Herbert Armstrong's Tangled Web of Corrupt Leaders

Saturday, October 10, 2020

Stephen Allwine, United Church of God Elder Who Killed His Wife Is Back In The News

 

In 2016, United Church of God Elder Stephen Allwine shot and killed his wife after growing impatient for his hired assassin that he found on the dark web to do the dirty deed. Allwine, convicted and sent to prison where he brags about being able to teach fellow prisoners about UCG's god, is back in the news.

48 Hours, the news show featured on the ID Network has spent 2 years researching the dark web where Allwine sought to find a person to kill his wife.


Murder-for-hire on the dark web, Besa Mafia and the shadowy Yura: 48 Hours on ID uncovers international plot 
 

48 Hours on ID with investigative reporter Peter Van Sant spent two years prying into the activities of a shady organization in the dark reaches of the internet that appeared to offer murder-for-hire services.

An individual known only as Yura and operating on the so-called dark web has been offering to murder people all around the world for a few thousand dollars. Yura claims to be the head of an international criminal organization that specializes in murder called Besa Mafia.

CBS came across a video diary created by Yura, where he states, “A hitman marketplace is like any other auction site. It brings customers and vendors together.” The FBI first learned about Besa Mafia and Yura in 2016 when investigating the death of Amy Allwine from Minnesota.

In the spring of 2016, investigators learned that someone using the user name Dogdaygod had ordered a hit on Amy through the dark web. Dogdaygod reportedly paid Besa Mafia $12,000 to kill Amy and stated that she had ruined his life and his business. Amy was unable to think who might want her dead.

Tragically in November, her husband, Stephen Allwine, shot her dead. He tried to tell the police that it was suicide, but they learned he was the killer after an extensive investigation.

The cops believe that Stephen was Dogdaygod but had gotten fed up waiting for Yura to kill his wife, so he took matters into his own hands. 

Read the entire story here

The following video is unrelated to the above story but will fill in readers unfamiliar with Allwine's story.


Also, see:

 

A church elder’s Ashley Madison affairs led him to the dark Web — and murder, police say

Preacher's wife found dead in staged suicide - who pulled the trigger?

 

 

Day 1 after the return of Dave Pack's "christ"

Jesus knocks at Dave's door 
waiting to be let in.
 

Well, here we are. It is the Last Great Day of the Feast of Tabernacles 2020. It is one day after the creature "christ" of Dave Pack's prophecy was suppose to have appeared to Dave and his little flock. Once more, Dave has been proven to be a liar. 

Restored Church of God members are surely disappointed, yet again. Now they will have to continue making loan payments on the money to borrowed to send to Dave. They will have to go back to work when they get home and associate with the unconverted masses of the world. House payments will need to be made. Car payments sent in. Oh, the humanity! Ghastly days!

We will soon hear from Dave many excuses as to why his creature did not arrive as scheduled. 

"Brethren, Christ had to delay his coming because you did not believe me! The church needs to have a fast now in order for all of you to repent of your unbelief." 

"Brethren, God has revealed further knowledge to me as to the timing." 

"Christ has delayed his coming because this little work has a tremendous mind-boggling thing yet to do!"

"Brethren, I lied to you. All of these things I have told you are just figments of my imagination. I am sorry."

"We need to root out the unbelievers in the church and the ministry so that we can finish this mighty work!"

"Christ expects us to give all we have now in order to prepare a place for him to return to."

It is time to DEFUND the Church!


 

Time for the COG to be Better Stewards -- Defund Them

The Church of God clearly is in a precipitous decline with its inward focus,
poor publications, and rapidly aging membership. As a member of the COG it is time to open your eyes and look around you. If most of the people that you see are elderly or middle age with few young couples or teenagers present then that is a red flag that the church is in deep trouble.

The delusional and incompetent leadership of the COG know this, but they paint whitewashed walls (Ezekiel 13:11-15).

If you care about the COG the only thing that will cause the leadership to truly change is to stop funding them. So long as the money flows into the wallets of people like Jim Franks, the McNair boys and others, nothing will change.

This Feast instead of giving huge offerings and donating excess tithe money please give it directly to your brothers and sisters in Christ back home who are unemployed and suffering with no help from the church or help your neighbor. Your gifts directly to someone in need will honor God and bring God glory (Matthew 5:14-16).

It is time to be better stewards of our resources and it is time to stop rewarding the lazy, delusional, decrepit and incompetent leadership of the COG.

Aristophanes

A reader is looking for answers about GTA's theology

 

A reader posed the following question.  Does anyone want to fill this person in on the beliefs of GTA?

Hello. I have friends that are involved in a splinter group that followed GTA. I only know a little about their beliefs. I have expressed concern that their beliefs don't follow the Bible and they have agreed to discuss it with me. They are asking about end times, specifically the 3 resurrections. Is there anyone in this group that knows how to explain the difference between Scripture and these teachings

Friday, October 9, 2020

Dave Pack: Jesus to return later TODAY and then millions, if not BILLIONS will soon be keeping his Last Great Day

 


We have been receiving copies of sermons given by Dave at his Feast sites. These are sermons that Dave thinks are vitally important, but as Dennis commented in the previous post, these are the most convoluted mess of theological garbage ever preached from a pulpit.

