Dave Pack: My Illogical Logic. See The Problem?

Dave Pack has made so many absurd comments and predictions over the years that he constantly has to back peddle and set things "straight."

Dave has another "sermon" up online and it starts out with this silliness:

Okay, really quickly, I might throw out an interesting point of, we’ll call it the illogical logic. Imagine that there was no First Dominion followed by the Kingdom in Zion…and God wipes out an entire Earth for things they never knew. People of all nations and religions—no matter the ignorance—didn’t even know about Christianity, and God pours horrible plagues on them, and they had no idea why He did it.

According to what we read, He would have to wipe out everybody who didn’t believe the truth, and that would leave the Church…Now, think about this. Then He would turn the Church into spirit, and the Millennium would open with not so much as Adam and Eve to rule over. You wouldn’t have anybody. Based on all that you saw, if the few men left were merely the Church…and the Church is going to be turned to spirit…where are the nations in the Millennium? Never mind how unrighteous and unjust God would be for destroying people over things they never understood. On the other hand, all of that goes away if there is a First Dominion and a Kingdom ruling from Zion.

……So, if the elect were the only people on earth, then you’d wipe out the earth, turn them to spirit…nobody there and the Millennium is basically a wasteland for 1,000 years without even two people to start over. See the problem?

Never mind explaining away how God says, I’m not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to the knowledge of truth…and I would have all men to be saved, but I’m going to just blastand wipe them all out, and they’re not going to have a clue why I did it. You would wonder why, under those circumstances, they almost could blaspheme such an unrighteous god. 

It is no wonder his followers cannot understand what he teaches.

"The Time of Correction Is Almost At Hand!" So says the Chief Pharisee of the Churches of God

The second self-appointed false prophet of the Church of God (after Almost Arrested Bob Thiel) is the Chief Pharisee and bastardizer of the law, James Malm.  No one in the church has ever taken the law and abused it as much as Malm has.  Even Almost Arrested Bob Thiel pales in comparison.

Malm has self-appointed himself as the chief authoritarian on the law for the church.  No human on this earth understands the law more than Malm does, maybe except for his sidekick Constance, Blessed be!  No human has ever interpreted the bible more correctly than James Malm.  He works day and night in his little apartment pouring over scriptures and adding his own interpretations. Note these are his OWN interpretations and have nothing to do with God anywhere in the mix.

The lying false prophet is so sure the end is coming in the next few years that he is working over time to get some of his books published so people will be able to read them in the tribulation when the Internet goes down.  The Chief Bastardizer of the law claims he has been on a steep learning curve over the last several years in order to get these books out.

Announcements:  I am reviewing and updating all literature and the free Downloads page has been removed from the ashininglight.info site

I have been on a very steep learning curve throughout these past years and I want to do a final version of the books including all changes, updates and points learned over the years. 

Besides growing in doctrine over these years, the very purpose of writing these books – and making my mistakes – has been to learn to write and format books properly in preparation for publishing final solid doctrinal volumes just before the tribulation.

 The Chief Pharisee then makes this hilarious comment:

Besides a solid doctrinal refresher on the New Testament over the next months as the crisis approaches, I want the books to contain the most accurate and updated material possible.

There is NOTHING sound in the legalistic garbage that Malm pumps out daily, particularly when it comes to any New Testament teachings.  Malm is as embarrassed about Jesus as Almost Arrested Thiel is.  The things Jesus taught and accomplished is a major embarrassment to these two fools.

So why this sudden rush?  According to the liar and false teacher Malm, the abomination of desolation MIGHT be set up in 2017 and when it is then 75 days later the crap hits the fan and the Internet will go down and he will not be able to spread his "word."

There is no guarantee of steady electricity or internet in North America during the tribulation and most of the Ekklesia will be caught up in the tribulation. 

