The Laodicean church, is the Church of God in its' end time era.  Mr. Armstrong was the physical leader of the Philadelphian era of God's church.  At the time of the end, God's church is the Laodicean Church of God.

How is this church different from all the many splinter groups, which have sprung up since the death of Mr. Armstrong?  The answer to this is simple, the members of the end time church are those, and only those, who are willing to believe their bibles, obey God and accept the knowledge of eternal life, which God gives to His end time church.   The members must come to the knowledge of the truth.

1Ti 2:4  who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

The church will come to the knowledge of who God the Father is, and who Jesus Christ is.  This is revealed knowledge and is eternal life.  The end time knowledge, which is known by the Laodicean church is the knowledge of eternal life.

Joh 17:3  And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

We cannot just stumble onto this knowledge, it is revealed by the Father.

Mat 16:17  Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.

The end time church will know what “a true God” means.

1Jn 5:20  And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.

The end time church will know and keep the correct date of the Passover.

The Passover is prepared on the 14th Nisan and is eaten at the start of the 15th of Nisan.

Exo 12:6  Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight.

The Passover lamb was killed before sunset on the 14th, that is the preparation.  Today we prepare the Passover on the same day, we don’t kill a lamb today, but we put the leaven out, and prepare physically and spiritually to take the Passover that night which is the beginning of the 15th.  The beginning of the first day of Unleavened Bread.

The Passover is the 14th, it is the preparation day. The lamb was eaten on the 15th at the beginning of the 15th, we take the Passover service at the beginning of the 15th.

Exo 12:8  Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.

On the day that Christ died which was the Passover the 14th, Christ kept the Passover with His disciples a day early because He would be dead on the next night.  Notice the scriptures.  They were going to eat the Passover that night.

Joh 18:28  Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium, and it was early morning. But they themselves did not go into the Praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover.

There is a huge amount of knowledge, which the end time church will learn.  A good deal of this knowledge is contained in the Statement of Beliefs and the Articles all at this site.  This is the knowledge, which is eternal life.  All things will be restored during the Laodicean era.

Mat 17:11  Jesus answered and said to them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things.

The members of the Laodicean church will learn many new things, most of which have been lost since the days of the Apostles.  As we know the church is made up of lukewarm and sincere members, each person has to decide what they believe and how they will obey God.  What knowledge they learn depends on them and their state of conversion.

The end time era of the church will see Jacob's trouble, the martyrdom of saints and the day of the Lord.  They will witness a great deal of suffering, death, and war.

Jacob’s Trouble.

Eze 5:12  One-third of you shall die of the pestilence, and be consumed with famine in your midst; and one-third shall fall by the sword all around you; and I will scatter another third to all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them.

Martyrdom of Saints.

Mat 24:9  "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake.

Day of the Lord.

Isa 13:6  Wail, for the day of the LORD is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty.

Those who overcome, in this era, will sit down with God on His throne.  What a fantastic reward awaits those who believe, obey and love God. 

The Laodicean church will go into the terrible time of the end. Before Jacob's trouble starts, the church will be given all of the end time knowledge, which is to be restored.

Mat 17:11  Jesus answered and said to them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things.

Act 3:21  whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.

As well as the giving of restored end time knowledge to the members, the modern nation of Israel will be warned of the impending time of Jacob's trouble.  God will determine when this will be done.  This will happen at the time appointed by God, this is not something that man will decide. 
The warning must go to all English speaking Nations.  All the modern day Israelites must be given a chance to repent and turn to God before it is too late.

Eze 3:17  "Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me:

Eze 3:18  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 watchman is the person God will use to restore the knowledge to the church and to warn the nation of Israel.   The end time church will also see Elijah, the two witnesses and the resurrection of King David, and the saints, the return of the Father and Jesus Christ. 

The membership of the Laodicean church will come out of the Philadelphian church.  The Laodicean era has far and away the best reward, but it will be far and away the hardest era to be in.  Some members will be deceived by the beast into instigating the abomination of desolation.  Self righteousness or lukewarmness will be a characteristic of this church.  As in all the church eras, there will be overcomers.

Each era of God's church has had different knowledge and different rewards.  The Philadelphian era had to hold fast to what they learned.  Their reward is to be pillars in God's kingdom.  The genuine Philadelphians were to be kept from end time events.

With each era, old teaching from the previous era is loosed in heaven, and new knowledge is revealed and bound in heaven.  Scriptures that were right for one era have a different understanding for the next era.  We believed that “beginning” meant eternity when applied to the nature of Christ.  That teaching was correct for that time, but it is not correct now.

Since Jesus Christ has started building His church in 2001, the world has changed dramatically.  The English speaking nations are under constant threat of terrorist attack, and are gradually being alienated from the rest of the world.  Arab hatred is increasing, as God the Father stirs up the nations to punish Ephraim and Manasseh for their sins.  Homosexuality is rife in the English speaking countries.

