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
Every COG sermon I’ve heard about how to have the best-ever Feast of Tabernacles offers the same advice: commit to serving others.
Be an usher!
Be a parking lot attendant (wave those orange cones)!
Help organize and decorate the meeting hall!
Work with the audio-video crew!
Join the choir!
Serve at the information booth!
Find new ways to serve!
But even if every attendant were to sign up for a volunteer position (cutting back on their COG’s expenses), at some point you will still hear a sermon or sermonette about how to combat “post-feast letdown.”
Post-feast letdown
After a week of joining others in celebrating the future thousand-year earthly reign of God’s Kingdom—the “World Tomorrow”—the mere thought of going “back into the world” is a downer.
Recently, an active COG member also confided to me that he always looks forward to the feast, enjoys it, but then leaves on an “empty tank,” feeling as if he had just squandered another opportunity for spiritual growth.
This is not unusual.
The problem
Despite what you’re led to believe, usually, it’s not that the feast is so spiritual that the contrast of going back into the world is a letdown. The truth is that, in many cases, “the feast” is indistinguishable from a feel-good convention, with its lineup of speakers, its organizational rah-rah cheerleading, its seminars (on all manner of topics), its entertainment, its stage bands, its fine foods, and its social activities.
What you actually experience is a natural letdown from a manufactured high.
A “good feast,” you believe, is one in which you make a ton of new friends and enjoy a full activity schedule. It might include skating, a family dance, pizza parties, go-karts, cookouts, singles dinners, couples dinners, ministers dinners, youth day, a movie night, raffles, site-seeing tours, beach volleyball parties, and other opportunities for fun and fellowship.
But the reality for many is that the feast is a very un-spiritual time, despite all their self-congratulatory talk about how blessed they are to be “called” to understand and keep “God’s feasts.” It’s a fun convention that allows people who were directly or indirectly affected by the Armstrongs to catch up with each other.
In short, you believe a good feast is a fun feast, a full feast—which makes for a fast, fatiguing feast.
The solution
Be honest: How many of you pray at the feast? I don’t mean just bowing your head after announcements while a deacon asks God through a microphone to “inspire the speaking and the hearing.” I mean deep, silent, personal, meditative prayer to get in tune with God’s will for your life.
I hope your experience is different, but when I attended COG FOTs, it never occurred to me to pray with any depth. Instead, after a full day of fun and noisy activity, I’d offer up a late check-in prayer at night as I drifted to sleep.
Years after my separation from COG culture, however, I began making “silent retreats.” They usually take place over a long weekend (maybe three days) with other men who come for the same purpose.
At the peaceful, scenic retreat house, we are all provided our own simple living quarters (no TVs, no telephones, no Bluetooth speakers, no wet bars).
We wake up early and spend each day not bombarded with sound system checks or engaged in chit-chat, but in complete silence. (Sometimes we all forget what that sounds like.) Usually, there are a few scheduled spiritual talks given by the retreat master, offering reflections on Christian teaching. Attendance at the talks is not compulsory but is usually helpful. If tired, naps are encouraged. The rest of the day is reserved for private prayer and meditation in solitude.
This can take the form of praying during an outdoor walk by oneself. It could be going to the library to prayerfully read the Scriptures, or to read books about the lives of heroic Christians who lived before us. It could be seeing Jesus eye to eye in prayer, examining our own life in light of the gospel.
We’re called to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect — how do we measure up? Where have we made the most progress, and where have we made the least? What’s our game plan?
We must honestly assess where we stand, realizing full well that God is never angry with our failures, but is always calling us deeper into the life of Christ, wooing us to come closer to him. While he is not indifferent to sin, he is patient with us. He is doing a work in us, and we have to let him. We remember the love with which he searches for and embraces his prodigal children.
The difference
It took no time at all to see how my annual silent retreats compared to the annual Feast of Tabernacles I grew up with.
With FOTs, time flew because I was having fun, and I hated going home because that was not as fun. I’d have to wait another year to hang out with my new friends at the pool party or arcade. It was a downer. Back to the daily grind, back to the salt mine.
