Exposing the underbelly of Armstrongism in all of its wacky glory! Nothing you read here is made up. What you read here is the up to date face of Herbert W Armstrong's legacy. It's the gritty and dirty behind the scenes look at Armstrongism as you have never seen it before!
With all the new crazy self-appointed Chief Overseers, Apostles, Prophets, Pharisees, legalists, and outright liars leading various Churches of God today, it is important to hold these agents of deception accountable.
Herbert Armstrong's Tangled Web of Corrupt Leaders
It is that time of year again when Church of God members have to deal with two Sabbaths in a row. Regular weekly sabbath and Pentecost. The Great Bwana to Africa and 100 Caucasians knows how mind-numbingly BORING his sermons are, in spite of all the chair bouncing, hand flapping, and arm waving, that his followers are bored as hell. So he says to do this:
So, you have two Sabbaths in a row and perhaps you wonder what you and/or your family should do?
Well, in addition to study, prayer, and church services, there are other things you may wish to do.
Such as?
Completing lessons of the Study the Bible Course, watching animations, and/or various quizzes and Bible games at the COGwriter website.
Ghastly days! Who in hell would want to sit down and do Bwana Bob's heretical Bible Course? Or, worse yet, watch his pathetic sad animations - the greatest gospel tool ever invented so the one true end-time prophet can spread his gospel message.
Here is a better suggestion...take your family to the park. Go to the zoo. Go hike in nature. Go to a museum and learn some actual things worth learning.
Or, if you are one of his African followers could go out to a restaurant with the resident evangelist and sit there and watch him eat while he doesn't talk to you. Fun times!
Anyway, here is what the Great Bwana wants you to do (he needs the clicks):
Should a first date be between two experienced pickup artists interested in fornication? Or should it be between a man and a woman who would like to actually know each other better? Does the Bible give any guidelines that Christians who date should pay attention to? If so, what are some? This brief animation shows a worldly pickup date at a bar, and an inelegant, but appropriate request for a date in a more open environment. Dating should be fun and involve communication, and not regrets. So, check out our animation on worldly vs. Christian dating.
Or discover that Jesus Christ would ONLY join the improperly named "continuing" Church of "god":
If you are looking for a true Christian church, how should you choose? Should you choose based upon any building(s) used? Is the criteria in the Bible? What are some widespread ‘doctrines’ that many churches teach that were not part of the original faith? Do Christians go to heaven upon death? Were early Christians militaristic? What about tradition? This animation addresses those issues and more.
What a great time to be alive and have the opportunity to do such wonderful things in these perilous end times!
To further advance his growing Empire of Speculation, David C. Pack of The Restored Church of God introduced a solid-gold Accountability Shield to further protect him from all biblical responsibilities. Bible prophecy is a process of trial and error, folks. The Pastor General’s desperation knows no bounds.
“The Greatest Unending Story! (Part 444)” on May 20, 2023, was followed by Part 445 on May 24. Part 444 reset the table, but Part 445 tossed a bunch of 444 into the trash to reset the table again. Though, for real, this one last time.
Per Part 444 on May 20:
• The Kingdom Is Not Coming on May 21.
• "If Correct," The Kingdom Comes on May 23 But Must be Before May 25.
• 1-1-7-1K Kingdom Structure Iddn’t Gonna Change.
• Sabbath and Pentecost Constitute “God’s Weekend.”
• Simpler One Month Kingdom: 18-2-10-3.5
Per Part 445 on May 24:
• No Kingdom on May 23 or 25.
• 1-1-7-1K Kingdom Structure Changes to 1-7-1K.
• No One Month Kingdom, But Is Part of The First.
• The Kingdom To Israel Is Inside The Kingdom of God.
• The One Year First Kingdom of God Is 390 Days.
• “God’s Weekend” Never Mind.
• The Kingdom of God Arrives on Pentecost at Sunrise in Jerusalem
Tired of being quoted verses about false prophets and false teachers, David C. Pack found a verse he could mangle just enough to give him cover for seven-and-a-half years of Prophetic Groundhog Days.
Part 444 – May 20, 2023
@ 00:14 Thought I would explain something to you that might be very interesting and helpful… Prophecy (a third of the Bible) is different than (and really contrasted to) all other doctrines. It’s almost not a doctrine. It’s doctrine. It’s many, many doctrines in one.But, when you study prophecy, you study knowing in part, and it requires a certain trial and errorbecause the amount of it is just so vast. There’s trial and error.You see a scenario. You play it out. It looks good. It has some strengths. Then, eventually, things don't work, and you break it down, and you start again. It's trial and error. You know in part and if God’s guiding, you know a little more and a little more.
