Dave Pack Says: "...that he is not held to The Law (biblical) as members are"

November 22, 1999
 
 
Dear Brethren:
From time to time, Christians must do what is commanded by God concerning those whose behavior shows them to be an enemy of God.  While this duty and responsibility is quite unpleasant we are required to do it.  This letter concerns a problem with a minister who is sowing discord among the brethren.  So let us first look at what Jesus Christ told us concerning such a matter.  He said in Mat 18:

     vv. 15-17 (NKJV)  "Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. {16} "But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that 'by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.' {17} "And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.”

Notice that there are no exceptions here as to who your brother is.  Nor is there an exception where we are told how to deal with an errant elder or minister.  Notice what is said in 1 Tim 5:

     vv. 19-21 (NKJV)  “Do not receive an accusation against an elder except from two or three witnesses. {20} Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all, that the rest also may fear. {21} I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels that you observe these things without
     prejudice, doing nothing with partiality.”  [emphasis ours]

We see where Paul had to deal with a similar problem in 2 Cor. 11:

     vv. 14-15 (NKJV)  “And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. {15}
     Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose nd will be according to their works.”

Because God’s commands (Mat 18:15-17 & 1 Tim 5:19-21) were not always followed in the recent past, we have wolves among the flock.  In light of the prophecy in Dan 12:7, which talks about the power of the holy people being shattered, we see that we (ministers and members alike) are partly responsible for this shattering in that God’s instructions were not followed correctly, if at all.  This is in spite of what Jesus Christ told us in Mat 10:28 (NKJV)  "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”  The ministry, within the various corporations, has been afraid of lawsuits and therefore did not do as we were commanded.  This problem apparently started with the mishandling of a situation in the sixties, which resulted in a lawsuit for slander, libel, and defamation of character.  The end result is we now have problems with wolves that can and do attack the flock with impunity.

Because we are determined to do what God says, regardless of the physical  consequences, we must warn you about a wolf that has entered into our midst.  We tell you this because this “minister” has been sowing discord among the brethren.  And by his own admission, before several witnesses, is not a minister of Jesus Christ, nor meets the qualifications given in 1 Tim 3 or Titus 1.

This letter concerns Mr. David C. Pack and has not been done lightly.  While we are not ordained, we understand the implications of James 4:17.  Therefore, we have proceeded slowly and cautiously, obtaining counsel because we did not wish to act precipitously, and because we did not want to do as Korah did.  It is because of his [Mr. Pack] conduct and behaviors, that an investigation was done, and it was found that on May 3rd 1999, Mr. Pack had been terminated for cause from Global, disfellowshipped and removed from the ministry (“defrocked”)!  Mr. Pack did not disclose this to his congregation (Akron OH), but instead covered the truth.  Global had taken their actions because he [Mr. Pack] was found to be sowing discord among the brethren.  Unfortunately, Global did NOT make this public.

[Subsequent to the writing of this letter it was discovered that Global HAD made this public, although no one in this area has seen a copy of the letters of termination/disfellowshipment written to the brethren. If we obtain copies of these letters, we will post them for confirmation.]

On October 11, 1999, Mr. Pack was approached, at his insistence, by those people who had been employees, volunteers, and/or, contractors of the Restored Church of God, and was confronted with further explicit evidence of his sowing discord.  He told us that he was sorry and would repent.  We withdrew from him to give him time to show fruits of repentance.  The result was, rather than admitting before the church that he had been the one causing all the problems presented to him, he has decided to attack those who have confronted him over his conduct.

Per the admonitions within The Bible, as stated above, we must tell you and explain what we showed him to be doing (conduct) and the results.  Note that these problems are ones of conduct and some of the applicable verses are listed with each item:
 

