Never underestimate the power of these blogs. As much as we are hated by many of the diehard Armstrognites, they are regular readers here and elsewhere. I guess they love to be titillated, or they silently admit that their news sources are not as good as ours.
On January 14th, I published the comments of a reader here as a blog post,
Dale Schurter: The Master of Flip Flopping (Updated) It has went viral through many COG networks and has landed at the feet of Davie Pack and Dale Schurter. You may have noticed the week long absence of posts from Schurter during his reeducation process when Davie got wind of his many heretical beliefs.
Today Schurter and RCG's PR machine had to answer some of those accusations. His comments are very telling of the cult mentality he has jumped ship into.
He starts off by laying blame at UCG's feet for his actions. He claims he was not following "true church government" and that he sinned by sharing his papers with his congregations on various topics. Ministers only write papers on subjects that are dear to them. Schurter is being disingenuous by trying to pass the buck.
Those in the United Church of God understand that this group allows, or
encourages, local ministers to present “study papers” and include input
from local members before sending them on “up the ladder.” I personally
have worked on several research, study projects, and would sometimes
share the study with the local congregations I pastored. The idea was
for brethren to be like the Bereans, who “searched the scriptures daily,
whether these things were so,” and to give feed-back and input, etc. It
was always my intent to help broaden and deepen our understanding of a
doctrine (if doctrine were indeed involved). While well-intentioned, I
now realize this was wrong.
Obviously Schurter has had to deal with the wrath of Pack on the various weird beliefs that he had when he jumped ship to RCG. Schurter has had to "repent" of his grievous and erroneous beliefs that have watered down church doctrines
Without church government as we understood was restored to God’s True
Church through Mr. Armstrong, this type of confusion occurred. And, yes,
through anointing my eyes with more oil and eye-salve, I found that I
had some repenting to do…and I have; and as I continue to see more
clearly, I continue to restore the full truth in my life, lifestyle and
teachings. This includes repenting of my slow changing and watering down
of church doctrine, traditions and practices because I had lost sight
of how---through which office---doctrine is placed into God’s Church.
Schurter goes on to say he had to "wash out his mind" in order to fit in to Dave Pack's off the wall beliefs. Washing ones mind sounds a whole lot better than saying "brainwashing." It is quit obvious that we are all first hand witnesses to a real brain washing by Davie Pack and what it does to his followers.
While the “modern” approach appeals to the typical twenty-first century,
democracy-oriented mind, it is wrong---and the fruits make this plain.
Just this practice makes it impossible to follow Paul’s exhortation in I
Corinthians 1:10: “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” This is the environment that I realized I had to come out of, after learning many hurtful lessons from inside
it. And I have had to wash out of my mind the approach used there---so
different from what God established and used through Mr. Armstrong’s
tenure as Apostle and Pastor General of the Church of God. Mr.
Armstrong’s---and the Bible’s---approach, and this washing is an ongoing
process.
Through Dave Pack's miraculous, mind boggling inspiration, Schurter has had to admit he has "strayed" from truth.
Some of what has been reported of my past beliefs is true. Thus, I found
I had strayed, although unintentionally, from truths in a number of
areas. I realized from scripture that one cannot be “partially” in a
Laodicean era condition, we are either Laodicean or we are not.
One of the things we nailed him on was his widely know belief in the "sacred names" malarkey. Many Armstrongites have gravitated to this legalistic belief system. Schurter was one of them, no matter how much he wants to gloss it over. Too many people have heard him talk about it.
For example, I developed an incorrect focus on the Hebrew names of God. I
did not intend to be part of any “sacred names” movement (and I never
taught that it is “evil” to say “God” or “Jesus Christ”). Our Father’s
and Savior’s names are pronounced differently in many different
languages, including English, Spanish, Italian, German, Hebrew, etc.
However, I often over-emphasized the Hebrew to the point of creating a
potential stumbling block. I firmly believe that we should speak God’s
names in our native languages…wherever we live around the world. Those
who make Hebrew names a point of contention become self-righteous and
divisive. This can be seen among some groups that make the “sacred
names” their sole identity.
The next thing we had reported on him was his belief in a "young earth." This did not sit well with Davie and as a result, Schurter has had to repent of that understanding and return to what Pack believes and HWA taught.
