The Brainwashing Rainbow
Some brethren who leave The Restored Church of God become mini-experts researching psychological manipulation, narcissism, and cults. The interweb is filled with articles about mental conditioning utilizing brainwashing techniques and fear tactics.
Those desiring to understand their time under the thumb of Pastor General David C. Pack have recommended books for me to read. I sometimes receive photos of highlighted paragraphs that are relevant and interesting. Unlike my contemporaries, I have yet to read any of them. I am comfortable with why I joined The Restored Church of God. I am comfortable with why I left The Restored Church of God.
Those people understand their own experiences, but I do not share the same curiosity they have in gaining a deeper insight to help them make sense of the nonsensical. From the summaries I hear, those materials better explain the RCG Crazy and what David C. Pack really is. Kudos to them.
The craziness inside that organization cannot be understated. Former ministers have the most-shocking horror stories to tell. They are almost unbelievable. This collective group is not a vindictive gang of coordinated liars. When you hear similar stories from various people across a stretch of years, the picture becomes too clear to deny as a rumor.
All the voices sing harmoniously: David C. Pack is an awful person. He is an awful shepherd. He is an awful leader. The man's reputation is legendary, going back to when he was a student at Ambassador College in Pasadena. He was a pain even back when he wore Speedos in public.
David C. Pack has spent decades rubbing people the wrong way. And he has only gotten worse.
The closer individuals have been to David C. Pack, the more exponential their trauma is. Is he the man selected to usher in the Kingdom of God? Is he Elijah That Prophet? Is he the Seventh Angel of Revelation? Is he the Goodman of the House? Has he correctly identified the Sixth King? Is he unveiling the Mystery of God before the return of Jesus Christ?
A polite yet firm, "Oh, hell no!"
One unifying question among those who fled is, “How can they continue to stay there and listen to that garbage?” I address this if it comes up over the phone, "But you stayed, and I stayed. Everyone has their personal line in the sand. None of us know what it is until we cross it."
When David C. Pack declared he was Elijah in January 2015, I knew this was terrible news for the church. However, I managed to separate the Pastor General from The Restored Church of God. After all, he was just one man, and the church would be fine.
Then, in December 2015, instead of Jesus Christ being That Prophet, David C. Pack announced Elijah was. Since David C. Pack was Elijah, it meant he was teaching, “I am That Prophet.” He avoided saying that for those two hours, but that is what it meant.
It took me six years to finally leave because I kept partitioning David C. Pack away from The Restored Church of God. He was just the leader. But, RCG was the place where God's Government was active. It was the only organization doing The Work. The gates of the grave cannot prevail against the Grand Garden or Mirror Lake.
The deal-breaker was when David C. Pack began corrupting God. He perverted the roles of the Father and Jesus Christ. I seethed every time Dave uttered the Father was coming first and Jesus Christ “was in the backseat.” Sycophants like Ed Winkfield joyfully regurgitated this filth as impressive knowledge rather than losing sleep over it like I was.
This was a repeat of The Worldwide Church of God apostasy. Except, Dave wisely kept pork off the menu. Once The Restored Church of God threw out the True God and became The Restored Church of Another god, who cares if they still keep the Sabbath?
God has a sense of humor and is a fan of irony. David C. Pack wrote books eviscerating Gerald Flurry of The Philadelphia Church of God and lambasted him in sermons. Yet, Grandpa Dave has become everything he warned us about.
If Joseph W. Tkach had David C. Pack as an advisor rather than an adversary, WCG might still be with us today.
Why do the brethren not leave in droves when dates continue to fail?
They are being manipulated by unrelenting psychological warfare. “The Greatest Unending Story!” Series is a Brainwashing Rainbow. David C. Pack preys upon the fears and hopes of the members. He will sometimes chastise them while other times praise them. It is a highly dysfunctional relationship.
Sampling the five latest messages provides a snapshot of what the brethren of The Restored Church of God are enduring. These are not “the worst of the worst," like when RCG’s young people were told God would have them torn apart by lions within days, but these are the more recent.
Multiply what you read by ten years and see if you can understand why brethren stick.
Part 453 – June 17, 2023
@ 1:30:12 So, this is all faith-building. If your faith didn’t grow as a result of hearing this sermon, then there's something wrong. You should be on fire and excited.
