present at the battles of Leyte Gulf in 1944 or at Okinawa
in 1945, when kamikazes attacked the U.S. Fleet. The nearest the Austin ever got to seeing
action was during the landing of troops on Attu in the Aleutians on May 11,
1943, when Tkach would have been only 16 years of age -- too young to be in the
Navy. After that, it escorted convoys
between San Francisco and Hawaii, escorted ships between Alaskan ports, and
finished up the war patrolling in the Carolinas and Marianas. The truth is Joe Tkach never saw action
during World War II. The Navy's own
records show that Tkach was not an antiaircraft gunner, but only a
"fireman second class," indicating training in only elementary
mechanical maintance. Further, Tkach's
period of service was from January 17, 1945 to July 22, 1946. During this time he served on the Austin, too
late to see any action, and on the U.S.S. Jupiter, a converted cargo ship. The Jupiter saw much action during the war,
but only BEFORE Tkach came on board! The
Jupiter's last encounter with the Japanese
was at Iwo Jima, in March 1945 -- the very time Tkach was just
completing basic training in Illinois.
Thus Joe Tkach's war stories are nothing but thin air -- pure
braggadocio -- concocted out of spun sugar.
They have no more substance than cotton candy.
Betrayal of an Old Blind Man
Further insight into Tkach's character
can be seen in the case of Garnet H. Hill, who was a 77-year old member of the
Church in 1970. His eyesight was
failing, and his wife was dying from cancer, but in response to a co-worker
letter from Herbert Armstrong, Hill sold his real estate holdings and gave
$20,000 to the Church as a gift. A local
minister took the money from him, but never gave him any receipt. Hill never felt right about how the gift was
handled, and began asking for a receipt, wanting to know what happened to his
money. Because of his badgering
insistence, he was disfellowshipped! By
this time Garnett Hill was totally blind, and his wife was dead. He had scarcely a friend left in the world --
and now he was cut
off from
the Church which he had faithfully supported for years! Joseph Tkach, director of Ministerial
Services in Pasadena at the time, backed up the local minister in his handling
of the situation. Thus the Church turned
its back on a man who had become blind, merely because he wanted to know what
happened to the $20,000 he had given to the Church!
I have corresponded with the man who
took care of Mr. Hill the last few years of his life -- a former deacon in the
Church. The story of corruption and
wickedness beggars description. Surely
Mr. Hill will be richly rewarded by God for his own faithfulness and loyalty,
despite trials; but woe to those spiritual cowards and bastards who
"disfellowshipped" him for no cause, and tried to "hush him
up" and make him keep quiet about the theft of his money, which was
obviously stolen by the ministry! And
this sordid action was supported and backed up by none other than Joseph Tkach.
In a letter written by Joseph Tkach to Mr. Hill dated April 9, 1981, Tkach
declared:
"I have reviewed
our files and received additional information
regarding
the background of your situation from other people
in
our legal department and mail processing center. I feel I under-
stand
what happened.
"Also,
I have verified with Mr. Kersha the circumstances leading
up
to your being disfellowshipped. After
all this review, my
conclusion
is that Mr. Kersha has performed this duty as God
would
have him to.
"It
is regrettable that the sale of your property was MISHANDLED
[Tkach's
words -- according to Mr. Hill, Kersha and other ministers
tried
to make him coverup what he called the "stolen $20,000. They
told
me to keep quiet and not talk about the theft. . ."] like it was. But
you
must come to realize that the people involved have REPENTED
of
their wrong doing [Tkach wrote this -- but nobody ever apologized
to
Mr. Hill, or admitted to him they stole his money, or confessed their
sin! So how can Tkach say whether or not anybody
"repented of their
wrongdoing"
or not? His is very presumptuous --
nevertheless,
condones
the disfellowshipping of this righteous man!].
When God
forgives
He forgets. You must learn to do the
same. Mr. Kersha has
given
you several warnings about talking against the ministry of the
Church. You shouldn't have continued to harbor this
ill will" (Tkach
letter
of April 9, 1981).
