Thursday, October 18, 2012

Dave Pack: "My Life and Ministry—Rumors and Lies vs. Facts and Truth"



NOTE:  This is looooong, because Dave's article is about ten times this length  It takes a lot of words to talk about oneself as the greatest human being to have ever lived, right after Jesus Christ.

Poor Dave Pack.  He is trying so hard to be recognized as the foremost leader in Armstrongism and no one pays him much attention.  Poor guy!  Well, Dave is trying to fix that.  He wants you to know who the REAL Dave is.

Even though he has the worlds most incredible web site, produces mind boggling booklets that no other COG can come close to imitating, he still can't impress people into following him.  Even after stealing several United Church of God's old worn out ministers, he still cannot gather a large following.  Rod Meredith and Gerald Flurry have 3-4 times the number Dave does.

Dave wants to lay to rest all the rumors, blog posts, and lies that have swirled around his lofty presence.

So to do that he has written ANOTHER article about himself.  Oh the joy.

He wants you to know he has written the most most significant letter ever written by a Church of God minister.  Apparently this ranks right up there with Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Mr. Pack has prepared an extraordinary article, unlike anything he has ever written. It addresses longstanding rumors and lies about his business, inheritance, supposed “wealth,” home, office, teachings, early ministry, personal relationship with Mr. Armstrong, his first wife’s role, her relationship with the Armstrongs, rewriting Mr. Armstrong’s literature, and many other specific charges that have been leveled at him.
 
All the big bad meanies in the various COG's have maligned Dave's angelic character causing people to not jump ship and join him in his earth shattering ministry!  Shocking, I know!
Many today are literally still trapped in the WCG splinters and slivers by endless falsehoods about Mr. Pack. These are spread by their leaders and pastors. Long troubled where they are by false doctrine, altered traditions, lax policies, worsening conduct, minimal productivity and generally bad fruit—many are naturally very unhappy. We hear from them daily.

Able to see the very different fruit of The Restored Church of God—uncompromising truth, immense Work, beautiful Headquarters (and building program), enormous array of books, booklets, articles and magazines, Ambassador Center, powerful media reach, state-of-the-art websites, national television, rapid worldwide growth in ministers and members, exploding income, programs for youth of all ages and emphasis on quality in everything—thousands are more than intrigued. Tragically, blatant falsehoods about Mr. Pack have prevented many from taking action.

Yes, now with 1012 members it is a truly powerful ministry.  The world has never seen such a stupendous ministry as the Restored Church of God.  Bow down at it's magnificence! Kneel at it's awesomeness!

Dave writes:


Do You Know “David Pack”?

My Life and Ministry—Rumors and Lies vs. Facts and Truth


Like some of you, I have been the target of obvious lies—and in my case for many years. The time has come to expose them, and to be open about many personal matters that can no longer be left unaddressed. Answering many questions, this article speaks plainly. Too much is at stake for God’s people for me to remain silent any longer.


Dave wants you to know that this article that he wrote about himself is so magnificent you will be unable to stop reading it!  

For this article to help you, you must read it all. However, if you read very far into it, you may be unable to stop. Pulling no punches, what you read will forever change your view of what God expects.
Dave starts picking at the two big meanies that have made his life so incredibly miserable, Joe Tkach and Rod Meredith:

Rod Meredith’s and other leaders’ efforts against me today have paralleled and continued what Joe Tkach started when he and his team long ago began to systematically falsely accuse me, and eventually made me the first pastor fired in early 1993. I know the fault lay at the devil’s feet...
Dave is not too happy about the Internet and it's ability to bring down Armstrongism in such a rapid fashion as it did in the 1990's.  Today, the disintegration of Amstrongism is still happening because of the internet.

But there is one main difference between Mr. Armstrong’s time and today. Those people, and of course local “members,” could not take their story to the Internet. At best, they could poison only a few people around them who were foolish enough to listen to their angry, twisted “inventions” (Rom. 1:30).

I am skipping over lots of stuff that he whines about till I got to this quote where he seems to be comparing himself to Jesus Christ.  Poor Dave has been labeled all of these things just like Jesus Christ, yet he teaches only truth....just like Jesus Christ.  Dave, get down off the cross, someone else needs the wood.

