Church of God Preparing for the Kingdom of God

The Church of God, Preparing for the Kingdom of God (COG-PKG) is a small Christian church that claims to provide "support, education and warning to the scattered Church that was formerly united in the Worldwide Church of God".^[1] It is one of many groups that left the Worldwide Church of God after doctrinal changes took place there, and as such forms a part of the Seventh Day Churches of God tradition.

The church is led by Ronald Weinland. Recently they have adopted an apocalyptic belief in the imminent end of the world. This view has been expressed in Weinland's books The Prophesied End-Time and 2008 – God's Final Witness. Weinland has identified himself to be "the spokesman of His two end-time witnesses"^[2] which are mentioned in the Bible (Revelation 11:3), Weinland claims that he and his wife Laura are both Prophets, also that he is an end-time apostle to the Church, the end-time Elijah to come ^[3] as mentioned in Malachi 4:5-6 and Zerubbabel who will rebuild the temple, which Weinland teaches is The Church of God PKG. According to his blog, "the final countdown has begun, as the 1,335 days before the actual day Jesus Christ returns began on Tuesday, September 30, 2008."^[4] In a sermon given for April 18, 2008, he identified his wife Laura, as the other witness of Revelation 11^[5] and called Pope Benedict XVI a "false prophet."^{[citation needed]} Weinland has changed the prophesied date for the return of Christ to Pentecost of 2012 (May 27)^[6] and recently began to ordain women in his church as elders.^[7]

Weinland delivers his sermons weekly on Saturday afternoons on a live basis to members throughout the United States and Canada via streaming audio on the Internet. The COG-PKG has a number of members overseas who listen to recordings of the sermons the following Saturday – in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium, New Zealand and Australia. The church's headquarters are in Cincinnati, OH.

References

1. ^ Stated on COG-PKG Homepage - retrieved on 7 January 2008
2. ^ Weinland, Ronald (2006) (PDF). 2008 - God's Final Witness. Cincinnati, OH: the-end.com, inc. pp. 109. ISBN 0-9753240-6-3. http://www.the-end.com/2008GodsFinalWitness/2008_Gods_Final_Witness.pdf. Retrieved 2008-04-25. "The growing manifestation of proof that I am God’s end-time prophet and that I am the spokesman of His two end-time witnesses is a thunder that will become powerfully stronger all the way up until the very return of Jesus Christ." 
3. ^ Stated on Ronald Weinland's blog entry "The 'Elijah to Come'"
4. ^ Feast of trumpets [1] - retrieved on 21 November 2008
5. ^ Stated on Ronald Weinland's blog entry "Second Witness" - retrieved on 25 April 2008
6. ^ Stated on Ronald Weinland's blog entry "'In' The Final Three and One-Half Years"
7. ^ Stated on Ronald Weinland's blog entry "Women and 'The Curse'"

External links

• Church of God – Preparing for the Kingdom of God (official web site)
• Ronald Weinland (church leader's personal web site)
• The Prophesied End-Time Revealed (Ronald Weinland's books on end-time)
• Information on Ronald Weinland (Critical Information about Ronald Weinland)
• Weinland Watch (Weinland Watch)
• Weinland's Predictions to Date (Weinland's Predictions to Date)
• The Weinland Witness (The Weinland Witness - Discussion and Debate regarding Ronald Weinland's Predictions)
• Weinland thread on Ironwolf blog (One of the earliest and longest-running threads of discussion on Weinland)