Dave Pack: "we are "swimming in metrics"

 

From an RCG source

According to the master, prophesy is an "enigma" and an "obscure saying". So, I suppose this means that God was simply drawing our attention to these enigmas for the last six years, not actually solving them through His chosen apostle of glory. Huh, you still get disfellowshipped for respectful disagreement with his interpretations. I'm confused, is God's authority behind His word or the man He so obviously has chosen? Interesting times.

Also of note, shout it to the whole world... we are "swimming in metrics"... we are IN the season of the anti-christ. But not to worry, 100 Billion people will soon be resurrected to face the judgment of David C Pack in a 75 day window in an environment of paradise.

We are left to ponder the addition of a new glass to the table and an ominous question mark indicating its time signification. 

A personal note: I know most of the people sitting in that hall, attending these insane Bible studies. They are in a hopelessly trapped position, unable to speak anything that would even remotely undermine the authority of the series while at the same time planning Church events months into the future, ie into a time which they are duty bound to believe and speak as though will be a time of prophetic fulfillment. Many of these individuals/couples/families have liquidated their assets and given the proceeds to the Church. They now live in homes owned by the Church and they derive their household income from the Church. One misstep or misspeak and they lose it all... they're out on the street with nothing. They have fallen into a trap that is very difficult to get out of. Pack has them right where he needs them, constantly lending their credibility to the derangement of the RCG with no ability to escape.

The 100% Failure Rate Of Prophecy In The Churches of God

In light of the recent post here about Gerald Weston's whitewashing of Herbert Armstrong, Rod Meredith, and the Church of God's abysmal track record on prophecy, I thought this would be a great separate thread.

Weston's explanation of HWA's 1975 in Prophecy booklet might be more believable if HWA hadn't already had a track record by then of making predictions and setting dates, which can be traced all the way back to early editions of the Plain Truth in the 1930s. For instance, the June 1934 edition of the Plain Truth had a chart in it where HWA labeled 1936 as the "end of the age." When that didn't happen, he simply kicked the can down the road a bit and made other predictions, and set other dates, much like Pack, Flurry, and others do today. For example, in the February 1938 Plain Truth, he declared Mussolini the "Beast" of Revelation, and in January of 1939 he further promoted this idea, saying that "MUSSOLINI UNDOUBTEDLY IS THE "BEAST" and "MUSSOLINI WILL FIGHT CHRIST!"

Weston also ignores the fact that HWA also promoted and taught the idea of 19 year time cycles, and made his own claims based on those time cycles. For example, in Chapter 24 of his Autobiography, he has this to say, 

"God set the earth, sun, and moon in their orbits to mark off divisions of time on the 

earth. One revolution of the earth is a day. One revolution of the moon around the earth is a lunar month (according to God’s sacred calendar). One revolution of the earth around the sun is a solar year. But the earth, the sun, and the moon come into almost exact conjunction only once in 19 years. Thus 19 years mark off one complete time-cycle!" 

He went on to use this statement to promote the idea that God timed his entry into the ministry based on the number of time cycles that had occurred since Pentecost of 31AD. 

It is both a double standard and rank hypocrisy to criticize the "speculations" of others, making the statement that "some never learn" while glossing over and excusing the same behavior in the very leaders you hold up as bastions of "truth" such as HWA and Meredith. 

It would be totally refreshing if just one of these guys was able to admit that HWA engaged in this behavior and was WRONG, as did Rod Meredith and others, and that we need to learn from the false claims and sins of our predecessors so we don't fall prey to repeating their mistakes. 

It is contradictory to claim out of one side of your mouth, as HWA did, that you were not called to "be a prophet" while also writing articles and booklets predicting specific events to be fulfilled by specific people, using titles such as "1975 in Prophecy" and also claiming that you are the fulfillment of an end time "voice crying out in the wilderness" as prophesied in Malachi 3:1. 

"John the Baptist was a voice crying out in the physical wilderness of the Jordan River area, preparing for the human physical Jesus' first coming to a material temple at Jerusalem, to a physical Judah. But that was a type, or forerunner of a voice "lifted up" (greatly amplified by modern printing, radio and TV), crying out in the midst of today's spiritual wilderness of religious confusion, announcing the imminency of Christ's SECOND coming as the spiritually GLORIFIED Christ, to His spiritual temple (the Church resurrected to spirit immortality)." Plain Truth Magazine, January 1980

If you claim you aren't a "prophet" that doesn't excuse you if you then go on to make false predictions, or engage in the same behavior that defines a false prophet.  

Concerned Sister

 In a second comment, there was this:

The date setting, and the abundant evidence of its ongoing denial, backpedaling, and rewrite is exactly why God would have to use a completely new and different group as His end time witness. Armstrongism has burned itself as a credible witness, and current members are just kidding themselves if they think otherwise. The credibility of other Christian groups has also fallen apart.