My goal is to have about ten solidly doctrinal books ready by the 2017 Fall Feast. The deadline is due to the strong possibility that the abomination may be set up late in 2017 and the tribulation will begin about 75 days after he is set up. If it takes another year, there are still many more things to do. 

I can guarantee you that it will NOT happen in 2017 and Malm will change his story again.  His god was not yet ready to murder millions of people.

Damn!

What a disappointment that will be!

Again!

Why Do People Remain in Abusive Churches?

By Don Enevoldsen

“The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone.’” (Genesis 2:18)

Who would have thought that the first thing God identified as not good would become the strongest tool of control and abuse in history? Human beings recognize how undesirable isolation is, and they prove it by their willingness to do anything to avoid being alone. That fact explains a wide range of dysfunctional behavior, from the tendency to stay in unhealthy relationships to a fanatical devotion to abusive churches and church leaders.

I was recently asked why people stay in abusive churches, not only refusing to leave, but actively defending the system, even when there is overwhelming evidence of hypocrisy, deception and unethical behaviors. A variety of factors combine to produce this state, and while motives can be complex, they generally revolve around the fear of losing connection with the community. Instinctively, most people prefer the familiarity of an unhealthy community to abandonment by the community. Better to belong to something, even if it’s bad, than to be alone.

The threat of being ostracized hangs over every part of abusive church systems. It has always been this way. Recall the parents of the blind man Jesus healed. They avoided defending their own son out of this fear of being cast out.

“His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue.” (John 9:22)

All their son did was tell the truth. Their fear prompted them to distance themselves from his defense, even though they were his parents and they saw for themselves that he’d been healed.

Why is this drive so strong? Why is being alone so terrifying? There might be many reasons, but the one that dominates my experience can be seen by examining what causes members of an abusive church their greatest anxiety. Having spent many years in a church where the pastors understood how to push all the right buttons to keep people in line, I’ve had considerable opportunity to observe abuse at its most subtle and its most effective.

For many years I worked very hard at this church. I was head of the drama department, writing and directing plays, Easter pageants, Christmas musicals, and helping to create illustrated sermons. I taught Sunday School classes, did the midweek service for many years, acted as church liaison for many community and political events, and did hospital visitation.

Significantly I had most of those responsibilities before I was on the church staff. Like most volunteers, I sat on the edge of my seat every time the pastor talked about something I was involved in, hoping to hear my name mentioned, even if it was only in passing.

People work incredibly hard for the smallest pat on the back, in the form of some sort of public mention or a title or a small, inexpensive thank you gift. Anything to feel that our efforts were noticed. We see it as an acknowledgement that we have earned a position in the organization. We belong to something bigger than ourselves.

Conversely, we are terrified of what might happen if we do not perform well enough or if we make a mistake. Someone else might replace us and we will suddenly be on the outside looking in. We can’t conceive of not being part of the group. Our sense of who we are becomes so enmeshed in the organization that being kicked out would confirm our worst fears that we might not have much value. No identity and no connection. Alone and forgotten.

It’s not hard to manipulate such people. My pastor often said that they were the best employees because they worked so hard. They are often thought of as people pleasers, but it needs to be understood that the reason for people pleasing is the fear of being sent away. A pat on the back, balanced with the hint that failure to be good enough will result in removal of all approval, and such people will do almost anything. I can assure you that in those days, I would. And I saw it in many others.

Add to that a steady diet of sermons about obeying leaders and submitting to authority if you don’t want God to be displeased with you, and the result will be a loyal, devoted fanatic, for whom no amount of rational argument will be adequate to break the hold of the abusive system. They will defend the pastor and the church against all comers. Note the reaction of Creflo Dollar’s congregation as detailed in Part 13 of this series. The facts of the case don’t matter.

It is in our nature to seek community. A healthy community thrives on the diverse contributions of healthy individuals. Members of the group are encouraged to grow, to express themselves, to find their individual, unique identity and to discover their purpose in life—for the good of themselves and for the benefit of other members.