I had also moved toward the idea of a “young earth,” based on certain
Bible translations. I had a certain line of reasoning driving my
thinking. I had forgotten that Mr. Armstrong was settled in his mind on
this by explaining the time “gap” between Genesis 1:1 and verse 2, and
re-confirmed it in his final book, Mystery of the Ages.
Next he calls those who made claims about new moons and other astrological events are lairs. I guess Dale seems to forget that there are countless people that have heard him talk about this.
This said, some of what has been presented regarding my past is either
misrepresentation or pure fiction. I did study new moons from the
agricultural perspective, as astronomical events related to growing
seasons, and the way to mark the beginning of a month, years, etc.,
using God’s calendar. Most of this stems from when I was asked by Mr.
Armstrong to lead the agricultural department at Big Sandy. But I never
advocated new moons as holy days for the church to observe, as some have
proposed. And, I also continue to believe and teach that the Sabbath
begins and ends at sunset, not at any other time. Recent
reports to the contrary in order to discredit me (and RCG) are simply
invention, or perhaps the intent of what was spoken/heard was
communicated poorly, not understood correctly, or both.
Schurter writes:
Many of you may believe that, “in your own way,” you are holding to what
you learned from God through Mr. Armstrong. But I have learned how far
one can drift from his teachings, traditions, and example and not
realize it!
No where in his entire letter did Schurter mention following Jesus. It is all about following Dave Pack as he follows the teachings of Herbert Armstrong. You have to look far and in between to find Dave Pack talking much about Jesus too. It's all law, all the time. But have no fear, Schurter is just like Hebrew prophets and leaders. They were sinful men used by God and he (Schurter) is a sinful many being used by God. Through Dave's almighty instructions he has come to see the error of his ways and has repented.
I am encouraged when I recall that mistakes made by Moses, King David,
and others are recorded in Scripture for our learning---and that,
because of their repentance, they still will receive great reward in
God’s kingdom. It is good to again be in the Government of God. Again,
the good fruits of The Work He is accomplishing through the leadership
of the Pastor General of the Restored Church of God, Mr. David Pack and
his support team, is both encouraging and inspiring. On a more personal
note, I have heard Mr. Pack say, just as Mr. Armstrong often said both
publicly and privately, “I have made mistakes in the past for which I
have repented and also, when proven wrong, I changed and corrected the
error.” Good example.
Dave Pack has used this heretical beliefs of Schurter as a tool for reeducation and publicity. Schurter says he has repented and had his eyes anointed. Lo and behold, Pack as a booklet on that same topic!
Brethren and friends, if my public admissions, needing to
anoint my eyes, repent and change will help others to do the same, this
would be a rewarding joy. I do urge you to seek God’s help to anoint
your eyes. You will find Mr. Pack’s book, “Anoint Your Eyes – Christ’s Warning to His People,” contains all of the scriptures to recognize where one stands, and how to go about the anointing.
Schurter signs off by letting you know that other ministers who are "chomping at the bit to write about their exodus from pagan, filthy UCG into the glorious light of the Restored Church of God. Besides, these men will need to write as Schurter continues his reeducation at the feet of Apostle Pack.
Please understand that I am deluged with emails and calls, and that
other RCG ministers who were formerly in UCG (and some in other
splinters) will be writing posts for the next period of time. It was
always the plan to include other voices on this website (as outlined in
“About This Website”). These men are “chomping at the bit” to add
support to what I have written over the last week and a half.
Not once has Schurter mentioned he was following Jesus. That alone
tells a whole lot about what a fool Schurter has turned into. Maybe I
should not have said that, now we will get to see a flurry of posts from
Schurter and other defecting Ministers all talking about how they are
following Jesus.
Why anyone in their right mind would continue to follow this man now is beyond belief. Members of UCG know exactly what this man was like, what he believed and taught. Even though he was widely liked, they know exactly what he taught no matter how much he denies it. Now he has done a 180 degree turn and seen the light; in one of Amstrongism's more aberrant cults. Since he made such a dramatic turn around and has now repented of countless beliefs, what is there to make us want to believe him now? The mind washing and reeducation in Restored Church of God must be mighty powerful. Especially since it has been revealed that RCG only has 2,100 members.
To read Schurter's entire letter click here:
The Choice God’s People Face
