We have all had fun sitting back watching the blatant idolatry that goes on in various COG's splinter groups since the Worldwide Church of God imploded. It all started with Gerald Flurry who imitates everything he could to be like Herbert Armstrong. From building a mini-me auditorium to traipsing in the woods of Oregon to haul back a dirty rock and he claims HWA prayer at to buying an aging mansion in England and starting another "college."
Meredith then tried to emulate HWA, at who's feet he had been trained, but has failed rather spectacularly. After failing miserably in Global Church of God, he took their money and started the Living Church of God. Never able to afford to build a college campus with fine buildings and gardens, he has had to settle on a few rooms in an office building for his "college."
Then there is United Church of God, another sad imitator, who has split and fractured so many times that they cannot keep up to date on how many are actual members. Its media campaigns have been disastrous. Like Meredith, it too has a few rooms in an office building that house it's "Bible" Center.
Like Gerald Flurry, Dave Pack has built himself a little empire that is another imitation of Herbert Armstrong's visions. Regardless of how much he lies that he was trained at HWA's feet, which he wasn't, he cannot make his dwindling cult desirous of other COG members. After predicting tens of thousands of wayward COG members would soon be flocking to Wadsworth, he has been left sitting red faced as he is unable to build his own mini-me auditorium.
Dave recently sold his home and has had a new one construct on the Wadsworth compound along with other "faculty" homes for the boot clicking elite. It's all imitation and make believe. From the streams, flower beds, building designs, to even the trees he plants
Everything he does is an imitation of what Herbert Armstrong did. Dave can never compare. It is a poor business model that was doomed to failure from the start. Dave does not have the personality that HWA did. When HWA sent out regular bombastic letters blaming members for church problems and that they needed to send in more money, they did. When Dave speaks people tend to ignore him. People look at Dave as a liar. They are leaving his church daily and money continues to be a struggle.
How long will it be till the Wadsworth compound has to be sold to developers who will build condo's?
25 comments:
Maybe he should sell it all and move to Savannah, GA. The home of Armstrong Atlantic State University.
Invoking HWA's name is almost marginally successful in attracting original WCG members. However, once they've splinter surfed enough to discover that none of these groups is either desirable, or will take "the work" to the next level, the greying membership either settles into their most comfortable "club", or walks away from Armstrongism altogether.
The best business model would be to attract new participants to the Armstrong philosophy in the same percentages and numbers that applied to HWA and GTA's "work". However, wannabe heirs face two great obstacles in doing this. One is that the belief system and approach are extremely dated. In a world of multiple existential threats, and a public that is numbed to these, you are just not going to scare massive numbers of today's people into a church group based on British Israelism, nuclear war, and the Germans coming. Frankly, most people are more concerned about radical Islam, which is something tangible that they can actually see, as opposed to having invisible flames fanned. Europeans have become more secularized than the USA, and are practicing the same sinful existences which Islam condemns and would like to elliminate through international jihad. The Pope and Catholic Church are actually kow-towing to Islam. And, the second obstacle is that no-one has emerged with the powerful style of HWA or GTA, not even anyone with the Armstrong genes. Participating in Armstrongism will not groom or produce the powerful personalities that the Armstrongs had. Quite the opposite, it will stunt and suppress such personalities. Right now, the Spokesmens' Club members are attempting to be the ministers. It is both pathetic and ridiculous. They wield the authority, albeit cruelly, in an attempt to make themselves appear to be operating in HWA's valence, but the desired effect of building a work is missing in action. They are like hypothetical deaf people tapping their feet to music that they cannot hear, simply because they are imitating and trying to relate to the foot tapping of people who can. That is to say, they just don't "get it". In fact, they cannot "get it". It is simply not within them.
The Missing Dimension in Sects.
Humbly Submitted,
a disciple
I would not be surprised to learn that Dave has built a house on his plantation due to death threats. He has robbed so many people that there 'must' be a few who have woken up to his fraud and now want him to hang.
Repeat, or mimic, the patterns of speech, the WCG vernacular, the grandiose warning statements, the overuse of capital letters and exclamation points . . . and our message will be just as effective as Herbert's was.
