The Compassionate Philadelphia Church of God. Really?

Of all of the Churches of God out there in 2018 that lacks compassion, mercy and grace, it is the Philadelphia Church of God, led by Gerald Flurry and his band of Gestapo agents. From instructing parents to abandon their developmentally disadvantaged child at the mall so the state can take care of her in order for the parents have more money to send in, to its perverse no contact policy for members and exCOG members.  Countless articles here been posted here on Banned, on the Painful Truth and the Exit and Support site, about the vile practices of Gerald and Stephen Flurry and many of his Gestapo agent leaders.

David Vejil writes:

Are you a compassionate person? Compassion is a character trait we need to develop (1 Peter 3:8).

Our greatest example of compassion is Jesus Christ. Matthew describes Christ’s compassion in four separate accounts.

How, just how can PCG write such a thing when they blatantly ignore everything about Jesus. Their saviour has turned out to be Herbert Armstrong.  HWA gets more air time and print time that Jesus ever has in the last 20+ years of PCG's existence.  The qualities that Vejil writes below about Jesus is something that PCG has never accomplished and NEVER will!

In one of those accounts, Matthew records a time when Christ was followed by a large number of people into the desert. He “went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick” (Matthew 14:14). He continued doing so into the night. When the disciples advised Him to send the multitude away, Christ didn’t. Instead, He fed 5,000 through a miracle. Only after they were fed did He leave (verses 15-21).

It is amazing that He could have compassion on all those sick people even though He never once was sick. For humans, it is hard to have compassion on people in situations we have not experienced. Yet Christ has perfect compassion on us, even in the troubles we cause ourselves due to our sins.

PCG compassion for the sick is to bar them from proper medical care and abandoning their disabled child at the mall. 

How can we have that same compassion in our lives and build it in our families? Remarkably, God actually designed us to be motivated to build compassion.

Vejil says that our hearts are wired for compassion.  If that is true, then how are the hearts of the leadership of the PCG wired?

A 2013 University of Wisconsin study demonstrated that our bodies actually reward us for having compassion and acting on it. When we see someone suffering, our brain stimulates hormone glands to release chemicals that slow down our heart rate. These hormones prepare our bodies not to fight or flee, but to approach and soothe. When we act on these chemical changes, the body releases oxytocin, a feel-good hormone that encourages bonding.

Of course, even though our brains are hardwired for compassion, that doesn’t mean it is always natural to act on it. We can ignore these signals, just as we can sear our conscience (1 Timothy 4:2). Like all aspects of character, compassion must be cultivated with God’s power, through experience and practice.

That last sentence, while typical of COG thought, is not true.  I know plenty of agnostic and atheist people who are the most compassionate people you will ever meet. They do more in one week helping others than most of PCG has ever done in its lifetime.

Vejil continues:

This shows that compassionate thoughts lead to compassionate action. “It’s kind of like weight training,” Weng says. “Using this systematic approach, we found that people can actually build up their compassion ‘muscle’ and respond to others’ suffering with care and a desire to help.”

God encourages His people to meditate (e.g. Psalm 1:2; 143:5; 1 Timothy 4:15). In the time you spend meditating, devote a portion to thinking about the suffering of others. This will make it easier to remember them in your intercessory prayers and to be more earnest and fervent in those prayers. Intercessory prayers are a powerful tool we can apply to using the compassion we have for others.

Above you see how PCG really shows compassion to others.  They just think about it and wish warm thoughts for others instead of doing anything.  Thinking those warm thoughts build their "compassion" muscles.

Vejil next says that learning compassion starts with training the children to understand it:

It is also important to teach compassion to our children when the opportunity arises. Children will often cause harm to others through misbehavior. As parents, we can use these occasions to build compassion in our children by getting them to understand not only that what they did was wrong, but to think about what they did from the viewpoint of the person they harmed. If you do this consistently when opportunities arise, it will develop your children’s sensitivity to the suffering of others and a desire to remedy that suffering.

Tell that to the child who's parents told by a PCG minister to abandon their child at the mall so they could stop spending so much money on her.  How can children in PCG learn compassion when they are not allowed to visit their grandparents or friends who are no longer PCG members. Tell that to children of families the church has split up. Some standard of compassion that is!

When we have trials, we can cultivate compassion by thinking about those we know who are suffering trials, and then using that to motivate us to encourage one another with cards or encouraging fellowship. This works even if the trials are not similar. Any serious trial will bring us to our knees to God and show how powerless we are. It is that heart-wrenching experience that many of us share. And while it is easy to think only about our own suffering, if we use God’s help to think about others, then we can use our trials to build and unify God’s Family.

