UCG Still Seeking To Understand Itself After 27 Years

ht to a UCG source

 

The United Church of God has been in existence now for around 27 years after their great apostasy from the mother church. Since their split off from the mother church, they themselves had a devastating split that they never have fully recovered from. Retention of members is also an issue as people come and go in UCG like a revolving door as people church hop to the next COG they think is doing the best "work".

When they split off in 1995 they had a chance to start a new church, free from any of the past rules, thoughts, and practices they had grown up with in their mother church. Sadly, it was business as usual with them, and the same tired and worn-out actions and policies were soon in effect leading many to say UCG was the most boring liberal COG out there.

Every year when the Council of Elders meets they are faced with many of those issues that they never had the guts to deal with in the first place. The COE met earlier this month and these are some of the things they still need to work on after 17 years:

Feast of Tabernacles: we had great attendance, numbers increased over last year with higher in-person attendance. We need to put perspective on the Feast of Tabernacles for what it truly is; we need to stress the value of the holy convocation, especially the opening night at the Feast of Tabernacles. The opening night service should set the tone – praise, worship, fellowship with God and family; we are there to worship God. 

Every single COG is having a problem with members who do NOT show up for the opening night of their Feast. 

Visiting local church areas: Mr. Shabi mentioned that it has been satisfying meeting the people and has found it very inspiring. He added that visiting the brethren is important to Him.




Buildings owned by the Church: Mr. Shabi shared his thoughts about the benefits of them. When God opens the door to purchasing buildings, we need to pursue them and use them to help build relationships and educational opportunities.

One of the biggest faults of the COG is not having local buildings where they have a presence in their communities AND set an example by contributing to those communities. The COG has always been a transient church with no ties anywhere other than where their HQ's are located. 

Congregational Care: We are commanded to take care of the sheep, the people (John 21), it’s an important part of our responsibility. We need to help congregations/ministers/members through education. Our lives are different, society has changed. We’re all trying to navigate these changes – we need to be guiding our brethren.

The COG tradition has always held the members at arm's length as if they had dirty diapers on. Engage with them when necessary or if you need money. Constantly berate them for never doing anything right. Blame them for the delay in the return of Christ or issues in the "work". 

Talent: We have a ton of talent at the home office and within the church – we need to use it.
Mr. Shabi commented that the Home Office is in a unique position; we should be willing to set the standard for all congregations based on God’s vision for the church.

When has any COG HQ ever truly recognized "talent" in their employ or in the church as a whole? Pasadena surely never did and that tradition carries over into UCG and other COG's.

Ambassador Bible College: classes are in full swing; Mr. Shabi has attended some of the classes and is impressed with how it all works together, students and all. It’s an important part of the work of the Church.

The earth-shattering educational system of UCG is its ABC program which now includes 26 students. Let that sink in again, 26!

ABC is nearing the end of the first semester with 26 students, with the current expectation that three young ladies from Chile will join the class in January.




The home office: The facility itself is a beautiful place: we have a wonderful studio, it has a purpose and it will be used more and more going forward. 

So, you dump money into beautiful buildings and studios and are not using them effectively now?

Media Department: Mr. Shabi appreciates getting to know the younger people who are working in the media department and the talent they possess. He mentioned that we need to tap into this talent and use it to effectively reach both the older and the younger generations alike.

Are we being effective? We need to ask these questions and seek the answers on how God would have us be effective in our preaching of the gospel and taking care of His people. 

UCG's current "effectiveness" translates in numbers below as incredibly sad. The impact is minimal, if at all, in the world.

