David C Pack's Restored Church of God and Fraudulant Preachers: What's the Difference?

LCG: Gerald Weston Disappointed That A Large Number of LCG Members Do Not Watch Telecast OR Read Its Literature!

Things may be finally looking up for Living Church of God!  It seems that there is a disproportionate number of LCG members who have no interest in watching Richard Ames and others on LCG's telecast, nor do many in LCG care to read its literature!  Seriously, who can blame them!  All of their telecasts, magazine articles and literature are nothing more than a rehash of decades-old articles and programs.  Do any of these men in any of the Churches of God have an original thought in their heads?  It is 2018 and most of the COG's still live in the 1950-1960's mode of church literature and beliefs.  Just how many articles do LCG members need to read about sex?  How many do they need to read about the law?  Maybe, just maybe, they would like to read about Jesus, or grace, or mercy - all topics sorely ignored in LCG.

Even more interesting in Weston's comments is that LCG members know more about literature in other COG's than they do their own!  So delightful!

Gerald Weston writes in the latest letter to the members:

Why You Need to Read This
Gerald E. Weston
July/August 2018

Mr. Richard Ames is famous for asking congregations for a show of hands of how many watched the latest telecast or read the latest magazine. After scanning the audience, he then announces the percentage of the crowd who raised their hands, using an impressive degree of precision, such as 38.4 percent. This usually brings a chuckle from those present, as a guess like this can never be so exact, but, sadly, the figure is often less than what we might hope it would be.

While I rarely ask for a show of hands at services, it is evident to me from conversations before and after services that this is indeed the situation. Many members do not watch the telecast and many do not read our literature. This is a curious phenomenon, as we find that some of these same members are well-versed in the literature of others. And it is evident that the problem is not lack of time, as people today spend loads of time on Facebook, snapchat, twitter, e-mail and/or television.

Gerald Weston, who says he himself is boring, admits that LCG literature may also be boring!

One must wonder why this is the case. Perhaps our writings are not compelling enough for members to read them or our Tomorrow’s World telecasts fail to compete favorably with other options. If that is the case, we sincerely apologize. And please do not think this is a veiled request for compliments, encouraging faithful members to write supportive and encouraging letters. It is not. We know that there is great support and many prayers offered up to God for the telecast, our literature, and for us personally. Instead, this is an attempt to encourage all members to prioritize their lives so that they know the direction God is leading us. After all, either God is working through His servants or He is not!

Well Gerald, perhaps this is a clue that He is not!  Ever thought of that?  How can members be expected to prioritize their lives to know where God is leading when the LCG itself does not know?  The 1950's and 1960's, the glory days of the Worldwide Church of God are over!  They are long gone and will NEVER be recaptured by any COG in this day and age.  Rudderless Churches of God who ignore Jesus and prostrate themselves at the feet of the law will never have any future.

Weston goes on in his missive to discuss how Paul and others wrote letters that ended up being so important that they were included in the canon of the Bible.  Apparently, Weston thinks LCG literature may soon fit that standard!  Imagine 1,000 years from now people sitting down to read letters from LCG writers that have been canonized into scripture!  What an absolutely APPALLING thought!  There is no need to worry though, that will never happen.  If these men truly believe in the  Jesus they claim to know and in the kingdom, they hope for, they would know that the literature and maybe even the Bible itself might be of little importance.  Why would it be if the living and breathing Jesus is present?  Who needs the book or booklets or letters?

Regardless, the point is that churches, and individual Christians, had letters written to them, and only later did the Church realize their enduring importance. We know the apostles and others wrote books and letters not preserved as part of the Holy Scripture (cf. 1 Corinthians 5:9; 3 John 9; Jude 14). How could an early Christian discern what would become part of a lasting record, and what would not? Does this mean that other letters, written by these men, were somehow in error? Were they not important at the time? Should we take communications from the Church lightly? Or neglect them?

Did you know that if you don't read LCG literature, watch a telecast, or miss a church service occasionally that you are drifting away and your salvation is at stake?  So the next time you have to sit through a mind-numbing video sermon from HQ remember that your salvation bonus point card will start filling up and you won't drift away or start reading dissident blogs and willfully start sinning with wild abandon!