These studies show what can be achieved on a human level, but with God’s Spirit, we can elevate our compassion to that of Jesus Christ!

So there you have it.  Think warm fuzzy thoughts of others and you will just be like Jesus.  Forget ever working in a homeless shelter or cleaning vomit and shit off of a drug addict.  Or sitting down to dinner with a prostitute or a person suffering from AIDS.  Nah, just think warm fuzzy thoughts.  Never worry about putting real faith into action and bring a foretaste of the Kingdom you claim to be preaching boldly.

Oh Noes! Two Sabbath's In A Row! What's A Church Member To Do?

Since tomorrow is Pentecost in most Christian churches and in most Church of God's around the world, except for those in blasphemer James Malm's cult who will be keeping it on May 27, it also presents a predicament for Church of God members who find their lives having to deal with two sabbaths in a row.  Two days without TV, or movies, or doing other fun things you might do on a regular Sunday.  For some, including children it is two days of taxing boredom.  First, being bored with sermons on Saturday by men who have recycled their sermons so many times they know them by heart, to now having to sit and listen to the same canned sermons on Pentecost.

Never fear though, God's ONLY end-time prophet and the only TRUE Church of God leader has the solution to all of that boredom:

So, you have two Sabbaths in a row and perhaps you wonder what you and/or your family should do?

Well, in addition to study, prayer, and church services, there are various quizzes and Bible games at the COGwriter website.

One is the Pentecost Quiz, developed by Michael Thiel.

A very popular one is the Who Wants to be a Biblical Millionaire? quiz, also developed by Michael Thiel.

It is an interesting game. It has over 1,000 different questions. Think of it as an entertaining way to assist your doctrinal memory.

Also, since it is the Pentecost season, perhaps you may wish to take Michael’s earlier (less sophisticated technically) Pentecost Quiz.

I believe that the quizzes and animations help reach a wider audience than just the doctrinal and news articles here.

We also have the Study the Bible Course available. 

I can solve that problem.  Read Banned! I can guarantee you will NEVER be bored like you are when listening to jazz hand's Bob!

Regrets...We've Had a Few

I regret 

"Coming into the Truth"

Every now and then, usually  in the middle of the night,  I wish I had never heard of Herbert W. Armstrong, Garner Ted , the Worldwide Church of God and the Wonderful World Tomorrow

We're taught to try to live life without regret. But why? Using her own tattoo as an example, Kathryn Schulz makes a powerful and moving case for embracing our regrets.

...and too

Dear Cartoon Bob: Call me. Sincerely-Lawrence M. Krauss

Reviewed by Ray Jayawardhana

Special to The Globe and Mail

Published February 17, 2012 Updated May 11, 2018

For better and for worse, these are heady times in cosmology. Over the past two decades, astronomers have pinned down the age of the universe quite precisely (13.72 billion years), confirmed its geometry as perfectly flat through exquisite maps of the Big Bang's faint afterglow, and found that its expansion is speeding up rather than slowing down. Three researchers shared the physics Nobel Prize for the latter discovery just last month.

Yet, embarrassingly, cosmologists have also come to realize that everything we see – the myriad celestial bodies that our telescopes reveal – constitutes a tiny sliver of what makes up the cosmic pie. Mysterious "dark matter," undetected except through its gravitational tug on galaxies, count for much more. The rest, a whopping 73 per cent, is in the even more bizarre form of "dark energy," the dominance of which dictates a dismal long-term future for the universe.

In A Universe From Nothing, Lawrence Krauss, celebrated physicist, speaker and author, tackles all that plus a whole lot else. In fewer than 200 pages, he delivers a spirited, fast-paced romp through modern cosmology and its strong underpinnings in astronomical observations and particle physics theory.

Other popular science books have covered many of the same topics, but Krauss's slim volume is bolder in its premise and more ambitious in its scope than most. He makes a persuasive case that the ultimate question of cosmic origin – how something, namely the universe, could arise from nothing – belongs in the realm of science rather than theology or philosophy. What's more, he goes on to argue, our current understanding makes it quite plausible that the universe indeed emerged from quantum nothingness, thus dispensing with any need for divine intervention. There is free lunch after all.

