Dr. Bob has a little blurb on his "News of those once affiliated with the Global Church of God" page about a minister from Dave Pack's cult who was berated for over two hours for calling out Pack on his claim of being a High Priest like Jesus.
Then like the old WCG, Pack disciplines the man and his wife and then threatens all kinds of legal action.
If these splinter cult leaders were truly doing God's Work then they would not need to worry about complainers, dissidents, blogs, web sites, etc. But since they know they are morally bankrupt they have to resort to all kinds of scare tactics, threats and intimidation.
I appreciate you sending this News. I'm a former minister of the RCG who was disfellowshipped and fired in June for accusations about Zec 3 and being accused of calling David Pack's counsel of elders "filthy rags" - Joshua's filthy garments - and I also disagreed with his claim to be a High Priest an office held by Jesus Christ. My wife and I were harangued for two hours by this vain narcissistic tyrant who cares little for those of age and whether or not he destroys their lives, and I have evidence that he has done the same to many others...My wife also work at RCG headquarters as a volunteer for over 15 months without even a thank you.
I hold no animosity toward David Pack or any of his ministry, I came to see that the work he is doing is about vaunting himself as well as coning his members with clever sermons, into disposing their assets in favor of RCG so he can build an empire. He claims an apostleship which is false he claims to follow Mr. Armstrong, but simply took his literature embellished it with his own thoughts and ideas and palmed it off as truth. Mr. Pack is a clever man who knows his Bible well, he has used this wisdom, to do a work that on first appearance looks like the real thing, but over time one wakes up to the realization of what Paul warned about in II Cor11:13 that it is simply a work of the flesh he he will bear the consequences of his actions.
My hope for him is that God will show him exactly what he is, what he has done and what he is doing, so he to may have the opportunity of facing Christ in the not to distant future and enter into the kingdom of God. I can send you all the correspondence I have emails, back and forth, an agreement they wanted me to sign as well as a letter from RCG attorney to substantiate what I have told you, of course you understand once you post what I send, you will receive an email from Jeffery Ambrose denying, or justifying my disfellowship and firing from RCG...
Well spoken. This IS the real David C Pack and the one I have seen operate for years.
ReplyDeleteAnd while you may hold no animosity towards him, go ahead and have some anyway as you have just repressed it out of habit.
About two years ago, if you Googled "David Pack", all that came up for the first few web pages were sites devoted to the wimp-rock Ambrosia band. The leader of that band's name is David Pack.
ReplyDeleteNow, when you Google the name, and I'm sure tithes and offerings of the deceived and deluded have made this possible, there are mostly references to the RCG, and "apostle" Dave Pack.
What ever happened to the concept of a humble, self-effacing spiritual guide; one aware that for Jesus Christ, the message was the superstar?
BB
Take a look thru Dave's Sermon Titles. Not one in a hundred even has the name Jesus in it. You will find "Christ" but usually in the context of the soon coming kick your ass Messiah who will rule with a rod of iron and you can help him.
ReplyDeleteDave's sermons somehow always elevate Dave and his all knowing arrogance.
Pack has a history that suggests he cannot change, even a little bit.
ReplyDeleteI guess you could say the same thing about Meredith and many others. We are not talking about young men.
"usually in the context of the soon coming kick your ass Messiah who will rule with a rod of iron and you can help him. "
ReplyDeleteIn hindsight, that's actually the one and only good thing about Armstrongism: They painted a picture of jeebus that was more in line with the rest of the bible: An angry dude who was coming back to do some smiting, as his father had before him, who tells people to forsake their families, live by the sword and gives us a laundry list of great quotes to use against him. Mainstreamers on the other hand, offer this long haired lovey-dovey, turn the other cheek, pu$$y jeebus. It's safe to say that one group took more creative liberty with the myth than the other did ;-) The Armstrongite jeebus is easier to dislike, and that gets points in my book!
As long as your money is in your pocket you are in control. Once you hand your money over to someone like David Pack you will be out of control. You will never be able to get your money back, though you will probably end up wishing that you could.
ReplyDeleteYou might hand your money over to someone like David Pack at some point in time when you feel comfortable doing so. However, such absolute dictators will always end up coming up with new teachings and new plans in the future. Then you might become uncomfortable but will be forced to continue to go along or else get the "yell and spit" treatment that he is so infamous for.
Over the years I have wondered if there is anything to the guy. Each time I have wondered about it he has had another major blow-up with someone, or has proven to be an utterly useless character, or has started shouting at his followers to hand over everything they have, or has been caught lying.
Back when I was in high school, a very popular book was "How to Lie with Statistics".
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking that sometime in the Kingdom, there's going to be a book written titled, "How to Lie with Scriptures".
I do have some doctrinal issues with the Armstrong movement, but my chief objection to them was the ways in which they twisted scriptures to make themselves and their organization the gatekeepers to mythical places of safety, and/or the Kingdom or lake of fire. We were taught, as an example, to ridicule the very concept of the rapture. However, just who is the gatekeeper for the rapture? Your local minister or "apostle" determining whether you are Philadelphian or Laodecean? No! In the rapture scenario, God makes all judgements!
The problem with cultic dictators (as opposed to loving spiritual mentors) is that they usurp the prerogatives of God and make it very difficult for the Holy Spirit to actually even be able to function in the individual hearts and minds of members.
The overwhelming barrage which was presented by Armstrongism, and the very bad events which occurred, the horrible fruits in peoples lives is, I believe, why many of the ex-members have a difficult time accepting any kind of loving God. All of our minds were conceptually corrupted regarding God. Even today, it is difficult to understand unconditional love and grace, because we'd always been taught that God's love was conditional, performance based, and that with each act or thought, we could "fall away". That is not the way a loving parent raises his child, and, per Jesus, it's not a realistic view of the way God mentors His children.
But, alas, cultic tyrants are very often spiritual predators, who will always fight to preserve an image which bolsters their own self-importance and alleged authority, to say nothing of their income.
If there are any others out there who feel as if they are about to be disfellowshipped, I have the following suggestion to make. If someone you suspect of being a tyrant "calls you to his office", just try this to see what happens. Suggest that you meet in a neutral setting for discussion, such as a local restaurant where there are other people around.
BB
Good insight and comment BB
ReplyDelete