If you're just pulling into town from the feast, looking forward to a sabbath in your home town, and thinking to yourself "See? We have the truth about God's test commandment, the sabbath, so God will reveal His plans to us!", then you better wonder about the effectiveness of the sabbath as a signifier of God's True Church, because Armstrongism has a 100% failure rate in end time prophecy, dating way back to the WW-II era when HWA was preaching that the war would culminate in Armageddon, Hitler and Mussolini were the Beast, and Pope Pius was the AntiChrist. And, this was before Israel was even reborn as a nation, which was very necessary for the prophecies in Revelation to come to pass. For years, he denied that Hitler's body was Hitler, and preached that he was alive in South America, and would arise to complete the job. Sounds soooo much like a recent president, doesn't he? False leaders are always detached from reality!

Gerald Weston: Making Excuses For The 1975 In Prophecy Booklet Lie

 

From Gerald Weston:

He later wrote a booklet titled 1975 in Prophecy. It was never intended to set that year as the date of Christ’s return, but instead was highlighting a significant milestone in the future as many others have done; for example, George Orwell’s 1984, published in 1949, and William and Paul Paddock’s Famine 1975! America’s Decision: Who Will Survive?, written in 1967. Today we might highlight a future year such as 2050, not intending to imply that 2050 is a specific year during which we expect something earth-shattering to happen. But in the course of time, 1975 in Prophecy took on a life of its own. Some Ambassador College faculty began calculating, using 19-year time cycles, that the work of the Church could end in 1972 with the three-and-a-half-year period mentioned in Revelation taking us to 1975. 

How easily he glosses over the fact that Rod Meredith was the champion of the 1975 lie. 

It was taught to us in the Dayton area as FACT and we even had a sermon once where the minister outlined on a rolling blackboard on the stage and drew a chart right down to the month that we would flee. My mother faithfully copied this crap down and put it inside the kitchen cupboard where she crossed off the days till we were supposed to flee to Petra. This came straight from Pasadena. The fact that Weston denies that anyone thought this was a fact is a blatant falsehood.

I do not know when Mr. Armstrong began to consider that 1975 could be the year, but I do know firsthand that, as late as 1969, on the occasion of one of the Senior Dinners that he hosted in his home, he thought it possible for things to wrap up by then. At the same time, however, he strongly warned the Church not to set dates. And Dr. Meredith was already saying as early as 1968 that “the end of the Work in 1972” and “the return of Christ in 1975” were dates that would come and go without those expected events. 

 

When it was clear that 1972 was not the end of the Work, people looked for other dates and some concluded that the error was in subtracting the seven years of Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity from the 2,520 years from the fall of Babylon in 539 BC. This recalculation brought us to the year 1979 for the end of the Work, with Christ returning in 1982. That was nearly 40 years ago—obviously, speculators were wrong again.

There has never been a Church of God prophet that was part of the Armstrongite dispensation that has ever told the truth. Not one single one and that includes Bob Thiel, Rod Meredith, Ron Weinland, Dave Pack, and Gerald Flurry. 

Liars all.

Perhaps we can be forgiven such errors, as we are in the company of the Apostle Paul, who wrote, “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). This certainly applies to some people, perhaps many of us, but Paul wrote to a contemporary audience, while God inspired it for all times. Paul did not set any specific dates as far as we know, yet it may seem in his epistles that he thought they were living very near to the end of the age—certainly not 2,000 years away from it! 

 

It is natural to want to know how long we have left to wait, and it is natural to hope that Christ’s return will be within our own personal lifetime. This natural tendency to speculate must be tempered by mature thinking whereby we learn from the past. It would seem that, given the history of the last 100 years, we should have learned not to attempt specific predictions. Dr. Meredith realized this, refusing to be specific, but when pressed for some indication he would say that he thought it would be seven to 17 years—and he repeated that for a decade or more, as a moving target. 

 

This is not a criticism of Paul, Mr. Armstrong, or Dr. Meredith, but it should be a lesson for all of us. Sadly, some never learn, and they go beyond simple speculation and count on specific dates. When one date fails to bring Christ’s return, they set another—then another, then another. And sometimes they become discouraged and leave the faith. While it is fun to speculate, the problem is that some people begin making important decisions based on their speculations: not furthering their education, not getting their teeth fixed, rushing into a poorly matched marriage, etc.

Oh, how they want to ignore this Bible quote:

Deuteronomy 18:22

If a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord but the thing does not take place or prove true, it is a word that the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; do not be frightened by it.

Purge them from the church! Kick them to the gutter where they belong.

The False Prophet
13 “If a prophet or someone who has dreams arises among you and proclaims a sign or wonder to you, 2 and that sign or wonder he has promised you comes about, but he says, ‘Let us follow other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us worship them,’ 3 do not listen to that prophet’s words or to that dreamer. For the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul. 4 You must follow the Lord your God and fear Him. You must keep His commands and listen to His voice; you must worship Him and remain faithful[a] to Him. 5 That prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he has urged rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the place of slavery, to turn you from the way the Lord your God has commanded you to walk. You must purge the evil from you.

 

 

It Is An Ungrateful Job Being A COG Prophet

 

Zerubbabel 11 months ago

It has been a rough road for self-appointed Church of God prophets down through the decades. Widely ignored and mocked, these know-it-alls dispense one idiotic prophecy/predicition after another. Each year that passes the church is filled with more and more of these fools.

Above is Michael Noordhoek, aka Zerbbabel. This walking freak of nature was the same guy who a couple years ago said he was impregnating his daughter with the holy man child to come.

Noordhoek is in the same graduating class as Bob Thiel and this is the future look of Bob Thiel a few more years down the line:

Zerubbabel - August 2021

It looks like Zerub has never washed his outfit in the past year. Imagine how he stinks since he lives in the desert!

Apparently, he never raised the 280 million dollars he was looking for when he set up a Gofundme page and therefore is unable to buy new clothes. Of course, the local Walmart probably does not sell prophets clothing like this anymore, especially since the pandemic has hit and supply chains are disrupted.

COG Zerubbabel Starts 280 Million Dollar Go Fund Me Page

Sadly, Michael Noordhoek is not an anomaly. Why is the Church of God filled with so many idiots like what we have today? Can Bob Thiel answer that question?

For a hilarious bit of fun fast forward to the 2:15 mark and watch his clothing malfunction...

Depression in the Churches of God due to constant prophecy fatigue

When Herbert Armstrong was rebelling against the COG 7 and dreaming up his splinter group, he was also reading numerous books by the Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-Day Adventists, and the Mormon Church. In his downstairs basement, in the old walk-in safe, were numerous books from these groups with sections marked up, underlined, and with copious notes in the margins. Of these groups, the Jehovah's Witnesses' literature made up the largest quantity of these books. Of any of the Millerite splinter groups out there, the JW's are the closest to Armstrongism in their beliefs and in the number of failed propechies. Surprisingly these failed prophecies follow almost identical Worldwide Church of God/Armstrongite prophecies. By now we have all seen the 200+ documented failed prophecies of Armstrong and his minions. Armstrong's failure rate in prophecy is identical to the JW's failure rate, particularly when it comes to the 1971 - 1975 prophecies. Both churches failed miserably in their predictions.

Like all churches out there that utter predictions that never come to pass, they fluff it off as a timing mistake or that God was not ready or it happened spiritually. Even today in 2021, the church is filled with many false prophets uttering asinine predictions and outright lies to their members. Just look at Bob Thiel, Dave Pack, Gerald Flurry, and Ron Weinland and you can see this in action today.

None of these buffoons ever take into consideration what happens to members when they are subjected to their prophetic lunacy that fails every single time. Some members become numb to it and just fluff it off as not really important to worry about because even HWA made mistakes and he was still God's apostle. Others sink into depression due to these constant moving of goal posts. Marriages suffer and frustrations are taken out of family members with all kinds of abuse happening. Others, like Terry Ratzmann are so damaged by the words of COG ministers that they lash out in violence and kill members. Sadly, as more and more COG self-appointed prophets make more and more public lies, I am afraid that we may soon see a member in Restored Church of God or Philadelphia Church of God crack under this pressure and resort to some kind of violence. It is only a matter of time. Then, watch as their leaders leap into action to delete sermons, backtrack, and portray the members as the disturbed ones instead of taking any responsibility.

I have to hand it to Jeff Reed of the Church of God international who recently wrote about the current spate of false prophets in the Church of God. In his article, The Dangers of Headline Theology, Reed said,

We in the Church of God International may occasionally look at world events and examine them through the lens of God’s law or prophecy. Still, we carefully avoid making dogmatic statements and identify our observations as speculation. Those who practice “headline theology” go much further. They may predict specific days or years as an absolute fulfillment of prophesied events. Or they may suggest that the end is only a few years away. 

 

One of the dangers of this mindset is paranoia. We are told in Philippians 4:6-7 to “not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Looking at every new war, earthquake, natural disaster, social trend, or political change as a fulfillment of prophecy can cause anxiety.

Armstrongism is filled with prophecy addicts who have a field day by looking at every war, earthquake, natural disaster, social trend, and the political minefield as somehow relating to Bible prophecy. Most of the time, these fools are pulling predictions out of their sanctimonious privileged derrieres which have absolutely nothing to do with end-time events.

Of course, some of them only say they are speculating and if it doesn't happen then they are off the hook. In a comment on The Painful Truth website there is this comment by a woman named Kathy regarding COG prophets and those who make excuses for their lies:

Re: whether or not the Armstrongs claimed to be prophets, It's all semantics, my friend. Catch-phrases, such as "we're now in the gun-lap" "eight or nine short years to go", "in five or six short years from now", "last dying gasp of this wicked society," "God's apostle for the "end-time," etc. etc. ad infinitum, do have a certain prophetic ring to them. Both Garner Ted Armstrong and HWA have been more careful, at least since 1972, when their credibility was slightly damaged by the non-fulfillment of their predictions, to make it abundantly clear that they are not "prophets"-all the while continuing to "watch," or as a cynical person such as myself might put it, to prophesy. 

 

If you are a sincere person, and I have no reason to doubt that you are, I suggest that you go to a university (a "worldly," accredited one, please) and take some basic history courses, beginning with the History of Western Civilization. I especially recommend this if you think you already know this history, based on what the Armstrongs taught you. The reason that "not many wise men now are called" is because educated people, generally, simply know better than to fall for the histrionics of the proclaimers of the end of the world. They've seen this sort of thing through the ages and they understand the motive behind it. (And yes, I do remember what the New Testament says about people who say what I've just said. I don't care, so don't quote it to me.) Garner Ted Armstrong's Myrmidon Replies To Questions

Back to Jeff Reed's observations:

Another danger with “headline theology” is that it may cause some to lose their faith. Many over the years have put their hopes in a prophetic fulfillment that never comes to pass. Church leaders have unwisely predicted specific dates for the return of Christ or have implied that it would occur within a certain number of years. This date-setting has caused disillusionment in many former Christians. Faith in Christ becomes entwined with faith in their leader's predictions. Once these predictions ultimately fail, they can have a devastating effect on those who gullibly believed them.

William Miller predicted that Jesus would return to earth by 1844. He was so wrong in his calculations that the ensuing failure has been labeled the “Great Disappointment.” This failed prediction caused many to abandon their faith entirely and others to refer to this event as a reason to not even consider Christianity. Since then, many others have made similar predictions based on faulty calculations and their perceptions of world wars, disasters, and other dramatic events. They have all been wrong, and some of the fallout has been many people losing faith entirely. This also hurts the credibility of organizations and preachers, making their ensuing evangelistic efforts less effective.

One of the great things about Reed's article is that he used outside sources to support his viewpoints. Most COG members never look outside their insular worlds filled with pastor generals, chief apostles, and overseer's booklets, sermons, and articles as all the proof they will ever need. Besides, those so-called Christians of the world are losers and fake so why care about what they say!

One of the links Reed used was about what failed prophecy does to the mindset of members of these cults and in this case, it was a Jehovah's Witness. They too had the same end of the world scenario that was supposed to happen in 1975 that Armstrongism did. Here is how it affected one of its members:

A DEPRESSED JEHOVAH’S WITNESS 

Since 1975 when the Witnesses predicted the arrival of God‘s kingdom on earth there have been numerous problems in the Watchtower congregation. These problems have included dis-fellowshipping, doctrinal disputes, and the aftermath of recurring prophetic speculation failures (Hickman1992). In 1966 the Watchtower society issued a number of statements predicting the significance of the new date 1975 for the heralding of Christ Millennial Reign and the catastrophic implications for non-believers. The prediction was based upon biblical chronology which predicted that 6,000 years from man‘s creation will end in 1975 and the seventh period of a thousand years of human history will begin in the fall of 1975. This prophecy had a significant effect on the movement which was galvanised and proselytisation increased substantially. However, 1975 passed without incident leaving the Watchtower vulnerable and open to claims of prophetic disconfirmation. The leaders responded through invoking a number of rationalisations, denial and purges and blamed the rank and file membership for misreading the organisation‘s interpretation. The initialrationalisation of the failure of Armageddon to arrive emphasised the time lapses within the creation of Adam and Eve. This had been miscalculated.

In his ethnographic study of Witnesses Sociologist Andrew Holden (1992) presents a number of testimonies of ex Witnesses who believed the world would end in 1975. 

 

"I said it from the platform. We told everyone the end was near. When I became a Witness I gave up my insurance policies, I cancelled my insurance endowments, I never bought a house because I knew I wouldn‘t need one. We didn‘t even want to put the kids‘ names down for school". 

 

Holden notes that the governing body of Watchtower regarded the failures as a test of faith. In agreement with Brian Wilson‘sjudgement many did not abandon faith because of disappointment about a date as this would be too traumatic an experience to contemplate. Like many other prophetic groups disconfirmed prophecy does not necessarily lead to the dissolution of the group (Stone 2013). 

 

In my own work I have treated one man who lived through the anticipated apocalypse in 1975. Martin is a 70 year old man. Martin was born in the north of England. He first encounters Jehovah Witnesses while he was growing up as an adolescent in his home town. He started to attend Kingdom Hall and to read Watchtower. Very quickly he became hooked and begun to believe their prophecies about Armageddon. In 1974 the year before the expected arrival of Armageddon he was very excited. Much of his time was spent in Kingdom Hall and the discussions there centred round the arrival of Jesus‘ reign. He had no doubt in his mind that this would occur. He left his employment as a chef in anticipation of this prospect. He remembers for several days before the expected arrival he could not sleep. Every morning he awoke in eager anticipation of the end.

But the expected date arrived and nothing happened. How did he respond? Like many other Witnesses he knew at the time, he developed a depressive disorder. For several months he was low in mood. He was bewildered and could not understand why things had happened as such. His sleep was poor as was his appetite. He lost a considerable amount of weight. He begun to doubt the views of the Witnesses and debated with them as to why their prediction had failed. He became angry when one Witness explained to him that it was the fault of the believers who had miscalculated the date. He began to feel that life was hopeless and even seriously contemplated suicide. He ended up in psychiatric treatment where he was prescribed antidepressants. Over several months he improved and shortly afterwards left the Jehovah Witnesses movement. Much of the psychotherapeutic work with him focused upon his anger pertaining to this disconfirmed prophecy. In retrospect he felt he was ̳naive‘ to be taken in by this prophecy and cautioned me never to get involved with them. He is no longer religious although he considers that God may exist but for him no one can know when the world will end. Prophecies are Dangerous Things: Mental Health Implications of Prophetic Disconfirmation

Depression in Armstrongism has been rampant but leaders and ministers sweep it undercover as they label such depression either a sign that a person has been sinning or even demon possessed. Never do they consider it is because of their lies. Sadly in the Churches of God today there are few if any, ministers who are trained to deal with depression or are even trained as real counselors. Their only training is from a minister above them or the current church leader and not by real clinical therapists who teach proper counseling techniques.

As more and more Church of God leaders make more and more asinine prophecies or speculations as they call them, more and more COG members will be suffering from deep depression and hopelessness. None of this needs to happen if these ministers and leaders actually followed the Christ they claim to follow. If they did they would stop the prophecy crap and teach their members about the present rest one can have in Christ and a peace that passes all understanding.

Matthew 11:30
The Message

28-30 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

John 14:27
The Message

25-27 “I’m telling you these things while I’m still living with you. The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will make everything plain to you. He will remind you of all the things I have told you. I’m leaving you well and whole. That’s my parting gift to you. Peace. I don’t leave you the way you’re used to being left—feeling abandoned, bereft. So don’t be upset. Don’t be distraught.

John 14:27
New Revised Standard Version

27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.

 

Dave Pack: Caught Lying Again Has To Move The Goal Posts Further Out

 

From Dave's mind:

For many reasons, we are still not out of time! The spectacular complexity of the picture has moved many BIG things we are waiting for closer to the start - but also widen the window of our wait. The idea of counting back from the Last Great Day no longer applies as we understand it - something a brief email cannot explain. Suffice to say, we are still right where we need to be. With no reason to believe we must "wait another year"!

Have a profitable Sabbath. May God speed the arrival of His Kingdom as the world only gets worse with each passing day.

Commercial Break: Are The Elijah to Come Dr. Robert Thiel, The Elijah to Come Gerald Flurry, and Elijah to Come Dave Pack Using Their Bibles, Like a Crystal Ball, to Practice Fortune Telling???

"As I see it, YES"

MAGIC 8 BALL

Prophecy 

...or prediction, was one of the functions of the prophet. It has been defined as a "miracle of knowledge, a declaration or description or representation of something future, beyond the power of human sagacity to foresee, discern, or conjecture."

Prediction

A statement about what you think will happen in the future

"Fortune-telling is the practice of predicting information about a person's life.^[1] The scope of fortune-telling is in principle identical with the practice of divination. The difference is that divination is the term used for predictions considered part of a religious ritual, invoking deities or spirits, while the term fortune-telling implies a less serious or formal setting, even one of popular culture, where belief in occult workings behind the prediction is less prominent than the concept of suggestion, spiritual or practical advisory or affirmation.

Historically, Pliny the Elder describes use of the crystal ball in the 1st century CE by soothsayers ("crystallum orbis", later written in Medieval Latin by scribes as orbuculum).^[2]

Contemporary Western images of fortune-telling grow out of folkloristic reception of Renaissance magic, specifically associated with Romani people.^[1] During the 19th and 20th century, methods of divination from non-Western cultures, such as the I Ching, were also adopted as methods of fortune-telling in western popular culture.

An example of divination or fortune-telling as purely an item of pop culture, with little or no vestiges of belief in the occult, would be the Magic 8-Ball sold as a toy by Mattel, or Paul II, an octopus at the Sea Life Aquarium at Oberhausen used to predict the outcome of matches played by the Germany national football team.^[3]

There is opposition to fortune telling in Christianity, Islam, Baháʼísm and Judaism based on scriptural prohibitions against divination.

Terms for one who claims to see into the future include fortune teller, crystal-gazer, spaewife, seer, soothsayer, sibyl, clairvoyant, and prophet; related terms which might include this among other abilities are oracle, augur, and visionary.

