A Plea To RCG Young People by Adelle Ambrose

A Plea To RCG Young People

by Adelle Ambrose

 

Dear Young People of RCG, 

 

In all honesty, I don't even know where to begin. Having been out of The Restored Church of God for almost five years and listening to "The Greatest Untold Story! (Part 443)" just inspired me to write again. I have so many thoughts and emotions about what is happening inside that high-demand religion that I spent my formative years believing in wholeheartedly.

 

Firstly, I want to empathize with you all who are still trapped in that toxic environment ruled by Dave Pack. Those of you who may see the many flaws can see past the plastic show of charisma and charm that your leader puts on in front of the whole church. I feel for those of you who are still living under your parent’s roofs, too young to venture off on your own and flee from RCG.

 

I know many of you. You all are smart, capable individuals. However, how you sit in that room as DCP berates your own generation and, frankly, shouts at you about how the younger you are, “the more rotten you are inside." I would not tolerate it, and the fact you do makes me so sad.

 

All of the young people sitting in that cold room deserve so much better. Not just from the ministry (if I can even call them that anymore) but especially from your own parents, assuming that is how you came to be in RCG.

 

This is clearly fear and manipulation tactics. Take it from someone who suffered fifteen years of Dave Pack pounding on the lectern, perpetually raising his voice. I don't miss being startled so much as an eight-year-old that I would literally jump in my seat.

 

Since I left, nothing in RCG has changed, except for Dave Pack getting worse.

 

 

Dave Pack’s rant about Taylor Swift was so laughable.

 

“She’s this filthy, lewd entertainer who travels the world with barely anything on.”

 

The fact he cares enough to bash a hugely famous, hugely wealthy singer and songwriter is hilarious. What I took away most from his ridiculousness was that his putting her down (as he has with many others in the past) showed me what an insecure person he is. To me, that's all it is. He's showing off his insecurities for the whole church to see. It doesn't look very good for him, I might add. It was kind of like a little child having a hissy fit. But I did get a good chuckle out of it.

 

 

I have a genuine question. Do any of you actually understand what he is teaching anymore? I know I didn't five years ago, and it hasn't gotten any better. I remember sitting in Sabbath Services, trying to take notes and not being able to because I had no idea what was being taught. DCP has set so many wrong dates for his events to transpire, and none happen. How do you sit through the teachings of a man who has been wrong too many times for me to count and still decide that he is God's apostle? If you all honestly believe God is speaking through him, then that is basically you saying these frequent mistakes belong to God. I seem to recall God doesn't do that.

 

What broke my heart and infuriated me most, however, was the way in which DCP spoke to all of the young people in his “True Church.”

 

“So let’s talk about the youth of The Restored Church of God. They will get no slack because they haven’t left. Unless they fear God and start right now. So let’s talk about what God says He has in store for young people today who will be ripped up and eaten alive if they don’t pay attention.”

 

“And the younger you are in this generation, the likely the more rotten you are inside. Unless you change. There are exceptions, of course.”

 

I can’t begin to explain to you all how horrified this makes me feel that he would say such awful, traumatizing (yes, these are traumatizing, hateful words) statements to a group of young people, especially the very young ones, the elementary and middle-school aged kids sitting in that room.

Young adults, how are you willing to let a grown adult yell at you about your own generation and how messed up you apparently all are? How are you okay with hearing that you will get "ripped up and eaten alive" if you leave? His language makes me sick to my stomach, even five years removed from his nonsense.

 

I know how some of you may feel. Yet again, this language is manipulation and a fear tactic. He's admitted to losing young people, as he should be. Who would want to stay in an environment where you are told you are rotten if you don't listen to DCP? That you will die because you don't think DCP is second to God? Some of you practically worship the man at this point. I will admit that when I was a kid, in my head, he was second to God. I was that scared of him, too.

 

I grew up living in fear for the first fifteen years of my life. I know how much it can negatively affect an individual. I know some of you are going to need a lot of therapy after you decide to escape, which breaks my heart. While I haven't received any yet,  I know I will if I ever decide to have a family of my own. I'm scared of bringing parts of my childhood into my adult life. I want to continue to end some of the family dysfunction that grew into a generational cycle.

