A Brief Photo Essay on the Wildworld Church of God

And during the few moments that we have left
We wanna talk right down to Earth in a language that everybody here can easily understand

Look in my eyes, what do you see?
The cult of personality
I know your anger, I know your dreams
I've been everything you want to be
I'm the cult of personality
Like Mussolini and Kennedy
I'm the cult of personality
The cult of personality
The cult of personality

Neon lights, a Nobel prize
Than the mirror speaks, the reflection lies
You won't have to follow me
Only you can set me free

I sell the things you need to be
I'm the smiling face on your tv
I'm the cult of personality
I exploit you, still you love me
I tell you one and one makes three
I'm the cult of personality
Like Joseph Stalin and Gandhi
I'm the cult of personality
The cult of personality
The cult of personality

Neon lights, a Nobel prize
When a leader speaks, that leader dies
You won't have to follow me
Only you can set you free (?)

You gave me fortune
You gave me fame
You gave me power in your god's name
I'm every person you need to be
I'm the cult of personality (I'm the cult of, I'm the cult of)
I'm the cult of, I'm the cult of, I'm the cult of, I'm the cult of (I'm the cult of)
I'm the cult of, I'm the cult of, I'm the cult of, I'm the cult of personality (I'm the cult of)
Ask not what your country can do for you

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself

http://www.lyricsfreak.com/l/living+colour/cult+of+personality_20084475.html

Herbert W. Armstrong and Garner Ted arrive for 1968 Feast of Tabernacles in Squaw Valley

Squaw Valley Falcon Fan Jet Flyover-Squaw Valley

Garner Ted introduces Herbert at Refresher to discuss the Systematic Theology Project circa 1976

Ministerial Luncheon - Tucson - 1984

Joseph W. Tkach speaks at Herbert W. Armstrong Funeral and assumes the Pastor Generalship

Joe Sr. and assistants Joe Jr and Mike Feazell

Joseph Tkach Junior assumes Pastor Generalship after the passing of Joseph W. Tkach Sr

Roderick C. Meredith starts Global Church of God

...but moves on to start the Living Church of God taking the founder of the Plain Truth Newstand Program, David C Pack with him.

David C Pack is fired from Living Church of God/Or Global.. I forget and starts the Deplored Church of God

And over the the years convinces the masses he is The Watcher, The Apostle and Joshua the High Priest as spoken of by the Prophet Haggai and Zechasomebody

Mussolini's classmate and wife break from United Church of God to declare themselves the Two Witnesses of Revelation

But gets off track for a time, times and half a time copying the lifestyle and expenditures of the Armstrongs, Tkaches, Flurrys and Packs

In the Spring of 2013 Apostle Pack doesn't set a date of August 31, 2013 for the Unification of all the splinters under his leadership and doesn't give 24 rock solid reasons why this simply has to be true.

The Apostle Pack disappears from the scene in October of 2013 whileTwo of the Sixteen Agreers on the Board of Deplored seek a way to prevent such future mistakes in the "timing" of the prophecy and not the content.  The prophecy is definately "ON" and  Apostle Pack declares God's Word as "clear as crystal" on this muddied topic

Meanwhile, large portions are of Ambassador College are demolished to be replaced by Condos

But not to worry...Dave Pack and Gerald Flurry....

...are raising up the past from the ruins and the ashes after having found the old blueprints

Pastor General Gerald Flurry faints during a sermon in 2014

Longtime confidant of the Armstrongs, David Hulme experiences loyalty problems in his own version of truth in 2014 and dis fellowships everyone but himself

The beat goes on....

Dennis muses: The Return of Awesomeness

FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 2014

Pastor General's Yearly Letter

Pastor General David C. Pack’s fifth annual “Fruits Letter,” written for those with a background in the Worldwide Church of God and its offshoots, will be available early next week. Once again, this year’s letter is loaded with statistics that reflect the explosive growth unique to The Restored Church of God.

Wrong fruits Dave

Galatians 5:22-23

New International Version (NIV)

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

1 Corinthians 13

New International Version (NIV)

13 If I speak in the tongues^[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy (you don't obviously) and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, (Not even close) and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor (I think you said RCG didn't do such things so no problem here) and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,^[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. Iit is not proud.⁵ It does not it does not envy, it does not boast, dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; (Or blow up in your addled theological speculations face)where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when completeness comes,what is in part disappears. ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. (You still do and no offense to children) When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.  

...And not overarching, mind boggling internet hits and statistics , seat gyrating announcements, mahogany trim, Steuben Crystal, and now I even hear you are toying with the Plane for Dave ego buster.  You could use some pastoral lessons from the current Pope.  He is far ahead of you in things you know nothing about.  