Here are some experts from his Day 6 message to the faithful who sit there with their thumbs under their asses blindly sucking this garbage in. How any thinking and rational person, whether member or minister, can sit there and NOT engage their brain and realize that Dave is mentally ill and that if they keep following him, their very lives may soon be in danger, is beyond me.

"God has revealed even more that makes Christs return as likely UP TO one day sooner than you just heard." 

"The end will therefore likely be at the end of THIS Feast, the seventh day of the Feast of Tabernacles. The seventh day, not the eight, the Last Great Day. Recall that Mr Pack explained that though Christ said these two feasts could be thought of as one the way Christ described them they are technically two separate feasts, now we may know why. 

For so many reasons this fits better. First consider how wonderful the time the last great day pictures, based on all you just heard. It is a great feast, Is it a kind of a day of raging hell became a question. Will the final evil trees, and the trying of one  and take and one left fall om this last day, it might, it might now. It would come on day 7 likely as a one last truly great day.

 

Now I may or may not be right on this, but I decided if we are going to watch it is better to be safe than sorry. The brethren to be waiting for the end of the feast of tabernacles and not waiting for the 8th day."

Dave then goes on to blabber on how due to different time zones he is unable to determine exactly when his "christ" will return. He could come a day early to their in New Zealand while those in California would have to wait longer. That's the logic his brain farts out.

Consider the logistic surrounding the "maha" (spelling...I have no idea what "biblcal" word he is trying to say here) we wait for. You are hearing this messages on day 6 when 24 hours later in the technical definition of a maha that what we are waiting for should begin to unfold. But further think because we are on a round earth day 7 occurs at varying times. Depending upon where you are for the Feast. This is why we would not know exactly what day Christ comes.  He  could arrive anywhere from late on day 6  today all the way to the beginning of the 8th day based upon where you are.


Now, a few additional announcements that go even beyond that. So let me throw a few things out. They are fascinating.

 

About one day seems to proceed the great supper, about a day, everything that happens, happens in a thing called “that day”,  a 24 hour period.  Now the last people in the restored Church of God that will hear this message is at about 5:00 this afternoon.  We have a lot of brethren on islands in the western Pacific Ocean and will walk out of this sermon at about 5:00 this evening/afternoon.  About 4 hours away. That would be about 5:00 our time. Late on the 6th day.  Now that kind of helps you understand the complexity of where we are.  At that moment, New Zealand, right next-door to them is a full day ahead of them. So, try and figure out what day this all happens. They are next door and could throw a rock across the international date line and into New Zealand who is a full day ahead of them so it is hard to figure out how this is going to play.  We just happen to have brethren all over Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines and just over the dateline we  have a lot of brethren in the islands of the western pacific. So that will help you understand when those last people hear the message.  Now a few other things that I want to tell you. 

 

There are number of men who are sitting here in this particular hall who were here in Florida a couple years ago when we were watching the Last Great Day. I remember talking to them in Tampa because I was beginning to see it 2 years ago. More last year and then more up unto this last minute. This has been kind of a a long process that is ever accelerating.

Dave believes that his little flock is the right group to be in because it is not broken up.  Even though he has had scores of defections over the last several years, his group is not splintered like all the other COG's.

We are revealed when Christ is himself revealed at the end of a 24-hour period. Where he came first without observation as Elijah blast. Elijah goes first.  Now there is a group, a special little flock, who receive salvation first.  How did that fit unless that group gets salvation BEFORE the great supper when Christ arrives, not when he is revealed. Between which all hell breaks loose. There is a little group whose house is not broken up. One reason you know they are not broken up is that they came to salvation, they got their reward first. Not just Elijah comes first, or Elijah gets his reward first, there is a little group that is watching that goes first. They have an assignment. They are going to be working with, if you will, feeding the flock of slaughter where all their groups are broken up. Well, that CAN’T happen to us because we come to salvation. That was hard to put together unless you realize Christ arrives unseen, without observations out of a cloud and then he shines and is reveled at the Feast of the great supper up to about 24 hours later. Now does that 24 hours straddle the 7thand the 8th day, is it all int eh 8th day or is it mostly in the 7th day and then at the beginning of the 8th day of the great feast? I don’t know. That is part of the reason why, at the end, we don’t know exactly the day.

 

Now there are three shepherds who die. Not the final three, it looks like three shepherds die the day Christ returns. Three really bad antichrists with power.  Now just a few thoughts. Christ who is the thief, he calls himself the thief, arrives and breaks up the splinters but again does NOT break us up. It may be that Elijah speaks at the end of the Feast of Tabernacles or he speaks into the 8th day and that’s the definition of the end. Hard to say based on the way Christ described the 8 days as sort of Feast, but the last day is separate, its hard to know.

 

Now if Christ arrives tomorrow then he arrives on what would be the preparation day. If he arrives on the 7thday of a feast where the last day the Feast is the weekly sabbath then he arrives on the preparation day. This will be the ultimate preparation day. Not just preparing for the sabbath or int his case the last great day of the Feast but you are preparing for the kingdom of God. It would be logical, possibly that God would send Christ on the preparation day, the 7th day.  Just a thought. 

Dave expects 700 million people to soon be streaming into his Feast sites around the world! Even Putin's mother and Kim Jung Un's sister will be there! 