 

 

Now, I want to directly address the parents of the young folks in RCG.

 

What hurts me most is the adults I looked up to (especially those who attend RCG's World Headquarters) that are still defending a man who is, in my opinion, both verbally and mentally abusive. You are hurting your children. You are causing them a fear they will have to live with and work through for years. I know I still do.

 

You are backing up a man who tells parents still attending that if their kids have left, they will die in a gruesome, horrific way very soon. Worse, even if young people still attend, they could also be "torn apart" anyway. They don't sit in their chairs the right way. They don't have the right look on their face.

 

How can you sit and listen to that? How can you just sit in your chair and not do something about this? As a parent, how is your conscience okay with that?

 

I trusted and looked up to so many of you as a kid, seeing some of you as practically second parents. How is all of this okay with you, Mr. Winkfield? Why do you allow stuff like this to continue, Mr. Schleifer? How can a parent choose to keep their kids in such an emotionally and mentally unsafe environment?

 

All of this truly breaks my heart.

 

 

Young people of The Restored Church of God, I implore you to escape so that you can live a healthier life away from a controlling, narcissistic leader. The god that Dave Pack preaches is not the God of the Bible. God does not lie and trick His servants into lying.

 

If you can, escape so that you can build healthier relationships and families. If you can’t, at least tell your parents how you feel. Let them know what you think about DCP’s words. They may have no clue it even bothers you.

 

 Some of you may be able to help your parents to escape. Escape so that you can break dysfunctional generational cycles. Escape so that you find freedom. Escape so that you can discover all the possibilities that lie outside a high-pressure, toxic religion. Escape so you make your own decisions about people, religion, and the world as a whole. Escape to find peace. Escape to find your true self.

 

Spreading your wings will be terrifying at first. Still, I can promise you what's waiting for you on the outside is infinitely better than being trapped within.

 

 

You can read Adelle Ambrose’s Exit Story here.

Marc Cebrian

See: A Plea To RCG Young People

A Plea To RCG Parents by Jessica Brown

 

A Plea To RCG Parents

by Jessica Brown

 

After watching the video clips of David C. Pack’s “The Greatest Untold Story! (Part 443),” to say I am deeply disturbed is a serious understatement. His insensitive comments directed at the children of The Restored Church of God are horrifying.

 

David C. Pack screams and lashes out at the children and teens who do not believe his fraudulent teachings. He tells them they will be "ripped up" and "eaten by lions" by twisting scriptures in Jeremiah 5 to make it look like it somehow applies to them if they choose to leave RCG (and somehow, I Corinthians 7:14 no longer applies to them). He also mocks and scorns the kids for their supposed attitude problems. 

 

Parents of RCG, how did this make you feel?

 

 

After watching that short clip, a barrage of intense emotions hit me all at once. I felt anger, disgust, sadness, disappointment…and fear for the children of RCG.

 

Why do I feel fear? Because I know that many of these kids are being traumatized by DCP's hateful comments and possibly by their own parents if the parents are in complete agreement with his awful remarks. And it makes me wonder if the parents who support DCP are talking to their children in the same manner DCP spoke to them in Part 443 on May 18, 2023.

 

I fear that these kids will become so damaged by the cruel remarks they hear regularly that they will turn from God altogether and renounce all Christians as evil and abusive. And sadly, that has become all too common in this world, where people don't seem to understand the concept of mercy, especially some who claim to be "Christian."

 

Parents of RCG, are you concerned about how your Pastor General's comments may affect your children's well-being?

 

 

Verbal abuse can have lifelong negative effects on a young person's developing mind. Children are like sponges as they absorb everything they hear, see, and experience. It shapes them into the adults they eventually will become. If children are being put down all the time and constantly being told things like they're worthless and going to get ripped apart by lions just because they are smart enough to see that the leader of their parent's church is a false teacher, what kind of adults will they become? They will either become severely depressed, angry, and fearful, develop health problems, or in the most extreme scenario, turn to illicit behaviors such as drug usage, alcoholism, and other destructive life choices. These are all well-known consequences of emotional abuse, and many documented studies outline these risks in detail. 

 

The American Society for the Positive Care of Children has an insightful article offering a deeper understanding of what constitutes emotional and verbal abuse.