This was the assumption, a very, very bad assumption, that each Herbert pretender went on with. Larger purveyors like Flurry and Pack progressed naturally to believing that Something More was needed to keep the followers with them, and thus began to claim they had Truth "beyond" what Herbert had (which, of course, was directly from God Himself). There are others out there that claim your favor because they haven't taken a single baby step beyond what Mystery of the Ages said. The body of Herbert's writings and broadcasts is a never-ending source of Truth and, somehow, "all the Truth needed" is in those books and articles . . . . Oh, yeah, put the Bible itself in with them.
Contemporary technology is used by all, but none of these jokers seem to realize that the sheer VOLUME of information now available, because of that technology, is what dilutes any potential audience and brings their "impact" to 0. There was a one-man splinter out there for a while, praising Armstrong daily from his desk and his internet connection, who regularly bragged about the thousands of hits he had on some things he wrote. Bragging about thousands when there are billions upon billions of websites, and a vast selection even among Armstrongism purveyors! A few thousand? Who cares? And, there was no way to determine how many of those clicks were people who were there for 5 seconds, saw it was nonsense, and moved on.
Oh, why won't you people give up and spend your resources on something useful and beneficial? If you see one of them, tell them I asked
These trees are planted to block the view of the pole barn as Dave drives up the new road, to his new house on campus. And also, they are planted in honor of the man who came up with this great business model that gives Pack so many dumb members who will send him their life savings, so that he can plant more trees on his campus. (I mean God's campus, all belongs to God at RCG.) But, as Stan said back in the day, it doesn't matter what you own, it's what you control!
If you have enough money, you can get a personal tour of RCG HQ. (Maybe even get a tree, or two planted in your honor.) Members who visit HQ, and are perceived to be able to give much money, or "pull big triggers", are given the red carpet treatment. Of course, the lay members have no idea that these types of things happen at HQ. Then again, they have no idea of 99 percent of the things that happen at HQ, and the propaganda machine ensures that they don't.
Always special treatment for those of substance, not so much everyone else. I think the Bible says something about this. But at RCG, the Bible simply says whatever Dave says that it says. I wonder what HWA would think of Dave changing when the millennium comes, or the first dominion, etc. He didn't even like the STP, how about a rogue minister changing everything he once taught. However, he may have liked the "common" idea, what a great fundraiser!
Minus a few number of 60 to 70 year olds, most people have never heard of Herbert or GTA. The name means nothing to them. The churches are trying to live off of past glory to a dwindling group of supporters. When Rod Meredith passes away there will be further subdivision of the faithful.
Piece of advice: Do not park under the maple trees.
You will be very sorry.
What is it with all these guys and their fixation with Armstrong's feet?
"I would not be surprised to learn that Dave has built a house on his plantation due to death threats. He has robbed so many people that there 'must' be a few who have woken up to his fraud and now want him to hang."
He has built a house. There are now two new houses on the RCG campus. They can be seen on Google earth. Also, the gate that he had installed is for security reasons and to limit entry to the campus.
Oh Brother! .... whats next, all the flooring going to be "Armstrong Linoleum"???
RCG is so fixated on the physical appearance of everything. Including even the people. Always being told what and what not to wear, how to walk, talk, etc. He even had Jeff Ambrose give a HQ lecture on how to wash hands in the bathroom and then to wipe the faucets to remove fingerprints and water drops... The funny thing is, everyone is so zealous and not able to use common sense at HQ, that they soon told everyone not to wipe the faucets because they were scrubbing so hard the coating was coming off... Next how much TP to use in the stall...
“Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are pliable.” Notice how Pack always has the best statistics on everything. And then next month/ sermon they change again, always for the better. If his statistics were truth, RCG would have 150,000+ members by now. ie. 30 percent growth and millions of internet views every year.
If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts. Albert Einstein
ie. Dave Pack and the first dominion.
Anyone out there have any more info on what Pack is preaching about now? I heard he is at 40+ messages now about the first dominion and it's proof from the Bible. So much for "meat in due season" and spiritual growth sermons. He talked for 3 years about "3 men dying and all the splinters returning to RCG". How long will he talk about riding on angels to Jerusalem to build the third Temple?
