Dave Pack: The Clever Trickster

Dave says:

    "I want to make a statement about...me...now, if I became deceived, I will never tell you what I'm going to tell you now...I am telling you if I go off into strange ideas, misconduct, rebellion, you name it, don't follow me. I want to tell you that now, because if I start doing that I'm gonna try to get you to follow me! I'm gonna come to you and tell you it doesn't apply, it doesn't mean me, no, no, no, no, no, no, it's OK to follow me because ABCD and XY and Z. Do you understand what I'm saying? Listen to me now, when I tell you don't follow me if I go off into weird ideas, or if I get off into other things that are total absolutely unscriptural conduct, because if I do I'm gonna paint it with a different face and try to get you to follow me. Do you understand what I'm saying brethren? Please remember that, because I promise you that if I become deceived, I'll forget it, and I'll want you to forget it...And I hope you'll remember it well enough to quote it right back to me...But I'll tell you what, I'm not going anywhere."

I have tried to define what that last sentence is really saying and finally can.  Anytime you use a "BUT" after all of what one just said, it is a wash out of all said before the "BUT."   It is projecting an awareness one has of their ability to screw up and be deceptive which makes people feel good that you are aware of it.  However, the "BUT" cancels all preceding it so the person can go about their business and still now do what they wish without a challenge because they said they would not be a problem ever. 

It's a false humility with no intention of actually being something the author intends to be cautious about because they really don't see anything THEY do as ever being able to be labeled strange or weird. 

Clever trickster.  

Herbert Armstrong's Non Reproducing Dinosaurs and God's Master Plan

Living Armstrongism has an article up today about HWA and his theories about dinosaurs. Like all things in Armstrongism we had to have an answer about everything.  Of course paleontologists were ignorant evolution believing morons so they could not be believed.  Only Herbert Armstrong had the correct answer about dinosaurs.

In all the silliness that the church taught about dinosaurs I had forgotten this little gem from Herb:

Notice what he wrote in The Incredible Human Potential. HWA is not writing about the initial creation of the Earth, he is writing about the situation after the failed rebellion of Lucifer and the Earth is in a chaotic and empty waste. Look at the link below if you do not believe me.

Consider, now, the truly AWESOME project God set out to accomplish - to REPRODUCE HIMSELF!

It is probable that, prior to this time, no form of life had ever been created with the reproductive process. Probably the very first example of reproductive life was that of plant life - at the time God was renewing the face of the earth (Gen. 1:11-12). God had created the physical universe before placing the angels on the earth. God had created MATTER containing properties so that marvelous things may be done with it. (Chapter 6.)

It would appear to me that HWA was irritated by the thought that physical life in the pre-Adamic Earth reproduced themselves for billions of years. It made human reproduction appear less important. According to HWA humans have been reproducing for 6000 years. But if life in the pre-Adamic Earth have been reproducing themselves for billions of years why would (HWA's) God reproducing himself be anything special to see? How could reproduction be "the CROWNING PINNACLE of even God's unmatched creative POWER" if pre-Adamic life had already been doing so for billions of years?

HWA's answer to this problem was to simply deny that any pre-Adamic life could reproduce.

In summary:

It seems to me that HWA was denigrating pre-Adamic life as non-reproducing in order to elevate reproduction (natural and spiritual) among animals, humans and within the God Family as something that only happened after Lucifer's rebellion.

I sure wish we had these kinds of illustrations in our Bible Story book instead of the drowning people clawing at the side of the ark and people being killed by hail stones  While these pictures are here in jest, there are a few in the COG who believe that dinosaurs were in the garden of Eden with Adam and Eve.

 Check out the entire article at the link above.

Chewing The Cud

I had to laugh when I saw this.  I remember when I was little that we traveled to the feast in Jekyll Island, Georgia from Ohio.  We took with us this absolutely nut-job member and her son.

This women had buttons missing on her clothes and I remember my mother telling her that she would sew some new buttons on as we drove along.  The woman refused.  She said God did not look at the outer person, but only the inward person.

Then we stopped to eat and the woman asked this question.

Crazy as hell!