• Mr. Pack has stated that he is not held to The Law (biblical) as members are – not that he is held to a higher standard, but that these things don’t apply to him (1 Tim 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-15, John 14:15, 1 Tim 5:19-21)
• Mr. Pack stated in the first office staff meeting, as Restored was being formed, that he would not look at tithe/contribution records.  He decided he could not be held to that promise and began looking at these records immediately prior to the Feast of Trumpets 1999 (Ex 20:16, Mat 5:37)
• Mr. Pack divulged, among the office staff, those who were the largest contributors, and those who tithed once a year and/or quarterly (Lev 19:16)
• Mr. Pack showed favoritism in duty assignments based on contributions (Lev 19:15, Jam 2:1-9)
• Mr. Pack was divulging confidential information given him in counseling sessions and used the information in an attempt to divide family members or as a reason to sever people from their position(s) at RCG (employee, contractor, or, volunteer) (Lev 19:11, 13, 16)
• Mr. Pack was found to be a talebearer in that he was repeating stories rather than putting a stop to them (Lev 19:16)
• Mr. Pack “terminated for cause” one of the staff members of RCG because he had not paid tithes, even though he was self-employed and all during the time he worked for RCG had incurred losses – therefore had no increase to tithe on (Lev 19:11, 13, 15)
• Mr. Pack claimed that certain people embezzled funds after his having approved of  the expenditure and or reimbursement (Lev 19:11)
• Mr. Pack demanded people work for the church for free, while being paid their severance from their prior employer (e.g., if a person was being paid for two weeks of accrued vacation after resigning, Mr. Pack required them to work for RCG for two weeks without accruing pay) (Lev 19:13)
• Mr. Pack was sowing discord within families and between husband and wife (Lev 19:16)
• Mr. Pack was sowing discord between the various groups he was trying to get to join RCG (Lev 19:16)
• Mr. Pack on a regular basis exaggerated figures as to income and/or attendance (Lev 19:11, Ex 20:16, Col 3:9)
• Mr. Pack quickly and easily trampled on brethren who even slightly opposed or held a different viewpoint or opinion.  Many times this precipitated inconceivable schemes by him.  This was found to be a pattern throughout much of his ministry.  (2 Cor 1:24 John 7:24)
• Mr. Pack stated that one of the persons bringing the problems to him had gone public with that information.  He [Mr. Pack] was challenged on this, and could provide no proof, yet continued to make similar statements.  (Ex 20:16, 23:1-2, Lev 19:11, 16, Deu 16:19-20)

(This is a short list, because to go over any more, or give specific details would be to invade the privacy of other individuals.)

These things were brought to his attention in explicit detail, with and before witnesses, and taken to the ministry (in explicit detail with witnesses) within Restored Church of God.  Those documents presented to the ministry of RCG have not been publicly or privately circulated due to the nature of those documents [see the last bullet above].

Meanwhile, Mr. Pack ultimately refused to accept his responsibility in these matters and then began attacking those bringing the problems to his attention.  Part of that attack was to attempt to discredit the persons bringing the Mat 18 situation, and the witnesses, with the ministers within RCG.  In doing this, he was telling those ministers to ignore what was brought before them, whereby he interfered with judgment – a violation of those principles found in Ex. 23 and Deut. 16 concerning interfering with the giving of judgment:

     Ex 23:1-2, 7 (NKJV)  "You shall not circulate a false report. Do not put your hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. {2} "You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; nor shall you testify in a dispute so  as to turn aside after many to pervert justice. {7} "Keep yourself far from a false matter; do not kill the innocent and righteous. For I will not justify the wicked.” [emphasis ours]
     Deu 16:19-20 (NKJV)  "You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show partiality, nor take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous. {20} "You shall follow what is  altogether just, that you may live and inherit the land which the LORD your God is giving you.”
     [emphasis ours]

He even went so far as to “disfellowship” and “mark” one of the ministers who questioned him [Mr. Pack] on his conduct and his [Mr. Pack] sowing of discord.

These things show that Mr. David C. Pack has not only been guilty of sowing discord among the brethren but continues to do so with impunity.  Again, we let God speak via The Bible from Titus 3:

     vv. 10-11 (NKJV)  “Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition, {11} knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned.”

As a result, we unfortunately have had to write this letter to finish what was commanded in Mat 18:17, of announcing it before the church and I Tim 5:20, to publicly rebuke those elders that sin.  Therefore, we humbly submit to you all (regardless of corporate affiliation) that David C. Pack has disqualified himself by his actions and behavior as a minister and should be considered the same as “a heathen man and a publican” (Mat 18:17 KJV).
 