It's always been about the numbers Dave no matter your denial. I was going to send you a New Testament for Christmas but you'd probably not understand it. Not even that Revelation part.

Amen

NOW THAT WE'RE IN CHARGE.... NO MORE DISSENT!

NOW THAT WE'RE IN CHARGE.... NO MORE DISSENT!

As Dave Pack is busy recuperating from the inexplicable failure of all COG splinter groups to meekly coalesce under him last fall, the current story of the day seems to be the meltdown of another group of another Dave, i.e. David Hulme.

It's an interesting exercise in group herding psychology to read dissenting  ministers' arguments vs. establishment-supporting ministers' arguments.

Bemused and amused, I found a sermon by a supporting minister, Eric Keefer, to be particularly interesting, not simply because of the at-the-door-brain-checking aspect ("obey authority!") but yet more so because of the blinding hypocrisy of some of the arguments.  The sermon audio is here (sermon given on Dec. 28, 2013):  http://pabco7.com/~pabco/20131228KeeferE.mp3

All the background one needs is to recall the general history of COGic.  Hulme (with followers) left WCG sometime in the 1990s, forming UCG, and the sometime later left UCG to form their current group. In other words, COGic exists because they were willing to rebel against "God-appointed authority", not once, but twice. But now we see what happens when the rebellion becomes the establishment.

Things get unbelievable at around the 25 minute mark. After reading from (you've got to be kidding me!!!) HWA's Mystery of the Ages (which should immediately on-the-spot destroy any speaker's credibility), Mr. Keefer sets forth his argument as to why dissenters are wrong to speak up.

[Transcripted]:

"If Mr. Hulme has disqualified himself by leading us away from God, that would be one thing, but he has not...  This is a matter of some deciding they know better, and God has not put them in a position to make those kinds of decisions, and ... they're rebelling against those decisions.  I don't think God's arm is too short to put whoever he wills in that place to make those decisions.  I just don't believe that God said "Oops I made a mistake, put David Hulme there, I should have never done that, but now I'm stuck with him so now I've got to create a rebellion to overthrow him".  That's not the way God works, brethren.  If God has a problem with Mr. Hulme, God will take care of it.  If God wants us to change our approach, he certainly could have placed one of these ministers in his spot, but guess what?  That didn't happen.  He would have certainly done it without appealing to what amounts to be a public rebellion.  God does not work that way.

However, if you still have questions and doubts, that's ok.  I completely understand why you might not be as confident as I am.  But my advice to you, as it always has been, is to remain calm and wait on God.  Let God fix it, if there's a problem, let God fix it.  Let God deal with it.  If there's something hidden it will be revealed in time..."

Yeah.... right.  God always fixes leadership problems in COG, doesn't he?  :-)  Double smiley :-)  No,  make that a triple :-)

Mr. Keefer, do you have any idea how bizarre and hypocritical those words sound?

That is of course why half the church had to leave into various splinters against the "God-appointed" Joe Tkach (appointed personally by HWA, for Pete's sake!  How much more validity do these HWA-acolytes want?)

So, Mr. Keefer (and Hulme supporters), this implies that you took exactly the wrong course of action, whereas the proper response should have been "C'mon now, if God has a problem with Joe Tkach, God will take care of it! Remain calm and wait on God".  After all his arm is longer than Joe Tkach's arm.  Or was God simply no match for the mighty Tkach?

We all know that the WCG splinter ministers/members were patient and relied on HWA's God to set things straight, don't we? 

Keefer later argues that differences in how the gospel is to be preached (i.e. minister and member dissatisfaction about Vision magazine) should not be grounds for dissent.  Yet when COGic formed from UCG, that was one of the stated reasons for the defection, at least according to http://theshininglight.info/?p=14233:

"David Hulme, used two  doctrinal issues  (better governance and being more proactive in proclaiming the gospel) as his justification for leaving UCG and starting his own organization."

So, instead, shouldn't you have submitted to the authority that UCG's God had supposedly established? Why didn't Hulme & Co. take a more humble approach and realize that "that's not the way God works"? and if he had a problem with it, "He would have certainly done it without appealing to what amounts to be a public rebellion."

Well, I understand it's all different when you're the one being rebelled against, but it's the blatant hypocrisy that is so dazzling.

Of course, this is all very, very human-like behavior and simply accentuates the fact that all of this drama has nothing to do with some God and His Work(TM), but simply humans and their contrived beliefs and power-plays.

Michael