Exposing the underbelly of Armstrongism in all of its wacky glory! Nothing you read here is made up. What you read here is the up to date face of Herbert W Armstrong's legacy. It's the gritty and dirty behind the scenes look at Armstrongism as you have never seen it before!
With all the new crazy self-appointed Chief Overseers, Apostles, Prophets, Pharisees, legalists, and outright liars leading various Churches of God today, it is important to hold these agents of deception accountable.
Herbert Armstrong's Tangled Web of Corrupt Leaders
Did you know that Herbert was the most powerful human on earth? He could bind and loosen everything on earth and in heaven. In fact, he had so much power that even Jesus himself had to bind Herb's words in heaven!
For some reason that magical god out there in the expanse of the heavens decided that Herbert Armstrong was God's gift to the world, even better than Bob Thiel. Never has a more powerful man existed. Everything he said while reigning over the Worldwide Church of God is forever established as truth and doctrine that ALL humans must follow before they can be saved. Even the ministers of the church share in this power. Whenever any of them spoke, their words were "bound" in heaven.
This kind of idolatry is why church members were and still are spiritually, psychologically, and physically abused by church leaders and ministers. No wonder the church and the world is in such a screwed up mess!
From the Kitchen Bros:
The apostle alone has the keys to bind and loosen. When Jesus Christ, our Head, binds or loosens in heaven, the apostle BINDS AND LOOSENS ON EARTH!
He binds it upon the Church of God! And he binds certain things on the ministry of the Church.
The Worldwide Church of God are those whom the apostle (Herbert W Armstrong)has bound upon what Christ gave him to bind! He has the seat of authority which was given him by Jesus Christ, the seat of Moses.
So when I listen to the apostle, I voluntarily submit to that authority which comes from on Christ!
That forms me into a member of the Worldwide Church of God.
So he has the authority to place things on me that is binding for me!
Those outside of the Church do not believe it is binding on them any longer! It isn’t!
But they’ve went off and now are binding on others versions of what they gathered from this Church, claiming they have the seat of Moses but that is not true at all.
They don’t have it once they depart one step away from Jesus Christ!
So people have become angry against me, saying what Mr Armstrong taught is not completely binding upon them and I shouldn’t say it is binding upon us! Oh it is! But only those of this Church! And we are here voluntarily.
People have asked by what authority have I been operating under. The seat of Moses. Through the authority given to Mr Armstrong, he has taught the word of God and that is bound upon me as a member of the Worldwide Church of God! And I have been alerting people to dangers, and traps of Satan the Devil who is trying to get you to reject the government of God! I have been reminding God’s people of what the appstle did teach and warned against departing from it. We don’t need to go off in favor of something opposing or differing.
Gaslighting A form of psychological manipulation where victims are deliberately fed false information, causing them to question their own memory, perception, and sanity. It undermines a person’s faith in their own judgment and can lead to confusion, loss of confidence, and dependency on the perpetrator.
Welcome to The Restored Church of God.
When distressed RCG members reach out to the exrcg.org website, they seek answers and sometimes “just want to talk” without fear of persecution. But more importantly, they seek validation.
Current members want to know that they are not crazy and are not imagining what they perceive. They want to know they are not stupid for being unable to follow the logic of “The Greatest Untold Story!” Series despite trying to. Or worse, they worry they are losing the Holy Spirit because of the creeping feeling that RCG is not what it proclaims.
I completely understand because I have been there.
Things change so frequently in RCG that keeping it all straight is impossible. Even the field mollusks are baffled, which is why they are forwarding your questions to Headquarters. They are not equipped to speak on their own.
One week, observing new moons is "tinfoil hat nonsense," and the following week, it is a wonderful gift presented with smiles. You must observe it one week, but they only recommend it the next week.
This next one hits home for Larry Cockshutt despite the temporary “misunderstanding” in Toronto. One week, birthdays are forbidden, and the next, they are fine. You can buy gifts but just avoid a “half-cocked” big party.
Brethren hear confusing sermons by the Pastor General and watch the calendar roll past another failed date for the arrival of the Kingdom of God. They read the same verses repeatedly but with a new interpretation each time. From the lectern, “the apostle” blasphemes God and admits he forsakes holy convocations, yet that is somehow acceptable to everyone.
Members who reach out want to understand why they are so disturbed about what is happening in The Restored Church of God and why nobody talks about it. How can they be “right on track” with so many things going wrong?
RCG tells members that doubt is a lack of faith. To question what they hear in the sermons is to question God’s Government—and questioning God’s Government is to question God. Ergo, questioning David C. Pack’s inflammatory language is disrespectful to God.