He compares prophecy to doctrines like tithing, the Sabbath, and Holy Days. But prophecy is different. He perverts the meaning of 1 Corinthians 13:9, “For we know in part, and we prophesy in part,” and finds another Get Out Of Jail Free Card to play.
During Part 373, David C. Pack explained, “I’m telling, not foretelling.”
During Part 425, he redefined “inspired preaching” to mean “teaching what the Bible says.”
Now, during Part 444, teaching Bible prophecy “requires a certain trial and error.”
Each step defuses the discernment that he is a false prophet and a false teacher. Excuse piled upon excuse piled upon excuse. David C. Pack found another way to “explain away” his persistent failures while also absolving himself of all responsibility for those failures.
He is just a victim of the process, brethren, and not a perpetrator of biblical fraud handling the word of God deceitfully. So, it is okay to continue to pay him to set dates because, by design, one-third of the Bible was always meant to be approached this way.
Part 444 – May 20, 2023
@ 03:10 But prophecy is different. God nowhere says you know about the Sabbath in part. Or tithing in part. Or the Holy Days on unclean meat. There's no other place in the Bible regarding any other subject, any other doctrine where you know in part.
David C. Pack admits that Bible prophecy is basically a guessing game. Except, he seemed torn as to what prophecy is. “It’s almost not a doctrine. It’s doctrine. It’s many, many doctrines in one.”
It's not. It is. It's many. That is another sign of the divided house between his ears.
doctrine
a belief or set of beliefs held and taught by a Church, political party, or other group
Bible prophecy is a doctrine, despite how Dave wants to frame it. Setting a date for the return of Jesus Christ and having it fail still constitutes being a false prophet, despite how Dave wants to frame it.
The revelation that understanding Bible prophecy requires trial and error was such a huge relief for Dave he expanded on it four days later.
Part 445 – May 24, 2023
@ 00:29 …regarding prophecy, we know in part. Requiring trial and error. To some degree, you could say, "hit and miss." We have to piecemeal our way to develop the picture.And I contrasted this approach to other doctrines. I think I cited seven.
@ 01:00 Many found I heard this from many, actually, quite a few. I think, including ministers. Members and ministers. Many found this very helpful.
The people at Headquarters who found this new unbiblical concept helpful are the most pitiful in The Restored Church of God. Perhaps they got the same sense of relief Dave did because it gives a plausible excuse for why he cannot get anything right. It removes accountability for teaching fraud but also eliminates the responsibility of the members to obey the Bible and hold their human idol accountable.
The brethren are not being defrauded. They are enduring. That must have soothed the consciences of many still holding on despite knowing they continue to tithe to The Restored Church of Another god.
It is like when a cheating husband gains relief from guilt because he discovers that his wife has also been cheating. Something uncomfortable suddenly becomes a win/win situation.
After listing all the correct doctrines RCG still holds on to, including the truth about hair pieces and tattoos, Dave finds another way to transfer the blame onto others. It is always the fault of those who leave and never about what and how he taught.
Part 445 – May 24, 2023
@ 03:20 We have, we teach, and we know the Truth. All of it. I might ask, Why ever leave over prophetic trial and error when we’ve learned so much more than others who know so little?… Because it involved piecemeal, some hit-and-miss, and trial and error.
You can now add piecemeal to the process. The Bible must be filled with the concept of hit-and-miss. If you can find those verses, please email exrcgwebsite@gmail.com. My version of e-Sword seems to be lacking them.
@ 03:56 All those other doctrines are clear. They’re taught in a very clean and clear way… But not when you're talking about one-third of the Bible. So, as I’ve said all through the Series, people who wanna leave because we can’t get the third right when we’re moving way beyond everybody else on that and already have the rest of the truth, they just don’t wanna obey God. They just don’t wanna obey God.
The Restored Church of God
Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad™
The idea that one-third of the Bible was not taught in a clean, clear way so that God’s people could discern a false teacher from a true one never enters the discussion.
May God have mercy on David Crowl Pack.
His blindness continually denies any and all responsibility for causing the little ones to stumble. He is NEVER the cause.
If that one sheep wandered off from the flock—good riddance. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out. No millstones are engraved with Dave’s name because those who left RCG “just don’t wanna obey God.” Easy-peasy.
Now that "trial and error" has become an official doctrine of The Restored Church of God, the brethren can look forward to an unapologetic continuation of the Series after Pentecost fails to produce anything beyond stuffed green envelopes.
Part 445 – May 24, 2023
@ 45:10 Dawn in Jerusalem is the only time when the entire world dawn in Jerusalem when the entire world is inside Pentecost.Either just crept into it or just about to pass out. It’s “fully come” to the whole planet worldwide.
@ 47:28 So, what the disciples were asking is exactly what we’re asking. Only finally, trial and error, piecemeal, you know, here a little, there a little, hit and miss. We have pinned down, or we're pinning down when I'm done, I'm gonna give you about forty-eight things; we'll have given you that many that point to Pentecost that appear to make it impossible to move away from.
