A Sober Commentary
This is neither satire nor written in jest.
The “Prophetic Update” issued by The Restored Church of God on July 3, 2022 was easy fodder for playful observations and light-hearted mockery.
But while beginning to comment on the very last sentence, I began to experience something unexpected. My thoughts grew quite somber. I felt a wave of sadness when I reflected on that short collection of words.
On the surface, it appears to be just a “nothing” statement thrown in to tease that new information was on the horizon.
The more time I spend outside The Restored Church of God, the more clearly I see the nefarious tricks that David C. Pack and his “ministers” use against the members.
“You/we will learn more soon!”
This is part of the subtle manipulation David C. Pack employs with the brethren. Some former members call this brainwashing and mind control. If you think I am kidding, please hear me out.
Those few words are filled with meaning. It is part of the “God is revealing to me” fraud.
DCP is learning just as you are learning, after all. WE are in it together, arm in arm on OUR way to the Kingdom of God. He “is merely the pipe” through which God the Father and Jesus Christ choose to give prophetic information to the members of The Restored Church of God.
This sentence is the “I’m in the same boat as you are, lay members” that is frequently written to engender some kind of sympathy for him. He is on the same rollercoaster everyone else is. He is on the same merry-go-round you are. David C. Pack certainly has no hand on the lever pushing it all forward. The “ministers” at Headquarters certainly have no choice but to follow what God is teaching “His apostle and prophet.”—That is what he wants you to think.
He is being “tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine” coming from God, who is continually testing His people “to see who doesn’t care about truth” or who will “answer the matter before they heard it” and “bail out right before the very end of the series.”
David C. Pack has no idea how he is blaspheming the name of God. He breaks the 3rd Commandment in front of everyone inside The Restored Church of God and has been doing that for years. I wonder if members remember the first time they heard him thunder, “On God’s authority…” from the lectern or the table. Do those same people remember it AFTER one of his teachings and/or dates is proven to be false?
If smoking is considered “idolatry” and viewing pornography is considered “adultery,” just how is saying “On God’s authority…” on a doctrine later proven wrong NOT “taking the Lord’s name in vain?”
We all sin. I sin. A lot. I am not claiming the moral high ground here. That is not the point. The point is that the man is so disconnected from reality, he cannot see what he is actually doing. To himself. To the church. To other human beings. To God’s name.
He claims God’s authority and then teaches fraud. He sets a date for the return of Jesus Christ using his own twisted logic blended with God’s word. When things do not pan out as he preached it would for hour upon hour upon hour, since he is not making all this up, it is really God’s fault when you think about it.
He makes God out to be a cruel trickster. I had to wrestle with that before I left. Do I want to worship the god David C. Pack preaches about? Would Jesus Christ treat His sheep this way?
Here is an illustration:
Master takes His dog to the park to throw the ball around.
Master shows the dog his favorite ball. He waves it around and gets the dog all excited about catching it.
Master moves quickly back and forth, like he is about to throw it.
“You want the ball? You want the ball? I know you want the ball.”
The dog is very excited. He hops up and down and barks, eyes locked on the ball in Master’s hand. Master moves it to the left and to the right. He even hides it behind his back for a moment.
The dog starts barking louder and whimpering because he really wants to catch that ball.
Master does a big throw. The dog spins around and sprints after the ball, but cannot find it. He sniffs around and then looks back at Master who is laughing while holding the ball out plainly in his hand. It was a fake throw.
The dog runs back to Master eagerly with tail wagging.
Master throws it!
No, another fake throw. And another fake throw. And another fake throw.
The dog starts panting, but is still a little excited. He has not yet caught the ball. Even once. They have been at the park for some time now, but the ball has not yet been thrown.
Each “throw” from Master is a “fraudulent throw,” you could say.
“You still want the ball? You still want the ball? I know you still want the ball.”
But Master said this before.
“Here it comes! Get ready! This is really it!”
Master finally throws the ball far and long. The dog races to where the ball landed, except the ball is still only in Master’s hand.