Your humble servants in Christ,
/s/ William Ambrose                                                  /s/ Leah Sheppard
/s/ Daryl Ambrose                                                     /s/ William Sheppard Jr.
/s/ Darrell Gaug                                                         /s/ Nancy Sheppard
/s/ Brenda Gaug                                                        /s/ Joan Thompson
/s/ Tim Mobley                                                         /s/ Steve Thompson
 

Dave Pack: Former Employees "...affirm that he has a lack of self-control in the temper department."

Dear Brethren of The Restored Church of God,

Mr. Pack has often stated in the past that he wants us to be the most informed Church among all the splinter groups. I know you haven’t been hearing that lately, so here is some information that is vital for you to know, about which Mr. Pack has somehow failed to inform you.

It is with great sadness and heaviness of heart that I, Thomas L. Munson must write this to you. It is my duty as a Trustee of The Restored Church of God, Ministerial assistant and Ministerial trainee of Mr. Pack, Treasurer for the Church and a converted Christian who is committed to the entirety of the truth of God as taught to us by Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong, to inform you of particular events that have occurred over a period of time. These events happened in my presence while I was employed at RCG. If you are as committed to the truth of God as I am, then you will want to know. If you are not, then you will not care to know what this letter contains. I now have the distinction of being the longest lived employee of Restored, although I was the newest employee as recently as mid-January of this year.

Mr. Pack has repeatedly stated in the past that he wanted to run the Church in a squeaky clean manner. As the Treasurer of the Church for the past three months now, I can see a clear and consistent pattern of overspending, wastefulness and worst of all, a misuse of all three categories of directed tithe funds. Anybody who is a contributor to the Restored Church of God should be concerned with that statement. What do I mean? Let me explain. Directed funds are funds where you, the contributor, specify exactly how they should be spent as a condition of RCG accepting the funds. Example: Third tithe. Everyone in the Church knows it is to go to the widows and the orphans and other needy people as their legitimate needs arise. This is a long standing doctrine of the Church. However, very little third tithe contributed to RCG is actually spent in the manner which God says it should be. Mr. Pack has even instructed me to deny people who need third tithe, and instead use the third tithe to help meet payroll, rent, attorney salary, and other expenses unrelated to third tithe. I cannot in good conscience comply with his demands any longer.

Mr. Pack has repeatedly instructed me to turn down those requesting second tithe assistance while also repeatedly instructing me to deposit all excess second tithe, and tithe of second tithe into our main checking account, (which is the first tithe account) to cover our shortfalls due to overspending. I have refused to do as he demands, explaining to him that my conscience tells me not to do as he demands. Of course his demands are verbal and not in writing. When I told him of my crisis of conscience, he became extremely angry and verbally abusive of me. He even made many untrue and unkind remarks to me about my wife, and even attacked Mr. Armstrong’s integrity. He claimed Mr. Armstrong misused third tithe and festival tithes in such a way that I “wouldn’t even believe it.” That saddened me. I had hoped he would have said: “Tom, you passed the test, I really didn’t expect you to do what I was telling you to do, I was just testing you.” But he didn’t. He told me a condition of my continued employment was to pay the bills with excess second tithe, and tithe of a tithe and third tithe. I won’t steal God’s tithe in my personal life and I won’t steal God’s tithes from the needy. Mr. Pack should have known I was honest when he hired me.

Even though the Church pays me $54,000.00 per year as a salary, and I am by no means the highest paid employee of the Church, I am no pauper either. After speaking to Mr. Pack about my crisis of conscience, he privately offered to give me money from the third tithe fund “to keep me happy and to help me out.” I declined his offer, assuring him that I did not need to be “helped out.” I could come to no other conclusion except that he was offering me a bribe. And, had I accepted the money, I felt I would be just as guilty as he.
Brethren, this is a new twist of a doctrinal change. He teaches excess second tithe, tithe of a tithe, and third tithe, but he seldom uses it for the purpose which God intends. And when he does, only a small portion is spent as it is intended. The rest goes to pay Mr. Pack’s salary, and the salary of his attorney and the excessive rent payment for our office complex. We only use about half of the space for which we are paying. Mr. Pack is only too willing to use these directed tithe funds as a part of the normal operating budget. Meanwhile the needy do without. God will not bless a Church or its leader who blatantly rob him. This is immoral and illegal. I cannot ignore the seriousness of what I have witnessed. As a trustee of the Church, I have an obligation to the members of the Church and to God that supercedes any obligation to Mr. Pack as my employer. I also have to consider the fact that my attorney has advised me that I may be exposed to prison time if I comply with Mr. Pack’s directions.