Now I question whether God would have the same day be a terrible day as it is the most wonderful day that has ever been. But I am not sure, I am not sure.  Now there are two blasts by Elijah one at the start of this 24 hour period and one at the end , the great supper when the kingdom of God arrives. So, he tells the entire world what is about to happen and then these men stand up, these antichrists and their power is so great it effects the entire world. And we will have to be kept from that hour, which is the last hour when Christ arrives as a snare. Calling himself a thief. Elijah blast at the beginning and at the end of that day. He speaks. He speaks first and then he prophecies again before many people, nations, tongues and kings and then the end arrives and the end that arrives, it is the great supper, the kingdom of God and it would be the rise of all the dead saints and so forth. That’s when all 700 million people in Israeli and many more. 

 

I’ll explain in a moment, come to be apart of the temple and are part of the great supper making Christs house, God’s house full.  However, in all likelihood, there are far, far more people at the great supper than a mere 700 million. 

 

We used to think maybe it was a 150,000 people at the greater supper and when I learned all Israel will be there and when you realize, bear with me when any man can come, everyone can come whosoever will come and drink of this water and these people have been through a horrific day when they heard Elijah blast twice. I don’t care if is Kim Jong Un's sister, or Putin’s mother they would be allowed to come and no one can stop them hence the reason every soul on the entire face of the earth hears this blast, They are all invited. Zech 6 ends this way , and I intended to read it in the sermon and skipped over it, when Christ comes it says,  in verse 12 of Zech 6 he is going to build the house, the temple, it actually says in verse 15 that they that are afar off shall come and build in the temple of the Lord, gentiles, people who know nothing. Now I want you to realize this is a feast. 

 

The peoples of the world are in destitution now, they are suffering from disease. The labor pains that work so much to help us, though terrible, work to help us understand we are at the end, also work to drive hundreds of millions more, potentially BILLIONS to want to come to this feast that will be kept all over the world. That’s the way Israel did it, they didn’t all go to Jerusalem. Anybody, any here and in any country is invited to the Feast. Highways and hedges only BEGIN with 700 million Israelite’s.  So, for a long, long time the church never really talked about who comes to the great supper, then I began to think it was all the saints and never understood what build the house meant.  Now it is quite possible the great supper, the reason it will be great, it will have 1, 2 or more billion people that will come. The people of Latin America who live in poverty, their economies are shut down and are living in scarcity most of their lives and of course pestilence, what do you think people across Africa might want to do? Particularly after they got pounded by the antichrists. 

 

I do not have time to explain all of that and I did not have time to fully put it all together, but I wanted all of you to know.  When it says, when Christ says when ALL the trees shoot forth, it isn’t just bad ones, behold the fig tree, a type of Elijah, and all the trees shoot forth there is a lot of trees in this room who shoot forth because they go first and are going to help people who are battling the bad corrupt trees.  Matthew 7 describes good and bad trees.  The bad trees draw the thorns and briars and the thistles.  The good trees draw good fruit. And then this group of bad trees will say, Well, didn’t we do these powerful things? God says, “I never knew you. Your work is iniquity, get away from me.”

Dave then gives himself an out:

Now that’s pretty exciting to think about. This is a really, really big thing and no I cannot begin to fathom it does not happen this year.  Why would God show us all this and now say sit on your thumbs another year and think about it.  He could! Now I’ll promise you I’ll be here next year but then he has us knowing for an entire year this is going to happen? Well, you can think about why that is pretty illogical. Now I am just trying to make sure I get all the main points I want to cover.

Pretty soon Herbert Armstrong and Christ's brothers will receive their crowns on this great day of Dave's:

I John 2:18 John spoke of the last hour and 10 verses later in 28 speaks of when we are brought near Christ the great supper.  So, when you say Christ received people to himself, the great feast, or the end, you are speaking of the same thing. But not the moment Christ arrives.  He arrives the day before that. Privately to a little group. Who will be watching for him, who’s lights are burning, who are going to get to the kingdom and have nothing to fear. Their house will not be broken up because the man of the house told them what will happen, and they will go first.  I hope that is all clear. It wasn’t always clear, it has been a long struggle but, in the end, wonderful to see it all come together. So, there is a little group who are the first in Luke 21:5 who escape all these things. Many will come in my name deceiving many. There is a group that has to escape that too. That’s the group standing in front of Christ in Zech 3 where Joshua is given a miter, and not a crown, he receives salvation but not a crown till later in the day. When all the saints come up when Paul gets his crown and Mr Armstrong, Christs own brothers do, and that’s the picture.  It’s a one-day affair.  It’s all inside one day . I just don’t know which day it starts on and then it changes based upon your time zone.

Think of it this way.  Elijah having come first to salvation with others having come first who later restores all things. Thats the way Matt 17:11 and Mark 9:12 are written. He comes first because there is a group that goes first he is not by himself there are thousands of us we are all over the world, we go first. And that explains his coming first, but the restoration of all things is a little after that. About a day   Mark 13:10 Says the gospel is preached first Matt 24:14 says it is preached again right when the end arrives.  That is the same 22 blasts described in Revelation 10. There is this man who knows for a few days he is about to blast for the world, and then he blasts and all hell breaks loose, maybe those 7 thunders are the things need to be heard and at the end of that day he speaks again after he eats the book of Ezekiel. And then we have this wonderful feast and a week later the man of sin becomes a trial on all the saints who are now dead. 