If someone is not excited, the fault is THEIRS. Something is wrong with THEM. It cannot be prophecy fatigue or the simple fact that David C. Pack has never been right.
The Pastor General changes his tune week by week, day by day, and the brethren are expected to live in a state of perpetual excitement. The only people capable of doing that are mentally ill lunatics.
@ 1:30:36 You’re seeing prophecy fulfilled.
This is God’s work they are witnessing, so they better be on board. Doubting Dave means they doubt God.
Part 454 – June 17, 2023
@ 56:55 If this doesn’t happen Monday [June 19], if this doesn't happen Monday unless you don’t believe the Bible, write off Av.
Brethren who disagree with what he teaches do not believe their Bibles. A Bible-believing Christian must accept what David C. Pack teaches since he is chosen to explain it. The bar is set relatively high.
Part 455 – June 21, 2023
@ 19:03 In Daniel 12…I wanna re-ask something. I wanna correct something. The Mystery has got to be ended, and there's something WE got wrong, and I wanna clarify it. WE were close to right. But, WE were misreading a verse and inverted it.
Words are manipulated in The Restored Church of God. “Clarify” is code for change. And there are a lot. “WE” got wrong instead of “I” got it wrong. Blame is a collective effort in RCG. That is one way the brethren actively participate in the process.
@ 1:24:36 Is another week possible? Another message isn't. But is another week possible? Yes. Yes. I can just tell you that unless God violates His word, two more weeks aren't possible.
To doubt David C. Pack is to doubt God, and no faithful Christian would dare do that. The brethren must take his words as true as coming directly from God. Except, they are not even coming sideways from God. Dave can read the verses but cannot rightly divide them. The Spirit of Error drives his conclusions, not the Holy Spirit.
This was spoken on June 21. Over two weeks later, we are still here. Therefore, according to David C. Pack, God violated His word. The man has no fear of throwing God under the bus leaving Him as the fall guy for when things fall short.
When events do not transpire as projected, the brethren should blame God, not Dave.
Pointing out David C. Pack as a lying blasphemer is not an accusation. It is an observable, provable fact of history. If I noted a black panther was in a tree, would that make me racist?
David C. Pack is a lying blasphemer.
Do not trust him. Do not believe him.
For there to be an error, God has to violate His word, and the brethren must disbelieve their Bibles. That is pretty strong stuff to go up against.
Part of the Brainwashing Rainbow is the excuses shrink-wrapped in soft language.
Part 456 – June 24, 2023
@ 09:55 It seems God wants everything straightened out and kinda cleared up that may have been wrong.
It seems—God wants—straightened out—kinda cleared up—may have been wrong.
That one sentence has enough padding to insulate your attic. Errors, false doctrines, uninspired preaching, biblical fraud, deception, presumption, and foolishness. None of those enter the discussion when you are trying to cover up what a colossal waste of time all of this is.
@ 32:35 It’s literally a miraculous thing we’re experiencing. But, it dudn't mean Mr. Pack gets it right every time because it’s incredibly complex even with them [Daniel and Revelation] open.
Prophecy is hard. It is "literally" a miracle, brethren, but expect more mistakes. I am unsure which version of the Bible Dave reads, but I cannot recall any miraculous Whoopsie Daisies in mine.
@ 42:40 It’s never been so clear to me, brethren, what I’m going to explain to you.
Everything is clear until it is not. The brethren are continually reassured that he FINALLY has it all put together, and nothing about this will change. But, then, it does.
The hardline RCG No-Contact policy has been reinforced in the last two years. It was in the background while I attended, but Headquarters has pushed it more while Dave puts the screws to those who leave, labeling them as enemies of God.
This is all part of the Brainwashing Rainbow. Dave warns about how bad people are who leave and how weak they are. Departing from RCG is just an excuse for wanting to sin, being impatient, tired of Bible study, being rebellious and prideful, or the coup de grâce: “They just don’t wanna obey God.”
Part 456 – June 24, 2023
@ 1:26:07 …so [leaving has] been going on for 2,000 years, and many thousands have repented, and many thousands have stayed faithful, and many thousands have sold out, and they're gonna get themselves destroyed.
Brethren, this is a dire warning for you. So, listen up and stay in your seats as This Ole Shepherd exposes his soft side.
@ 1:26:17 If anything makes me sick, it’s thinking about a lot of people that I know who tried to murder this church, and they’ve gotta be destroyed.