 

“Verbal assault (belittling, screaming, threats, blaming, sarcasm), unpredictable responses, continual negative moods, constant family discord, and chronically communicating conflicting messages are examples of ways parents may subject their children to verbal abuse.”

americanspcc.org

 

After reading that definition of verbal abuse, compare it to the statements made by David C. Pack directed toward the young people of The Restored Church of God.

David C. Pack – Part 443

“You are not under God's protection because you come to this church.”

 

“So let's talk about what God says He has in store for young people today who will be ripped up and eaten alive if they don't pay attention.”

 

“And the younger you are in this generation, the likely the more rotten you are inside.”

 

Parents of RCG, could you imagine Jesus Christ saying these things to the little ones who came to Him? Are these statements an example of what you want your teens to believe God is like?

 

I understand there are cases where children may need a hard "wake-up call" if they are heading down the wrong path and pose a danger to themselves and society. There are things one can do to help steer them in the right direction without outright abusing them. But children who simply are not willing to remain in a church that teaches lies to the members do NOT fall under the category of needing such chastisement. Actually, they are wise because they obey Biblical commands to FLEE from false teachers, whether they know about these scriptures or not.

 

 

Parents of The Restored Church of God, PLEASE consider the damage you are doing to the hearts of your children by allowing them to continually be exposed to the ramblings of a hateful, spiteful, and pride-filled false prophet.

 

Did you talk to your children about the comments in Part 443? Young people pay attention and absorb more than you might think. Did you agree with DCP? Did he rightfully divide the word of truth? Or did he handle the word of God deceitfully?

 

Please consider the genuine dangers that emotional abuse poses to your child's overall well-being and how deeply it could affect them when they become adults. And also, consider the fact that David C. Pack is NOT a man of his word. Nothing he teaches can ever come to pass, or the scriptures would collapse.

 

David C. Pack preaches while claiming God’s name and authority. Does he proclaim the God you worship?

 

Jesus Christ offered a severe warning to those who "offend one of these little ones who believe in me." It was so important it was repeated in Matthew 18:6, Mark 9:42, and Luke 17:2. Please do not ignore this.

 

Read the words of David C. Pack in “Is ‘That Prophet’ Alive Today? The Rise of False Prophets.” A slow and careful reading of this book alongside an open Bible may open your mind. (If you do not have a copy, please write exrcgwebsite@gmail.com.)

 

Dear parents of The Restored Church of God, please do not sacrifice your children for the sake of a man who has become the very person he warned about for years.

 

Please. Save your children from the devastating effects of emotional and spiritual trauma before it’s too late.

 

Mark 10:15

Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.

 

 

You can read Jessica Brown’s Exit Story here.

 

 

Marc Cebrian

See: A Plea To RCG Parents

COGWA: We don’t do watered-down?

 

COGWA: We don’t do watered-down?

By

Lonnie Hendrix

The Church of God: A Worldwide Association website proudly proclaims “Christianity is easy … when you remove its standards, blur its focus, and strip away its purpose. And a lot of churches are happy to do that for you. We aren’t one of them.” They go on to say: “Our job—the mission Christ gave to us—is to share God’s message of life, hope, and truth with the world. We don’t believe that message needs to be updated or polished or reinvented for the modern age.” Superficially, that sounds good - God doesn’t change, so we don’t either! However, when you get into the weeds of what they actually believe and teach, that focus does tend to blur, and some cognitive dissonance becomes apparent.

They say that the Bible doesn’t need to be updated, but then they turn around and preach that Israel’s identity in the modern age needs to be
updated! Unfortunately, like other groups which emerged from the trainwreck of Herbert Armstrong’s Worldwide Church of God, COGWA continues to teach a version of Anglo-Israelism. As part of their Life, Hope & Truth website, they have posted an introductory article by Mike Bennett titled Where is America in Prophecy? The articles listed there (“Blessings of Abraham,” “United States and Britain in Prophecy,” “Why is God Angry?” “U.S. Economic Collapse,” “What Will Happen to America?”) are supposed to answer the question: “What names does the Bible use and what does God foretell for the United States of America?” In Dave Treybig’s Who Are the United States and Britain in Prophecy?, we read that “the British Commonwealth has clearly been the group of nations best matching the prophecies related to Ephraim.” Likewise, according to Mr. Treybig, “As for Manasseh, the United States best fits the biblical description of being a “great” nation (Genesis 48:19) due to its economy and military strength…” But COGWA doesn’t “believe that message needs to be updated or polished or reinvented for the modern age.”