Think about how many things a perfect, sinless Christ was accused of by people who must have appeared to be credible sources at the time. Consider once again: He was labeled a blasphemer, drunkard, traitor, bastard, heretic, demon-possessed, angry and abusive (when He overturned the tables of the moneychangers in the temple), Sabbath-breaker, ignorant, friend of publicans and sinners, and more. Yet He taught only truth—and was God!

Dave continues:
 Probably few remember or ever knew that Mr. Armstrong died with virtually no personal possessions he could call his own, other than a handful of suits, a watch, and a few other simple belongings, including almost nothing of worth. This man’s pattern of unbelievable sacrifice over virtually an entire lifetime was evident to all who knew him. Therefore, it should come as no real surprise how few possessions he had at the end of his life.
No "personal" possessions, yet living in a mansion filled with millions of dollars worth of art, silver, gold and antiques. But he didn't own it, yet used tithe money to buy for his own exclusive use.  Tell me what's wrong with this picture?  It's the same mindset that Ron Wienland used as he embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars of money for his own use.  Minister still do the same thing today.  They have their homes in "chruch ownership" yet it is furnished according to their specifications with tithe money.  Dave may not "own" his house but it is filled  with art, antiques, gold and silver bought at his command with tithe money.  I don't need to go into his house to see this, I know it as fact as ALL the various COG leaders have done the exact same thing.

God's greatest modern day martyr now writes:

And all of this is in addition to not receiving any of the following: health benefits, life insurance, a fleet car, a liberal expense account, or anything close to an annual full second tithe allotment given historically to all full-time ministers. I have not received any bonuses or any of the other things that virtually all regular field pastors received in the past, or what those in the splinters still receive (who now only have to work a relatively few hours a week caring for small numbers of people)—and I am the leader of The Restored Church of God. In addition, my salary was for a long time FAR below what all the splinter leaders are paid. I know! I have no life insurance, no social security waiting in the wings, and very little home equity remaining (if any)—and am no longer in my twenties or thirties (or even fifties), with lots of years left to “save for (any supposed) retirement.” Frankly, following Mr. Armstrong’s example, I plan to “retire” either directly into the kingdom of God or through death (sleep in Christ), whichever comes first.

Then he details how Rod Meredith has lied though his teeth about poor Dave and all of his millions:


A Large Inheritance?

Other facts need to be clarified. Many falsehoods have been spread about my first wife, my father’s supposed “wealth,” my inheritance, rewriting Mr. Armstrong’s literature, and whether I teach doctrines different from what he taught, as well as my relationship with Mr. Armstrong. There have been other charges not worthy of comment. The biggest point is that I have been under ferocious attack, from all quarters, with nearly endless lies—utter, complete fictions—told about me. (And I still am—as was Mr. Armstrong for a lifetime.)

Now for the barest facts regarding what I inherited from my father upon his death in October 1995. I have never written of it or until recently told anyone about it.

First, I received one tiny store (1,500 sq. ft. retail space)—not two or multiple stores, as some have claimed, and certainly not ones generating any kind of “wealth.” It was Rod Meredith who started the lie that “Dave Pack is a millionaire” and this story grew long legs. I chose never to address his deceit, believing God knew the truth. But in the end, many have been hurt by his lie.

I virtually gave away the one store I received to my son in July 2000. It is the only store today, and both sons still work there. There has been no benefit coming to me now for many years, and very little before 2000. My dad was not wealthy, or even close to it. I did not even know his worth until after his death. His total estate was worth under the $600,000 federal taxable limit applicable in 1995 when he died. (And its “worth” passed a federal audit.) That amount was split 10 ways (three children, seven grandchildren)! I got my parents’ one store.

It has been said that I “inherited a large sum of money.” That’s utterly false. This has also been partially a result of Rod Meredith’s lie. I did not receive one dime—or one penny!—in cash. The store yielded some money through April 1997—18 months—until I began preparation to open a second store in January 1998—which never did well and virtually ended my “extra income” from May 1997 forward, now over 15 years ago. Realize that it took two-and-a-half years (until January 2010) before I could pay for any of my wife’s funeral expenses. These funds came from a very modest inheritance after my uncle’s death in early 2009.