And there you have it. Yes, you do feel dumber after reading it than you were when you started.  I do not think even Dave understands what he says anymore.  Certainly, no minister in RCG can ever articulate what Dave says. 

  

  

 

  


RCG: Children of the Corn

First of all let me say I tried.  I really tried.  After 1 hour and fifty eight minutes I concluded that if there is a God who is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to the knowledge of the truth and if he is using Dave Pack to clearly explain his plan, then that God is a nutcase and incapable of communicating. 

I won't pretend to be able to repeat Dave's ever changing understanding. It gave me a headache. I imagine if you asked the average RCG member to explain what the hell Dave just said, they would be unable to do so. Not sure his ministry would fare much better.  They also would know they believe it no matter.   

First of all, Dave is putting a lot of eggs into this one basket of this feast. Christ may come at the end of this feast, which would be today I believe. If not, then "we have another year" because Dave has concluded it has to be one way now and not the other he used to think.  I suspect shortly Dave will conclude "God is giving us more time" and "We" never saw this when I first came to understand this but now, "I" do.   Dave always blames the group for what they didn't understand but takes the credit for what he comes to understand and explain. 

Dave reminds the congregation that these are "fascinating things, no one ever understood".  Dave says this a lot and has through the years of not understanding it himself. "I doubt you have ever heard anything along that line" is another favorite. 

 With Dave, it's always spectacular and never before understood until he utters it.  It is also more to backtrack on somewhere down the road because "we", not "he" didn't see something clearly but now of course, "I do".   In this sermon, Dave notes that "I only recently began to put this together."

Got news for you Dave. Wandering all over the Old Testament and jumping around in the New is not "putting this all together."  It was a grand exercise in making the prophets mean what they never meant as well as the Gospels, the Epistles and the Church letters.  And let's not forget making the failed prophecy of the Book of Revelation mean what it never meant.  He's great at that! Actually without the Book of Revelation, the Churches of God would have no hook with which to catch their fish. 

One of the first things he comes up with is that there is a precedence in the Old Testament for keeping the Feast an extra seven days and there is.  My first thought is that he is going to declare this a double feast if his Jesus does not come on the last day of this normal single eight day cycle. We'll see.  

" "They kept a double feast...there is a precedence in a time of great joy....let's just double this up". 

I can almost feel the audience squirming. 

"But if you want to go to, under certain circumstances.......God can want that."  (speaking of longer feast)  

Honestly, the rest of this dirge is theological bullshit.  He spends most of the sermon on never before understood that the House that God is building is not literal and is not just the church.  It includes everyone on Earth. (If I understood it and I'm not sure I had the patience to try). 

Then he shows how "The Man of Sin" operates in "HIS Season" which implies that there is a group just before this that are not a part of "His Season" but  their own season, which of course is the Feast Season and specifically, maybe this one.  If the Man of Sin had a season then there had to be one before "His" and that would be "Ours".  All very stupid and mental gymnastics worthy only of the mentally ill.  I have sat in mental hospitals with people wanting to tell me all about the Bible and what they have seen that no one else does.  This is Dave in spades. 

Dave notes as well that "this should be real clear".  Clear as mud, as they say. 

Dave at one points notes that he is going to "inoculate you" but I would say it is more of an indoctrination than an inoculation.  A virus does not inoculate you from itself.  It can infect, infest and overwhelm you, however. Then you get sick. 

Then to wrap it up (this is day four of the FOT), he weaves the fallen away ministers into the mix. Evil bastards all. He wonders if the three he lost at the beginning of the Feast Days this year aren't , in some way, a type of the Three Shepherds that will ....oh I forget what they do or do, but it is all something to "think about brethren."

Years ago someone told me that Dave pack was incredibly intelligent. I replied that he is not if you listen to what he believes, but rather that he seems clever.  But alas, Dave is not even clever. He is God-Haunted, delusional and piously convicted but short on an actual and real theological education. Dave is master at making the Bible mean what it never meant, never could mean and won't ever mean. 

RCG is doomed to both implode and explode.  His campus will eventually be sold to either an addiction and crisis center or be plowed back under and returned to growing corn, which if you look at this kind of theology is not far from corn to begin with. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_of_the_Corn

Check out the "Plot"

I see analogies  :)








Thursday, October 8, 2020

Why Are COG Members Such Nasty People At Times?

 

Church of God News had this tidbit up the other day. One thing for sure is it reinforces the fact that some COG members are outright nasty and spiteful people.

COG Assembly was obliged to move its venue for the Festival of Tabernacles away from the Margaritaville Resort in Osage Beach, Missouri, because the management staff there was being subjected to a stream of hateful telephone calls and e-mails about the church from other ‘christians’. COG Assembly was, however, able to arrange larger facilities elsewhere, yet at the same prices.

So, let's take a guess here as to who might be calling in to harass the staff at the Margaritaville Resort. 

Was it Bob Thiel's group? Nah, highly doubt it as 99.99% of his members live in Africa and have never heard of Margaritaville. 

Was it Philadelphia Church of God members? Doubt that too as they are waiting for a call from HQ that it is time to flee. 

Could it possibly have been people from Restored Church of God? That's highly unlikely too as Christ is standing at their locked driveway gate waiting to be let in right now and besides, they have nothing "in common" with COG Ass. 

Now just WHO could possibly be harassing Margaritaville staff????????? 