An unhealthy community thrives on hierarchical control that forces its members into subservient roles—for the good of the organization, not the good of the members within the organization.

It is in our nature to seek community, but it is also in our nature to seek individuality within the community. We must express our unique identity to ever find genuine contentment. Express yourself in an abusive community, however, and they won’t allow you to hang around. You are a threat to the power structure. Until you start questioning the authority, you might never see the overt hostility. Question leaders, however, and you are guaranteed to see it firsthand. Abusive leaders never react nicely.

Where you fit into this dynamic says a lot about you. People stay in abusive systems because the desire for community has overwhelmed all other needs. Fear of abandonment has obscured the necessity for individual expression. Fear of not being good enough has twisted commitment to the community into a self-destructive duty, devoid of personal fulfillment or satisfaction.

Why do people stay in abusive churches? Because they have been taught that disapproval by the church or by the leadership equals rejection by God. And if you’re rejected by God, where can you go? That kind of fear is not easily overcome.

Though difficult to understand or accept when you have been indoctrinated in an abusive church, churches that foster genuine community do exist. Healthy people are never alone for long. They find other healthy people and they form healthy communities. The irony is that until you risk being alone, you will likely never notice those people.

A Reminder to Those Caught Up in Their One Man Show

 The following are basic human, religious and spiritual rights any person has as a member of EVEN the Restored, Philadelphia , Living and Continuing Churches of God .

You have the right to expect the church to keep your personal contributions private and should be able to expect that any who deal with such things for accounting purposes will do the same.

You have the right to expect that your membership in any church or congregation is not contingent on how much you give or do not give. You should also expect that jobs, positions, opportunities or offices are not given based on the amount anyone gives to the church.

You have the right to say I can only give this even if it is not a tithe of your income gross or net.

You have the right not to be spiritually judged or have your loyalty or sincerity questioned based on what you are able or unable to give financially to the church.

You have the right to ask a Pastor if he checks tithes and offerings for any of the above reasons before giving to a church.

You have the right to say "I'm tired and won't be there, " to any and all activities, plays, fundraisers, studies, seminars, prayer groups, rehearsals, practices and sermons.

You have the right to say "I don't care about that."

You have the right to question the advice, counsel or sermon of any minister, elder, deacon or any other person in authority. You have the right to question authority and to still expect to be allowed to attend your church. You have the right to question a minister who declares himself one or both of the Two Witnesses of Revelation, a Prophet, the Supreme Watcher of Mankind for God, The Only True Apostle in this Age and any other title or position he can come up with to impress you as to why you need to support him.

You have the right to suggest a pastor get spiritual or psychological help should the need arise. You have the right tell him that the congregation is noticing a trend here.

You have the right to ask why the church believes what it does when the Bible might say otherwise, or why the Bible says something that the church practices that seems scary, weird, inappropriate for this time, out of date or controlling. You have the right to notice that ministers often quote scriptures out of context or fail to enforce or address the rest of the story that does not agree with the point they are trying to make.

You have the right to ask all the "how can that be," "how could that happen," "why does it say this here and that there," questions you can come up and expect an intelligent answer. If you are told that you are using human reasoning, ask the pastor what kind of reasoning he uses. If he says "God's," find another church.

You have the right to not want elders, deacons or your friends accompanying the minister on visits to your home to talk to you.

You have the right to discuss or not discuss your life with the minister as you see fit.

You have the right to expect absolute confidentiality and for your story not to show up in the sermon next week, even though "I won't say the name."

You have a right to be called ahead of time when the pastor wants to ask about stopping over.

You have the right, when he calls to say, "I'm tired," "I'm busy," "No, but I appreciate the call," without repercussions.

You have the right to keep a dirty home, grass not mowed perfectly, an older car, red in color and kids that don't say "yes sir, nice to see you sir," in just the right way.