But my silent retreats—I hardly mind when they’re over, because I’m rejuvenated. Having put aside for a time the daily cares of the world in order to refocus my spiritual life, I actually look forward to going home and living a rededicated Christian life. Refreshed rather than run down, I’m up for the challenge. I feel better equipped to live out my calling in Jesus.
My advice to feastgoers
My purpose here is not to dissuade you from observing the holy days of Leviticus. That can wait for another post. Instead, for now, I encourage you to observe the fall feast with spiritual intensity, and not as if it were “God’s Vacation Plan.”
Decide your priority ahead of time. Refuse the pizza parties, the volleyball games, the socials, the family fun shows, the singalongs—all the noisy distractions. “Just say no.”
In a word, you must get away and pray. Be still in your soul. Listen to the still, small voice of God in your heart, because prayer is never a one-way conversation.
You already took more than a week off from work and school, so use that time wisely. Take walks on the beach by yourself, accompanied only by the seagulls. As massive and powerful as the ocean is, teeming with life, see it as a metaphor for God’s power and might. As one created out of nothing, meditate on your life’s direction and purpose. Slow down to read and ponder the Scriptures—not just Leviticus 23, but also the Gospels, which reveal how Jesus fulfills all that the Scriptures foretold through its historical shadows and figures. He should be at the heart of every prayer.
It’s not going on a fall vacation that God honors, but a humble and contrite heart.
If you commit to seeking God’s face and his will for your life, taking time to silence the noise of distraction that surrounds you, and being persistent in prayer, then who am I to judge you? I have complete faith that he will lead your next steps.
Many years ago, the Pasadena Church Offices were located on the 1st floor of the Hall of Administration just down the hallway from the Security Department and next door to the switchboard for the college and church. Security staff said they regularly heard ministers standing in the hallway making fun of members who had come in for counseling. Mocking church members regarding their problems and issues was a regular thing with far too many in the ministry. Since none of them had ever been properly trained in REAL counseling techniques, they had no concept of what confidentiality was or the sacredness of the space.
That tradition carries on in the Living Church of God today.
This is from a reader:
I thought you might find this interesting.
I went on a tour of LCG headquarters in Charlotte, NC. The tour guide showed us around the entire building.
While I was there a woman who worked there in the office showed me this bulletin board they have for when they receive Tomorrow's World emails. She said that they get so many prayer requests and [some are] "ridiculous" so they hang them on the bulletin board and make fun of them.
One, in particular, she pointed out to me was from a man who politely asked them to pray that God sends him a wife.
They mocked him and made fun of him and hung his letter on their "wall of shame" for all to see in order to degrade him and attempt to humiliate him for bringing such a request to their attention.
They mocked and made fun of people who contacted them and asked for prayers for healing and all sorts of different issues they were facing.
The lady told me she sits at the desk and laughs at people's emails and how ridiculous and idiotic they are.
She told me a story about how a mail truck caught on fire down the street from headquarters and all the mail burned up except for one single envelope of theirs that they proudly display on their beloved bulletin board.
She told me that God protected their mail and preserved the letter lol.
Obviously, they burned it themselves with a match and hung it up there.
They are such cold-hearted people to make fun of people asking for requests like this.
David C. Pack of The Restored Church of God has reached a new depth of biblical depravity. “The Greatest Untold Story! (Part 465)” given on September 2, 2023, is far and away his most blasphemic.
After spending several days trudging through knee-high mud of his perverse logic, I reached the end of the insanity with eleven pages of notes. Refuting David C. Pack is not challenging. It just takes a lot of time.
The people remaining in The Restored Church of God after Part 465 must have fully adopted the “Because I Say So” doctrine.
“Believe me, don’t believe your Bible.”
Everything has a reasonable and natural limit. Brethren of The Restored Church of God, if you believe the words of David C. Pack and remain in that abominable pit of heresy, you are running out of excuses. May God have mercy on you.
For over fifty years, brethren have been mistakenly thinking they were reading about Jesus Christ throughout their Bible. During “The Greatest Untold Story! (Part 465),” David C. Pack corrected that error. We were actually reading about him.