The martyrdom gets worse. Now Joe Tkach is picking on him:

More brief history. In March 1993, when I was the first pastor Joe Tkach fired and marked publicly on video (March 6 from Tampa), I had to act solely on faith. I had been systematically underpaid for much of my ministry by a vindictive Joe Tkach who hated me in large part because of my relationship with Mr. Armstrong. I had no money in the bank—none—when Dean Blackwell came from Pasadena (weeping at my front door and carrying flowers) with a nearby pastor to take my car, computer and Church files. The result: my wife and I had no second car even to get groceries. We walked. Two weeks of severance pay (plus a few days of vacation pay) had to last for several weeks until I could be paid by Global.

Dave describes how his church is decimating the Living Church of God, United Church of God, Philadelphia Church of God and others.  They are coming in the hundreds from each of these groups.  COGWA does not escape this either. Hundreds are escaping from COGWA to join Dave's cult.  This doesn't even include the thousands coming in from the world! All the other COG's must feel humiliated by this.

While most of our growth is coming from the world, hundreds of people have come to us from LCG (the rate is speeding up), hundreds more from UCG, and more hundreds from PCG, plus from other smaller groups. Hundreds of former WCG brethren are coming with us after going home for years.
Dave then goes into detail on how he started ratting out the field ministry and how he had an intensely close personal relationship with Herbert. Herbert supposedly took all of Dave's calls and called Dave constantly.  Since Dave was/is the most important man on earth Herbert apparently needed his wise counsel.
It was through phone conversations and several personal visits that I slowly began to realize my relationship with Mr. Armstrong had changed. I had become an “advisor” from the field perspective. Mr. Armstrong expressed that he appreciated frankness and honesty, even when it meant respectfully disagreeing. He wanted that, and it stood in stark contrast to the usually sugarcoated, self-serving political anglings he so often experienced in Pasadena. Advisors there largely shielded him or told him what they thought he wanted to hear.

These are the facts! I did not come this far teaching the uncompromised truth to fabricate stories now. There were maybe one or two times through the years that Mr. Armstrong did not take my call—but I was instructed to call him back a little later. I would. He never once ended the call, meaning he never a single time said that he “had to go.” He called me a few times to read whole Co-worker Letters to me, and at least another time to read a short article I had suggested he write. He wanted my opinion on it.
Details of my relationship with Mr. Armstrong could continue—starting with how he knew me from 1967 simply because I was a well-known swimmer on campus. But also because I was 6’ 7” tall on a small campus. My marriage to his secretary served to solidify the relationship from 1971 forward. I later framed this in my mind as part of a crucial training under a special man toward an awesome responsibility at the end of the age.
Then another round of martyrdom sets in as Dave wants you to know what a sacrifice it was to rewrite all of Herbert's booklets.  Sorry, how soon I forget.  Dave said every single word in his books is his own and "...not one word came from any of HWA's books..."
In fact, for a three-and-a-half-year period, from December 2000 to the middle of 2004, neither of us ever stopped to eat lunch—not once!—and a late dinner came three or four times a week in a restaurant, often as late as 9 or 9:30 p.m.! (Also, we did not eat a single breakfast or a single lunch or dinner together—not one—at the table at home from 1999 until the months she was dying. There was no time.) That workload would probably kill any three men lacking the help of God so obviously given to us.
Messiah envy seems to be setting in again.

Now he admits to killing his wife by overworking her. A loving husband would never have had worked his wife this hard knowing she was ill.
My first wife never complained a single time—not once!—and in some ways it could be said she virtually died at her post where she sat having typed over two million words ...
Dave is all about throwing around numbers to make himself look important. He claims to have written more words that Herb ever did.  Shall we get out the measuring tape to see who has the longest dick?
A helpful comparison, not said to brag but to clarify: Mr. Armstrong’s total life’s work (books and booklets) was 1,155,000 words (by a software word count). My books and booklets total over 2,900,000 words (approaching triple the number, and in a fraction of the time—with endless other duties swamping my days)! Incidentally, all of this becomes a big reason I had to virtually give away my store in 2000.
Dave is such an educated man that he has to write more than Herbert did because he has sooooooooooo much more to offer:
I had to write much more than Mr. Armstrong because there was a need for additional literature not needed during his time.
Dave wants everyone to know he is the COG's most compassionate minister and has never had to disfellowship people.  He just gently guides them out the door:

Incredibly, I have become a subject of legend in regard to something I almost never had to do! I very, very rarely had to disfellowship anyone. People who did not agree with the Church usually left on their own. A wise and skilled minister understands that people who do not belong—and we now know that scores of thousands never had God’s Spirit in the WCG—can be gently steered with a handshake back to the world where they do belong. I figured this out early on.