Do not murder the church! No, no, no! Your calamity makes Grandpa Dave sick.
@ 1:26:24 If they try to destroy the Temple of God, they have to be destroyed. They blew off Christ. They did despite to the Spirit of Grace. They’re gonna fall into the living hands of God. Not waiting a year to do it. They’re gonna receive vengeance outta the gate.
People leave because they blow off Christ. Brethren need to say in The Restored Church of God if they want to avoid God’s vengeance and dodge being destroyed. Sit down, shut up, and pay your tithes, or this is your fate, people.
@ 1:34:43 One reason I think our growth slowed down to this flat description is you're just not gonna give people a pass for a whole year after they’ve been here for a short period.
The flat growth in RCG is now due to God not having enough time to convert people before Jesus Christ returns this month. Someone remind Dave about the parable of the servants hired at the eleventh hour.
@ 1:36:07 Now, there are people who are blind, and they've lost the Holy Spirit. And the last estate of those people is worst than the first…They're sows that went back to wallow, and dogs went back to the vomit, and they don't really understand what's going on around them… But, if they stuck around, they might have caught fire and realized what they were part of.
I stuck around from July 2012 to March 2021. I was on fire for what I was a part of. But then, David C. Pack changed the terms, perverted doctrine, threw out the True God, preached Another Jesus, stopped preaching the Gospel, stopped doing The Work, and turned himself into That Prophet.
The insatiable desire for porn and bacon did not cause my exit, Dave. Your blasphemy did.
@ 1:36:34 But, instead, they couldn’t just leave, and we could hope they were prodigal sons. They had to try to kill the church. Which became our test, and so, that’s fine.
If the brethren leave The Restored Church of God, they will try to murder the church. Only a person with murder in their heart would want to leave. The Brainwashing Rainbow is very ugly.
One week later, the theme continued. Dave must be thinking about this a lot, even though people are not gushing out the door.
Part 457 – July 1, 2023
@ 04:19 We’re not losing people now. There’s no gush of people out the door at the last minute ‘cause “This went an extra week or three.” There’s nothing like that going on at all. Church is doing just fine.
So incredibly fine they just laid off six people as a cost-cutting measure. This topic is fireless smoke.
@ 04:30 But, we been losing people for several years who have been correctly saying, therefore, “Christ tarried,” and He did. And that’s all it took for them to quit.
@ 05:48 In other words, it becomes encouraging for me to realize God built this Series to go a lot longer than I thought. It's just I wuddn’t gonna leave the church. It was always sort of built-in.
When brethren have concerns about the continuous date-setting that results in embarrassing disappointment, the fingers are not to be pointed at David C. Pack. Just navigate your accusation stick at God.
@ 14:21 So, let’s see if we can [prove] by something God waited deliberately, very carefully, for the very last message and that what I was supposta “make plain” was not WHAT had been covered in 456 messages, but WHEN this is gonna happen. I think now I understand.
Over 800 hours of ever-changing doctrines spread across seven years was always part of God's plan. No responsibility needs to fall upon the shoulders of David C. Pack.
@ 22:26 “In wrath” can mean He has wrath in His heart, but also, remember, God is coming, and He's gonna put the failed saints to death. He’s not exactly happy with saints who beat their fellow servants. We had people beat us regularly. They leave. They can’t just leave, many of ‘em. They hafta turn and beat us. “My Lord tarries. He’s waiting.” And they turn and beat us. Why don’t you just go off and be a Baptist or an atheist? Leave us alone. They don’t. And that makes God angry. In many ways, that lit the fire more than the Sixth King.
@ 1:02:19 Lotta houses are gonna be broken up in the Seventh Era. Lotta houses of people who already left the church and beat their fellow servants are gonna really be broken up. They’re gonna get sudden death.
Resign from The Restored Church of God, and you will receive sudden death by an angry God. That makes for some serious stakes.
Fear wins the day despite the mountain of evidence telling brethren they should flee. This critical element in the Brainwashing Rainbow is why brethren do not leave The Restored Church of God.
They do not stay because the Pastor General exudes outgoing love and concern, teaching God’s truth with wisdom and compassion. They stay because they cannot see a viable alternative. And that is no excuse.