• United News circulation is currently at 18,677, which is 1.2% more than this time last year and our all-time high.
• Our coworker count is now at 8,726—0.8% lower than the same time last year. Our all-time high was May 2022 with 9,023.
• Our donor list now includes 9,440 people—10.9% lower than this time last year. (Our all-time high was 10,913 in January of 2022.)
• Total Beyond Today magazine circulation worldwide is at 326,806 for the Nov.-Dec. 2022 issue—which is 0.1% less than the same time last year. Our Sep.-Oct. 2022 issue was 335,467—our highest since January 2013.
• U.S. magazine subscribers are at 277,363 for the Nov.-Dec. 2022 issue. This is 0.7% less than the same time last year. Our Sep.-Oct. 2022 issue was 285,250—our highest since March 2012.
• The December subscriber development letter from Rick Shabi is being prepared to send to 186,695 subscribers. It offers “Tools for Spiritual Growth.” Responses are expected to begin coming in during the final week of December.
• Those people on our U.S. file associated with the Church (teens, members, associated) as of November 30 is 11,937—1.4% lower than last November.
• The number of telephone and website responses from Beyond Today TV since 2006 stands at 401,172.
• The Church’s Beyond Today YouTube channel at youtube.com/user/BeyondTodayTV has had 15.25 million video views since November 2006 (a 5.8% increase since last November) and has 68,600 subscribers (a 4.9% increase since last October).

 

The United Church of God website is a major key to what we are doing. The home page has been static for a few years. A home page redesign will be rolled out in Jan-Feb 2023. 

New designs for web pages do not attract people to churches. The actions of the church and its members are what attract people to a church. If you can't even keep your own members engaged how can you impact the world around you? 

We need to have that ladder of engagement: follow-ups, who is coming back, why, what caused this and how can we keep them coming back? 

In the 80 some years of the Armstrongite era of the COG over 150,000 people had come and gone in the church (pre-1995). No one ever followed up or really cared. Instead, it was easier to call them Laodiceans and glibly state they had their chance at the truth and will now have to suffer till God wakes them up (while we, the Philadelphians, are in Petra). 

The New Testament commentary needs to be finished ASAP. 

Holy Hanna! We do not need another COG weighing in on how scripture needs to be interpreted with an official commentary! The church has its own version of the Bible, thanks to Fred Coulter, so I guess it should have its own Bible commentary. It's strange that they chose the New Testament since they care so little about what its central message is as compared to its worship of the Old Testament and all its laws. 

The United Church of God international ministerial work: Although a large portion of our membership is based in the United States, we have to keep in mind that we are an international work. We need to engage and work even closer with our international ministry and membership so that we can understand their needs and how best to support them.

Ask any person on the street in any city in the U.S. or any other nation and no one will be able to tell you who they are. Ask any person on the street what they teach about Jesus and no one can tell you. 

Self-Appointed Prophet And Accuser Of The Brethren Says, There Are Times People Should Keep Their Mouths Shut

It's been a few hours since we had anything on here from our favorite Holy Child, the world's foremost church historian, the Great Bwana to Africa, and the most important COG leader in human history whose existence was planned before the beginning of creation as part of the salvational works necessary before Christ can return back to earth.

The Great Bwana has a bone to pick with people in the church who "gossip". Of course, in Armstrongland this is anyone who dares to criticize church leaders and what they preach. When these people wake up and dare to question, they are immediately labeled as "dissidents" in order to shut them up. The problem the Great Bwana and most of the other abusive COG leaders today have is they no longer have the power to shut people up. The internet has basically destroyed their quests of omnipotence and pure devotion from their rapidly shrinking fields of devotees.

In a letter to his African followers and his 150 Caucasians, he trots out his favorite COG personality, Dibar Apartian, and an article he wrote for the January 1982 Good News magazine.

WHY God Hates Gossip!
by Dibar Apartian 

 

Do you know what scourge victimizes more people every year than all the sicknesses and accidents in the world? It is the deadly poison of gossip. 

 

The Bible reveals that Satan the devil is the accuser of the brethren (Rev. 12:10). 

 

But how does he accuse us? By spreading rumors and causing gossip.

Shutting down questioning by their followers is an important method of control for cults and the Churches of God have mastered that ability. Labeling people dissidents and then publicly disfellowshipping and marking people is an effective tool to shut people up. Fear is one of the most important tools used by the Church of God to control members. 

Thankfully, we have all watched over the last several decades and especially over the last several years with Bob Thiel, Dave Pack, and Gerald Flurry as people have publicly exposed their lies and false teachings, and outlandish proclamations.