Pentecost—May 28, 2023
Sunrise in Jerusalem: 5:35 AM(May 27 at 10:35 PM ET)
Sunrise in Wadsworth: 5:59 AM ET
@ 1:15:21 What other day would you pick? I mean, if it’s not Pentecost, it’s gonna take a better person than I to ever be able to explain it.It’s just above my pay grade.
Better Future Dave has already phoned ahead to accept the challenge. Do not be surprised when more “clarifying” comes out of Headquarters this weekend.
@ 1:21:58 But, if it’s not Pentecost, then I don’t know what it is.
By the time I sip my morning coffee tomorrow, David C. Pack will have erred again before the entire church. Those who choose to put their green envelopes in the basket are willing to accept they now attend The Trial and Error Church of Another god.
You get what you pay for. Prepare to keep getting more of it.
A famous quote by W.C. Field applies to Parts 444 and 445.
“If at first don’t succeed, try, try again…”
It is the lesser-known second-half that perfectly applies to David C. Pack.
“Then quit. No use being a damn fool about it.”
David C. Pack is a damn fool too arrogant to know when to quit. The brethren of The Trial and Error Church of Another god are proving they agree with a damn fool and want to keep supporting one. Shame upon both your houses.
To cling to a "trial and error" philosophy is to accept perpetual defeat into the vanishing point. It also proves that ERROR is half of the equation. Which Spirit guides that thinking, the Spirit of Truth or the Spirit of Error?
You also cannot have “hit-and-miss” with David C. Pack because he is ALL miss and NEVER hit. Pentecost tomorrow will only be the most recent example.
Even the Prophets of Baal knew when to give up and let Elijah call upon God. They were instantly proven false when the fire burned the water along with the sacrifice. The brook Kishon drank much blood that day.
It took self-aggrandizing prophecy expert David Crowl Pack the vast experience of fifty years to reach his ultimate conclusion of the matter: Bible prophecy requires trial and error.
Talk about a great cloud of witnesses that David C. Pack is a biblical fraud, a false apostle, and a false prophet. Also, being a blaspheming liar and hypocrite does help his case for legitimacy.
Abraham understood that even with God, there comes a point where there are not enough righteous left in Sodom to keep it from burning.
How many righteous remain in The Restored Church of God?
Do not stick around to find out. Get out while you still can.
“Rupert's theories were later influential on Herbert W. Armstrong, who adopted many of his ideas about church eras and Jewish holy day observance, along with his British Israelist genealogies of western peoples.[2][3]Clarence Orvil Dodd introduced Armstrong to Rupert's ideas.” (Wikipedia, Article on G. G. Rupert)
A Brief History of the Arianist View of the Holy Spirit
The idea of the Holy spirit really bothers some people. Sometimes I think it is because he is sometimes referred to as the Holy Ghost. And the idea of a ghost, a dead person walking around, makes some people cringe. I doubt that this is what influenced the thinking of Arius, an ascetic, North African clergyman, back in about 300 A.D. Who knows why he thought what he did, really. He was a handsome guy that women found charming and he had novel ideas about God. You know the type. Arius conjectured that God was not a Trinity. He seemed to be all right with the Father, but Jesus and the Holy Spirit must have bothered him. He asserted that Jesus was actually a created being and was subordinate to God even though Jesus created all things. Jesus, after all, was begotten. Arius seems to have cast the scriptural ideas of Incarnation and Kenosis aside. This reduced Jesus to a role similar to that of a Demiurge in Gnostic belief. And the Holy Spirit was not a Person but the illuminating and sanctifying power of God. These views developed into the one-off theology of Arianism. Though Arianism was condemned as a heresy beginning about 325 A.D., some people have clung to it down through the centuries.
So, fast forward to the Nineteenth Century and an apocalyptic movement called Millerism. Professor Woodrow Whidden describes the 19th Century Adventist Movement as having “a rather pervasive, Arian, Semi-Arian and legalistic mindset.” Out of this seething cauldron of apocalypticism and dashed expectations came the ideas that influenced G.G. Rupert. Rupert, a man with a long scraggly beard, had some ill-defined relationship with the Church of God Seventh Day and started his own organization called The Remnant of Israel with its own publication and based near Oklahoma City (we might say the WCG “in embryo”). And then later we find Herbert W. Armstrong (HWA), influenced by the theology of the Church of God Seventh Day and Rupertism, holding a belief in a Semi-Arian doctrine of God.
The term “Armstrongism” is a misnomer although its colloquial use is likely to continue. Armstrongism is really a form of Rupertism and HWA was really a disciple of G. G. Rupert. If God withheld the truth for eighteen and a half centuries and then revealed it, he revealed it to Rupert and not HWA. HWA only added some syncretistic touches to this essential body of Rupertist “truth”.