Reread Mr. Pack’s own book “There Came a Falling Away” on page 403, change 257. This outlines exactly how all the different tithes are to be used. On the bottom of page 25 of the revised “Why The Restored Church of God?” booklet , Mr. Pack states: “I have gone on record for so long, and in writing, through these books and tapes about exactly where I stand on doctrine and the pursuit of holding fast to all of it, no matter the cost, that I could never get away with making changes now. God’s people (and my detractors) would be quick to “call me on it.”” I “called him on it.” He treated me harshly when I brought up to him how I believed he was compromising God’s doctrines, teachings and law in a clear way. He compounded his wrong practices with unChrist-like behavior. His unChrist-like behavior has been witnessed by me since the day I began working at RCG headquarters. I can excuse this behavior no longer in my mind.

As Treasurer, I can attest to the fact that God has been removing his blessings from Restored. Mr. Armstrong often said “If our ways please God, he will bless the work.” Mr. Pack used to say that frequently, the last few months he has forgotten this. He even scoffed at me when I suggested that God is not pleased with some aspect of Restored a month ago. Income is dropping steadily, and so is membership in RCG. I believe it is in part due to Mr. Pack misusing God’s tithes. Membership in RCG is dropping faster than new members can replace the ones who are leaving, despite what Mr. Pack so often says or would have you believe. Over 100 of the less than 200 members at the feast last year have dropped out. Mr. Pack did the math himself. Most who left are not from the local congregation at headquarters, although some are. At least half of the new members gained after the feast have also dropped out. Some people beg for counseling and are ignored, others are dealt with so harshly only a masochist would take the abuse. I am not exaggerating, brethren. I could go on and on. I have worked side by side with Mr. Pack for the past eight months, I have witnessed too much. I refuse to be a witness to any further abuse or neglect of God’s sheep. Currently membership in RCG is less than 200 in total around the world and dropping, not rising as Mr. Pack claims.

The bylaws of The Restored Church of God seem not to be worth even the paper upon which they are written. I have ample supporting evidence to back this up. This legal document defining who and what RCG is and what it must do “By Law” has not been adhered to ever since the day Mr. Pack and his full time attorney wrote them. When I bring these matters to the attention of Mr. Pack, his solution is not to abide by them, but to rewrite them. There is so much more I could say about the matter of the bylaws of the Church, but space prevents me.

Mr. Pack changes his mind more than any person I have ever met in my entire life. This is very damaging to the morale of the office staff, both past and present. Now I can clearly see why so many have walked away from working with Mr. Pack. This instability doesn’t come out in sermon tapes but it sure does at the headquarters office. I have taken more than any reasonable person can withstand and I can excuse his behavior no longer. With my departure, his longest lived employee is employed 6 months. Is it a coincidence that ALL his employees but the two most recent have left him? After they leave he pronounces that they were unconverted. What are the odds that all his former employees were unconverted? What a very poor judge of character he must be after twenty some years in the ministry if all his employees whom he hand picks personally are unconverted.

Mr. Pack and his attorney have repeatedly, in the presence of the office staff of RCG, commented how thankful they are that Mr. Pack can fire any employee at anytime, for any reason, and the Restored Church of God will not have to pay out one cent in unemployment compensation benefits. Churches in Ohio can only rarely obtain unemployment benefits for its staff. Hearing this bantered about demoralizes the employees, especially those who quit more secure jobs, and had no knowledge of this prior to coming to work for Mr. Pack. The work environment at RCG headquarters, which Mr. Pack has created, is best described as dysfunctional. I have personally witnessed Mr. Pack lose his temper so many times I have lost count. Previous employees of RCG can affirm that he has a lack of self-control in the temper department. Many are the victims of his wrath. I believe the only reason Mr. Pack has not been sued is because of the unwavering Christian values of his former victims.