The book traces its own beginnings to a lecture that Krauss delivered in 2009. The video of the lecture has netted nearly a million views online, becoming something of a YouTube hit (though not compared to a clip of a piano playing cat, with 23 million views). So it is not surprising that the book at times has the tone of a lecture: You can almost hear the author's gleeful voice and picture a wry smile. Some sentences run long: I counted one at 107 words. Exclamation marks are sprinkled liberally. There are delightful historical anecdotes and humorous commentary. My favorite story is about the amateur astronomer who persuaded Einstein to publish "the results of a little calculation" on how gravity could act as a lens, the basis of techniques now used by researchers to weigh distant galaxy clusters and to find planets around other stars.

The author does not shy away from tackling complex physical concepts, and often finds clever ways to illustrate them. Even if you don't feel fully conversant with eternal inflation (of the cosmological, not economic, variety) or false vacuum energy by the end, you will almost certainly be rewarded with interesting insights, and a sense of awe, if you persist. Krauss explains how scientists know what they claim to know, for example, laying out the multiple, compelling lines of evidence for a hot Big Bang. He is careful to delineate what is well supported by experiments or observations and what is at the more speculative end of the scientific discussion.

A Universe From Nothing is not always an easy read – unless you are a science buff familiar with some of the lingo and the ideas – but it is surely a very rewarding one to plow through. The many fans of Krauss will devour it, and rejoice. Others, picking up a cosmology book for the first time, perhaps after watching Big Bang Theory or curious about what's new in astronomy, would find it demanding, but also mind-blowing. Those who feel the need to invoke a supernatural cause for the origin of the universe may – should? – find it disturbing.

"Changing by what we mean by things is called learning. It doesn't happen in theology but it does happen in scholarship."

Lawrence Krause-A Universe From Nothing

The Big Bang or Breaking Wind? COG Prophet Has The Answer!

Almost arrested, but not arrested Elijah Amos, Joshua, self-appointed, bitter, Bawana Bob Thiel
is back with another outstanding video cartoon that is GUARANTEED to make all the youngsters out there do a double take and immediately join his African church.

This time around, Bawana Bob is imagining himself as the world's foremost authority on the Big Bang. If you were never a believer in evolution you probably will be after watching this mess. Bawana Bob is living proof that evolution is real.



According to Bawana Bob:

Colleges and universities teach variations of a godless 'Big Bang theory' as science. But is it scientific or simply the musing of scientists? The late Dr. Stephen Hawking stated that there was nothing before the Big Bang. Is it logical that nothing became everything? What should have happened then according to scientists? What happens to radioactive materials like uranium? What does the Bible teach about errors called science? Is God's existence more logical than a godless 'Big Bang'? Which has more actual proof? In this animation, a university student asks a professor questions and provides information that students and those out of school should know.

UCG Personal Appearance Campaign Drops $420.00 on Each Attendee and STILL Cannot Attract New Members

A UCG member had previously sent us information about the previous Billboard Campaign that UCG did that turned into a costly boondoggle of a mess. Now it seems they still have not been able to draw the public in without spending tons of money on them.  I guess they think spending $400.00+ in tithe donations is well worth it to get a new tithing member.  After all with UCG, it is all about the money and not the soul.

It seems that no matter how hard UCG tries, their message lands on unfertile soil.  So one brainiac in UCG thought about having 15 minute "Ted Talk" style broadcasts to impress the public.  TED Talks are usually fascinating subjects that cover a whole lot of information in a short period of time, all the while in an engaging style.  UCG sermons are 1-hour butt-numbing marathons that should be paired down to 20 minutes.  Even then, they still cannot present their theological mess in an appealing manner to engage new converts.

From the latest Annual General Council of Elders Report.

Public Appearance Campaign (PAC) Cost Analysis—Rex Sexton/Rick Shabi

Rex Sexton led the discussion of the cost analysis of the 22 PACs. The Council and the administration continually are trying to evaluate the effectiveness of preaching the gospel. There are four types of soil in the parable of Matthew 13. Our goal is to sow good seed on fertile soil. We see in the world that the soil is changing rapidly, and we are to see how we can improve to be as effective as we can be.

The cost-per-response for the PACs came to about $420 per new attendee. Mr. Sexton said we have tried other ways to preach the gospel and asked if we are making the best use of our funds. We remain committed to reaching all peoples with the gospel.

The Council discussed for about 30 minutes other methods that might be more effective.

Mr. Sexton mentioned how popular TED Talks are right now. Maybe a 15-minute Beyond Today presentation could be tried to see how effective it could be.

Peter Eddington stated that the $295,000 spent on the 22 PACs was about 1 percent of the media budget over the course of the campaigns, so it was a small amount used to try another avenue for preaching the gospel.

Jorge de Campos mentioned trying the Kingdom of God seminars again at the local level.