We often refer to Hebrews 10:25, where Paul admonishes us not to forsake assembling together, as some were doing even back then, especially as we see the return of Christ approaching. Do we know why? Part of the reason is found in the preceding verse: “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works” (v. 24). This is one reason we attend services, even if the sermon is not “live.” Verses 23 and 26 give further context. There is a danger of drifting away from our baptismal confession. We must remain faithful over the long haul, for it is possible to drift away and sin willfully, thus losing everything!

Weston knows that most LCG members won't read his letter, so he decided to pull a little stunt with the few who will read his admonition.  He says at the beginning of the article:

Dear Brethren, Some of you are familiar with Country magazine, where they hide an image of a needle somewhere in the pages of each issue for readers to find. Sometimes it is easy to spot, other times not. So let me get this off my chest up front: Like that hidden needle, there is a hidden flaw in this letter to you. I will reveal the flaw at the end, but my guess is that discerning readers will figure it out.

and ends with this:

I mentioned at the start of this letter that there is a flaw in it. Do you see it? It is, very simply, the fact that those who need this advice the most may never actually read it! 

COG Prophet: I don't have mental issues like Elijah did, so therefore I am Elisha!

The Church of God prophet of Arroyo Grande had a rude shock recently when he discovered that Elijah ended up having mental problems. Modern COG prophets can't have that! Therefore, Almost arrested but not arrested, the former Elijah, Amos, Joshua, and doubly blessed Bob Thiel is now the end time doubly-blessed Elisha!  The fun part is that 99% of the people in the COG's and the entire world think he is the one with mental issues and refuses to follow him.

Getting back to the original Elijah, when he was the top ecclesiastical authority, Elijah did a variety of miracles, such as stopping rain (1 Kings 17:1), multiplying flour and oil (1 Kings 17:13-16), getting a dry passage over a river, (2 Kings 2:7-8), and calling fire down from heaven (2 Kings 1:10-12).

Elijah, however, over time seem to have lost the mental/emotional ability to properly lead (cf. 1 Kings 19:13-18). God later took him and replaced him with Elisha as the top ecclesiastical authority. Elisha then received a “double-portion” (two-portion literally) of the gift that God had given Elijah: 

9 And so it was, when they had crossed over, that Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask! What may I do for you, before I am taken away from you?”
Elisha said, “Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.”
10 So he said, “You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.” 11 Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
12 And Elisha saw it, and he cried out, “My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!” So he saw him no more. And he took hold of his own clothes and tore them into two pieces. 13 He also took up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan. (2 Kings 2:9-13)

So what can you imagine that Elisha and Bob Thiel have in common?  Notice vs. 9 above.  Elisha was "doubly blessed."  This doubly blessed nonsense that Thiel trots out to legitimize himself in the eyes of gullible people is just that, pure unadulterated nonsense.  In other words, it is an outright lie. Galyon Bonjour had no intention of blessing Thiel in order for him to start a new personality cult.   But this has never stopped Elisha Thiel from making such a crazy claim.

The recipient of the double-portion, Elisha, was a type of Elijah. Elisha picked up the mantle of Elijah (2 Kings 2:13) which God wanted him to have (1 Kings 19:16-19), did a similar miraculous dry river crossing (2 Kings 2:13-14), also did other miracles (2 Kings 4:30-35; 2 Kings 10:5-14; 2 Kings 6:16-18), as he replaced Elijah as God’s top ecclesiastical authority on earth (cf. 1 Kings 19:16).

A minister of the Living Church of God prayed and anointed Bob Thiel for a ‘double portion’ of God’s Spirit back in late 2011 and told him that was reminiscent of what happened to Elisha.

Not only does Thiel claim to be an Elisha, but he also has characteristics of Elijah running through his veins.  Of course, absolutely none of this is from God, but it is entirely from himself. All made up in that warped brain of his. God has not spoken to Thiel any more than he has to Gerald Flurry or Dave Pack.

Thiel's thinking is so twisted and perverted that he believes he was foretold in scripture as rising up in the end times and taking on the Elijah/Elisha role.

Jesus, Himself, confirmed that John the Baptist, who in not recorded to have done any of the miracles of Elijah, fulfilled an Elijah role:  

12 But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands.” 13 Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist. (Matthew 17:12-13)

So, the Bible tells of two Elijahs who were here thousands of years ago.