Mr. Pack has repeatedly told outright lies in my presence in order to manipulate people and obtain whatever results he desires as a result of those lies. He does not seem to care about the consequences those lies may bring to his victims. The scripture he has quoted most in my presence is 2 Cor. 12:16. He constantly goes around proudly saying “I caught you/him/her/them with guile.” Any study of the word guile in a concordance will show you if God approves of his private interpretation of this scripture. Rev. 14:4-5 is what Mr. Pack should try to attain and teach. As a ministerial trainee, I need to report that he has tried to teach me that catching people with guile (deceit) is a Godly attribute worthy of apostles. He knows that I cannot and will not agree with him on this matter.

RCG’s policy: If you don’t tithe you’re out. Over half of the mailing list was removed for one reason and one reason only, they didn’t give as much as Mr. Pack wanted them to. Forget about “freely you received, freely give.” One of the biggest events of the day for Mr. Pack is when the mail comes in. He opens the mail personally in order to count every last cent that comes in, and to see who has suddenly stopped tithing. If someone hasn’t given money in a while, he usually won’t counsel with them. What he does is to remove them from the mailing list. This is true of prospective members, too. Everything seems to revolve around money for Mr. Pack. If you knew how much he spent per month on rent and for his personal attorney, or how huge his salary is, then you would know why he is so concerned with the tithes, and why he is so willing to misuse the other tithes as well as first tithe.

He stereotypes people based on what group they came out of. Mr. Pack acts one way to people to their faces or over the phone but behind their backs he acts entirely different. Here is what Mr. Pack has told me he feels about those who are in Restored: If an RCG member came with us from PCG, they are as spiritually insane as Gerald Flurry and are likely to detonate. He says he shudders every time someone new comes with us from PCG. If you came from Living then you are lukewarm and compromised like Rod Meredith. If you came from Global straight to Restored, then you are balanced. (That’s the route Mr. Pack took!) All others don’t even register. How insulting of his membership. At best, this leaves no room for change or growth, assuming his stereotypes are correct. I do not believe his stereotypes are Godly or correct.

Mr. Pack gossips constantly. When you counsel with Mr. Pack it is not confidential. If you counsel with him about someone else and ask for confidentiality, sooner or later he betrays that trust and tells the other person what was said, and oftentimes he puts a spin on what was said. I have witnessed this repeatedly, and previous employees have witnessed this, too.

Make-up: Despite Mr. Pack’s claims to the contrary, RCG does permit the use of cosmetics when it is convenient to do so. I am personally aware of people who have left RCG because Mr. Pack refused to enforce his ruling on make-up. Many people he allows to come to services with make-up on as long as they, guess what, TITHE. Those who want to wear make-up and don’t tithe are put out.

Open door policy: RCG does indeed practice an open door policy. Perhaps the worst violator of the open door policy is Mr. Pack himself. He has invited his own relatives who have no intention of joining Restored to services and allowed the women to wear make-up. Protestants, other COG, ex WCG now unbelieving, etc., etc. Even a woman who works downstairs in another office but has no clue about God’s truth asked to come and the Packs invited her. The reason she wanted to come to Church was because she could hear the song service and liked the music and singing. Also in violation of his stated policies, Mr. Pack sent out Feast registration forms to dozens of people who are not members of RCG. He is flinging the doors of our Feast wide open.

Mr. Pack spends an inordinate amount of time trying to pin something, anything, on previous employees. It was Mr. Pack and his attorney who called the police on Don Tiger after Don refused to sign over the rights to his CD’s to RCG. Mr. Pack knew there was an outstanding federal warrant for Don Tiger when he hired him. Mr. Pack wanted the CD project so badly that he was willing to overlook the warrant. Don’s mistake was to counsel with Mr. Pack. Sadly, Mr. Pack used that information against Don later, violating yet another confidence. Mr. Pack turned Don Tiger over to the police. Read the following quote from Mr. Pack’s persecution statement: “The history of the True Church is replete with a basic replicating pattern of persecution that comes, almost entirely, from two basic sources. First, those who hold fast to the full Truth of God are eventually expelled, attacked and accused because they will not go along with either the wholesale, or even PARTIAL, sell-out of God’s Truth! Second, is that the civil governments of this world become involved in directly persecuting the people of God, as well. As true and painful as this is, in itself, this often happens (perhaps even most often happens) because the persecuting Church “members” are the ones who actually betray the true brethren to the authorities who, it is hoped, will seek to bring or precipitate greater persecution upon those same true brethren.” What a sickening policy for Restored to have!! Mr. Pack falsely accuses this man. Here’s an example of many: “In this light, it is interesting to note that the old Trust Fund was overdrawn by approximately $3,500, an amount that might now be difficult to recoup.” False! Untrue! Any investigation of the account can clearly show that Mr. Tiger never overdrew the funds by one cent! There was a balance of over $270.00 on the very day when Mr. Pack gave in to Worldwide attorney Ralph Helge and closed it down. I could literally cite dozens of outright defamatory lies Mr. Pack has made while attacking Don Tiger. I believe the Tigers have acted in an honorable fashion by not suing Mr. Pack for slander and libel. My hope is that Mr. Pack will repent of telling lies and will bring forth fruits of repentance by admitting the lies and setting the record straight with the truth.