You have the right to watch and read what you wish even if the pastor just got done bashing that particular program, movie or book from the pulpit in his sermon on "Demons in Your Home--Six Ways to Assure Your Eternal Death."

You have the right to ask the pastor not to call on you at work, even if you own the business.

You have the right to say, "I can't afford to take you to lunch." "I can't afford to give you free wood or brick." "I can't afford to fix your house up free," "I can't fix all your teeth," to your pastor should he expect professional courtesies, even if he offers to do your funeral free.

You have a right to expect free use of your church for weddings and funerals.

You have the right to expect these usages are not dependent on you, your parents or children living a sinless life six months prior to the date of the event.

You have the right not to answer questions your pastor may ask you or your children about your sexual practices. If he insists, then insist that you all share together.

You have the right to not let the pastor inform you as to who you can and cannot date or marry.

You have the right to enjoy your sexuality free of church or pastoral approval. Something that is wrong for the pastor is not necessarily wrong for you in how you express yourself to your partner. There is no Bible prohibition against....well you know. And if there were, you'd have the right to disagree with that too.

You have the right to not share which or if you are taking medications of any sort with the pastor.

You have the right to take such medication and not be judged as having a lack of faith or trust in God to heal you.

You have the right to seek professional help without informing your Pastor of the nature of the help and you have the right to not be helped solely by the pastor under threat of repercussions.

You have the right to insist the pastor get professional help should the need arise and the man is causing more harm than good. You have the right to remind him that God does not directly speak to him nor express His will only through the mind of the pastor and that makes you uncomfortable if he thinks that is so.

You have the right to be wrong about a many things.

You have the right to believe you are correct about many things without repercussions.
You have the right not to care about everything that others think you must care about to be a good Christian.

You have the right to tell the pastor he is wrong, mistaken or exaggerating.

You have the right to dress as you wish, wear the jewelry you wish and make up you wish or not wish without being labeled a whore or a goody goody.

You have the right to feel that dressing as if it was still 1957 and only watching Disney Movies or How the West Was Won as proof of your pureness is baloney. You have the right to not be told that the best times for entertainment, movies and TV was when the Pastor was a boy. You have the right to like the food he does not like and to not like the foods he does. You have the right to like the schools he doesn't and not like the ones he does.

You have the right not to bear your soul to the ministers wife.

You have the right to like or not like, agree or not agree with the ministers wife.

You have the right to not view the world through the pastor's eyes morally or politically. You have the right to hate the war while he believes the war in Iraq is God's will and thinks it's all in the Bible.

You have the right to expect him to speak clearly where he thinks the Bible speaks for us today and to walk slowly and drink cool water where it doesn't.

You have the right to tell the pastor that that is his opinion and not necessarily the only true opinion on earth.

You have the right for you, your children, your partner and your friends to be themselves.

These are but a few of the rights any member of any Church, congregation or religious organization has. In short, you have the right to not be required to check your brains, your insights, your perspectives and your free will at the door to be welcome and a member of any church

When A Church of God Prophet Lacks Faith

I received an email from a reader here that posed an observation about Almost Arrested Doubly Cursed Elisha Elijah Amos Joshua, Second Witless Witness, World reknown Mayan Authority, Possessor of all knowledge about Catholicism and the Chief Overseer of the improperly named "continuing" Church of God, the end time prophet extraordinaire, Bob Thiel.

The dubious false prophet claims to have a direct pipeline to the wisdom of God and therefore is justified in thrusting his thick Bible  at people and uttering dubious speculations.

If the lying false prophet was actually a REAL prophet then he would not begin everyone of his endless speculations with this:

"Could ______ (insert person, event) be a fulfillment of _____________(insert Bible verse)?

The reader made this very acute observation about the lying false prophet:

It's been some decades since my Old Testament Class in College (DePauw, not Ambassador, so suspect already), but I seem to recall that the Prophets of Old always said "this is happening because" or "this will happen unless."  ...they spoke with some degree of decisiveness, unlike COGWriter, who leaves himself a fair amount of wiggle room.

