A reader here sent the following observations and questions regarding how Church of God leaders portray themselves as great stalwarts of truth, yet when you check out the number of readers and followers, the numbers are minuscule even among their own membership.
I noted, for example, that Pack is on Twitter. Not too surprising I suppose, and 100% of his tweets consist of announcements of his stupid RCG videos.
.But one thing struck me as odd. His number of followers
Don’t they have some thousands of members? Then why does he only have less than 900 followers?
(Incidentally, browsing through his followers just to see if I knew any of them, a lot are obviously not members – some are typical automatic follower accounts, follower fishers (uninterested parties that follow solely in the hope of getting followed back) and such -- it’s probably less than 700 actual members that actually follow him, maybe even less.
Is he not considered important enough by all of the members to just follow him?
To me, that speaks volumes about his power even in his own church. https://twitter.com/davidcpack/followers Along the same lines....
Then there is David Hulme and his "Vision"
Hulme’s videos are posted on YouTube, where the average number of views is somewhere around 700-800 per video.
https://www.youtube.com/user/videosbyvision/videos Now, most have them been sitting around for 1 or 2 years, and most of those from the past year have less than 1000 views, which is pretty pathetic. I have Youtube videos that have been around that long and accumulated more views than that!
It’s more pathetic considering COGIA also has some thousands of members, you would think at least the membership would definitely view the videos to have a base line of at least that number of views. But apparently much of the membership can’t even be bothered to view them, so why would anyone else?
One of the biggest differences now as compared with 50 years ago when HWA was able to con so many with his fabulous teachings is that you can go right now to google or youtube and get an astonishing amount of point, counter-point discussions that show the accuracy or fabulous nature of any particular claim. Remember always that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and claims made without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.
ReplyDeleteWow! Back in the early 2,000s, there was a counter associated with each of the articles we wrote for the Painful Truth website. I considered the articles that I wrote to have been effective if they reached 200 clicks within perhaps a week to ten days, and the best ones usually did.
ReplyDeleteI would have thought that even the smaller splinter groups would have racked up thousands of clicks on their efforts. Seems like they're really not doing so hot on this great commission thingie.
BB
The great commission thingie is just exagerated hype to get unthinking people excited so they'll "send it in." To this day, I can menation Herb's name in just about any setting and get nothing but uncomprhending stares. Except for us deluded fanatics who got embroiled for one warped reason or another, that great work had no real effect anywhere or any time. It was all hype and emotional delusion.
ReplyDeleteBig Dave has lost a few hundred members with just the "churches" that have splintered away from RCG. My understanding is that RCG only peaked out at about 1500-1600 members.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to really know (because RCG has a revolving door).
It's not a numbers game anyway, but that is mostly what DP cares about.
Sooner or later, those who prepare and target the messages, purely for survival, are going to need to get away from targetting the members of other splinters, and to figure out how to make their message relevant to the general populace. The name Herbert W. Armstrong has been burned. It has a permanent stigma attached to it for everyone except the people who are currently part of Armstrongism. Mentioning that name, and claiming to be a preservationist may gain a leader points in terms of splinter poaching, but the minute an outsider newbie googles the name, they have lost him or her.
ReplyDeleteThe quandary the groups have to face is, "How do we distance ourselves from one we've called our Apostle?" Basically, they get their entire identity from him, and not from Father God, or Jesus Christ. I think they've got themselves boxed in.
BB
I heard a few more are leaving RCG due to the new teachings there. Any updates?
ReplyDeleteBut BB,
ReplyDeleteWhat about all the positive lasting legacies of HWA that nck has told us about?
IIRC, some of the benefits he mentioned are-
Softer pillows and firmer mattresses so we can sleep better, due to our tithes.
Corn flakes that don't get soggy at breakfast, due to our tithes.
Toothpaste that makes our teeth whiter and cavity-free, due to our tithes.
A better road infrastructure to drive to work on, due to our tithes.
Healthier and tastier burgers and fries for lunch, due to our tithes.
Hotter and sexier ladies to marry and date(and go dutch), due to our tithes.
Better concert halls and entertainment venues, due to our tithes.
Less toenail fungus and itchy scalp, due to our tithes.
Amazing ju-ju amulets being discovered around the world, due to our tithes.
More advanced aircraft to fly us to our vacation destinations more safely, due to our tithes.
Special "Herb-o-Diapers" to wear that make farts smell like a freshly unrolled FOT tent, due to our tithes.
Air traffic controllers that are 90 percent more alert, due to our tithes.
Kardashians that are 79 percent less annoying, due to our tithes.
Cow milk that contains 97 percent less pork, due to our tithes.
Diseases like smallpox being alleviated, due to anointed cloths and our tithes.
This is just a random sampling.
Think about it and be grateful!
Warmest Regards,
Tony the Truthiest
Tony the Truthiest,
ReplyDeletewhere can I send my fourth T, that is Tithes, you are so right.
It is Sabbath keepers that brought you Kelloggs.
It is the Pasadena Colgates that brought you white teeth.
The road infrastructure in LA was a Ford conspiracy to kill public transport in its inception phase.
And don't forget the internet. I'm pretty sure the Council of Elders approved the invention of the internet.
nck the almost truthiest
This Pack guy is pack full of crap. I don't know what god he preaches, certainly not the God of the Bible. Where is the grace? The Mercy? Oh, where are there soup kitchens? I don't know why my mother in law bought into this garbage hook line and sinker. ALL I know is if I want to make her cringe, I play a Paul Washer sermon and gets all angry saying he isn't going to heaven b/c he doesn't keep some Jewish 2.0 festivals. Pls pray for her.
ReplyDelete