Mario Seiglie said the PACs in California were beneficial for the pastor and congregations as well. The presentations were encouraging to see how the three speakers approached the subject. He stated that he saw the PACs as more of a pilot program to help determine if the PACs would be effective.

Peter Eddington mentioned that in the first PAC in Cincinnati they invited magazine subscribers and utilized billboards along with Pandora ads and Google ads to target the general public. The general public did not respond as positively as subscribers did, so the focus for the future campaigns was moved to inviting and targeting just current readers and viewers.

Dan Dowd liked the idea of TED Talk type programs, where an ongoing series on our beliefs could be covered. Also radio is still a very valuable area to try again with possible podcasts.

Tony Wasilkoff said name recognition does have an impact with the PACs. When they tried PACs in Canada there were several that wanted to see the Beyond Today presenter.

Peter Eddington mentioned the bulk of the expense for the PACs is sending the invitation letters to get guests to attend. Over the course of 22 events, 52,000 letters were sent out three times at a cost of 50 cents per letter for printing and postage. One third of our total signups would occur each time the letters were sent out. About half of those that signed up to attend would not show up. So an additional challenge is getting guests to show after they have signed up.

Jorge de Campos suggested looking at the option to e-mail out invitations and see if that could work better.

John Elliott commented that the gospel message has to be preached even with low response. With different advertising approaches there is usually a 1.5 percent response, and our PAC response concurs with this. Sometimes the fruit comes later, but the gospel must be preached.

Mr. Sexton thanked the Council for their feedback.

COG's Now Turning Pentecost Into Weekend Fun Times, But Still Cannot Figure Out What Day To Keep It On

Several of the Churches of God over the last 15 years or so have tried their best to rope members into spending money on "Weekends" tied into various holy days.  These fun weekends are supposed to unite the true body of believers. The next one coming up is Pentecost, which for normal Christians falls on May 20th.  But, the Church of God has to be different, so it has to have it on another day or two.  The Church of God can't figure out which one is actually right.  And, this does not even include the crazy dates James Malm and Bob Thiel claim is right!

This is just indicative of the sad state of affairs that the COG is now in.  For a church that claims to be restored first century Christianity and that it is the one and only TRUE church, it demonstrates that it is anything but.

The Pentecost Festival Weekend in 2018 will be held over 3 different weekends (owing to calendar differences): May 19-20, May 26-27, June 23-24.

On the weekend of May 18-20:

The Church of God International in Ontario, Canada, would like to welcome you to its first ever Pentecost Super Sabbath Weekend.

Everyone is invited to attend Pentecost Weekend with the Intercontinental Church of God at its usual site: Kentucky Dam Village State Resort Park, Land Between the Lakes.

The United Church of God has a new venue for 2018: “the beautiful Potawatomi Inn Resort in Pokagon State Park on Lake James, which is right off of I-69 in northeast Indiana. This resort is larger than the state park facilities in Brown County and McCormick’s Creek, with a full restaurant and a café and community gathering rooms for fellowship.”  Church of God News

Dave Pack Battles The Demonic Cult Within The Church

More tales from the dark side with Dave Pack to prove to RCG members he can work with demons.  Of course, he claims these people lied when told HQ that he "too judgmental and harsh" when they denied such a thing happening.  As usual, Dave took no responsibility and blamed it all on the "liberals."

Secret Cult—Inside the Church

The Packs stayed with a local family for 10 days until they found a home. Almost immediately, since no other ministers had yet arrived in the area, Mr. Pack received a call from a local member, who told him that her husband was involved with a thing called “personality demons.” The young elder was at first hesitant, but it was soon obvious that what she described was not a hoax, and the problem had been widespread.

After some investigating, it became clear that one of the three previous ministers transferred from the area had taught and deceived a great many into accepting a ridiculous and bizarre belief: that every human being is born possessed by a demon!—and that conversion is in fact a lifelong process of self-exorcism!

This was happening in God’s Church!

A large, but secret, group of people in the two congregations were literally on a first name basis with demons. All members of this inside-the-Church-cult believed that they each had their own “personality demon,” referred to in code as their “PD.” Individuals were taught to daily “call forth” a “good spirit” that God was said to have assigned to them from birth. This “good angel” then supposedly “helped” the person get rid of his or her “bad angel,” or “evil spirit.” These terribly misled people were actually talking to twodemon spirits, with one masquerading as an angel.

The apostle Paul warned the ancient Corinthians—and all Bible students today—that “Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light” (II Cor. 11:14). This was certainly true of the “good angel,” said to be working with each member.