Joseph Tkach thus justified the
decision to disfellowship a man who had given $20,000 to the Church -- and all
he ever wanted for it was a receipt! If
anyone every really "repented" of their wrongdoing, they forgot to
tell Mr. Hill about it. Rather, the
entire ministry in the Church area involved sought to COVER UP this shameful,
disgraceful, despicable act!
After Mr. Hill got Tkach's letter, he
wrote another letter to Herbert Armstrong about the problem. His heart-rending letter is dated April 27,
1981. He wrote:
"Dear Mr. Herbert
W. Armstrong,
"I
appeal direct to you. I wrote you a personal
letter in February
[to]
tell you how I was sput out of the Church for telling the truth
when
people asked me about the local minister stealing $20,000
donation
I gave to the Church. I wrote personal
on your envelope
but
it was answered by Mr. Tkach.
"Mr.
Tkach got your mail and answered telling me to repent and that
Mr.
Kersha was doing God's work right. I
will be welcomed back
to
the Church when I will cover up for the thieves that stole the
Church
money. I have not harmed anyone. I am treated like a
thief
and told to repent. I woked for the
money many years. Mr. Tkach
said
the thieves had repented. I heard Mr.
Curtis left the Church. How
did
he repent? The local men that helped him
have never admitted
doing
wrong to me.
"The
new ministers have ordered me to cover up and don't talk about
it.
. . Isaiah 58:1 will not let me cover up.
I am 88 years old and have
been
mistreated for almost ten years over this.
I am treated like a
thief. Mr. Armstrong, will you expose the
thieves?"
Joseph Tkach would not dig into the
real issues, and get the facts. He would
not expose the true thieves, and exonerate the righteous old man. He would not defend the innocent and aged!
Rather, he joined in the wicked plot to overthrow a righteous old man and
condone the wickedness of the guilty!
What does the Word of God say we should
do is cases like this? Should we quietly
"cover up" the sin? Notice
what the apostle Paul says about this flaming issue.
"Those who sin are
sto be REBUKED PUBLICLY, so that the
others
may take warning" (I Tim.5:20, NIV).
"Those
who are GUILTY of sin you should EXPOSE IN
PUBLIC,
to overawe the others" (Moffatt translation).
"If
he has really sinned, then he should be REBUKED IN
FRONT
OF THE WHOLE CHURCH so that no one else
will
follow his example" (Living Bible).
"As
for those who are guilty and persist in sin, REBUKE
AND
ADMONISH them in the presence of all, so that the
rest
may be warned and stand in wholesome awe and fear"
(Amplified
Bible).
"If
sin is actually proved, then the OFFENDERS should be
PUBLICLY
REBUKED as a salutary warning to others"
(Phillips
translation).
Of course, it goes without saying that
Joseph Tkach, who represented Herbert Armstrong in this matter, did NOT follow
Paul's advice. On the contrary, he
endorsed the coverup, and the expulsion from fellowship of an innocent, angry,
righteous old man who had been defrauded and defamed and hurt by the actions of
ministers in the Church -- including the coup de grace -- his rejection by
Joseph W. Tkach, acting for Herbert W. Armstrong!
Need I say more about this matter? If you would like to know the entire sordid
story, and read the actual correspondence, then you should write to Neville C.
Gilbert, 7087 Washington Avenue,
Lantana, Florida 33462.
Judas Iscarisot -- the Thief
Judas Iscariot, the disciple who
betrayed Christ, was also the disciple
who carried the "bag" -- that is, he was the "treasurer"
among the small band of disciples who followed Christ. Judas "had charge of the money"
(John 13:29). John's gospel records,
"he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to
what was put into it" (John 12:6).
A thief cannot be trusted.
Was Joe Tkach also a
"thief"? Consider the
evidence.
Jack Kessler, former Worldwide Church
of God attorney and accountant, in a letter written to the Church's board of
trustees during the Receivership Crisis,
remarked: