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
Most of us here experienced the great upheaval that hit the Worldwide Church of God in the 1990s with its rejection of certain extra-biblical teachings and doctrines of Herbert W Armstrong. Regardless of where your sympathies were on either side of these changes, they were traumatic and not well thought out when they are announced. It was assumed by many in leadership positions that the majority of the church members would blindly follow along because they had had "church government" shoved down their throats for decades and would not rebel en mass as so many did.
Most of us watched as various men who always thought themselves far more enlightened than regular members beat their chests in self-righteous indignation and claimed they were taking up the mantle of truth the WCG was rejecting to preserve the truth once delivered. Each one was always more deserving of followers than the previous chest thumper.
One of the most prominent groups to break off during this time was those that started the United Church of God. What was most galling about this event is that far too many of the ministers leading up to the changes and for a while afterward, while still on WCG payroll, pretended to follow and enforce WCG edicts as changes were slowly happening. These same men kicked out lots of members for disagreeing with the various changes while they themselves were having questions about the changes. A divide in loyalties was quickly happening in Pasadena and within the ministry. In Pasadena many of these men soon started to gather on and off campus in various ministers' homes to plan how they could take as many members, mailing lists, church inventory, and as much money as they could to start a new splinter group.
Most of these men had never worked a full day of manual labor outside the privileged lifestyle of a paid dark-suited church employee and were fearful of now having to get real jobs to provide for their families to live on during the transition they were planning. Gone would be the ministerial perks of $5,000 Feast allocations and tax deductions they were so privileged to partake of over the previous decades. Life was going to be tough for these guys and they knew it. But, with good planning and locations to start gathering tithe money of unhappy WCG members, they knew they could raise the money they needed to transfer over from one paid job to another keeping their important lifestyle intact.
For far too many of these men who started splinter groups, it was not so much really about preserving doctrine but a means of preserving income. Church teachings and doctrines came second.
Scores of books, articles, and video programs were made by men on both sides of the issue justifying their stances on why the changes were made and why those that started new groups had the right to do so. Most members read and watched these men while many times rolling their eyes at the stuff they were hearing, yet switched groups over and over till they found a group that satisfied their perceived needs.
This brings us to today as we have Victor Kubik telling his version of that story. Like far too many other COG men who authored stories, it comes across as self-righteous justification or martyrdom for the truth as they saw it.
Kubik currently has three editions of his version of the United Church of God story up to read. He started his series in mid-May 2023.
I am curious as to what those that read here think about his version.
Trying to get out from under the weight of history
Lonnie Hendrix
As part of the comment thread for a post that appeared here, Trooisto asked CGI’s Jeff Reed: “How does your church reconcile the failed prophecies, proclaimed to be uttered under the authority of God, by your church’s founding fathers, HWA and GTA? How does all the written and recorded evidence of false prophecies of your leaders impact the legitimacy of your church and your claim to have a ‘correct set of beliefs’?” Trooisto went on to note: “CGI also copied the extra-biblical doctrines of British Israelism from HWA and much of the same failed prophesies of impending, in the next few years, catastrophes to fall upon ‘Israelitish nations’. You can claim to have a historical foundation in Jesus, but Jesus never identified certain European nations as being lost tribes of Israel and Jesus never mentioned the United States. So, an honest admission should be given that at least part of your church’s theology came from HWA, as also preached by GTA prior to the inception of CGI and for the first twenty years of CGI’s history. Anything short of that acknowledgment is a dishonest whitewash of CGI history.”
For me, these observations underscored a problem that ALL of the Armstrong Churches of God must confront: “How does one handle all of that sordid history regarding their origins?” And, to be clear, I’m not talking about the Seventh Day Baptists, the founding of the Adventist Movement, or the history of the two Churches of God, Seventh Day. No, I’m talking about the history that begins with Herbert Armstrong. How does one deal with: The events surrounding Armstrong’s separation from the COG, 7th Day? Armstrong’s plagiarism and borrowing from other traditions/organizations? The problems with Armstrong’s character? The large volume of writings that were generated over fifty years (including failed predictions and changes in doctrine)? The teachings of Herbert Armstrong which have been thoroughly discredited and/or effectively challenged (e.g. Anglo-Israelism, Headline Theology, the warning message for Israel, tithing, the nature of the message about the Kingdom of God, Church government, etc.)? The behavior of Garner Ted Armstrong, and the impact of his (and others’) efforts to systematize Herbert’s teachings? What happened with the Tkach regime? The numerous splits/schisms which have happened over the years before and after Herbert Armstrong’s death? These are all part of that great weight of history that confronts ALL of the Armstrong Churches of God!
Hence, the question: How does one deal with all of this sordid history? Well, so far, the ACOG’s have dealt with their history in the same way(s) that most people, organizations, and nations have dealt with unpleasant episodes in their history. In brief, humans have a tendency to deal with past embarrassments by: 1) Ignoring them/pretending they didn’t happen, 2) Trying to change/modify the narrative and put a more positive spin on what happened, 3) Confronting the unpleasantness, and trying to deal with it. Moreover, if any attempt is made to confront the past, people usually try to emphasize the changes they’ve instituted and/or the measures which they have taken to address past injustices. Needless to say, remedy number three requires the most soul-searching and work and has, consequently, been the least popular way of dealing with all of the unpleasantness in our collective past. And, as we look at the Armstrong Churches of God, we see that most of them have simply ignored that past or attempted to change the narrative – neither of which has worked very well for them in the age of the internet.
David C. Pack of The Restored Church of God brought a faux mind-blowing concept to light when he explained during “The Greatest Unending Story! (Part 461)” on July 29, 2023, that The Last Days had already begun.
That's right. We have been in the prophesied Last Days since 2015, and nobody knew it. Not even David C. Pack. Just as the fickle 1335 of Daniel has an annoying habit of starting and stopping without notice, we are almost eight years into The Last Days and had no idea.
Just to keep it simple, Jesus Christ will return on the Opening Night of the Feast of Tabernacles in 2023. That is at “the split-second” of sunset on September 29. In Wadsworth, Ohio, sunset will be 7:12pm ET.
The Last Days began during the Feast of Tabernacles in 2015 because Dave whatever. The Last Days are sixteen years long because Dave says so. And because pigs sprout wings and glide across the sky, it points to the Feast of Tabernacles of 2023 as the dead-bang middle.
Exercise your faith, brethren. Book a one-way ticket this fall.
Part 461 – July 29, 2023
@ 16:23 I finally had to acknowledge because I was learning some very powerful things. That the Last Days are the Last Years, and there are eight of them.There are eight years of Last Days and Last Years. In effect, the Millennium is when the Last Days are over.
@ 23:48I believe I can tell you exactly the day the Last Years the Last Days began, and it's been some years now. But, I believe I can absolutely prove to you exactly when they began before the Eight Years continued them to the Millennium.
To Dave, revealing when the Last Days began gave him the key to the "midst of the years," which marked X on the calendar as to when the Kingdom of God arrives. There is a logic at play. Psych ward logic.
Dave occasionally says things during these messages that might as well have a light and buzzer attached. Some words leap out at me, and my gut reaction is later validated. This was one of them.
@ 28:39 Now, as I lay out this absolutely stunning proof to you, I’m gonnaI’m not gonna tell you. I’m not gonna tell you when the Kingdom comes.
Bzzzzz.
When I heard that, I knew Dave would not be able to resist over-explaining his prophetic Rorschach drawing. He has OCD when it comes to forcing his temporary certainty onto the brethren, like when he asks questions and projects the answers they have in their heads because that is what he wants to hear.
Later, Dave reinforced my instincts:
@ 44:11 In light of what we just heard about the end of the year, when do you think God’s feet touch down? I’ll tell you. The split-second the Feast of Tabernacles begins.
Bzzzzz.
A rule of thumb that is the safest position to take is to understand that David C. Pack will do and say the opposite of what he says he will.
@28:47 I’m not gonna tell you when the Kingdom comes.
Oh yeah?
@ 1:00:58 You could almost, if you knew nothing else, just fold it up. Let’s go home. And you could almost say, “Wow, it’s this Feast of Tabernacles.”
Technically, if the Kingdom God arrives at sunset on the Opening Night of the Feast of Tabernacles, brethren do not even need to travel to a Feast site since Jesus Christ will return at the exact moment the Feast begins. There is no commanded assembly at sunset on the first night. That is only a church tradition. Recheck your Bible. It is not there. The brethren in The Restored Church of God can truly express their noble faith by choosing to not make ANY travel plans for this year. They would still be obeying God the moment the “midst of the years” triggers everything.
You and I know David C. Pack will not sit on this teaching for the next 55 days. In fact, I suspect Part 462 will bring "additional clarity" to the situation because the window is too wide for those on the fence to bail from RCG and still have time to make alternate FOT travel plans with another organization.