No God-fearing person wants to do that. So, silence wins the day.
Waves of biblical red flags appear, and that growing gnaw in the gut will not go away. Even still, brethren choose to stay. Why?
Psychology Today has an informative article that details gaslighting with an astute description:
“Gaslighting is an insidious form of manipulation and psychological control.”
Gaslighting is not the only reason people stay in The Restored Church of God, but it is an effective one. When you question your own judgment, you are motivated to suppress the discomfort. You endure the anguish with as much patience and long-suffering as you can muster.
Pleading to God on your knees with tears and fasting will not keep the evidence of biblical perversion from expanding if you keep your eyes open and your mind sharp.
The vital process that helped me prove I was not crazy, the devil was not tricking me, and I was not lying to myself was to write down the words of David C. Pack. I noted which sermon he said what and when. I could search and sort once those transcripts were in a digital format. The patterns that emerged blew my mind.
Armed with my e-Sword, I eviscerated the doctrines of David C. Pack. His patterns of deceit, fear-mongering, gaslighting, callousness, narcissism, arrogance, delusion, and just plain ridiculousness became clear.
God has a sense of humor and is a fan of irony. The best way to prove that The Restored Church of God is prophetically corrupt and that David C. Pack is a false prophet is to listen carefully to the words of David C. Pack.
David C. Pack of The Restored Church of God spent two minutes gaslighting the brethren during "The Greatest Untold Story! (Part 559)” on February 22, 2025, while referencing waiting for the Kingdom of God to arrive on Abib 1.
People often wonder if his disconnect from reality is intentional or if he is simply delusional. The degree of perceived nefariousness varies from person to person.
Part 559 – February 22, 2025 @ 41:09 Thank God, most of us have doing our waiting for each Abib year after year about ten times now without [chuckles] without having to think, “Oh, no. It’s another whole year.”
David C. Pack’s first prophetic failure was a very public embarrassment for the entire church when the Kingdom of God did not arrive on August 30, 2013. For the record, I believed it would happen. I joined RCG in July 2012 and started working at Headquarters at One Park Centre in December. I was zealous and on fire back then. Dave fooled me, too.
Dave made Elul 24 a big deal by posting weekly public letters to the offshoots of the Worldwide Church of God to warn them of the calamity to come. And let them know he would soon have supreme authority over them, so they would be wise to crawl to RCG.
All the Splinters rightly ignored him. Nothing happened on August 30. Dave tucked his tail between his legs and shut his mouth about dates for a few years after seeming to have learned his lesson.
Though Dave was not yet ready to be exact, he started preaching that Jesus Christ would return in Adar 2018. He then preached that He would arrive "before the end of the Feast of Tabernacles."
The prophetic date-setting floodgates opened and picked up momentum. He went from being vague to being precise while incorporating the annual Holy Days and “worldly” holidays.
In 2013—1 date. In 2018—2 dates. In 2019—8 dates. In 2020—14 dates. In 2021—5 dates. In 2022—39 dates. In 2023—40 dates. In 2024—14 dates.
Not including 2025, David C. Pack of The Restored Church of God has prophetically failed 123 times.
2020 is the first year David C. Pack preached Jesus Christ would return in Abib. He taught Abib again in 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025. With that context, witness the gaslighting of the brethren of The Restored Church of God.
Part 559 – February 22, 2025 @ 41:09 Thank God, most of us have doing our waiting for each Abib year after year about ten times now without [chuckles] without having to think, “Oh, no. It’s another whole year.” In a way, WE sorta stayed encouraged and excited because because I thought it could be anytime.
Dave projects phantom encouragement and excitement upon the brethren because that absolves him of responsibility. He also does this in the office during meetings. He will manifest an emotion or motivation onto someone else because he wants it to be true. Kevin is nodding his head right now.
The 123 documented failures are satisfactory because the process itself is exciting. David C. Pack gaslights the brethren by focusing on the bright side of prophetic fraud to shirk any accountability regarding “because I thought.”
@ 41:25 But, imagine if the last nine years,by the way,each time Abib passed, I, "Sorry, brethren. You know, maybe next year in Jerusalem,” like the Jews say.
The brethren do not need to “imagine” this. They have been living it since 2013. The Restored Church of God has been on constant alert for years. Dave’s gaslighting is not so opaque when you remember the past.
@ 41:35 And then, the next year again we we’d say that in in 2016, [20]17, [20]18, [20]19, [20]20, [20]21, [202]2, [202]3, [202]4, and and we’d be ready to say it again in ’25.
David C. Pack just described what it is like to be a member of The Restored Church of God today, not some fictional concept of what could be. The presentation of reality as fantasy twists people up because he speaks the direct opposite of what is real.