The Personhood of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is a Person even though he is referred to in scripture with literary metaphors. God is referred to as a Rock in the OT, for instance, but that is not an ontological statement, just a metaphor. The Bible is replete with allegory, replete with metaphor. It is the bane of Biblical literalists who find themselves having to continually make decisions about what is literal and what is figurative, if anything. Wisdom is personified in Proverbs, for instance. Could then the Holy Spirit, described as a sentient being in the New Testament, just be a personification? The answer of course is "No." Here are a couple of reasons why:
1. God is absolute. He spoke the heavens and the earth into existence. He does not need a divine “tractor beam” (q.v., Star Trek) to accomplish things like an artisan reliant on a tool. If he wants the motion of the sun to stop, it will stop. He can make the sun exist or not exist as it pleases him. He does not need to dispatch an energy to a remote location and expend unimaginable numbers of ergs to halt the motion of the sun. He does not need to control reality with the aid of a force; he creates reality. It exists because he exists. This means that all the language in scripture that uses terms from the physical universe (“pour out”, etc.) to speak about the Spirit is allegorical.
2. Another compelling argument supporting the Holy Spirit as a Person is a simple one. There is what are called Triadic Formulae in the New Testament. Matthew 28:18 is an explicit example. The verse mentions Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Why would the NT authors list the Holy Spirit as syntactically equal with the Father and the Son if the Holy Spirit were not a sentient being? From context, the Triads are clearly non-metaphorical. Their description of God is literal and not lyrical – ontological and not liturgical metaphor. While the language used in scripture that portrays the Spirit using physical processes (“poured out”) seems appropriate to the context, the Triadic context is not suited to metaphor. God would not inspire a Triad using Father, Son and Holy Spirit at syntactical and existential parity that consists of two literal Persons plus a mere metaphor. While metaphor is used liberally in scripture, it is intended to illustrate and not confuse.
Some argue against the Personhood of the Holy Spirit by observing that he is not included in passages where he might be expected. Citing scriptures that seem like they should include the Holy Spirit but they do not is an apophatic argument. It is like the glib argument of atheists when they state “I looked for God in the sky and did not see him so he doesn’t exist.” Maybe their Looking Methodology is flawed or presumptive. Moreover, the apophatic arguments do not have the weight of cataphatic arguments. The existence of Triadic Formulae is cataphatic. They are declarative statements of a relationship between three subjects who are syntactically equal because the three subjects are ontologically equal. While the apophatic argument may or may not have cogency (the data is non-determinative), the cataphatic statements most certainly do. Any renunciation of the Personhood of the Holy Spirit must rationally dissolve these cataphatic Triads.
Drawing on Quantum Mechanics
I am not invoking quantum mechanics here to seem impressive. Paul does say there is a role for Natural Theology in this statement: “Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So, they have no excuse for not knowing God.” Some will use this statement to assert that God has a body like a natural man based on a literal interpretation of some OT language. But let us go deeper with Paul’s idea. If God has a body, then he has locality. If he has locality, say at point A in spacetime, then he is not at point B. He must somehow travel the distance between point A and B to arrive at point B. And when he is at point B, he is not at point A. This means that God is bound by distance. It even makes sense that he must ride a cherubim to get from place to place. And the idea that he must use a power or energy or force (aka Holy Spirit of Arius) to remotely manipulate the properties of the distant Cosmos is then plausible.
Let me ruin this Arian view by pointing out that there is something in quantum mechanics called quantum entanglement. Theology must be informed by science. In brief, if two photons (a quantum or particle of light) are entangled, they both react to external forces in a perfectly correlated way without regard to distance. The last four words of that sentence are critical to this understanding. “Without regard to distance.” If a photon is made to react, its entangled photon twin will also react with no delay in time and no matter how distant it is away. So, at some level in reality, the concept of distance does not even exist. Why then would God, who created and now sustains reality, be bound by the concept of distance implicit in a bodily existence – a concept of distance that does not even exist at every level of the Cosmos he has created. So, the idea of God operating the universe at distance through a force or energy called the Holy Spirit fails. God is absolute. He created spacetime and is not bound by it. In his realm, there is no time and there is no space. The model which has God using an energy to control the Cosmos remotely is a peculiar literal interpretation of archaic Hebraisms that are intended for literary purposes.
Coda
The Holy Spirit is a Person. Arius, long ago rejected by the church, was wrong and G.G. Rupert and other Millerites should not have paid any attention to him. The syntax of the Triads seals the Holy Spirit into the God class as a sentient Person. God is not going to be restricted by distance when the photons he created are not. I believe it is time for all Arians and Semi-Arians to reconsider their theology.