Dave was such a compassionate minister that the Rochester and Syracuse New York churches rapidly grew under his leadership.  I can't WAIT for the response to this be certain readers here.....lol Come on, you know you want to respond!  :-)

I did not have to put many people out of the Church. During the 1970s, there were maybe half a dozen where this happened—and these were the “liberal years,” where thousands were leaving the Church worldwide. In the first half of the 1980s, after arriving in Buffalo, New York, I disfellowshipped an even smaller number. This was over a four year and seven month period. And that pastorate was in disastrous condition when I arrived, its previous pastor having just been himself disfellowshipped by Pasadena three days before I took over. The same condition was true of the Rochester and Syracuse congregations, because its pastor left the Church (June 25, 1977) the day he gave his final sermon—and the very same day I arrived. Over 300 people had left these three congregations over the previous three years. Yet in each case these pastorates quickly turned into the fastest growing congregations in the entire Church, worldwide. Church Administration, later renamed Ministerial Services, reported this to me time and again. I even got several visits from headquarters ministers (at least four I recall) asking me what it was that I was doing to achieve such growth. They wanted to know why my Bible Study attendance was routinely triple or quadruple the percentage of most other pastorates. Their goal was to apply principles that they could use with the rest of the WCG ministry.
Dave then graciously moves on to Akron where once again he starts the church growing rapidly!  Such and amazing man!  I bow at his awesomeness!
In the latter half of the 1980s, I was not in a position to put anyone out of the Church, because Joe Tkach had reduced me to an Associate Pastor and sent me to New York City. Once I became a pastor again, from February 2, 1990 to March 2, 1993 (when I was fired from the WCG), there were only two people who had to be disfellowshipped in Akron, Ohio. Two ladies who went with PCG left me no choice. This congregation again became the fastest growing congregation in the United States, even while the rest of the Church had begun to decline in attendance, with the highest attendance at the Feast of Tabernacles having been the year 1990 (151,601 attended the Feast that year). We all know what happened over the years that followed.
Dave goes on to discuss his other amazing qualities:
I was the pastor who developed the Plain Truth Newsstand Distribution Program into what it ultimately became. I did not originate the idea, but carefully structured it in a way that Pasadena could maximize its effectiveness...
Similarly, I saw that Youth Opportunities United (Y.O.U.)—the Church’s formal program to develop its teenagers—was starting with too late an age (13) to effectively shape young minds. I had three children (2, 7 and 9) at the time (1982), and saw the need to begin with children as young as five. So I developed a local program in Buffalo for 5 to 12-year-olds. It was tremendously successful (we had a children’s choir of 99, which we fit on the stage at one time), and involved a variety of sports, camping and fundraising ideas, plus Bible classes, to teach, unify and bond the children. Pasadena found out about it and asked me to write up what I was doing. I did—and the result was Youth Educational Services, or Y.E.S. as it came to be known. This is why God’s Church today does so much for its youth—more than all the other groups combined!
I wrote articles for The Good News magazine that did not get me a pay raise or a bonus.  

I held annual regional activities for singles, as well as certain annual sporting tournaments, which always involved hundreds of people. 

We fundraised on behalf of the Work tens of thousands of dollars that could be sent to Pasadena,

A sermonette seminar that I gave in Syracuse in the spring of 1978 was developed into a very extensive handout, which found its way to Dean Blackwell in Pasadena. I learned that, for the next 15 years, it was used as a speech preparation tool at Ambassador College 
Jealousy soon entered the picture and Dave was picked on:
Most other ministers just never did any of these kinds of things, never mind on a regular basis. Sadly, all of these activities served an additional hidden purpose that I found myself up against: they caused a very real resentment from pastors around me who thought I was “horn-tooting” or “grandstanding” for Pasadena.
Joe Tkach and a couple men around him were able to actively nurture and use this resentment against me to their advantage. He literally ordered five pastors who lived nearby to “write me up” in late 1985, just before Mr. Armstrong died. Two of these men called me about six months later to confess what they and three others had done, and to relate how they were given “no choice.” These five men today have all completely left God’s Way. One stayed in the WCG. Another stayed there and had a complete nervous breakdown. Another became an alcoholic. Another one gave up all of the truth and went home…and so on.     