Every day, the members involved would “call forth” their “bad angels” to talk and reason with them. These masquerading spirits would claim, for example, “I’m your good angel. I’m here to help”—or “I’m your bad angel. You need to get rid of me.”

The misguided people then wrote down the chilling messages and instructions from these spirits in endless notebooks as a futile attempt to “exorcise” themselves. Those thought to be members of God’s Church were actually inviting demons into their lives, thinking they were “pushing them out”!

Because the previous associate pastor had been so influential and well-liked in the congregation, he was able to persuade many to accept these demonic beliefs—and possibly lead them to what could in fact become the very possession they thought they were escaping. This minister was actually trying to cast a spirit out of his own infant son!

“Somewhere in my basement I still have a pile of full notebooks of many who were involved in this terrible activity. That such a perverse practice could enter God’s Church, and in a relatively large way, was hard to believe. For me, it was a sobering example of how determined the devil is in his desire to infiltrate the Church and cause confusion and destruction among God’s people. And the pastor knew nothing of it.

“I later found myself counseling a young man in the group, while at my house, with my wife present, who began to speak to me in seven different voices, each spirit only too happy to give me its name. I cast all of the demons out, right there in my den, and found myself very thankful for training I had received just months earlier.

“This was more training of an extraordinary nature, something one could not imagine, never mind expect to be part of his field experience. It would take its place among the many unique elements of my training that I could only later understand for their collective value.”

Experimentation with Spirit World Downplayed

Once Mr. Pack had gathered sufficient information on the “PD” cult, he contacted his area coordinator, still living at Headquarters. The man planned to immediately come to investigate.

When he arrived, Mr. Pack had been on a scheduled vacation to Milwaukee. The offending minister came with him and downplayed Mr. Pack’s report. He carefully covered up the situation and his followers did the same. The investigating area coordinator believed that the matter had been terribly exaggerated. Mr. Pack was not there to challenge the investigation with the facts.

The men left almost as quickly as they had arrived. The area coordinator later phoned Mr. Pack and suggested that the matter had been overblown.

Mr. Pack could not believe his ears—a representative from Headquarters, his future boss, believed the discovery of a large secret cult operating within God’s Church was “overblown”?!

The young minister was unsure of how to handle a matter this serious. It was another trial on top of the original trial of discovering the cult.

First, Mr. Pack was determined to get more information in preparation for his supervisor’s arrival, so he asked more questions of the brethren involved who were willing to talk. Finally, one man’s wife turned over her husband’s “personality demon” notebook.

Relying on chain of command for the solution, he called his superior back.

“I told him, ‘You are about to inherit a serious problem when you settle in the area. This whole thing was swept under the rug. I have looked into this much more, and gathered many additional facts. A truly unbelievable situation is developing in this pastorate!’”

When the area supervisor arrived, he examined the writings—irrefutable evidence that a demon-influenced cult of about 110 people had been secretly thriving among Christ’s flock! The associate pastor was immediately removed from the ministry.

Incredibly, certain brethren involved pointed to Mr. Pack as the root of the problem, saying that he was “too judgmental and harsh”! Some actually believed the young minister should have been “more understanding” of the local brethren’s “difficulties”—in other words, they thought he should toleratedemons and a form of angel worship among God’s people!

Mr. Pack recalls that the situation revealed how many who attended the Church could not possibly have been part of the Body of Christ.

“I was aware that certain opposing views and rebellious attitudes had entered the Church during the 1974 rebellion. But now, over two years later, I saw that even though thousands of brethren and scores of ministers had left, there were still men in the ministry who privately held to a host of different kinds of ideas, many of them truly bizarre.

“Starting in the 1970s, the term ‘liberal’ was used in the Worldwide Church of God. The phrase really doesn’t refer to a specific behavior or attitude, but rather encompasses a variety of different attitudes and unacceptable conduct that had entered the Church, which all had the same beginning.

“Before the liberal years, nobody ever questioned Mr. Armstrong’s authority and expected to remain in the Church. Everyone recognized that he alone was the leader of the Church. Publicly disagreeing meant openly acknowledging a decision to leave the Church. This changed in the 1970s as people began to feel more comfortable expressing their disagreement in a variety of areas.

“In the Church, the word ‘liberal’ has always been synonymous with permissive, overly tolerant, lax views toward accepted Church doctrine and members’ behavior. Unlike churches of the world that view conduct and beliefs in shades of gray, the Church of God understood that God’s Law is black and white.

“It was simply unbelievable that these kinds of things could happen in the Church of God. It was only years after that I could really understand I was seeing things that were preparing me for a role that would come much later. It was as though each new assignment was adding important training that would not normally be experienced in the ‘average pastorate’ or ‘average ministry.’”