@ 1:05:37 Anybody, anybody doubt when this would be? Anybody doubt when the Kingdom comes?
The members of The Restored Church of God should have nothing but doubt. It is healthy and wise to doubt the doctrines of David C. Pack.
Flashback Part 189 – June 26, 2019
@ 1:02:12 The Days of the Son of Man are the days before the Son of Man comes. So, lemme just tell you: we’re in the Days of the Son of Man. I wanna remove all doubt.
Flashback Part 197 – August 7, 2019
@ 32:08 Only recently did I finally come to truly truly truly understand blow by blow exactly what is happening in this chapter [Zechariah 11] and when. What and when sequentially. Exactly.And you won’t doubt it either.
Flashback Part 297 – March 17, 2021
@ 13:37 I’m gonna throw some knock-out punches here that removes all doubt about Christ arriving on Passover.
Flashback Part 403 – November 5, 2022
@ 01:51 Now, more than ever, I can tell you this: Salvation will come in November 2022. See if you doubt that when we’re done.
Flashback Part 413 – January 4, 2023
@ 1:17:08 If these guys die in the next three days, we’ve removed all doubt.And God would know this, and I can't tell because it's so cryptic. If they die in the next three days, nobody will doubt that Christ is coming.
Flashback Part 415 – January 17, 2023
@ 31:47 I said on Sabbath we’re not waiting 27 days…And you won’t have any doubt of that after the first point, and I'm gonna give you probably about 50 or 60…
Flashback Part 435 – April 15, 2023
@ 00:04 Good evening. Here we are…We're still just fine. You will (perhaps) more than ever before, not doubt that after tonight.
Flashback Part 436 – April 20, 2023
@ 00:02 This will be the single most important sermon I’ve ever given. You won’t doubt it. Or, if I lived twenty more years and we had to wait twenty more years that I ever could give.
Flashback Part 440 – May 5, 2023
@ 55:24 [Part] 440'd be the end of the line as far as the Series. But nobody would have any doubt that this is right.
If you are a member of The Restored Church of God and have doubts, that is not the devil putting evil thoughts in your head. Use the discernment God gave you to know what you can know and see what you can see. David C. Pack is a biblical fraud, a false apostle, a false teacher, and a false prophet.
Observations of reality are not accusations.
More Dark Dave came bubbling to the surface.
Part 461 – July 29, 2023
@ 29:04 You will absolutely know and know that you know. And nobody with a machine gun to your head could convince you it's other than what I'm gonna show you. All questions are gonna be dead and buried long before we get through this list.
His inexplicable obsession with graphic violence comes out at random moments. There must not be a more "Christian" way to communicate the same idea.
David C. Pack suffers from conflicting thoughts firing through his brain at the same time. He interrupts himself to insert an aside and returns to his original idea. His speaking flow is erratic, confusing, and unstable. This is not the communication style of a sound mind.
One of the side effects of his disjointed thinking is that he sidetracks himself so much that he winds up saying the opposite of what he intended.
@ 1:07:04 I’ll bet there’s not a person in here(I’m still nowhere near done) not a person in here who could begin to believe that the Kingdom of God (in every year that ever happens for the rest of eternity) to start a year (we’ve seen over and over and over) will be the Feast of Tabernacles. And you know why? Because that’s the kinda God we serve.
Dave disrupted himself with unnecessary fluff and forgot how he started his point. He winds up saying the opposite of what he intended. His overly-confident lean-back was perfectly timed right after botching his statement.
He meant to say, “I’ll bet there’s not a person in here who could begin to believe that the Kingdom of God does NOT start a year on the Feast of Tabernacles.”
Speaking with double negatives is tricky business, and Dave should leave that to the seasoned professionals. He forgot the second negative, which would algebraically make it positive. Instead, he said, “Not a person in here could begin to believe the Kingdom of God starts a year on the Feast of Tabernacles.”
God has a sense of humor and is a fan of irony. In an interesting twist, Dave’s mocking comments and misspeaks wind up being accurate, while his intentional doctrines are proven false. That will be the case here. Wait for the inevitable abandonment of this theory or the egg timer proving David C. Pack a biblical fraud.
Brethren still have time to bail from RCG, join another group, and still get to the Feast of Tabernacles. If you remain, by the time the Opening Night song leader tells everyone to rise and pick up their hymnals, you will know seven days of spin are on the agenda, and it will be another FOT DOA.