In 2005, David C. Pack made himself an apostle.
In 2009, David C. Pack made himself Joshua the High Priest.
In January 2015, David C. Pack made himself Elijah the Prophet.
In December 2015, David C. Pack made himself That Prophet.
In 2023, David C. Pack has declared himself the Branch.
You would be hard-pressed to hear more blasphemy crammed into ninety-nine minutes than during Part 465.
David C. Pack is the Branch
David C. Pack is the Plant of Renown
David C. Pack is the Fig Tree
David C. Pack is the Shepherd of Israel
David C. Pack is the Stone of Israel
David C. Pack is the one named “The Lord Our Righteousness”
David C. Pack Will Sit on David’s Throne as a King
The Kingdom of Dave has returned
The Four-Kingdom structure reverted back to three
Giant mistranslations blinded him
Herbert W. Armstrong was wrong, wrong, and so wrong
Three. Four. Three. Four. No…Three.
The Feast of Trumpets on September 16 is still “on.” Unless that changed during Part 466 on Thursday or Part 467 today.
Part 465 – September 2, 2023
@ 00:19 When is it most likely that Elijah would sound a trumpet? Now, that's not really very hard, is it? The Feast of Trumpets. When is he most likely at the same time to lift up his voice like a trumpet? Feast of Trumpets. Or else, those are coincidences.
@ 01:13 Now, I’m surprised to be able to say this (to say the least), but utterly (and I do mean utterly) astonishing things now come clear. They were blinding.Without them, our ability was blinded. Anyone’s ability is blinded to get the picture straight.
So far, it sounded like a typical message. He even backpedaled from the week before, explaining there are not really four Kingdoms of God, but three.
@ 01:57 I went back and forth from three to four. You’re gonna understand the greatest reasons why and why anyone else would’ve done the same thing. So, I will repeat. Utterly astonishing things now come clear in Part 465.
@ 02:29 When is Christ’s Kingdom? When is it? I wannaremove some doubt about this because of some unbelievable mistranslations and, misunderstandings, and teachings from the past.
Wow. The Worldwide Church of God really hamstrung Dave. He could have figured this out sooner if not for the misguided Herbert W. Armstrong albatross hanging on his neck. False doctrinal biases prevented the Packian Triad of Fraud from getting the timing correct. Until now.
The real culprit of Three v. Four is Dave’s own piss-poor reading comprehension skills. He concluded that Christ's Kingdom will not be IN this world.
John 18:36
Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world…
To David C. Pack, the word “of” means “in.” Brad should sit him down to explain the difference. You can be “of” your mother while no longer “in” her. I can be “of” California but not “in” California. The ability to grasp this rudimentary language concept escaped him.
@ 04:16 “[Christ’s Kingdom] It’s not coming from here on.It’s not gonna be in this world at all, ever.Now, that knowledge arrived late on the scene. But it’s been very confusing.
Well, not to those who grasp the difference between a location and an origin.
@ 04:57 But, His Kingdom is not of this world. Therefore, there cannot be a kingdom in front of the three. Now, that’s just one of the things that was blinding my ability to get this right because God reserved (in some ways) the greatest things for the last number of messages.
This is not the first time Dave admitted God has blinded him. This point is always worth noting, no matter what topic an article covers. The chosen vessel to disseminate the Mystery of God is repeatedly blinded by the god that commissioned him to do it.
Dave’s god is playing prophetic Peek-A-Boo. It blinds him. It reveals to him. It blinds him. It reveals to him. The god Dave proclaims is a cruel trickster who could not figure out how to fulfill his plan without lying, deceiving, and forcing ignorance. No, thank you.
The Branch
As incompetent as David C. Pack is with the comprehension of basic English, he is exceptionally adept at weaponizing words when necessary. This supports the theory that there is more than one mind at work in his head.
During all of Part 465, he never says, “I am the Branch.”
He leaves a dung trail for the audience to follow to the compost pile of his intention. This does not make for quick-n-easy YouTube content. He speaks in the third-person perspective, referring to "this man" when talking about himself.