Fortune telling is dismissed by the scientific community and scientific skeptics as being based on magical thinking and superstition

Critical analysis

Fortune telling is dismissed by the scientific community and skeptics as being based on magical thinking and superstition.

Skeptic Bergen Evans suggested that fortune telling is the result of a "naïve selection of something that have happened from a mass of things that haven't, the clever interpretation of ambiguities, or a brazen announcement of the inevitable."^[26] Other skeptics claim that fortune telling is nothing more than cold reading.^[27]

A large amount of fraud has occurred in the practice of fortune-telling.^[28]

Fortune telling and how it works raises many critical questions. For example, fortune-telling occurs through various methods such as psychic readings, tarot cards, and more. What is similar about many of these methods is that they are based on random phenomena. For example, astrologers believe that the movement of stars in the sky can have implications on one's life.^[29] In the case of tarot cards, people believe that images displayed on the cards have significant meanings on their lives. The problem is that there is a lack of evidence to support why such things, such as the stars, would have any implications on our lives.

Additionally, fortune-telling readings and predictions made by horoscopes, for example, are often general enough to apply to anyone. In cold reading, for example, readers often begin by stating general descriptions and continuing to make specifics based on the reactions they receive from the person whose life they are predicting.^[30] The tendency for people to deem general descriptions as being representative to themselves has been termed the Barnum effect and has been studied by psychologists for many years.^[31]

Nonetheless, even with a lack of evidence supporting the various methods of fortune-telling and the many frauds that have occurred by psychic readers, for example, fortune-telling continues to become popular around the world. There are many reasons for the appealing nature of fortune-telling such as that people often experience stress when there is uncertainty and thus seek to gain deeper insight into their future. 

It is certain-It is decidedly so-Without a doubt-Yes, definitely-You may rely on it-As I see it, yes-Most Likely-Signs point to yes-Most likely-Outlook Good-Reply hazy, try again -Ask again later-Better not tell you now-Concentrate and ask again-Cannot Predict now-Don't count on it-My reply is No-My sources say NO-Outlook not good-Very doubtful

Thus Sayeth The Lord??????? Crackpot Prophet Still Incapable Of Making An Accurate Prediction

 

Never in the history of the Church of God have we had such wishy-washy prophets in our midst. In between all the hand flouncing, pulpit pounding, and jig dancing, not a single one of them has the testicular fortitude to actually make a definitive prophetic statement while resting assured that their god would do what they say it will. Instead, we get a lot of "could it be", "might be's", and a lot of "what if's". When one looks at prophets of old in scriptures, when they made a propehcy you had better be damned sure you listened or your could kiss your ass good-bye. Not so with today's self-appointed pretenders. Not a single one of them, from Bob Thiel to Ron Weinland has ever made a prophecy that actually passed, or will ever pass at some point in the future. 

That doesn't stop them though. 

We now have Dave Pack predicting his creature he calls "christ" will be here right after the Feast of Tabernacles this year. The eminent return of his creature always keeps getting bumped up to some future date.

Gerald Flurry says his creature called "christ" is returning within a matter of months. In the meantime, he sends his grandkids off to dance the dance of David while spending hundreds of thousands of dollars promoting his Jesus-stone. Flurry's creature still cannot figure out when it is supposed to return.

Ron Weinland's creature has been delayed since 2008 and is still waiting for Ron to tell him when to return.

And then there is the Great Bwana to Africa and 299 Caucasians. Being self-appointed apparently does not bring any wisdom along with it. The Bwana has to be one of the most wishy-washy namby-pamby prophets we have ever had. All we get out of him is a lot of "could be's", "maybe's" and "what if's." Even his creature he calls "christ" is so confused that even it doesn't know when to return.

In COGland the return of Jesus is almost like he is waiting by the Power Ball machine for his number to pop up.

The Bwana is back with his own predictions after first mocking those that have failed. For some reason, he never lists his epic failures. Instead, he covers his lily-white butt by making broad statements hoping that somehow his dart will hit the board, which it never does.

Great Tribulation: 2026 or 2027?
Many have falsely claimed that the Great Tribulation either was in the first century A.D. or would come in many different years prior to now. Could the Great Tribulation occur next year or not? What is the earliest year that the Great Tribulation could come? Why is 2022-2024 impossible? Why does 2025 seem unlikely? What are the possible reasons for 2026 or 2027? What about confirmation of the peace deal by a prince in Daniel 9:27? What about the emergence of European King of the North and a Middle Eastern/North African King of the South? What about animal sacrifices, the red heifer, and the Temple Institute? How might the date of Jesus’ execution and resurrection be involved? Might there be a six/seven thousand year plan? How could that tie to the words of Peter and those in the Book of Hebrews regarding the last days? Who is the Beast of the sea, the King of the North? Could the final Antichrist be a type of antipope who falsely claims Roman Catholicism? What about pestilences, the ride of the fourth horseman of Apocalypse, and the opening of the fifth seal of the Book of Revelation. Dr. Thiel covers these and other matters and gives rationale, why, if the signs that Jesus referred to are seen before then, that 2026 or 2027 could be the start of the devastating Great Tribulation. He also quotes the late Herbert W. Armstrong about it starting with a nuclear attack against the UK, USA, and/or Canada. Dr. Thiel quotes Jesus’ promise of protection for Philadelphian Christians. He also summarizes several important signs to watch for, consistent with Jesus’ words in Mark 13.

 

Dave Pack sets new date for return of his "christ"

 

The merry-go-around is still spinning in the Restored Church of God. The creature Dave calls "christ" keeps changing its mind and now has a new day for its return. The new date is Saturday, April 3, 2021! Dave's creature is set to return on the Sabbath!  Woo Hoo! Not only that, real Christians will be celebrating Holy Saturday. This is going to be fantastic!

I will make a more sure prophecy right now. This will be an astounding FACT! Dave's creature will NOT return this weekend, or by this time next year. Guaranteed fact!

Update. March 30, 2021 

 

In closing Part 300, Mr. Pack stressed our wait could extend all the way to the Last Day of Unleavened Bread. It will! While the case seemed unlikely then, it now appears impossible that anything can occur until that day. The reasons for this are many. Every question can be answered. 

 

The LAST day tells the whole story. Christ is revealed and our salvation comes in the last season. The saints are raised on the last day. The day (singular) tries every man’s work. You can no doubt think of other relevant verses that fit this scenario. Let us continue the process of deleavening our lives as we await this most special Last Day of Unleavened Bread!

Gerald Flurry Still Promoting His Failed Prophecy

Above is the screenshot of Gerald Flurry's January 1 prediction that Donald Trump would be reelected and that God was going to perform a miracle. It is now February 15 and the article is still up, apparently because Gerald did NOT make a false prophecy. His god is all-powerful and will still make this happen.

In his article he states:

The God of the Bible is absolutely trustworthy. When He makes a promise, He keeps it. When He issues a prophecy, you can stake your life on it coming to pass! 

 

I have lived my life by this truth for over four decades. And I have seen God deliver miracle after miracle. Never has God failed to do what He said He will. 

 

Back in November, I wrote an article titled “Why Donald Trump Will Remain America’s President.” This article is based on some prophecies in the Bible, and to this day I remain convicted that it is 100 percent reliable. All the evidence may look contrary, but that doesn’t shake my conviction. God will ultimately stop Joe Biden from being America’s next president. Read that article to see what God prophesied. Those prophecies are sure. Keep your eyes on events, and watch what God does!

All of the evidence has proven it to the contrary and yet Flurry is still convicted his words were and still are 100% reliable. Flurry is starting to sound as crazy as Bob Thiel! False prophets in the COG have a fertile ground to plant their batshit imaginations into. There is always some gullible fool that will believe them, though those numbers are rapidly diminishing as every day that passes their lies become more exposed.

Flurry continues:

In Amos 2:11-12, God condemns those who have a “prophesy not” spirit. Then in Amos 3:7-8 we read, “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord God hath spoken, who can but prophesy?” (Amos 3:7-8).

There are two opposing spirits here! One says “prophesy not.” The other says, “Who can but prophesy?” The Lion of the tribe of Judah—Jesus Christ—has roared! If you don’t fear God, then you will probably say, “Don’t prophesy.” But if you know God, and you listen to what He says, then you have an entirely different view. Who can but prophesy?

In the Bible prophets were usually men gifted by God to deliver a revelation to the church, but that ability to be a prophet carried tremendous responsibility: 

Deut. 13:1 “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, 

 

Deut. 13:2 and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, ‘ Let us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,’ 

 

Deut. 13:3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God is testing you to find out if you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 

 

Deut. 13:4 “You shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him. 

 

Deut. 13:5 “But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has counseled rebellion against the LORD your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to seduce you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from among you.

The Bible says that true prophets of God have to be 100% correct in ALL their prophecies. Notice above that even if they are wrong just ONE time, they are to be put to death! that's a pretty heavy burden to carry for self-appointed COG prophets. They don't care however, their narcissism and mental imbalances cause them to believe they are set apart for an end-time witness. the sad track record of COG prophets is every time they are wrong, their god resorts to sending them a new revelation or understanding that they had been blind to before. That new revelation just keeps getting more outlandish by the day.

COG members have been conditioned over the decades to believe anything that COG leaders say, all because of the erroneous and absurd doctrine of church government. Look at all the times we were told that if a minister speaks it is as if God himself spoke it. To even dare question a minister was a sure ticket to the lake of fire. Because of that members failed to heed the very standards the scriptures told them about prophets it was easy for the current crop of buffoons to step forward and make their claims.

Plus, the biblical office of a prophet no longer exists anyway in the church since the canon of scripture has been completed. That reality is a common understanding in Christianity, particularly since Christ came and sealed the deal. the church does not need fools like Flurry, Pack, Thiel, Wieland, or any of the others if they are followers of Christ, as they claim.

Since COG leaders cannot look to anything Christ said and have to look backwards all the time, let's not forget what Jeremiah had to say about prophets. We quickly can see what frauds we have in the church today. 

Jer. 14:13 But, “Ah, Lord GOD!” I said, “Look, the prophets are telling them, ‘You will not see the sword nor will you have famine, but I will give you lasting peace in this place.’”

Jer. 14:14 Then the LORD said to me, “The prophets are prophesying falsehood in My name. I have neither sent them nor commanded them nor spoken to them; they are prophesying to you a false vision, divination, futility and the deception of their own minds.

Jer. 14:15 “Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the prophets who are prophesying in My name, although it was not I who sent them — yet they keep saying, ‘There will be no sword or famine in this land’ — by sword and famine those prophets shall meet their end!

Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith 

by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, 

through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared...

1 Timothy 4:1-2

 

Dave Pack: I am out of material...The end is now before Passover...Or Maybe Next Year

 

From a reader on Dave Pack's latest sermon:

Part 283 (Jan 27th, 2021) - "It looks like we understand the end, more than ever before!"

33:09 - The end is either this winter or next!

45:30 - There is one big blast from Christ and then its all done. Everything starts with a bang! So many people have left us and said "its taking too long!" They only left because they wanted to break God's laws, and run after their own lusts. Because God "changed," "raised" and "sent them out," of the church! They are pretty much the "Synagogue of Satan," that's what this verse is talking about. They are "briars and thorns" who are now ejected.

1:41:55 - Tomorrow is the end of the series we go into a watch for a short space and then the Father's Kingdom starts.

1:58:50 - it looks a lot like this Friday, we are out of material, I now understand the end as I never did before. Starts doing math, somehow got to 1335. (crazy math nonsense).

2:03:00 - The KOG is "held in a mystery," you have to adhere and wait through the hard part (all the back and forth and failed prophecies).

2:07:40 - Its all got to wrap up by Passover, its got to be winter, its the bibles biggest metric!

 

Dave Pack: "we have heard great numbers in the splinters are planning to gather on New Year’s Eve" so that "God may want to see who got drunk"

Dave's boys from Wadsworth send out a weekly "Prophetic Update" to the declining membership of the Restored Church of God. This week is a doozy and willed with outright lies. these guys need to get off their knees in front of Dave and walk out the door as soon as they can!

Today/tonight/ (December 31, 2020) and early hours of January 1, is the time Dave's creature he calls "christ" is supposed to be returning.

Prophetic Update:

The Church is on fire after hearing the final parts of the series delivered Sabbath! Some quick additional details are helpful as the day we are waiting for approaches:

The first thing to expect is a blast announcing the Kingdom. The evidence still seems to be (6 verses) that this will happen around dawn, though we cannot know the precise hour. Depending on where brethren are in the world, some will be asleep and some awake. Of course, there is no need to stay up.

Seriously??????? WTF! If I was a loyal devotee of the Packster and truly believed the crap he is saying, that Jesus was returning at some point tonight or at dawn, I sure as hell would NOT go to bed!  But, reality should tell every RCG member that they should go to bed and get a restful night's sleep because absolutely NOTHING will happen as Dave says.

Another reason not to stay up is that Christ does not come to everyone out of the gate. In the end, shortly thereafter, at least eight verses indicate that everyone receives their reward and work at the Great Supper.

Ah, there you go, boys and girls, some of you will not be taken at the arrival of Dave's creature. Only the most super loyal will get their reward first, which is sure to include the guys in Wadsworth who spend their time on their knees in front of Dave. Men first, and if there is any space left some of you women.

Finally, recall the noumenia (New Year’s) is a “shadow” (Col. 2:16-17). Events would therefore logically unfold after revellings of the previous evening (“shadow”) have ended and the world has crossed into 2021. God may want to see who got drunk the night before. (It is noteworthy that we have heard great numbers in the splinters are planning to gather on New Year’s Eve.) Remember, we must be the people who avoid even the appearance of evil!

This is an outright lie and these guys know this. As if a "great number" of COG members across COGland believe Dave's crap and will be gathering together to welcome in Dave's creature "christ." this truly is one of the stupidest things I have heard (today). Other than the more liberal members in UCG and a few LCG members, all the other splinter groups consider New Year's another pagan day and won't be gathering anywhere together.

May God speed the arrival of His Son and Kingdom! 

May God speed the removal of Dave Pack from his self-appointed position! 

P.S. When the Kingdom comes, the period before it describes an Israel whose “hands are full of blood” and describes Jerusalem as a city of “murderers.” A report today said that 2020 recorded the worst annual increase in murders in American history. The increase through September is listed as 36.7% over 2019—with the worst part of the year through December not yet included. This most awful statistic finds its place on the list of reasons that we have the year correct!