At this point even a dog would know, “Master is never going to throw the ball.”
This is the version of God David C. Pack wants The Restored Church of God to believe and worship.
“Ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth,” could not be more spot-on with “The Greatest Untold Story!” series.
There is no “You/we” in any of this. It is all just a long, tortured vanity project funded by widows and senior citizens.
May God have mercy on David C. Pack for what he has done to people.
May God have mercy on the “ministers” for not only enabling him, but also perpetuating the lies. They might receive the greater judgment because they know David C. Pack is a fraud and do nothing about it, like they lack the power to do so.
I was lied to inside The Restored Church of God.
I was deceived inside The Restored Church of God.
I was manipulated inside The Restored Church of God.
I was drained inside The Restored Church of God.
I was broken inside The Restored Church of God.
And there are still good people trapped inside. That makes me very sad.
This is why I created the website.
Marc Cebrian
See: A Sober Commentary
23 comments:
Very well said. But soooo sad. I feel sadnesss for the people. Your dog in the park illustration said it all. Thanks for voicing that it is taking God's name in vain.
That picture Marc uses has just the right amount of creep factor to it.
Also, the dog story is the perfect example of how the ministry in almost every Church of God operates. They want us to believe we are in this together, but we aren't and never have been. They weld their power as a weapon while claiming to march alongside us to the kingdom together. Elitist gaslighting.
But praise God that you eventually saw his lies for what they are, Marc. Thank you God for giving Marc to courage to leave and my prayer is that the rest of the members will find that same courage soon.
God will not be mocked. Pack makes a mockery of Him every single week. Whether Pack believes his own babble or not, at this point the damage he is inflicting is outrageous. That is the reason so many of us have called him and his teachings/doctrines evil. You make a mockery of God and lie in His Name and that is the very definition of evil. Mental illness can excuse of awful lot, but not all things. God help you Dave.
After I left I talked to a ex-minister that said once Dave whispered to him as he was headed towards the lectern to give a sermon he said "This will make them give!" And I thought well it's all about the money some new exciting titillating twist, some new understanding, so that they think they know something that other people don't know, other people are just ignorant as to the true plan. I could see it was all about the Benjamins.
“When things do not pan out as he preached it would for hour upon hour upon hour, since he is not making all this up, it is really God’s fault when you think about it.” - MC
The purpose of satanic imposter cults like Gerald Flurry's PCG cult and David Pack's RCG cult is to destroy people physically, mentally, financially, and spiritually and to do it all in God's name to make God look extremely bad.
Satan's false prophets Gerald Flurry and David Pack both claimed to be holding on to Herbert W. Armstrong' teachings more faithfully than anyone else in order to attract HWA's followers and their wallets, bank accounts, retirement savings, possessions, houses, etc. Gerald Flurry and David Pack both started off complaining about the doctrinal changes that the apostate Tkaches had made in the Worldwide Church of God and about the doctrinal changes that the other WCG splinter group leaders had made in their own WCG splinter groups. Both Gerald Flurry and David Pack made themselves out to be the most faithful and trustworthy leaders around. Then, in the PCG cult and in the RCG cult it soon became all about promoting and worshipping Gerald Flurry and David Pack, and going along with their own truly massive doctrinal changes that are some of the very worst ones that the so-called Church of God scene has ever seen.
The false prophets Gerald Flurry and David Pack both came pretending to be true men of God, but it turned out in both cases that it was all a diabolical and extremely cruel hoax. Thousands of former WCG people vastly underestimated the extreme trickiness of Satan and the false prophets that he sends against them.
Sooner or later, the tortured and baited dog has no other choice than to THROW UP INSIDE THE HOUSE!
Well, there is one more story in which another member of the canine family is involved. "The Boy Who Cried Wolf".