But Jesus told of another Elijah to come after He left: 

11 Jesus answered and said to them, “Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. (Matthew 17:11)

That particular Elijah was also prophesied in the Hebrew scriptures (the Old Testament). Here are Protestant, “literal,” and Catholic (note: Catholics often use the Latinized form of Elijah, called Elias below) translations:

4 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. 5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 6 And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.” (Malachi 4:4-6, ESV)
4 Remember ye the law of Moses My servant, That I did command him in Horeb, For all Israel — statutes and judgments. 5 Lo, I am sending to you Elijah the prophet, Before the coming of the day of Jehovah, The great and the fearful. 6 And he hath turned back the heart of fathers to sons, And the heart of sons to their fathers, Before I come and have utterly smitten the land! (Malachi 4:4-6, YLT)
4 Remember the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, the precepts, and judgments. 5 Behold I will send you Elias the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. 6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers: lest I come, and strike the earth with anathema. (Malachi 4:4-6, Douay-Rheims).

Notice that the various translations teach that Elijah is to be on the scene before the Day of the Lord. An event that is at least over six years from now.

How much do you want to bet that in 2024, when absolutely none of Thiel's predictions have become true that he will say God is delaying things. He will never admit he was wrong or even that he had lied. His god will tell him that the time frame has changed, or that the Mayan calendar was wrong or Fatima made the wrong prophecy. Accountability is not something COG leaders are known for.

Then to further establish himself as the true Elijah/Elisha in the eyes of his African members, he claims that Herbert Armstrong thought there might be another Elijah to come.  One guess as to who that person is, even though Flurry, Pack, Weinland, Meredith, Hulme, and many others all claim they are that end time leader.

The Church of God position has been that someone would come in the spirit and power of Elijah to “restore all things” and possibly be one of the two witnesses. While the late Herbert W. Armstrong (died in January 1986) sometimes indicated that he fulfilled that role, he told people that I have personally spoken with that there could be another other than he. Those with a WCG background might find the following quote from Herbert W. Armstrong of some assistance here as he wrote:

Those called into the Church were called not merely for salvation and eternal life, but to learn the way of God’s government and develop the divine character during this mortal life in the Church age…

Also Malachi 4:5-6 pictures the Elijah to come at the very end of the Church age (Mystery of the Ages. 1985, pp. 201, 349).

And when was the “Church age” supposed to end according to Herbert Armstrong’s old church:

God has set before us an open door and no MAN can shut it. God can shut it, and He will when the work is finished and the Philadelphia Church goes to a place of safety. …The Laodicean Church is not going to he worthy to escape to a place of safety. When it is too late, they will find that the Church of Philadelphia has gone to safety (What Is the “LAODICEAN CHURCH”? Good News August 1959 Vol. VIII, Number 8).  

Now since the Church age has not ended, and the Day of the Lord has not yet come, then it follows that Elijah was to come on the scene publicly after this was written. His restoring of “all things” means that he is to be restoring information that the true Church of God once understood, but later must have lost or misunderstood.

Then the arrogant narcissist continues with a broad swipe at Dave Pack and all other COG leaders and groups out there that they are all wrong.  Salvation cannot happen outside the boundaries of the improperly named "continuing" Church of God.  There is no other Church of God on the face of the earth today that has the "sure word of prophecy" that the improperly named "continuing" Church of God does. those who do not heed the call of Elisha Thiel are going to have a tough time in the tribulation.

Now, I should add that RCG’s David Pack is NOT the prophesied end time Elijah despite his claims earlier this year–he has NOT restored the truth and is confused/wrong on many points.

Those of the true and genuine Philadelphian remnant will pay much attention to the voice of the true final Elijah. Those who do not will not fare as well as they could (cf. Revelation 12:14-17).

We in the Continuing Church of God “have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts” (2 Peter 1:19, KJV).”

Elisha Thiel does not have the "sure word of prophecy" any more than Herbert Armstrong did, or Gerald Waterhouse, or Dave Pack, or Ron Weinland, or Gerald Flurry.  Every single one of them has been documented to be liars.

Why is it that every self-appointed leader in the Church of God has or has had serious mental health issues? Even worse, is that their members do not have the discernment to see how sick these men are. How many will have to die before people wake up?