Mr. Pack also knew about an outstanding traffic ticket Don received because the most recently hired employee told Mr. Pack about it. Mr. Pack wanted Don Tiger’s email list too. Don didn’t feel comfortable with giving it up so he declined to give it away. This angered Mr. Pack. Mr. Pack used confidential knowledge to turn Don in. I was there when it happened.

June 7 Update: “Do not be afraid to believe that God may dramatically intervene to protect His Church from enemies who threaten to attack it!” June 10 Update: “Just hours before Donald Tiger was arrested the second time on Wednesday night, Mr. Pack announced on this web site (please see June 7th Update) that “do not be afraid to believe that God will dramatically intervene to protect His church from His enemies.” We believe that God has dramatically intervened in a way we could have never imagined.” Mr. Pack sicced the police on Don Tiger days before and was told in advance that he would be picked up for the traffic ticket and warrant. There was no surprise involved. Both updates were written by Mr. Pack. Need I say more. The following is a quote from Mr. Pack’s persecution statement, I think it applies to what Mr. Pack did to Mr. Tiger: “Certainly, if I wanted to accuse somebody, and also make them look as bad as I possibly could in the process (probably because I wanted to also divert attention away from the real doctrinal issues), one of the most brilliant “strokes” that I could contrive would be to say that the person I am seeking to attack and accuse is really attacking and accusing me. What more effective and clever strategy to deflect attention from the real issues could you think of while you, at the same time, portray yourself as a victim?” Think about this and try to recall even one single incident where Mr. Tiger “attacked” or “accused” Mr. Pack. Mr. Pack has certainly made multiple attacks and accusations against Mr. Tiger, and even went so far as to send the police after Mr. Tiger. The reason Mr. Pack refuses to answer his accusers is that he would be faced with three clear and distinct choices. 1) Deny the statements and be called a liar. 2) Repent and confess his sins and change his ways and be forgiven. 3) Say nothing at all and hope it will all go away. Mr. Pack chooses to slyly deny anything brought against him by refusing to comment. Or he says something to this effect: “I refuse to answer those who accuse me falsely.” That is of course an answer to the accusation and a counteraccusation. He tries to hide behind his book “Should Accusers Be Answered” saying he will not answer his accusers and all the while answering and counter-accusing. The following is a quote from Mr. Pack’s persecution statement: “As I mentioned above, most people understand that I will never answer my accusers – no matter what those accusations may be. This particular accusation would never require an answer anyway because everything I do (books, booklets, tapes, and letters to members, Newsletters and Updates) is public and open for all to review themselves.” The question many people have for Mr. Pack is: How do you explain this in light of your removing updates from the website? How do you explain this in light of your open door policy? How do you explain this in light of the fact that many write in with requests, and you refuse to honor those requests? Where are all the things which you mentioned above public and open for all to review themselves? Mr. Pack, again you are not being honest with your audience. Why?

I fully expect that I too will be accused of the most heinous of crimes when I am gone. My real crime was selling my successful business and making the largest contribution to Restored in its history. The majority of the directed funds I contributed were not spent as directed, by the way. Now I will face certain economic hardship in order to stand on principle. I put my family in harms way by coming to work for him, but I do not fear. God is my rock. He has always been there for me.