Marc Cebrian
7 comments:
I was never involved with Restored Church of God. The other RCG, Radio Church of God, was bad enough. I also was never shackled with the process of attempting to figure out how I came to become a member. Had my parents not become members when I was 9 years of age, it is extremely doubtful that I would ever have been attracted to it on my own. There were many aspects to it which seemed very wrong to a young impressionable mind, but it is a very powerful modifier to have an imminent tribulation overshadowing every minute of one's life, like a personal cloud which just never seems to go away. The thing about negative motivation is that when the negative factor goes away, it ceases to motivate. I knew that when 1975 came and went, there would be people who had a vested interest in making it appear as if the big negative was still somehow in play, and that Herbert W. Armstrong had not failed at all. With every passing year, the eventuality of it became less and less likely. At least not the way HWA outlined it. The "real" data (not the bought and paid for corporate or political data) on climate change is somewhat scary, but I'll be fertilizer or ashes long before that kicks in.
So far as figuring out what was done to us, and precisely how it was done, we will probably never fathom the full depths of it. All we can hope to do is to find and correct the damage as much as possible, and hopefully be stronger for our experiences, as opposed to continuing to be weak and vulnerable. My happiest time period began in about 1989 and extended into the early 2,000s. By then, I had made some good corrections, and had put any and all religious influences on the back burner. The group therapy on the internet from about 2002 to the present has been interesting, and I've done many hours of reading and studying, but it has been very depressing learning about the activities of those who fancy themselves as recipients of the HWA baton. Amazingly, there is still a sufficient number of apocalypse enthusiasts who believe that their only hope of safety is to obey the precepts originally laid out by HWA, of course with their minister or Apostle's modifications, such as "common", Malachi's message, or pick your own "new truth". Some just don't get it, and never will.
It's especially sad to know that people still delude themselves to the effect that their church is right, it's just that their leader is terribly wrong, but God will correct it in His own good time. The fact is, the church teachings made these leaders be exactly what they are. It's been going on for decades. It has to be the basic management style that corrupts them, because Jews are perfectly happy keeping the sabbath and holy days, and eating clean meats. Rabbis encourage opinions and discussion. I've even had Jewish friends ask me, "How could our customs be used to produce such awful evil in peoples' lives?" I just shook my head upon hearing this, but probably should have responded that it was the way they used prophecy as their cat-o-nine tails whip. Funny thing is, despite HWA's abuses, it never made me hate the Jews, or the Jewish religion. I do hate HWA's perversions of it, though.
The very first warning from Jesus: take heed no man (Billingsley, Kubik, Brisby, Meredith, Hoeh, HWA, Garner Ted, Flurry, Thiel, Weinland, "Scout", "Neo", Pack, "Miller", "Krischan", Shabi, Weston, Ritenbaugh, Thiel, Cox, Kitchen, Winnail, etc, and yes: me).......deceive you.
Dave is a failed Christian and is trying to take as many people as possible with him. It's a common reaction. He has turned his church into a spiritual Auschwitz type gas chamber. He's using every trick in the book to this end.
As Jeremiah 51:6 puts it "Flee from Babylon. Run for your lives. Do not be destroyed because of her sins."
To his members, escape Dave's gas chamber.
BAIT & SWITCH
Dave Pack sounded much better back when he first started his RCG cult. He seemed to be much more reasonable and sensible initially. He appeared to be hard at work writing basic booklets for his RCG cult.
Unfortunately, Dave Pack went on to come up with his big August 31, 2013 prophetic guess that totally failed in spite of his total of 56 given and not given reasons for it. Rescheduling it for the spring did not help. Waiting for it year after year, spring and fall, did not help.
Ever since then, it has been all downhill for old Dave Pack-of-lies and his RCG cult victims. Klepto-Dave now expects his followers to support him by sending in virtually everything they have for his “common” theft scam. Some of the old literature that Dave wrote has been discontinued because it contradicts Dave's latest massive doctrinal changes. Now there is nothing but the most horrible noise and nonsense gushing out of Dave Pack's continually flapping mouth.
People in the RCG cult should simply get out of it rather than using the excuse that they do not know where else to go. They should not worry so much about where to go. Rather, they should worry more about where they have already gone that they should not have gone.
Give up on Dave. People with faith cannot be reasoned with.
By their fruits you can know what is in a person's heart.
He's unraveling like Hitler in late '44, lashing out, blaming others, does not like critics.
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