In the May/June issue of their Discern Magazine, Jeremy Lallier wrote an article titled The Danger of Cut-and-Paste Christianity. Jeremy asks, “What do you do with the parts of the Bible that challenge your worldview?” In other words, Mr. Lallier recognizes that parts of the Bible don’t seem to mesh with our modern notions about sexual orientation, tolerance, compassion, violence, and our own life experiences. He wrote: “The Bible is also a book that doesn’t always mesh with our own views about how things should work. There will be stories in the Bible where the words God says and the actions God takes are not the words you think He should say or the actions you think He should take.” He continued: “Whenever we come across parts of the Bible we don’t understand, don’t like, or don’t want to grapple with, we can start mentally cutting and pasting God’s Word until we arrive at a final product that makes sense to us. We replace what the book actually says with the version we’ve created in our minds.”

Unfortunately, while Mr. Lallier and COGWA appear to recognize the dangers inherent in “Cut-and-Paste Christianity,” they seem to be oblivious about how this applies to them! Like many of their counterparts in the ACOG movement, they simply cannot see that they have performed their own cut-and-paste operation on the Torah and other scriptures. They don’t see any dilemma in cutting out clean and unclean meats, tithing, and festival observance and pasting them onto the New Covenant while ignoring other provisions of the Law. They don’t see any dilemma in embracing the Torah’s prohibition of homosexual behavior and ignoring its provisions relative to wearing blended fabrics, receiving tattoos, regulating polygamy and slavery, mildew mitigation, and agricultural practices. Sure, like their counterparts, they justify their cherry-picking with elaborate arguments about different kinds of laws, etc., but the end result is the same!

COGWA also seems to be completely oblivious to the fact that our understanding of many things has greatly expanded over the last two to three thousand years. For them, the writings of the Bible seem to be frozen in time and space. In other words, there is no room for growing in grace and knowledge. For COGWA, it is apparent that the “letter of the law” takes precedence over the “spirit of the law.” Again, like many of their counterparts in the ACOG movement, they seem unable to differentiate between things that reflect the cultural milieu of ancient times and things that represent eternal spiritual principles that are applicable to all times and places.

Moreover, this insistence that the message doesn’t need to be updated goes to the very heart of the ACOG’s (and the larger Christian community’s) problem with attracting interest from younger folks and other more liberally inclined segments of our society. In an online article that originally appeared on News Nation titled Younger generations are 'reckoning' with religion: Theologian, we read: “‘We are reckoning with the ways that so much of our traditional teachings don’t align with the kind of people that we’re trying to be, and that is, in and of itself, the biggest issue,’ said theologian Candice Benbow.” Continuing, we read: “‘When we’re looking at younger generations and populations of people, they are really asking questions about what does it mean to do life with people? What does it mean to honor people’s individuality? What does it mean to honor people’s lived experiences, and not be so beholden to dogmas, that, when you think about it … have taught us really not to see people as people,’ Benbow said.” For those who may be interested, the website which published the research, Public Religion Research Institute, can be found here: https://www.prri.org/topic/religion-culture/

Unfortunately, in the name of defending the inerrancy of Scripture, COGWA has fallen into the same trap that has ensnared most of the other ACOGs (and many other mainstream denominations and groups). To be clear, the Bible and Christianity ARE still relevant! However, the failure of groups like COGWA to update and/or reevaluate their messaging in light of the many scientific and cultural advances of the last five hundred years has severely curtailed the appeal of their messaging and caused a large part of their potential audience to ignore and/or dismiss them out of hand. In a similar fashion, they stubbornly refuse to even entertain the findings of modern Biblical scholarship or the thinking and interpretations of folks who have done deep dives into the original languages and writings which we call the Bible. But don’t hold your breath waiting for a change! As their website indicates, they will probably be preaching the exact same message when the last member turns out the lights for the last time! What do you think?