Could it be Living Church of God members? Nah, there is no way it could be them since they are God's most perfect church doing the most amazing work and have no time for this kind of pettiness. They have weightier matters of the law to deal with, like how to dress properly.

I wonder just who it could be?


Does the Church of God Version of the Feast of Tabernacles Picture the Millennium?



The Feast of Tabernacles 
Does NOT 
Picture the Millennium!


In Pagan Holidays – or God’s Holy Days – Which? Herbert Armstrong wrote about the symbolism of the Feast of Tabernacles: “This festival is the picture of the Millennium!” Unfortunately, when Armstrong decided that Christians were obligated to observe the festivals outlined in the Pentateuch for the Israelites, he was not careful to follow scriptural hints regarding the deeper spiritual implications/meanings of the days. Since his death, a great many folks have challenged his understandings about the symbolism involved in some of the other holy days. Even so, Armstrong’s teachings about the meaning of the FOT still enjoy widespread acceptance within the Armstrong Churches of God culture.

The problem with Mr. Armstrong’s understanding of this feast was his slavish devotion to the notion that they pictured a progression of events within God’s plans for humankind. Hence, although he recognized the significance of the spring and fall harvests relative to these festivals, he failed to integrate that understanding with other scriptures related to both the symbolic meanings of certain rituals and the events themselves. “How can that be?” his devoted followers will demand.

In the booklet referenced at the beginning of this post, Armstrong wrote: “To portray His plan, God took the yearly material harvest seasons in ancient Israel as the picture of the spiritual harvest of souls. In the Holy Land there are two annual harvests. The first is the spring grain harvest. Second comes the main harvest. Notice that the Festival of Tabernacles is to be held ‘at the year's end’ (Ex. 34:22). In this verse the Festival of Tabernacles or Booths is specifically called the ‘feast of ingathering.’ The harvest year ended at the beginning of autumn. Just as Pentecost pictures the early harvest — this church age, so the Festival of Ingatherings or Tabernacles pictures the fall harvest — the great harvest of souls in the Millennium!”

The problem with this teaching is that it doesn’t agree with what is revealed about the timing of this great harvest of souls which is elaborated on in the book of Revelation! In the twentieth chapter of that book, we read: “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.” – Revelation 20:4-5 Notice here that the first resurrection is clearly associated with the millennium. Continuing, we read: “And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison…And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.” – Revelation 20:7-13 Hence, we can clearly see that this great harvest of souls takes place AFTER the millennium, and AFTER Satan and his minions have been dealt with once and for all!


Moreover, Herbert Armstrong completely ignored the profound symbolism surrounding this festival which is recorded in the oft quoted twenty-third chapter of Leviticus, and which is further elaborated on quite extensively in the New Testament! I know that these arguments will have zero impact on the folks who have willingly swallowed the Armstrong Kool-Aid, but it is my hope that serious students of the Bible who are willing to take a second look might be persuaded by what is clearly revealed in Scripture regarding the symbolism of this festival.

In the book of Leviticus, we read: “Remember that this seven-day festival to the Lord – the Festival of Shelters – begins on the fifteenth day of the month, after you have harvested all the produce of the land…On the first day gather branches from magnificent trees – palm fronds, boughs from leafy trees, and willows that grow by the streams…For seven days you must live outside in little shelters. All native-born Israelites must live in shelters. This will remind each new generation of Israelites that I made their ancestors live in shelters when I rescued them from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’” (Leviticus 23:39-43, New Living Translation –here and throughout the rest of this article, unless otherwise noted)

Scripture indicates that the Israelites were told to live in temporary shelters each year for eight days so that they would not forget that they had lived in tents after leaving Egypt and before reaching the Promised Land. In the book of Hebrews, we read: “It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to LEAVE HOME (emphasis mine here and throughout) and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. And even when he reached the land God promised him, HE LIVED THERE BY FAITH – for he was like a foreigner living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise. Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.” (Hebrews 11:8-10) In short, Abraham and his descendants were looking forward to a better and more permanent home.

A little further, we read: “All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. THEY AGREED THAT THEY WERE FOREIGNERS AND NOMADS HERE ON EARTH. Obviously, people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back. But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.” (Hebrews 11:13-16) Do we begin to see the connection to our own circumstances as Christians?

Like the Israelites of old, God has called us out of Egypt (this sinful society) and has led us out into the wilderness. (John 6:44) We are different and peculiar compared to the people around us. (I Peter 2:9) Like the Israelites, we are heirs of the promises made to Abraham. (Galatians 3:29) Finally, we are also like the Israelites in the sense that we too are looking for a Promised Land (the Kingdom of God). Like the patriarchs of old, we are truly strangers and pilgrims on the earth as it now exists – the one deceived and influenced by Satan the devil.