There is soooooooooooo much more that Dave has written. It's frying my brain to read it all.  If you dare, you can read it all here:   Do You Know David Pack?  You might need a barf bag by the time you get to the end. Be warned though if you call him a lair he has this to throw at you:

Our Headquarters makes no attempt to keep up with the speed of the Internet, emails, faxes and telephones, when used by malicious liars. YOU—personally—must “be strong in the power of [God’s] might” (Eph. 6:10), “standing against the wiles of the devil,” knowing YOU are “wrestling…against wicked spirits in high places” (vs. 11-12), as YOU “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12).

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Everybody is a liar except me!

Anonymous said...

HWA word count 1,150,000
DCP word count 2,900,000

Prov 10:19 "in the multitude of words there wanteth not sin"

Maybe that explains why so many of HWA's books were withdrawn or rewitten over the years? Watch out Dave you've obviously yet to learn this lesson.

Anonymous said...

Self Absorption

1 Consider whether you always need to be the center of attention....
Do people often refer to you as charming when they first know you but then keep their distance? ....

2 Putting your feelings first all of the time can make other people feel that their own feelings don't matter.... you may be prone to being overly emotional and use making drama as a way to make others put aside their own feelings to try and calm you..the self-absorbed person is never a reliable or considerate confidant.

3 Are the closest people in your life never good enough for you, while you're "too good" for them? This, in spite of all they have done for you and the care they've lavished on you? Perhaps you do this from a sense of vulnerability or because you're exaggerating bad past experiences; whatever the reason, feeling superior is a sure sign of self absorption.

4. Are you always convinced that your problems and needs are of greater and more urgent importance than anybody else's? ... It is self absorbed to expect other people to give your problems and needs priority over anything else. It is self absorbed to continually air what is worrying and upsetting you, forgetting that other people suffer hardships and problems too.
Do you blame other people for the way things have turned out in your life?

5 A self absorbed person tends to assume that his or her way is the only way of doing things. Any deviation is treated as a personal affront, failing to recognize that there are often many ways to achieve the same outcome provided patience and trust are given a chance. Do you harbor a belief that you have the only one, right way of doing things at work, home or school? If so, you might be stuck in a very narrow mindset that causes others to be frustrated by your interference and leaves you feeling enraged or disappointed when people don't conform to your way.

Do you try to win over everyone else around by setting unrealistic goals? If you engross yourself around the clock in goals that are impossible to achieve, then you can be considered self-absorbed.

6 Examine whether you're a controlling personality type. Seeking control over much of life is often a sign of unrealistic thinking because beyond ourselves, there are not a lot of things we can actually control, and especially not other beings. Yet, a self-absorbed person will have a tendency to want to control others, both from the perspective of getting them to do as asked and to behave as if the self-absorbed person's world viewpoint is the only right one.

Do you set "standards" for who should be allowed to talk to you or your partner, child, sibling or anyone else over whom you feel you "have control"?Do you make dramatic jumps to conclusions about other people not caring for you when they don't dance to your tune or do things your way? This is manipulative and a falsification of their feelings. Putting words, thoughts and feelings into the mouths of others is a way of justifying your self-absorbed approach to everything, as it gives no space to consider the other people's true motivations and constraints. Only yours matter.

7 Consider whether you like to steal the glory. Are you always ready to take all the credit for achievements without making it clear who else counted, thereby bathing yourself in personal glory? Having to be applauded above all other people and seeking to cover up their involvement in your success is self-absorption and won't win you any friends or fans.

INFORMATION HORDING can be a sign of self-absorption. If you have a belief that you will only stay in a position of total authority or power over others by not sharing information, this might be a sign of being self-absorbed. wikihow

M.T.Soul
In my view, DCP doesn't need a following, he needs a counselor

Anonymous said...

"unlike anything he has ever written."


I love this line of Dave's. It shows up in some form or another before just about every sermon he gives.

I suppose it's meant to send the message to stay in your seats as this will not be more of the same old stuff you have heard for 40 years.

Assistant Deacon said...

NO2, I was laughing out loud as I read this.

Oh, and your comments were hilarious, too.

Anonymous said...

"I suppose it's meant to send the message to stay in your seats..."

I hope it's still OK to bring your babies to the bathroom for beatings!

(LOL, at first I mistakenly typed "OJ" instead of "OK")

But, on a serious note...