There are diminishing returns each time that Dave takes the Lord's name in vain this way. If he lives long enough, he may just find himself with nobody left to believe him when Jesus actually does return. I've got this crazy, I don't know, feeling in the pit of my stomach that most of his people are already secretly laughing at him. Some of us began searching for new answers, and more reliable teachers when HWA bombed out in '72-'75. With false prophecy, God says "One strike, and you're out!" That strike has very deep implications. It means God has nothing to do with that batter!
IMHO, Pack and Flurry started out really believing in their own desire to carry the Armsrong torch. But they both realized at some point along the way that Armstrong's message was dead. The next generation coming into a changing and advancing world was not interested in a message that culminated in an epic failure in 1972. Time marched on but Armstrongism was frozen in time. They could die slowly on the vine like LCG, UCG, COGWA, etc. or strike out on their own. They could shoot their own wad and make a name for themselves; inspire the birth of a new cult that would have explosive growth ahead of it. Alas, the internet has killed the cult leader just like video killed the radio star. God bless Windows and MTV.
May God have mercy on David C. Pack for what he has done to people.
"I will show mercy to the merciful and no mercy to those who show no mercy."
I think I read that somewhere.
Does President Pack and his HQ team deserve any mercy?
The rcg people deserve what's coming and it ain't Christ.
In all honesty they are atheist in that they follow davy instead of their savior. Simple bible readers, not doers. They deserve to be fleeced.
How Dogs Can Recognize A Bad Person
"David C. Pack has no idea how he is blaspheming the name of God. He breaks the 3rd Commandment in front of everyone inside The Restored Church of God and has been doing that for years." MC
When doubt creeps in when wrestling with the idea of leaving the RCG, the "fail-safe" understanding to fall back on to regain orientation unto God is quite simply the Ten Commandments.
Dave Pack is indeed teaching from the bible, Dave Pack isn't getting it all wrong. Add in a strong calling, fear, confusion, friends and people become paralyzed to making a correct decision.
But the Ten Commandments cut through all the complexity of discerning if "this" is all of God. In 2015 I put Dave Pack - his teachings and actions right smack in the middle of the lens of the Ten Commandants. How did Dave do?
The third commandment was easy, Marc has plainly pictured Mr. Pack's willful disregard of God's name.
Dave Pack abhorrently trashed the first commandment by declaring himself That Prophet and taking the description of Jesus Christ in Isaiah 11 unto himself. Picturing ones self as another Christ is a flagrant affront to the 1st commandment.
By picturing himself as Christ and taking many more biblical titles, he has pictured himself as an idol before his membership. Creating idols is a breach of the second commandment.
By preaching many years of messages that have no truth to the complete build up to the ultimate conclusion and giving many many sermons all about himself on the Sabbath Day - a day orientated unto God, Dave Pack once again breaks another commandment.
If Dave Pack's parents would be honored by their son's actions I would be shocked. I don't think his children are honored by his actions, so even though Dave Pack's parents are dead, that doesn't give him free reign to completely disregard the 5th commandment.
You shall not commit murder. Dave gets a free pass on the physical aspect of this, but how many people has he spiritually cut off from the TRUE God.
Has Dave committed adultery? In the least he has committed domestic infidelity by direct intercourse in the marriages of his members - specifically non-member spouses by demanding their money in his "Common" demand.
Thou shall not steal is a pretty plain forward command. Theft by deception both physically and spiritually is a Dave Pack hallmark.
Bearing false witness against your neighbor. Dave Pack has had no problem calling men (COG) out by name and categorizing them as part of the biblical Synagogue of Satan or the biblical evil shepherds. That is a false witness against your neighbor.
Thou shall not covet is the one commandment that Dave Pack has thoroughly disregarded. He has looked into his bible and seen himself all through it, so his next logical step was to declare himself and title himself those biblical personages. Your money is my money - that is Dave Pack's business card and coveting is his business.
Leaving the RCG isn't really hard, putting away doubt becomes much easier when you hold the leader up to the light of the Ten Commandments. This isn't a confusing process - your salvation is not depended upon David C Pack!