As my final act as Trustee I send you this letter. For the above stated reasons and many, many more I hereby tender my resignation as a Trustee of The Restored Church of God, as its treasurer, my position as Ministerial trainee and assistant, and my membership in Restored Church of God. I join an ever growing list of former employees who wished Restored would have lived up to its promises but now believe that the man in charge is incapable of keeping his promises. You may contact me at 1-330-xxx-xxxx or email me at tmunson@xxxx if you so desire. You may write to me at P.O. Box xxxx, Wadsworth, Ohio 44282. It has been a pleasure to be of service to you for the last eight months. I wish you well.

Your servant,
 
Thomas Munson

Van Robison on "It is Humanly Impossible to Have all the Answers"

It is Humanly Impossible to Have all the Answers

Herbert W. Armstrong seemed to think that he had all the answers about life on earth.  He had "the mind of God", understood the "future" and generally considered himself far and above all other human beings on planet earth.

Of course Herbert W. was not alone because the world has always had such personalities who saw themselves as "God" in the flesh.  They may never have stated that they were "God" on earth, but they implied that they were at the "right hand" of God and represented Him.  The Mormon Church, the Jehovah Witnesses, the Roman Catholic Church and many others have had the same human idea.  It is not really any different than all the human governments of men who also think that they have a "right" to totally control your life from the cradle to the grave, because "its the law."  Without force, governments of men would not exist.  Without persuasion and deception the religions of men would not exist.

In the long run does anything among human beings really matter?  One hundred percent of all human beings will exit life on earth.  Will the belief that "the Bible is infallible and inerrant" really make a difference when human beings have returned to dirt in the grave yards?  Will being a republican, democrat, communist or any other political concept make a difference when all such people are in their graves?  Ultimately it seems that the things that humans place such great emphasis upon are really nothing more than dust in the wind.  Who has a voice in the grave?

We argue, we antagonize one another, we differ and we all have strong opinions.  In the end we all perish and most of us will never make a dent in human life on earth.  We criticize one another and we are sure that what we think is what "truth" is.  I suspect that God Himself is far more intelligent than we know or can comprehend.  Anyone who has lived FOREVER (God)  has to be exponentially more knowledgeable and wise than mere humans, whose short life span is ridiculous in terms of eternity.  The age of the Internet has changed the playing field of human life.  At least until the human governments of men, who always live in fear of losing their power, censor the Internet, the world currently has the most advanced means of human communication the world has ever known.  Knowledge is more readily available than ever in the history of human life on earth.  Unfortunately there are still millions of human beings who never take advantage of the vast amount of information that is available through the Internet.    Of course as with all human media, the Internet is both a source of truth and also propaganda.

There is no religious group or organization on earth, anymore than there is any human government on earth, who has all the answers to humans issues or human problems.  The "law courts" of human governments are no more the source of right and truth than any other human system of men on earth.  Placing faith in men is in fact a misplaced faith and it matters not whether that faith is in "pastors", churches, politicians or human governments.  All men are human and that includes those who penned the so called "Bible" and those who form human governments.

Tenacious "faith" in the Bible is not based upon reason or human intelligence, but is based upon indoctrination and human emotion.  Bible apologists don't really have all the answers about "the Bible", they just deceive themselves that they do.  Is there any human being on earth that is worthy of placing total faith in?    Many church goers seem to place undying faith in their local "pastors" as if these individuals know and understand what "truth" is, but it is a juvenile deception.  Faith in God is one thing, but faith in any human leader is another matter altogether, for the simple reason that the leader also is a human being with bias and human nature.  It is simply outrageous that so many sit in church pews and think that what someone standing in a pulpit says is the unvarnished truth.    This is in fact why so many fall into a bottomless pit of darkness by believing that Herbert W. Armstrong was "the" representative of God on earth in our day and age.  A TOTAL DECEPTION!!!

None of us have absolute truth, even though we all think that what we believe is what "truth" is.  We all convince ourselves that what we think is what "truth" is.  It applies to all humans, including Bible apologists, atheists, Deists, agnostics or whatever we have been indoctrinated to believe, or whatever has shaped our thinking.  We are all unique and so we believe based upon our own personal human experiences and the total input into our minds and thinking.  Without doubt we are all one-hundred percent influenced by other human beings.  Do they really know what they are talking about and what influence shaped their thinking?

It is humanly impossible to have all the answers.


Van Robison