I'm just sad that Geppetto W. Armstrong was never able to turn Davie Packnocchio into a real boy.(His shorts were too tight to fit a penis in there.)

Norm

Anonymous said...

DCP Notes:

"In the latter half of the 1980s, I was not in a position to put anyone out of the Church, because Joe Tkach had reduced me to an Associate Pastor and sent me to New York City."

The reason for this was to give DCP ONE more chance to get his act together. He had disrupted so many congregations and left a trail of tears in his wake that , in mercy, they wanted to give him a chance to learn to work with and for others as well as be in charge. It failed . People don't change.

M.T.Pews

Anonymous said...

WCG had NO program to deal with pastors who were disruptive and more a pain in the ass than an encourager of your faith. The program was just to move them around to do it all over to a new group. Many interpreted this constant on the move as "I am needed," rather than , "we don't know what to do with you." Why WCG did not have a program for numbnuts was always beyond me.

I suggested to JKJr that the ministry needed to have personality tests as to an indication of their tendency towards positive, encouraging, balanced ministry etc. He said no, out and out..no, to my face.

Gerald Waterhouse was never corrected or told to put a lid on it. He was just kept away from Pasadena and inflicted on the churches one after the other. He was known as "Outhouse" so I hear but again, no one had the balls to tell him to shut up and get a life.

It is beyond my personal comprehension that a man, like Dave, would go to such wordy lengths to justify himself. But it is what he does best. Dave Pack is not a well trained theologian. Any good seminary student could take him apart but then he'd hide behind his authority and the many scriptures usable to claim persecution. He is a Bible Reader with pizzaz and pseudo, in his own mind, authority. In the world of the one man show, it is the kind of men and women like Dave that rise to the top on the backs and tears of others.

DCP is a kind of person and a kind of personality. Those who follow such are also a kind of person and have a kind of personality.

anyway...

M.T.Hall



Anonymous said...

Why are nutjobs so wordy?

Anonymous said...

Davey Pack is so unimportant that God ignores him.

Anonymous said...

Davey Pack is so unimportant that Satan ignores him.

Anonymous said...

But the American Psychiatric Society?

No, they are ignoring him too.

whatmeworry said...

Blowviating, I think Bill O'Reilly calls it, tooting one's own trumpet. Listen, when DP was sent to the NYC area, he had just decimated too many other congregations, yet, he was still given many chances to change. When I walked up to the meeting hall on Saturday's and see him greeting people, I'd hustle my kids in by another door. He oozes a slick snake oil salesman aura, with that psuedo smooth doubletalk. Patronizing until he finds something to pick on, then, watch out for the door hitting you on the way out! But, gratefully, by the time he hit NYC, his reputation preceeded him, and most of us kept him at a great distance.

Byker Bob said...

Examining percentages, I've often wondered if he'll ever get around to spending the majority of his time preaching some sort of gospel.

Who the heck wants to hear a spiritual guide talk about himself. Jesus could do that because he was God. It's very unattractive when a man does it. I mean, who really cares about all of the personal details of Dave's life? As a spiritual guide, he's a failure, because he is wasting so much valuable time talking about himself. Shit, you'd have to wonder about this even if he were still selling vitamins!

BB

Painful Truth said...

"It only stands to reason that where there's sacrifice, there's someone collecting the sacrificial offerings. Where there's service, there is someone being served. The man who speaks to you of sacrifice is speaking of slaves and masters, and intends to be the master."
-Ayn Rand

Painful Truth said...

"He who speaks without modesty will find it difficult to make his words good."
-Confucius

"He that speaks much, is much mistaken."
-Benjamin Franklin

"Every one speaks well of his own heart, but no one dares speak well of his own mind."
-Francois de La Rochefoucauld

"Faith: Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge, of things without parallel."
-Ambrose Bierce






Painful Truth said...

"Anyone who speaks in the name of others is always an imposter."
-Emile M. Cioran

And a final one to ponder in the whacked out world of Armstrongism...

"The work that lasts over time is the work which still speaks to us when all contemporary interest in that work is extinct."
-Jeanette Winterson

Yes, it will be studied by psychologists after psychologists, law enforcement agencies, and those who wish to start a not so successful cult.

Anonymous said...

I guess that Pack is into answering his accusers now? I am so glad to be away from liars like him!!!!

Anonymous said...

Sometimes it all seems rather sad.