@ Connie,
I'm also guessing the HVAC system in the Pack compound is provide by the Armstrong Heating and Cooling System company as well. "The Professional's Choice" for Armstrongites everywhere.
Craig.
Ties that blind… Family, physical, spiritual lineage to HWA
ICG has the family ties, but, except for BI, has dropped many of HWA’s fringe doctrines, even third tithe, and Mark wasn’t an AC graduate WCG minister. Does not claim Philadelphia-era lineage.
PCG was the first major post-HWA defection, with the biggest collection of relics and facsimiles; bought the copyrights to major works, but has altered some of the text.
LCG has Rod, the last of HWA’s original disciples.
RCG has gone to great lengths to preserve ‘doctrinal precision’ in reproducing HWA’s printed materials, but falls way behind PCG in replicated works.
CCG doesn’t attempt to physically copy HWA, and Bob wasn’t an AC graduate or WCG minister. Extensive user of HWA’s materials, although Bob said in a sermon he doesn’t blindly accept everything HWA said.
Is Dave using Armstrong linoleum in his shanty?
I went into a bank in Kentucky to cash my paycheck when a minister and the lady looked at the check and said, "Hmmm, Armstrong huh?" A little cause for concern arose in me as it was a small town and I just moved to it with this being my bank. I said "Yes" She said, "I like Armstrong!" Whew....was about all I could come up with.
Then she said...
"In fact, Armstrong put in our floors... did a right nice job!"
I kid you not...
Anonymous on September 24, 2016 at 4:26 AM said...“However, he may have liked the 'common' idea, what a great fundraiser!”
You are technically incorrect to call David Pack's “common” idea a “fundraiser.” In the Restored Cash Grab (RCG), common is a completely different ripoff and is IN ADDITION TO all the continual fund-raising that everyone is required to do.
It looks like that Prince Money Seminar guy from Nigeria sure helped David to become a financial genius. David gets “multiple streams of income” from each RCG member: Multiple tithe streams. Offering streams. Building fund donation streams. Retirement money streams. House equity streams. Continual fund-raising streams. Bank-borrowed money streams. Estate inheritance streams. Common streams. Someone screams.
Never let down and kid yourself that you have already done all that you can do to keep David cashed up. Be creative. Work harder AND smarter. Remember that David NEEDS to have all the expensive and good things in life. In stark contrast, all you need is some bread and water, and maybe a park bench to sleep on or a culvert to live in. You just need to learn your proper place in the scheme of things, and to “prepare greatly to reduce your standard of living,” as the old saying goes. Now, stop posting comments at dissident Blogs and get back to work, or it will be all your fault if the RCG cannot afford to pay for Dave's new mansion and auditorium, or if the whole enterprise goes bankrupt.
HWA knew of these other more famous ones with his last name. In fact, one Friday night Bible Study, he quipped, "Brethren, I did not just return from three days in outer space!" (That followed Neal Armstrong's journey)
And THAT is something that has always bothered me. You would think that mankind putting men on the moon and returning them safely to earth would have been something worth prophecying, am I right?
DBP
@ DBP 8:03.
Yeah I have to agree. I've always wondered that myself. With God prophesying the future why did he never mention man landing on the moon or space travel to his prophets? Any why was it never written in the bible if quarter of the bible is prophecy? Just sayin'.
Craig
Regarding the first moon landing, before it happened HWA said that it was his opinion that God would not allow man to travel to the moon and return to earth safely. He thought God had limited man to the earth and would prevent any safe travel off this planet.
"He thought God had limited man to the earth and would prevent any safe travel off this planet."
How did HWA get around so well with his feet firmly stuck in his mouth all the time?
Ahh.., his worshipers! That's right, they carried him around to just about everywhere he wanted to go. So, old Herb having only enough faith in the most gullible of us to provide for himself a "marvelous lifestyle", missed out on what some or any "God actually allowed the most capable of us to acheive!"
How sad for Armstrongism. :(
or Thank God! :)
LOL
DBP
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