I Am The Branch Part 1
I Am The Branch Part 2
I Am The Branch Part 3
@ 19:28Now, what I’m going to cover at this point is awkward. I actually thought about skipping this material.
There is no way under heaven David C. Pack was going to skip this material. Rest assured, if he considered it for two seconds, that was too long.
@ 19:41 But, it’s too helpful to know, and it's part of making plain what's gonna happen. Making the year plain. There is a certain mystery that God says is finished. And I can’t duck it.
What a great world we live in where you can elevate yourself above all other human beings who ever lived AND slip right into a role reserved for the Son of God WHILE also helping other people.
Dave was backed into a prophetic corner and had no choice but to become 3% more of the content in your Bible. Ah, shucks.
@ 19:53 But, about ten years ago (and I'll explain to you later what this is), I got an email from Mr. Schurter. Very, very well-written.
@ 20:33 And he only made a fraction of the case, but he really made enough of the case that I believed it could not be true…I wish I'd have listened to him, but God did not want what I'm gonna tell you known ten years ago. So, I'll just say again what I'm gonna cover is somewhat awkward. But somebody has to do it. And I’m gonna do it.
@ 21:14 Every time I read the word “David” in the Scriptures, it gets awkward. But it's my job to carry out this charge. This long eight-year charge. And so, I have to sorta wince and try to remember that the most important part is whatever you're learning about him, you're learning about yourself. Whatever happens to him happens to you because we’re all in this together.
I hope the brethren pray to God on their knees with blood, sweat, and tears that this is not the case. Nobody in The Restored Church of God should want what will happen to David C. Pack to happen inclusively to them. They should shudder in terror at this idea.
@ 21:43 If he’s a king, you’re a king. If he’s a priest, you’re a priest. If he’s a judge, you’re a judge. If he’s a counselor, you’re a counselor. If he’s a branch, you’re a branch.You see? So, we’re all branches.
And there it was. An indication of where he was heading.
@ 24:51 So then, who is the Old Testament Branch? …We know what a vine is. The church has always said it's Christ. But Christ said, "I am the vine. You are the branches."
@ 25:29 So, I’m gonna ask you, Who is the Branch? Not Christ. He’s the Vine.
@ 29:28 “Behold, I will bring forth My servant, the Branch.” Now, there’s a number of problems right here that make it impossible this is Christ. Christ is hardly just a servant of God. We’ve always assumed that He’s a servant because we assumed He was the Branch. No, no, no.He's the Vine.
@ 33:48 But, if you think Christ is the Branch (and I’m gonna destroy that and show you amazing things), you will have Christ ruling in this year [1-Year Kingdom]. If you don’t have Him properly as the Messenger of the Covenantor the Angel of the Lord or the Stone with Seven Eyes, and the Branch being brought forth in a (as all the other verses say), you will not get this right.
@ 34:24 Now, this gonna take on unbelievable proportion. But he is called My servant. "My servant, the Branch." David is called in at least three or four places…My servant, David. I know of no place where Christ is just simply called a servant. That reduces Him.He’s the Vine. All the branches come off. To reduce Him to a branch is we didn’t understand because of the Jew’s thinking…
Mark 10:44-45
And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.
For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister…
@ 38:18 Isaiah 11:1."There shall come forth," or go out "a rod," a twig, a twig, "out of the stem of Jesse." Now, it's telling you that this man is descended from David. He has to be. He's gonna be associated with David's throne."And a branch," that's a netser, and it means "a chute" or“a descendant” "of Jesse shall grow out of his roots." Jesse's roots.
@ 39:16 So, who's the root of Jesse? Christ. "There shall be a root of Jesse, which will stand for an ensign of the people to which shall the Gentiles seek in his rest shall be glorious." …Christ is the root of Jesse. Christ created Jesse. Jesse didn't create Christ.
Revelation 22:16
I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you
these things in the churches.
I am the root and the offspring of David…
Matthew 1:1
The book of the generation of Jesus Christ,
the son of David, the son of Abraham.