Has Dave committed adultery? In the least he has committed domestic infidelity by direct intercourse in the marriages of his members - specifically non-member spouses by demanding their money in his "Common" demand.
Maybe Marc can comment on this, but I've heard that some close to the Pack household observed that even while his first wife was alive and ailing, Dave was already showing a noticeable "interest" in the nurse who became his second wife.
I don't know that I can believe any more that Dave's followers deserve all the stuff that's coming down on them as a result of staying with RCG. Mark, Sundown Kid, WATT, and a couple of other regulars have educated us into seeing RCG members in a different light. I think these members are convinced that they are in God's church, and that leaving for any reason would end their chances for salvation. And, that's a hard nut to crack. It's really not a decision we can or should make for them. Enough is happening that eventually all the members will be forced by what they see and hear to reconsider and reevaluate their positions. If nothing else, the past twenty-five years have shown that you just can't force a change of beliefs on a group of people who are already fervent in their current beliefs. There are still people who remained as members of Jim Jones's and David Koresh's church even after the horrible disasters that ended their brothers' and sisters' lives. Sad but true. All we can do is remain logical and supportive.
Yes, the Restored Church of God is a sober spiritual cemetery.
What a nasty piece of work you are 'James'.
You need to move on my friend….you or no one else is ever going to change these cult leading madmen. Maybe plant a garden or something.
Anon July 5 4:24PM - I was not there, but I know someone who was. That kind of thing is personal and not my story to tell.
Anon July 5 4:57PM - Thank you for this "Mark, Sundown Kid, WATT, and a couple of other regulars have educated us into seeing RCG members in a different light." -- This is what I have been trying to do from the beginning...inform. Inform the people in Wadsworth, at first. Now, anyone who is interested in knowing.
Your compassion is duly noted...uh...Anonymous at 4:57PM. :)
Anon July 5 5:44PM - This IS me "moving on" and if you were "my friend" you would sign your name. And I hate yard work, so you clearly do not know me. :)~
5.44 AM
You could make a similar comment about all the hundreds of thousands of blogs on the net. So you are right and everyone else is wrong. And what should people do instead? Why fixate on the "work" and allow themselves to be some ministers mindless Borg puppet. So no TickTick or and any other interest for ACOG members. And of course this doesn't apply to the ministers who get their jollies by lording it over their members. Playing Gestapo-man is so much fun.
Marc Cebrian at 7:32 AM said...“And I hate yard work, so you clearly do not know me.”
That would be reason enough for you to leave the RCG. Dave Pack has endless yard work for everyone to do.
5.44 AM
You could make a similar comment about all the hundreds of thousands of blogs on the net. So you are right and everyone else is wrong. And what should people do instead? Why fixate on the "work" and allow themselves to be some ministers mindless Borg puppet. So no TickTick or and any other interest for ACOG members. And of course this doesn't apply to the ministers who get their jollies by lording it over their members. Playing Gestapo-man is so much fun.
And there it is….the most non-sensical comment ever posted to Banned.
5:44 comment cuts to the core of the issue.
Droves of these badly designed blogs exist and then are despatched all over the Internet. Some updated others left for dead.
Proclaiming their hurt past and nit picking the present and mocking the future.
Run by a group of aged hurting people who want to constantly keep their gaping wounds from healing. They cannot plant a garden because they cannot move on stuck forever in 1970s-90s WCG wallowing in self pity.
And who are you Thursday, July 7, 2022 at 1:08:00 AM to proclaim such ignorant commentaries, staying up past 1am, not able to sleep? Like David with Psalms or Proverbs it's healing to write how one feels. I hope Marc writes a book exposing the many false teacher's techniques used to draw us. Helping many in the future to recognize the red flags. Let Marc do His work. He is better than most Psychologists out there and you have no idea who He could be helping at the moment.
Psa 120:2 Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue.
Psa 120:3
What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue?
Psa 120:4
Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.
Psa 120:6
My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace.
Psa 120:7
I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war.
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