Dave Pack the Exorcist

Dave story of the time he was in the Cincinnati WCG that was to prepare him for future encounters with demonic forces:

The Spirit World

Mr. Pack experienced in Cincinnati the first installment of what would be another unique training opportunity that most young ministers seldom faced: confronting the frightening reality of the spirit world and demonic possession.

One day while visiting with Mr. Reyer, the pastor was leading a counseling session with a married woman, whose four young daughters were playing quietly in a nearby room.

At a certain moment in the visit, Mr. Reyer saw something strange in the look on her face. His assistant, inexperienced in such matters, listened intently, not discerning anything out of the ordinary.

Suddenly, the pastor looked the woman in the eyes and declared, “You’re a spirit, aren’t you? You are a foul, unclean spirit!”

Her demeanor changed instantly—she snarled at the men like a wild dog bearing its fangs, her 10 fingernails literally raised and pointing toward Mr. Reyer.

He said, “We have to leave right now. We need to go home and fast about this.”

Mr. Pack left the house in disbelief.

The pastor called Mr. Frank McCrady, the minister from Chicago who had trained him years earlier. This man was generally recognized among the ministry as the one with the most years of experience and most discernment with people troubled by demons. From these two trained and experienced men, Mr. Pack learned firsthand about dealing with the spirit world, lessons and experience that would be important training for his later ministry.

Several days after their encounter, Mr. Reyer and Mr. Pack met with the troubled husband and wife in the living room of the Packs’ home on the north side of Cincinnati. Just before Mr. Reyer commanded the spirit to stop troubling the woman, she began a high-pitched shriek that Mr. Pack described as “a screaming hawk diving on prey.”

Moments later, she shot up from her chair and seized her husband, locking her fingers around his throat in a death grip while taking him to the floor. Mr. Reyer grabbed one of her arms and Mr. Pack the other. At 6’3,” the pastor was a powerful man. Both he and the younger minister were in top physical condition—yet they struggled with the small woman.

While pulling the woman off her husband, Mr. Reyer had commanded, “In the name of Jesus Christ, come out!”

The evil spirit obeyed Christ’s authority immediately, and departed from the woman—and only then were these two strong men able to now easily lift her fingers from her husband’s throat.

She immediately dropped to the carpet as if dead. The men stared as she slowly started to move. As Mr. Reyer lifted her up, she said, “Oh, thank you so much.”

“How long has that spirit been in you?” he asked.

“Since I was seven years old.”

Mr. Pack stood amazed at the event he had just witnessed. This was a ministry-changing experience. The reality of the power and evil of the spirit world was forever seared into his mind. This training would be needed in the future.

Dave Pack's Most Extraordinary Family and Country Club Upbringing

We saw in the previous just how important it was for Dave Pack to show the world he was a descendant Kings and Queens.  The extraordinary lineage of remarkable humans is what Dave was born into.  Dave has had the most successful corporate leaders, military officers, and famous writers in his lineage.  

David Pack was blessed to be born into a remarkable and diverse family of corporate leaders, military officers, literary authors, winning salesmen and successful entrepreneurs, as well as others who brought an unusual sense of cultural training and refinement. Most important, it was an extended family whose men and women exhibited special strength of character and vision, often in the midst of severe trials, which would prove to be a continuing theme even to the present day.

The diversity of relatives, with such varied backgrounds of experience that influenced him, afforded a young boy an interesting childhood, to say the least.

Part of the reason Dave expects his members to fund his lifestyle, is to live the lifestyle his parents raised him up to believe he deserves. From enjoying country clubs and golfing, the well to do lifestyle is the one he seeks to preserve to this day.

While her husband’s family had often lived a hand-to-mouth existence during the Great Depression, Jane’s family had never gone without. Her father’s entrepreneurial skills enabled the Crowls to afford a beautiful home and exclusive country club membership, even during trying times for the rest of the country.

Ran and Jane desired the relative peace of a typical suburban lifestyle. Hence, they joined the Shawnee Golf and Country Club in the summer of 1953. There young Dave and his siblings attended club events and spent his summers swimming and later occasionally golfing. He also did some caddying to make extra money. He would wade in “hog creek” (the nickname for the Ottawa River cutting through the golf course) to find golf balls for use or sale.