There is, however, another meaning to this symbolism that is less general and more personal. Although it is unpleasant to contemplate, each one of us has an appointment with death. (Hebrews 9:27) Somewhere in the back of our minds, all of us understand that this life that we are currently enjoying is temporary – it will not last forever (we are subject to time and chance). Paul once told the saints at Corinth, “that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever.” (I Corinthians 15:50) He went on to tell them that “our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.” (I Corinthians 15:53)

Sometime later, Paul wrote another letter to the Corinthians. He told them that the light of Christ was shining in their hearts, but he described that treasure as residing in fragile clay jars. (II Corinthians 4:7) He talked about how Christians must face many trials and perils because of their association with Jesus Christ, but that this had resulted in them having the hope of eternal life. (II Corinthians 4:8-15) He continued: “That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small AND WON’T LAST VERY LONG. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” (II Corinthians 4:16-18)

In other words, Paul understood that Christians are currently living in temporary shelters (human bodies), and that they are looking forward to the time when they will be living in a permanent home (spiritual bodies). In his second letter to the saints at Corinth, we read: “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.” (II Corinthians 5:1-4, KJV)

Peter also understood this concept. In addressing the saints toward the close of his ministry, he wanted to remind them about the truths which he had previously conveyed to them. He wrote: “Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance; knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me.” (II Peter 1:13-14, KJV) Peter understood that this life is not permanent, and that he was going to die. He also knew that his present body could not inherit the Kingdom of God, and that he would have to shed that body and receive a new one in the resurrection.

As strangers and pilgrims in this world, Christians are looking to exchange a temporary home for a more permanent one (one that God has provided for us). Hence, for us, this is an important component of the symbolism of this Old Testament Festival.

And, finally, perhaps the most important component of this symbolism has to do with our relationship with Christ and Almighty God – the fact that Christ tabernacled with us in the past and will do so again someday with the Father! We read in the Gospel According to John that the “Word was made flesh and dwelt <tabernacled> among us.” – John 1:14, KJV Then, at the conclusion of all things, we are told in the book of Revelation: “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.” - Revelation 21:1-3 I don’t know about you, but I think that this symbolism beats Armstrong’s teachings on the subject by a mile!

Lonnie Hendrix

UPDATE: Mentally Deranged COG Leaders Are Telling Their Members At The Feast That Christ Is Returning This Year

UPDATE: Dave Pack and the Restored Church of God is scrambling to hide the things Dave has said at the Feast this year. They served notice on the person who provided the video below and forced them to pull it.


Dave Pack is still up to his same old tricks and is still claiming that his "christ" is returning this year. His dwindling flock of faithful followers sat there on the first night of his so-called "feast" and lapped up this twaddle as they eagerly await Dave's "christ" to be soon walking the hallowed grounds of Wadsworth.

This kind of outrageous lie is not limited to Dave Pack. Gerald Flurry has also whipped his few remaining faithful into another state of frenzy as they have been told to "wait for the call" so that they can flee the incoming invasion by the Germans. Parents are telling their children that they need to be prepared to be taken as slaves by the Europeans. Some have even suggested that they ask to be taken as slaves by Turks as they may be treated better by them.

Sadly this kind of idiocy by Church of God leaders such as Herbert Armstrong, Gerald Flurry, Gerald Waterhouse, Rod Meredith, Bob Thiel, Ron Weinland, and other spiritually immoral men is the pathetic legacy of a belief system that has perverted scriptural truths for decades.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: The Internal Damage Control Sermon By Dave Pack

UPDATE: Dave Pack and the Restored Church of God is scrambling to hide the things Dave has said at the Feast this year. They served notice on the person who provided the video below and forced them to pull it.

Dave Pack and the Restored Church of God is on Red Alert now that Dave made the idiotic statement that his "christ" was returning by the end of the feast. They forced the person who provided the link to the video to pull it. 

Stay tuned for more shenanigans by God's one true church as it tries to suppress the truth that it claims is vital fo the world.


....addressing "Burst of Antichrists" leaving Restored Church of God

Tuesday, October 6, 2020

Wade Cox Believes His Witless Witnesses Will Be Made Known Some Time After Passover 2021


Wade Cox is another self-appointed Church of God fraudulent leader that is preparing his LITTLE flock of deceived members for the imminent return of his Islamic "jesus". Cox claims he has to finish his commentary on the Bible so that the two witless witnesses can return. He plans on having these so-called commentaries completed by Passover 2021 and then his crazy witless witnesses can come and do their work.

The requirement that this theological imbecile dishes out on his members is appalling. There is so much they need to be doing in order to make it into the first resurrection. Just more silly rules and regulations that Jesus never demanded of his followers.

Thankfully no Christian ever has to worry about whether or not they have the correct day, the correct calendar, or any of the other useless crap that Cox claims his followers need to be doing.

And NO, people will NOT be assigned to the second resurrection if they do not follow Cox's demands. In COGland, nothing is ever what it claims to be.

We have tried to make this a really spiritual feast this year for Tabernacles. We have prepared a number of commentaries on the Bible Texts.  We have done the Epistles of Peter following James prior to the Feast and for the Feast we have done the commentaries on the Epistles of John and prepared the Commentary on Daniel which will be issued by Chapters, with an Introduction, over the feast. We will also commence the Commentaries on Paul commencing with Philemon.

We hope that all will enjoy the Commentaries and we hope to be able to continue on and to complete the NT by Passover.

The aim is a complete Bible Commentary by the arrival of the Witnesses.  It is not enough to attend Sabbath services and perhaps the Feast and ignore the New Moons and Passover and Unleavened Bread and hope that you make it into the First Resurrection. We have to do it all and work as well. Then we will know we have access to the First Resurrection.  If we follow Hillel we can rest assured that we have never kept the Holy Days on the correct days except by accident and if we follow Armstrong and the WCG system we have never kept a Lord’s Supper and Passover on the correct days and one third of the time not even in the correct months.  Such people are consigned to the Second Resurrection and will repent or face the Second Death. Neither will their slander and defamation protect them or stop others from the First Resurrection.