David Pack had given the impression over the years that God was with him and blessing and protecting and healing, and that everything was a great success.

Now it turns out that David Pack had money problems and worries all along, his second health food store he opened was never very successful, his first wife died early (possibly in part from David Pack overworking her), his Restored Church did not help others either, etc.

David Pack acted rather stupid in some ways and for a long time. If he personally knew about the schemes and sins of various big shot leaders in the WCG and its splinter groups, he should have said something about it years ago, with names. Why wait until just now to warn people about the various crooks by finally telling people what they needed to know about them 20 years ago? The short article he wrote is FAR from answering all the questions people have.

The leaders of COG churches do not need to "own" much. They can just CONTROL EVERYTHING, have a church airplane or two and a dozen church automobiles for their exclusive use, and live in mansions paid for by their church, etc. Then they can write about how little they have and about how they have personally given so much to their own church.

One interesting little phrase that has started to appear in David Pack's writing and speaking is the one about having "ALL THINGS COMMON."

The Hutterites now in the United States and Canada got started about 500 years ago based on the biblical account that said, "And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need" (Acts 2:44-45, KJV).

In the Restored Church this might operate in a somewhat different fashion as everybody sells everything they own and sends it in until it becomes ALL THINGS DAVID'S.

Herbert W. Armstrong claimed to be the prophesied end-time Elijah who was to come and restore ALL things, yet he seems to have overlooked this new idea that David Pack is playing with.

The professed reluctance to talk about size when the RCG was small seems to be disappearing now that "hundreds" are coming from this group and "hundreds" are coming from that group until the RCG now has "thousands." Left out this time was the story about how several hundred who had come to the RCG from the PCG had all left the RCG too.

David Pack has produced much literature (though he will not send it to former WCG members, as he once shouted angrily in his Clarion Call sermon), has recently gone on television (which he used to criticize as ineffective and wasteful back when he could not afford it), is currently constructing a headquarters building (though there was formerly not enough time left in this age to do it), has become an apostle (though he previously had warned people to leave him if he started claiming to be something like that), and might become a big name in delivering God's last end-time message to the World (though HWA had already previously claimed to be delivering God's last end-time message to the World).

One of the SERIOUS DANGERS with self-appointed religious dictators is that one never knows at the start what all ideas they will come up with later on. Time will tell about David Pack.

Anonymous said...


For those interested in the continuing adventures of the Church of God, David C. Pack's Restored Church of God might be worth watching.

The United Church has always been full of division with some real weirdos running wild there, and is falling apart faster than any other large group. Now at less than half the size it started at, the concentration of evil in the UCG makes it unable to grow--other than continually grow worse and grow smaller. The prime objective of the UCG--to provide paychecks for the ministers--could be affected.

Gerald Flurry's Philadelphia Church is next in line for irreversible decline. As more people slowly figure out that a drunken, lying runt is NOT "That Prophet" and that satanic abuse by old sex maniacs, sex perverts, and predators is NOT "the government of God" the PCG will only continue to shrink. So be it.

Roderick Meredith's Living Church could be about to die when he does, or even before he does, due to his increasing doctrinal changes and lies about them. While appearing to hold relatively steady in size over the years (though never really growing), the LCG could soon get uprooted.

No other splinter groups appear to be amounting to anything, other than just amounting to more division and confusion.

While all the "large" splinter groups have topped out and are either about to explode, or are already in severe and irreversible decline, the Restored Church is still moving forward. If any of the splinter groups ever amounts to anything, it will probably be David Pack's Restored Church, due to his unrelenting drive and zeal. The other groups are just too full of evil to function properly, much less to grow.

Soon, the (sin)isters from these other groups might have to pretend that they have "anointed their eyes" so that David Pack will hire them and give them a paycheck.

Anonymous said...

Worth watching. Yeah, right.

Pack talks to himself more than anyone. He writes for himself. He writes about himself. He thinks about himself. He has visions of grandeur -- of himself. He justifies himself. He defends himself. He whines about his "accusers." And he surrounds himself with people weak enough to buy into it.

That number will dwindle over time. And when he runs out of money, his "magnificent" buildings will end up in someone else's hands, just like his hero's did.

And that's no lie.

Redfox712 said...

Just copied it onto my computer see how long it is.

20,785 words.

35 pages with 12 point font.
47 with 14 point font.