The difference between the prophets of old and the legion of babbling morons in the hundreds of splinter Church of God's, is that every single one of these"prophet's" does into have the balls to take a real stand.  Given the track record of the thousands of COG "prophets" over the decades, it is probably a good thing, even though it really shows these men (and a couple women) truly lacked faith.

Bob Thiel's lack of faith does not allow him to take a strong position, instead he allows "a fair amount of wiggle room" with his utterances. Apparently having a double-dose of the "holy spirit," as he claims, has not been beneficial to him.

Dave Pack: My Words Are Precious Knowledge

Dave is being humble.

You’ve received precious knowledge—kept secret from the world. It is not the popular traditions—fables—of modern Christendom, but Jesus’ plain words—now understood in our time. God has been waiting for thousands of years to establish His Kingdom on an Earth that desperately needs it. Yet it will not come as billions expect. Think. You’ve heard word of the Kingdom before it comes. There is great advantage in this! Christ is today preparing a specially chosen team of qualified administrators in advance of its arrival to rule under Him.

Dave Pack: Jesus Will Return the First of Many Times Hiding His Kingdom in the Little RCG Flock

When Dave's "jesus" returns for one of "its" many comings, "it" is coming to start "its" first kingdom in Wadsworth in a manner that is so secretive that it will be hidden from view.  No one will know except for the few shoppers that might happen to be shopping in the big lot store across from Dave's compound who happen to see Dave's "jesus" shining in glory while walking around the most amazing campus in human history.

A basic summary. Christ first comes to His people—His Temple—in good times, bringing His Kingdom “without observation.” It begins in microscopicfashion and is hidden! It is also initially led by a little flock under Christ. He will at first hide His presence by being sprout-like. During this first phase of the Kingdom will come terrible punishment on the nations descended from Jacob, making them finally ready to receive God’s Kingdom. The Kingdom will be growing in number of subjects before Christ transfers a ready-to-be greatly expanded world government to Jerusalem. From there He will rule all nations with a larger group of saints coming from His by then much larger flock. It is at this point He will build the glorious Third Temple on Mount Zion (Ezek. 40-48).

Dave Pack: The Restored Church of God is...a gigantic, Earth-rattling Work—one so far-reaching it will stagger the mind—one that cannot be fully comprehended until it’s seen—that upon hearing of it most won’t believe it!

Never has there been such a superfantabulous Church of God.  Nothing Paul, Peter, James, Jesus, William Miller, Herbert Armstrong, Rod Meredith nor any other COG human leader has ever been as awesome as Dave.  The angels surrounding the heavenly realm stand in awe of Dave.  No one has written more booklets or magazine articles.  No one has ever preached longer sermons as long or filled with as many numbered points as Dave.  No one has a gated driveway to his cult compound that is as awesome as Dave's.  No one has a campus as beautiful and awesome as Dave's.  It's all just freakin awesome!!!

“Marvelous Work and Wonder”

During the mustard seed Kingdom, vast numbers will come to know these Bible truths in what God, through the prophet Habakkuk, calls a “marvelous Work.” Notice: “Behold you among the [nations], and regard, and wonder marvelously: for I will work a work in your days, which you will not believe, though it be told you” (1:5). In Scripture, a “Work” represents God’s servants’ teaching and warning all who will listen. Will you believe advance report of this Work?

The prophet Isaiah powerfully underscores what Habakkuk foretold: “Behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder [a miracle]: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid” (29:14).

Paul also cited Habakkuk in the book of Acts, altering it slightly: “Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets [Habakkuk]; Behold, you despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which you shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you” (13:40-41).

This means we should expect a gigantic, Earth-rattling Work—one so far-reaching it will stagger the mind—one that cannot be fully comprehended until it’s seen—that upon hearing of it most won’t believe it!