Gaslighting is a form of psychological manipulation where victims are deliberately fed false information, causing them to question their own memory, perception, and sanity.
When you watch David C. Pack speak the most ridiculously false things with a straight face, and nobody gasps in the room, it causes you to wonder if the problem is with you. It is not you, brethren. Your Pastor General and his hirelings are gaslighting you.
@ 41:47 But now we we have all these markers that show us it’s this year. It woulda been very discouraging.Yet, ya still gotta keep going.
“Would have been very discouraging” rather than HAS BEEN since 2013. I get the phone calls. I get the emails. Discouragement, confusion, and fear are going on inside RCG right now.
David C. Pack cannot resist inserting himself, especially if he has a chance to blame WCG.
@ 41:58 Nine years hasn’t been horrible for me when you’re coming on on the to 59. I’m at 59. So, it was 50 before that. It’s juh–and I andI waited without having any idea with the whole wrong scenario, thinking I was waiting for world hell for three and a half years…
Brethren, if you think you have suffered, remember that “this old shepherd” believed many now-defunct doctrines of Herbert W. Armstrong for over half a century.
After Dave warmed up, he exemplified the often-taught precept: “Pain kicks the self-defense mechanism into gear.”
@ 42:31 But, I’m just trying to say, if each Abib, “Mr. Pack, you got the dates wrong.” But, in getting the dates wrong through the years it at least kept us on the edge of our seat because WE were learning many, many other things that WE didn’t know.
Dave gaslights the members by reasserting that the process of failing 123 times has a positive benefit. People cannot sustain a constant state of excitement and anticipation. They will burn out eventually, and many do. That “edge of your seat” sensation for seven years in a row is not normal, and it is not healthy.
@ 42:48 And the picture of this Kingdom grew better.
This is another gaslighting statement. The constant changes during “The Greatest Untold Story!” Series are not contradictions with broken logic and riddled with errors. No, they are improvements.
This gaslighting tactic defuses criticism from prideful, self-willed members who dare question how God works through His human vessel. Liken it to an abusive spouse refusing to apologize:
“By enduring my abuse, do you feel like you’ve become a stronger person?” “Yes.” “Then, I don’t need to apologize because I helped you become a stronger person.”
There is emotional, mental, and spiritual abuse inside The Restored Church of God, and David C. Pack established that culture. Gaslighting is only one tactic.
Gaslighting is not just ex-cathedra. The enablers have also refined their craft of manipulation to keep the brethren in line with mouths shut. I experienced it personally at Headquarters in Wadsworth.
In The Restored Church of God, gaslighting is a necessary part of the culture and is not just a tactic of control from the lectern. Spokesman’s Club, socials, fundraisers, picnics, special dinners, and group activities all require a low heat level of subtle duplicity.
Brethren are so trained by the ministry that the covert zealots among them cannot wait to reinforce strict church doctrine and snitch at the first opportunity, especially if someone appears to sully the name of glorious “Mr. Pack.” Many are aware of this, and it has created a constant climate of trepidation. There is a religious Stanford Prison Guard scenario in The Restored Church of God.
When an array of troubling things mount, is that the devil's fiery darts, or are those concerns legitimate? When members ponder leaving, is it because they want to go back to pepperoni, or are they beginning to realize RCG and David C. Pack are not what they claim to be?
Spiritual and doctrinal chaos persists, but because Mr. Hireling still shows up in a crisp suit with an appropriate tie, shiny shoes, and a fresh haircut, the brethren harboring deep concern try to tell themselves, "Nothing unusual is happening here."
That is mental self-regulation as your brain wrestles with your guts.
Your head is your thinking. Your heart is your feeling. Your gut is your instinct.
My buddy Peter advised someone who recently left, “Don’t listen to your head. Listen to your guts. Your head will lie to you. Your guts will tell you the truth.”
The wisdom behind that notion is that your head can be coerced with deception and fear. But not your gut. Your gut knows what you see and hear, and it tells you what is right and what is wrong.
The Bible, the Holy Spirit, and your gut will steer you in the right direction. What do all of those tell you David C. Pack is? Has righteousness or wickedness taken hold of The Restored Church of God?
Is it gaslight, or is it truth?
2 Timothy 3:7 Ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Matthew 7:16 You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles?
Look at the fruits, brethren. The Restored Church of God is a secretive terrarium of thorns and thistles. It is a den of wolves and a nest of vipers. And upon the chiefest seat rests David C. Pack.
Gaslighting contributes to why brethren remain in The Restored Church of God. And the enablers are growing increasingly good at it.