The other tool to shut people down is tossing around the label "true Christian". Bwana Bob is particularly prone to this as a vain attempt to legitimize his little personality cult and devalue all other COG groups and particularly Christians in the world.

Quoting Apartian, 

But God commands, “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour” (Ex. 20:16). Do you grasp the depth of this commandment? Bearing false witness against someone can not only involve lying, but also accusing, gossiping and spreading rumors.

If you are truly a Christian, you should never take part in any of these activities. You should not accuse others, whether it be to defend yourself, to cover your mistakes or merely to make yourself look good in the eyes of others. In other words, the Ninth Commandment forbids lies, accusation, gossip and spreading rumors. That’s what bearing false witness is!

As a true Christian, you are to love your neighbor as yourself (Matt. 22:39). But how can you love your neighbor if you accuse him or gossip about him? How can you love him if you have a part in breaking up his family or his home or in making him lose his friends?

How can we love men who lie about themselves, destroy families, spiritually decimate members' lives, cause suicides, and even murder?

Should COG members sit by and let these men get by with their abuse or hold them accountable?

Jesus certainly held the leaders of Israel and elsewhere accountable for their actions. He flipped tables and cast out the money changers. He warred about lying ravenous wolves pretending to be "true" COG leaders, he warned about false prophets who dream dreams and set themselves as rulers over the members. He warned how easy it is to be conned by these duplicitous buffoons.

At the end of quoting Apartian's article, the Great Bwana has this to say:

Be a true witness, not a talebearer. And yes there are times we all should keep our mouths shut.

Yes, Bob, it is time to shut your mouth! Stop lying to your followers about nightmares you have. Stop assigning yourself the Biblical attributes of Old Testament characters. You will never in your entire life ever measure up to any of those prophets! Stop preaching and writing about thousands of asinine topics that NO ONE in Africa or the rest of the world gives a rats ass about. Stop writing about things that have nothing to do with being a follower of Jesus. Stop preaching your false gospel that totally ignores Jesus and anything he proclaimed and accomplished through his death and resurrection.

Yes, Bob. It is time to keep your mouth shut!

 

Dave Pack: Stringing People Along

The String-Along

 

Members of The Restored Church of God have become so used to the disappointment they are numb by now. Another date of something-or-other is set by David C. Pack. Another date of a whole-lotta-nothin’ comes to pass. And yet, the more things fail to manifest, the more sure they are it will.

 

The proverbial ostrich sticking its head into the sand has nothing on the stalwarts of RCG. They are so invested in their denial and ferocious in defense of that denial they are buried in fantasy down to the kneecaps.

 

The longer you hold your breath, and the tighter you close your eyes, the more real something will become. In the world, they call that "wishing." But in RCG, that is called "faith."

 

The Restored Church of God members wish their Pastor General was correct about his ever-changing teachings. They wish that God is guiding him to fully reveal the Mystery of God so that Jesus Christ will return to earth on Christmas Eve to bring them all eternal life.

 

The spirit of error has taken root inside RCG and is spreading.

 

 

Some trapped inside RCG recognize what is happening but are paralyzed as to what to do. Others have chosen to take action.

 

Field ministers are reporting departures. It was not a good week for Brian Jackson or Larry Cockshutt.

 

The ministry at Headquarters knows tensions are high, and rather than sitting quietly, they have to keep posting worthless, Pathetic Updates. Four postings in four days.

 

Call it Damage Control as they continue to string along the brethren.

 

The Monday posting threw the Uno Reverse card on the half day teaching, which was an essential revelation by God two days earlier. This was reported in a previous article.

 

Prophecy Update – Monday, December 12, 2022

 

There is much evidence that the first period is no more or less than 10 days. It came to be that when God says 10 days of tribulation, we should not add or subtract time. Think of His precision with 1,335 days or 3.5 days! The only variable is whether Christ wants to spend time with us before the 10 days begin. This seems unlikely, but not impossible. Your watch could start as laid out in Pt 409, but don’t be surprised if 10 days is exact—with everything starting a half-day later than 409 explained.

 

So, never mind. The spirit of error was active during Part 409. Being off by 12 hours is no big deal.