@ 39:45 Now, this twig is a descendant of Jesse and David. And I am…But no one ever saw that, and I've read it, I don't know how many times.
@ 40:45 Brethren, that’s why I said it’s awkward to cover this. But I don't know if we can really understand the Kingdom of God and when Christ's Kingdom comes and goes on eternally unless we can understand what this kingdom is about. Who are the kings and chiefly (for the moment) we’re talking’bout who is the Lead King here? The High Priest here…you have to have somebody on David’s throne. And you hafta have somebody directing sacrifices who's a Levite. And I know for a fact I'm descended from both.
Luke 1:32
He [Jesus] shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest:
and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David.
@ 41:15 So, if somebody wants to throw stones at me, then I’d say, “Well, then, you call Christ a Branch. Be very careful doing that. [laughs] Okay? He says, “I’m the Vine. You’re the branches.” But no one ever connected this.
Jesus Christ is the Vine. Therefore, He cannot also be the Branch.
@ 41:36 But, you can kinda guess what the email from Mr. Schurter said ten years ago. He'd done some research, and he'd come to this conclusion.I just thought, “No way.” I almost thought it was blasphemous.
What was blasphemous ten years ago is now undeniable biblical truth. These mile markers show David C. Pack’s mental and spiritual decline into heretical madness. Nobody should be shocked the day he teaches Jesus Christ is already here, “Behold, He is in the secret chambers.”
@ 43:23 “…behold the man.” The man. That’s the key. “Whose name is the Branch.” You could never say Christ’s name is the Branch. You would reduce Him, practically defile him to say that…The man whose name is the Sprout. Right. God would name Jesus the Sprout.
@ 44:46 That’s impossible. It degrades Him terribly.
Dave often speaks of himself in the third person perspective to avoid causing the brethren to wince. What he is really saying is in [brackets].
@ 52:21 “[God] will raise [me]." Christ comes in Acts 3 and raises [me—Elijah]. "And I will raise unto David." Now, try to imagine that's Christ. This Branch. You're gonna raise Christ unto David? The ancient King David? What? But if there were some human being [me] who was the last king to sit in this world on David’s throne, it would make perfect sense. You would raise [me] a man. A servant. Even with the same name. It would also hide from the world what you’re doing. The last man to sit on David’s throne [is] named David, but [I am] a servant and [I am] a man.
@ 54:18 So, this man is here…I never understood why exactly. Whether you call [me] Elijah, or Joshua or David, or the Twig, or whatever you wanna call [me], [I'm] here [the 1-Year Kingdom].
David C. Pack lacked the courage to declare boldly and unequivocally that he was the Branch. Why?
Jesus Christ is the Branch.
Do not believe otherwise.
Wait…there’s more?
David C. Pack carrying the name, "The Lord Our Righteousness," is too big to squeeze in now. But yes, he went there with the help of a falsely perceived mistranslation. He was also able to “see” much more.
As he wrapped up Part 465, he swiped at the brethren who might bristle at his blasphemous deceptions. He reminded the spiritually queasy brethren that the prophetic rollercoaster is just a test to sift out the faithless from among The Restored Church of God.
@ 1:34:47 You can understand why God would allow me for years to see who’s gonna bail out. And either lose everything or buy themselves a year where way under 50% of the saints are gonna make it.
If you leave The Restored Church of God, you will suffer terribly in the coming days. That is the point.
However, nothing biblical will happen this week and absolutely cannot happen next Friday night. David C. Pack will prove himself to be a liar once again. The excuses will precede sunset. The Headquarters hirelings will hem and haw and stammer.
Part 465 is a study in damnable heresies.
David C. Pack is a blaspheming liar.
The ultimate "Put your pencils down. The test of over" moment will be when David C. Pack declares that he is "a type of Christ" to the brethren of The Restored Church of God. When you connect the dots, the path in that direction glows in the darkness.
If people choose not to leave before that point, they may not be allowed to after. By then, it will be too late.
David C. Pack is a dry branch that will break…or be broken.