Atonement: The notion that Satan’s rebellion caused God to go to “plan B” is purely a figment of Herbert Armstrong's overactive imagination!


Church of God International Affirms HWA’s Understanding of Atonement

 

In his booklet, Pagan Holidays – or God’s Holy Days, Herbert Armstrong insisted that one goat represented Christ and the other goat represented Satan in the ritualistic observance of the Day of Atonement recorded in the sixteenth chapter of Leviticus. Even so, many of Armstrong’s critics have pointed out that the ninth and tenth chapters of the book of Hebrews make plain that the high priest was symbolic of Christ, and that the two goats represented different aspects of the high priest’s work to make atonement for the sins of the people (one providing the blood, and the other representing the removal of our sins – the very things that have separated us from God).

In Herbie’s theology, the assignment of the scapegoat as being representative of Satan was an essential component of a more complex theology elaborated in The Incredible Human Potential and Mystery of the Ages. The premise being that Satan ruined God’s original plan for the angels to inhabit this earth and complete God’s creation which in turn necessitated the creation of man (because angels were supposed to be immortal and indestructible). Moreover, Armstrong reasoned that, because Satan was the ultimate author of human sin, justice demanded that all of our sins be placed on the head of Satan. Thus, Satan would ultimately be sent away by the hand of another angel into the bottomless pit, and we would finally be reconciled to God.

Never mind that Scripture makes plain that it was God’s plan from the very beginning to create humankind, place the earth in their care and make them His children. The notion that Satan’s rebellion caused God to go to “plan B” is purely a figment of Herbie’s overactive imagination! Scripture also refutes the notion that any of the lifeforms which God has created (including angels) have immortal life (Paul tells us that immortality is a God quality). Finally, there are a great many scriptures which suggest that we are all personally responsible for our own sins, and that it is those sins which have alienated us from God.

Nevertheless, in his most recent sermon regarding the meaning of the symbolism surrounding the Day of Atonement, CGI Pastor Wynn Skelton continued to insist that HWA’s understanding of that symbolism was correct! After clearly linking the first goat to Christ’s sacrifice for our sins, he said: 

“The other represents - now, don’t get mad at me <for> this – represents our enemy…it represents the devil…Now I’ve had debates about this and there have been papers in the Church of God International saying that both goats are for Christ…What we officially teach is this: one goat for Christ – one goat for Satan.”

He continues:  

“I am not trying to create division or animosity, but I will point out for those who think that both goats are for Christ then…what would be the difference between the Day of Atonement and Passover?...How in the world are we going to have peace and harmony and at-one-ment if you don’t remove the enemy?” see Atonement by Wynn Skelton

Has Pastor Skelton forgotten what Paul wrote to the saints at Rome? Paul said: “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” – Romans 5:10 Hence, it is clear that Paul thought that we were reconciled to God by Christ’s death, and I’m assuming that Satan was still around when Paul penned this! In other words, Satan’s removal wasn’t necessary for that reconciliation to happen. Likewise, Paul wrote to the saints at Corinth that God “hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ.” – II Corinthians 5:18 And, finally, Paul wrote to the Colossians that “having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight…” – Colossians 1:20-22

For Paul, at least, the presence of Satan the devil represented no obstacle to our reconciliation with God! The fact is that Scripture clearly contradicts Herbert Armstrong’s teachings about the meaning of the Day of Atonement. According to Scripture, Jesus Christ is the vehicle for our salvation – something that Satan plays NO role in whatsoever! Moreover, Scripture makes plain that the ultimate fate of Satan will be just and force him to pay the penalty for his many sins. Ezekiel wrote about him: “Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.” – Ezekiel 28:18-19 And this is certainly consistent with what we read in the book of Revelation: “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone…” – Revelation 20:10 And, finally, the context makes plain that this lake of fire is representative of eternal death.

Hence, in officially perpetuating Herbert Armstrong’s errors with regard to the Day of Atonement, the Church of God International makes clear that they have not moved beyond the founder of the movement. In continuing to promulgate an understanding that is clearly flawed, CGI has rendered itself just another irrelevant splinter of a failed theology.

n  Miller Jones/Lonnie Hendrix

Monday, October 5, 2020

Stupid things Dave Pack has said...



from a reader: 

- people's arms and eyes will shrivel by some seance or spell

- a mountain will float out of space and land on Israel and it will be tall enough to reach into space

- Carpenter angel will destroy and rebuild Israel in a day

- all who ever lived in Israel's history will be resurrected in one day

- God's people will have new bodies like christ but it won't be eternal

- These bodies will allow people to walk thru walls, escape mobs, never hunger, never get sick

- Be able to command legions of angels to kill antichrists and evil governments

- Be able to ride chariots pulled by angels and travel at the speed of thought

- demons will come out of the ground and out of space and people will believe it to be an alien invasion.

- lots of death

- lots of resurrections

- mansions of gold where people will abode but will not have to sleep because they are godlike but not yet saved?

- glow or have some sort of permanent resplendence like daniel had and Moses had

- be able to read peoples thoughts

- have global fame and unprecedented knowledge of prophecy 

Dave Pack In Damage Control Mode

 



from the comments:


Dave Pack is looking forward to all the ministers who left RCG over the last 20 years to be put to death, either burned alive or being cut in half with a sword. 