What an exciting and dangerous time lies yet ahead for us in this last end time era of God's church.

Look at the message from Christ to this era.

Rev 3:20  Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.

Rev 3:21  To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

Rev 3:22  "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."  

Many people in God's church, have thought of the Laodicean era as only a lukewarm group of half hearted Christians.

This is not the case, yes of course there are lukewarm members in the Laodicean era, but there are also overcomers who will sit on thrones.

There are members who will help to warn the nation of Israel of the time of Jacob's trouble, there are men and women who will prophesy.  There are many exciting times ahead for the Laodicean era.

Act 2:18  AND ON MY MENSERVANTS AND ON MY MAIDSERVANTS I WILL POUR OUT MY SPIRIT IN THOSE

DAYS; AND THEY SHALL PROPHESY.

Members of the Laodicean church will need strength and courage.  Just as Joshua and Caleb needed this when they entered the Promised Land, now the Laodicean church has entered the Promised Land.  The members, once they accept the knowledge of the truth, believe God and obey God, will receive the Holy Spirit of power, which is eternal life inherent. God will give the spirit as it pleases Him.

Notice the following scriptures:

Jos 1:7  Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.

Remember the reports of the other Israelite leaders, regarding the Promised Land.  What lies ahead of the Laodicean church can be dangerous, the tasks can overshadow us, the people will be greater than us, those who are against us will far out number those that are for us.  The land will appear to devour us, as will some in the church, they will seek to kill us too.  Our families will turn against us, many of us will be killed or put in prison.
Notice the scriptures below which show the attitudes of the men who went in with Joshua and Caleb.

Num 13:31  But the men who had gone up with him said, "We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we."

Num 13:32  And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, "The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature.

However, we already know that the remaining years ahead of us will not be easy, but if God be for us who is against us.  We can well do the job that God has set before us, as long as we let God lead us. Remember it is not by our strength but by God's spirit that things are accomplished.
We can do nothing of ourselves, but if we let God work through us and in us, then we can do anything.  These things which lay ahead of us are as nothing, they may seem hard, but we can easily over come them.  We must have the correct attitude.  We must think and act like Joshua and Caleb.  Notice their attitudes.

Num 13:30  Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, "Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it."

God's church will be a royal group of believers, once they are resurrected.  These are some of the rewards which await those who overcome and endure till the end and are faithful. Notice all the following scriptures.

1Pe 2:9  But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

2Ti 4:8  Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

Rev 1:6  and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Rev 3:21  To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

Christ returns to the throne of David.

Luk 1:32  He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.

We began attending Worldwide Church of God in 1978.  In 1979 we were baptised and continued in Worldwide until 1995 when we joined United Church of God.

We had always been interested in bible study and bible discussions amongst the members.

In 1999 my wife and I had been shown, by a member, plain scriptures that proved Jesus Christ was the born Son of God from the beginning, {prior to creation}.  Our friend had also showed us that God the Father and God the Word were on Mt. Horeb when the Father gave the Ten Commandments.

The implications of this knowledge were not immediately apparent.  After an in depth study into the Passover and the nature of God, I realised I was learning new knowledge, which had been hidden since the time of the Apostles.  As John 17 v 3 became clear, I realised God was revealing the knowledge of the truth, which is the true gospel of the Kingdom, the words of eternal life.  My wife joined in the study and we have believed, loved and obeyed this new truth as we have learned it.

This plain knowledge has been resisted fiercely by forums, and churches and individuals.

Toward the end of the year 2000, we had good understanding of what we now know was the knowledge of the truth.  The exodus from the Passover to the entering of the Promised Land was a direct type of our calling from carnality to eternal life.

The Philadelphian era, with Mr. Armstrong as the physical leader was not given this knowledge.  They had to hold fast to what they had, and were to be kept from the end time events.

We sent this new knowledge to the council of elders of the United Church of God, and the ministers in Australia, on the 1st January, 2001.  It was our desire that the United church would believe the bible and adjust their doctrines accordingly, and teach this plain new knowledge to the membership.  They rejected it out of hand, and after we had a discussion with our minister, and elders, we were asked not to attend church in April 2001. 

The Laodicean era of God's church began on the 1st January, 2001, when my wife and I acted positively to the new knowledge and with a correct heart and attitude we forwarded the precious treasures of new knowledge to the elders of the United Church of God. 

We had the understanding of the revealed knowledge that Jesus Christ is the Son of God from the beginning {before creation}.  This era has started as a mustard seed and will eventually fill the whole earth.  Jesus Christ, at the time of writing, is building His church with the end time knowledge.  Jesus Christ will decide when to add membership to His church.

My beloved husband Jim died on 27th March, 2011, this being 12 years after we first began to understand the knowledge of eternal life.  I will continue on with the work that the Holy One of Israel puts before me.  Our son Jesse McGinn is now studying with me and together we will continue this great work of God and His Son Jesus Christ.