 

That begs the question, Why teach it at all? The answer is Dave has to be right. To be off by 12 hours would be such a bitter pill to swallow for all eternity.

 

Stringing the brethren along gives the impression of further development. It hides Dave’s moonwalking. It hides the biblical accordion, expanding and contracting. The math is always flexible.

 

 

Prophecy Update – Tuesday, December 13, 2022

 

We have all heard the term, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” This note is just that! Having one more night to consider all the verses on timing, it is helpful to include this brief amendment to yesterday’s Member Services announcement. While there is the case for everything starting exactly 10 days and nights before the day of the Lord, recall Mr. Pack has also wrestled with the many dawn/sunrise verses that counter the idea of 10 precise days. If the first period is 10 days and 9 nights (a total of 9.5 days), this would not break scripture—and would be a shorter trial for all mankind to endure! We could all hope this is the case, but will wait for whatever God’s will is, no matter what.

 

I had to laugh out loud. If David C. Pack had kept his mouth shut and NOT taught Part 408 and Part 409, this string along Damage Control would not be necessary. He could have prevented his own embarrassment last week and this week. But no, he had to keep meddling. He had to keep stringing it out.

 

Wednesday was supposed to be the beginning of the 1335 of Daniel 12:12. Quibbling over half a day seems rather foolish in the grand scheme of things. Let God's will be done.

 

10 days. 10.5 days. 10 days. 9.5 days. Just let it come already.

 

The subtext of these postings is to devalue Dave’s bloated machinations.

 

 

Prophecy Update – Wednesday, December 14, 2022

 

We are the people who “hear Christ’s voice” (Jn. 10:27) and “follow the Lamb whithersoever He goes” (Rev. 14:4). This has in some ways never been truer than with our ever-expanding knowledge of prophecy.God often layers in more facts as time goes on while retaining elements of previous messages. This has proven to be the case with the “Mt. Everest” of Tevet 1! This towering day still is central. It has not moved in importance. You will be stunned by what will be explained on the livestream Friday night!

 

Apparently not.

 

It was not Christ’s voice they heard teaching about what did not happen last week or this week.

 

The members of RCG are following a man, not God. A human idol who spends most of his time during sermons preaching about himself.

 

If you wonder about this being a mischaracterization of the truth, please read A Self-Care Disaster. Or revisit the topics covered in Part 404 and Part 405 in The RCG Eraser. Then decide if what these articles present are concocted lies and deception.

 

The members of The Restored Church of God are NOT following Jesus Christ. They are following David C. Pack. To say otherwise is willful blindness.

 

 

Part 410 was delayed from Friday to Saturday. Why take up a free night when you can impose nonsense on a capt(ured) audience on the Sabbath? This is a great way to string brethren along for another day.

 

Thursday, December 15, 2022

 

Dear brethren,

 

Please note Mr. Pack will deliver a live message during services this Sabbath, December 17.

 

For planning purposes, services at Headquarters begins at 2:30 p.m. and the live stream in Member Services will be opened a few minutes before the sermon starts at approximately 2:45 p.m. (Eastern Time.)

 

Everyone who is able should connect to this live message.

 

For those unable to join live, the message will be available to watch afterward.

 

Kind regards,

Church Administration

 

David C. Pack must be annoyed that the brethren of RCG are wasting their time focusing on God during Sabbath Services. Instead of letting God steal Dave's thunder, he decided to make it all about him again as he force-feeds his prophetic foolishness to a capt(ured) audience.

 

Dave takes on titles belonging to Jesus Christ.

Dave preaches about himself all throughout the Bible.

Dave now makes the Sabbath focus on what he has to say.

 

Hmm. How is that not idolatry?

 

Part 410 will further string along the idea that the Tevet 1 Christmas Eve arrival of Jesus Christ is still “on track.”

 

How Elijah-centric the message today will be is unknown. After all, an unordained non-prophet/non-psychic can only see so much through the Magic 8 Ball.

 

The spirit of error has captured the corporate sheepfold of RCG and has made David C. Pack its bitch.

 

Tie a string around your finger to remember that.

Marc Cebrian

See: The Strong Along