He has been fixated on killing people who leave his group now for at least 2 years. 

The quotes below are taken from a sermon given before Atonement. The comments are pretty clear to me. He associates anyone not “with him” as an antichrist and worthy of death. (They signed their death warrant and orphaned their children, pretty screwed up stuff here) First however their right eye and arm will be crippled. The timeline he gives is just before, or after the Feast. 

Maybe the former RCG ministers can sound off after the Feast to let us know they are ok! 

Quotes from Dave Pack - "A Non Prophecy Sermon"

Dave Pack - (36:32) 

"Here's what he said. Now you're going to have to decide what an antichrist is. We read what John said. Let's see what Christ said about antichrists. "He, that is not with me is against me. And he, that gathers not with me, scatters abroad." If you're not with him [ministers who left] in gathering you're you're against him in scattering. That means you're against Christ. That means you're an antichrist, which means you don't have the Holy spirit. 

That's the definition of an antichrist against Christ. Now, therefore, another Jesus. And none of them will say I'm against Christ. So you're going to have to believe him, not them. Now we have a lot of wonderful faithful ministers and in no way, no way have our faithful ministers been, come into question in my mind. I'm just telling you if a minister leaves, now you need to have the background." 

Dave Pack - (~43:02) 

If you watch some minister, leave the church, that man, you said, well, he was never converted. He has sinned unto death. He signed his death warrant and he's orphaned his children. He will not live! Christ said he burns corrupt trees. And before that, I'm going to tell you exactly when it is. They're going to lose an eye on an arm. A lot of things are clear. It almost becomes its own indicator that we're running out of time. We had a burst of antichrists. It's wonderful because we're not paying thieves anymore. One of them didn't want to go to his feast assignment. He's worried about getting the COVID. And so when we told him, "No, you gotta go to where your feast is." He quit! I wasn't there when he stamped his feet. I just know he did. I know the man. And I know he did. Do not pray for these people. You're supposed to know when somebody sins a sin unto death. I've wrestled for decades and other ministers have too well. How would you know that? Well, if they're scattering against Christ, they're blaspheming, the Holy Spirit, they're Corrupt Trees. They're going to be burned, period. End of story. It's not a mystery. So when you see that don't ever pray for that minister. You're praying for an enemy of God who doesn't have the Holy spirit, who isn't going to repent. Why? Because he's a thief and they only come to steal, murder and destroy or kill and destroy.

Dave Pack - (48:10) 
 
“And there are people leave us and beat us. They begin to beat us. Some of them don't get very far. My Lord delays. His coming ...This is something people who leave us would say, and they beat us and people still don't go. And they begin to smite their fellow servants to eat and drink with the drunken. I've watched them. You never hear the follow up. These guys go out and they literally go back to the world. 
 
...The Lord of that servant will come a day when he's not looking for him in an hour, that he's not aware. They blew off what they were taught here and cut them in two. That's what it says, cut them in two. And they're going to weep and gnashing their teeth. They're going to wait a little while, with one eye and one arm. But that's what it says. They know God's plan. Well, this can't be the dead. The dead aren't doing those things. The dead aren't saying “my Lord delays his coming,” It can’t be Laodicea. They don't know they're blind. They're not looking for Christ. It has to be people who left us and Christ calls them evil, wicked kickoffs, worthless servants. Well, they were only worth they have is that they eventually left and they stopped being paid and people under them aren't anymore.” 
 
Dave Pack - (1:22:25)

Now we could go all the way past the Feast. It seems hard to imagine, but you know, all these verses, he won't tarry won't tarry won't tarry, but wait, wait, wait, wait. And you have a need to be patient. I don't know. Maybe we'll go after the feast. It's gotta be when people are at work. So it won't be during the 10 days of the Feast. But it could be tonight too. Can't be on Atonement. Can't be today. Today's almost over, but terrible, terrible, terrible things are happening.  

It is so convenient that before this sermon, Pack has already began instructing the entire church how to deal with ministers/people who leave. 
 
He says ministers who leave are hoping that "you [the church] are stupid and dumb enough to follow them". 
 
Pack has been heard before by many minister calling the brethren idiots. As a former employee i have sat in staff meetings where he would call us stupid. 
 
RCG is in extreme damage control mode, telling all their members not to read any posts, letters, emails or engage with former members. 
 
He says it's a sin if you do. This is one masterful way to block people from seeing the other side that is not so often spoken about. 
 
He is a very dangerous man who uses the bible so and his eloquence so well to manipulate the scriptures into serving his purpose. 
 
His purpose: cover up the reason 40 plus ministers have left, instruct the membership not to go around perusing on why they left, paint all those ministers as thieves and wolves by telling a select few stories of some actual rotten ministers, and then go on to inform the entire church that Christ is coming at the end of 2020 Feast of Tabernacles. And if not this year then next year. Bait them some more. 
 
Pack is the wolf. But he is using the tactic of telling him members that others are out to get them and their money to shift the very idea that it is in fact him who is stealing their money and treating them like their stupid idiots. 
 
Many people in RCG who sit there are secretly coming to this blog and other sources and communicating more openly with former members and expressing concern with the failed date after date of christ supposed return that Pack keeps changing. 
 
Pack has predicted Christs return over 20 times since the failed elul prophecy in 2013.