A Family of Golfers

Golf seemed to be in the family’s blood. His Uncle Frank was a “scratch” player—he routinely shot par for 18 holes, and would often play 36 holes before lunch during high school summers. His Uncle Bill, also a very good golfer, oversaw the construction of golf courses at each of the three naval bases he commanded (in Pensacola and Jacksonville, Florida, and Brunswick, Maine). Again, he served as President of the American Golf Foundation for two years during the late 1960s, interacting with all the well-known professionals of that time.

Because he grew up listening to his uncles’ golf stories, young Dave took an early avid interest in playing golf at the club. But learning the game was not easy, and his mother was very particular about the way her children played. From the outset, Jane felt it was important that her son learn to golf properly, using her secondhand clubs. For several years, she allowed him to carry only irons in his golf bag. This was until she was satisfied he had learned how to “chip, putt and use long irons.”

Starting from age nine—when he shot a whopping 216 for 27 holes on the very first day he played—Dave was not permitted until age 16—seven years!—to use a driver to tee off. Nor could any woods be used. Jane challenged her son to use his size and strength to compete with and equal his friends who were using woods. While this embarrassed her son when he played with his friends, it also taught him a lesson in skill development and overcoming.

“I loved playing golf growing up. It was a game played at one’s leisure, meaning only on occasion, rather than another team sport like football, so my father and mother did not mind me playing. Many of my friends did, and my parents made sure I understood that I knew I was playing a ‘gentleman’s game.’ This meant understanding that there were points of ‘course etiquette’ to be followed at all times. This sport was a good discipline. My sons also grew up to love the sport. But it does take a lot of time I no longer have.”

“You have us”

Golfing introduces another element of his childrearing. Whenever Dave talked to his parents, no matter the issue, about what “the other kids’ parents allowed,” his parents, particularly his father, would repeat, “We’re not trying to run a popularity contest. And besides, you’ve got us, not ‘other parents.’” Ran and Jane Pack never yielded to the peer pressure their children experienced.

Enjoying a country club was not the only thing the senior Packs imparted to their children. As Dave grew up, his father taught him to become “street savvy,” meaning to “smell what’s really happening,” and helped his son acquire broad, real-world experience. This was another constant theme in the home.

Through Ran’s sales career, he had learned to successfully communicate with a wide variety of people; he was truly considered a master salesman. Both he and his wife worked together to teach their children the ability to communicate with “every kind of person.”

These skills contributed to the unusually strong bond that father and son shared until his death. Although Ran Pack was usually gone for one to three days on sales trips, young Dave treasured each moment spent with him while he was home.

In addition to becoming a good communicator, Ran taught his son to develop a strong work ethic and to be self-motivated—to “demonstrate industry.” Every summer, Ran required all three children to work in the yard for at least half an hour every day—an iron-clad rule!—before swimming or playing with friends. Ran Pack encouraged his son to spend his time wisely. If Dave ever complained that he was bored, his parents invariably replied, “There is always something to do. Be creative and find something. Read a book. Build something. Play a game. Shoot baskets in the yard by yourself. Play croquet by yourself. Play ping-pong with each other.”

From the time their children were young, the Packs wanted them to learn the value of maintaining an active mind.

Prosperous Fifties and Sixties

Considered a medium-size, peaceful Midwestern city by most, Lima, Ohio, was in reality quite prosperous. It was headquarters for companies such as Superior Coach, Lima Baldwin Hamilton, Lima Locomotive, Standard Oil and others.

In the 1950s, Lima high school residents had a saying: “There are the north end boys, east end boys, south end boys—and the rich boys.” The wealthier residents generally lived on the west side of town.

The Packs lived in a beautiful, two-story brick home, uniquely designed and with a slate roof, French doors, and wide windows and shutters, at 2222 West Spring Street on Lima’s far west side, an established neighborhood, but just one block from open fields. Though the Packs lived comfortably, they were not wealthy like almost all others in the neighborhood. Ran and Jane were very careful not to spoil their children.

Gerald Weston: Lucifer is Destroying the World with Music and Sex

Gerald Weston recently revealed he likes to listen to Elvis Presley, yet now he claims that Lucifer loves and uses music to destroy the world. Music and sex are evil but abusive ministers of the brethren are not.  This is the Church of God after all.

More of Weston's strange Personal for May/June 2018

We hear a lot about the growing opioid epidemic, and its toll has been staggering. As of 2016, more Americans are now dying from the scourge of drug overdose each year than died in the entirety of the Vietnam War! Consider the irony in this. Many war protesters took the lead in the “free sex” and drug culture of the ’60s and ’70s, and today, we are reaping what was sowed. Yet, many of those who introduced such misery to our world are viewed with reverence!

