Yahweh's Philadelphia Remnant Assembly

Whilst making my meandering rounds on the net today, I stumbled across a curious religious site called TNT 777, or "Tomorrow's News - Today". (Are they Early Edition fans?)

Operating from a P.O. box in Bowling Green, this group is called "Yahweh's Philadelphia Remnant Assembly", and their mission statement reads:

"We preach and teach the Gospel/Good News of the soon-coming Kingdom of Yahweh to be established here on this earth ruled by his glorified Son, Yahshua the Anointed One."

They publish newsletters with such thought-provoking articles as "Syncretism: A Deadly Mix" and "Leviticus 23 or Dehioth 1-4?", but after reading them all online, I still have no clear picture of just what it is these people believe (Their "Our Beliefs" page has evidently been under construction for years).


But I did note passing references to Herbert W. Armstrong, the founder of the Worldwide Church of God. You'd think that would be something of a lamp unto my feet to learn more about this "Yahweh's Philadelphia Remnant Assembly", but not so. Even a cursory attempt to suss it out was like wading into the LaBrea tar pits, because the Worldwide Church of God split off into many different factions after Armstrong's death. There's the Restored Church of God, the Global Church of God, the Living Church of God, the Philadelphia Church of God, the United Church of God, the Sabbath Church of God, etc. You can read more about all the post-Armstrong squabbles in Stephen Flurry's book Raising the Ruins.

But that still doesn't tell me what these folks in Bowling Green are up to, nor even what "Philadelphia Remnant" means. Even philadelphiaremnant.com doesn't explain it. Neither does satansrapture.com, but it comes closer to it - apparently it refers to one of the more puzzling passages in the Book of Revelation, about the Biblical-era Church of Philadelphia.

I dunno. It's all over my head. But it is interesting stuff.

Warren County Hirsute Girl

From the New York Times, September 17, 1877: a report originally published in the Franklin Patriot about a 4-year-old Warren County girl who allegedly was normal for the first two years of her life, but then began secreting a bizarre and foul black liquid from her skin, followed by a thick growth of hair all over her body excepting the palms of her hands and the soles of her feet. With these strange mutations, it was also reported she acquired amazing strength, being able to carry around her 10-year-old sister with ease.

Hirsutism is a relatively common condition, itself being a symptom of many different diseases, but the only other time I've ever heard of black sweat (aside from the Prince song) is from reports about the mysterious Morgellons Disease.

Lost River Cave

The only underground boat tour in Kentucky is at Lost River Cave in Bowling Green, or at least so says their website. It also says that Ripley's Believe It or Not has called this river the shortest, deepest in the world. They have a great underground ballroom for events and weddings.

Upcoming events at Lost River Cave include a geocaching tutorial on September 20; a fine art fair on October 3-4 (with wine tasting provided by Greenwood Spirits Shoppe, beer samples from the Bowling Green Brewing Company, and cheese samples from Kenny’s Farmhouse Cheese); and a weekend of Civil War reenactments on October 16-18.

First Kentucky H1N1 Case

From News-tribune.net:

A Warren County woman has been hospitalized in Georgia with Kentucky’s first confirmed case of H1N1, or swine flu, state officials announced Thursday, and a probable case has been diagnosed in an infant.

Gov. Steve Beshear and Commissioner of Public Health Dr. William Hacker announced the developments at a news conference, saying the woman had recently returned from a trip to Mexico and a couple of days later traveled to Georgia where she fell ill. A second case in the Barren River Health District is suspected but has not yet been confirmed as swine flu. The district serves Barren, Butler, Edmonson, Hart, Logan, Metcalfe, Simpson and Warren counties.

Beshear said the child “had close contact with a family member who recently went to Mexico and returned.” The child, he said, has not been hospitalized since the case is apparently a mild one. Samples have been sent to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta for further testing, but Hacker said he expects confirmation the child is suffering from swine flu.

Beshear said officials are not releasing the name of the county to avoid fear and anxiety by local residents but will identify the county if the illness is confirmed as swine flu.

On April 29, the World Health Organization raised the pandemic alert level to five, the second-highest level, indicating that a pandemic is "imminent".