Ezekiel reveals to us that Lucifer was a musician (Ezekiel 28:13). As such, he knows how to use music in his plan to destroy mankind. He will fail in the end—but for now, he uses music to separate children from their parents and to promote destructive lifestyles. Some rappers promote violence against women and police. Some country music promotes alcohol abuse and adultery. Some rockers and pop stars promote drugs and a lewd lifestyle of disrespect for parental and other authority. Some musicians are anarchists at heart and have no comprehension of a purpose to life, other than cramming as much fun into it as possible, even if that fun kills you!

Satan shows no loyalty or compassion to those who promote his values. Consider this partial list of celebrities who paid the ultimate price, due to complications brought about by their satanically self-destructive lifestyles: Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, John Belushi, Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, and yes, even the “King of Rock and Roll.” This is only a partial list of the more than 100 famous musician deaths due to drug or alcohol abuse since the 1970s, when drugs became a large part of the music industry. 

Man does not know how to fill the emptiness that comes from a life without God and without a purpose greater than the here and now.

Looking back a decade after their 30-minute concert at Shea Stadium, John Lennon recalled, “I saw the top of the mountain when we were at Shea.” In other words, it was downhill from there. Four years after that concert, the Beatles broke up, never again to play together as a band.

How shallow celebrity worship is, compared to that which God offers us. I can only imagine the excitement and thrill it must have been that muggy night at Shea Stadium, but it was a temporary, emotional experience that could never last. No matter how hard we try to relive some “top of the mountain” experience, it cannot be duplicated. It will never fully satisfy (Isaiah 55:1–2; Ecclesiastes 1:8; 2:10–11).

God reminds us in His word and through life experiences that we are mortal. We are here in the flesh for a very short time, but it is enough time to let Him know we want His Way to be our way. He gives us hope for an eternal future. There is a crown laid up for those who love God and endure the temptations Satan throws at us (James 1:12). We have a living hope—a hope that the world does not know (1 Peter 1:3–5).

David proclaims in Psalm 16 that his hope is in God. He ends the Psalm, “You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (v. 11). We accepted God’s new covenant at baptism, just as Israel accepted God’s covenant on Pentecost at the foot of Mount Sinai. We proclaimed our trust and allegiance to Him. Our mountain is the Kingdom of God, and when we are born into His family, that will be the beginning of something far greater than a fleeting emotional experience from the past! 

Racism In The Church

This is a first-hand account of a person who grew up in the church witnessed.  This is just the tip of the iceberg as to what went on.

Racism In The Church:

Armstrong was an extreme racist. It was present on up till the 1970's and remained thereafter, to a lesser degree. However, it was only directed toward Blacks. Asians and Latinos could sit wherever they liked in services. Blacks had to sit in a separate section. They used the back door to enter and exit the building. They parked in a separate lot often having to walk through knee high grass if it hadn't been mowed recently by the property owner.

They could only attend the FOT in Big Sandy TX. Some living closer to other FOT sites would drive all the way across country. One family lived only 50 miles from Jekyll Island had to make a 14 hour drive to Big Sandy. 

However, Latinos and Asians could go to any FOT site. A lady I know who attend AC married a Latino with the church's blessing. Another couple which was Asian and Black married in the church too. Then the Asian wife had to sit in the Black section. Before the marriage she didn't.

A sermon was given in the late 60's about Blacks. I will spare you all the details. In a nutshell, Blacks were designed to work outside and do manual labor. They would be gods just like everyone else who qualified to be in the Kingdom. However, they would be in charge of Agriculture in the 1000 year period.

Although, the church finally allowed Blacks to sit wherever they liked they were way behind the rest of society. The church still had a taboo against White and Black marriages.

Some of Armstrong's true feelings could be felt in his writings.

HWA's Autobiography:

"One of the first men I met was a Negro I shall never forget -- whose name was Hub Evans. One of the men in the store brought him around to me.

“Hub,” he said, “tell Mr. Armstrong how many children you have.”

“Thutty-six, suh,” replied old Hub, promptly and proudly -- “hope t’ make it foty ‘fo Ah die!”

I was not merely amused -- but intensely interested. “Tell me, Hub,” I responded, “how many wives have you had?”

“Only three, suh!” Hub was a proud man."

HWA's Interracial Marriage 1982:

"...A white woman wants to become the wife of a black man. Now I don't know of any cases where a white man wants to marry a black woman. Why is that? Answer that for me! I'd like to have someone give me an answer to that. Why is it our white women want to marry black men? Why is it our black men want to marry white women?..."

Of course, there was plenty of White men that married Black woman. Sigh.

reprinted with permission from a COG Facebook page