Why do COG leaders feel the need to keep their followers living in a constant state of fear?

 

Fear has to be the biggest and most universal unspoken doctrine of the Armstrongist Church of God movement.

Fear has kept church members living in constant fear of losing their salvation. Being labeled as a Laodicean was a great tool for that fear. Expressing your opinion or disagreeing with the church leader or ministers was grounds for disfellowshipment and as we had all been trained by the fearmonger leadership, anyone kicked out of the church would live lives of failure and disappointment. Not only that, the gates of salvation would be slammed in our faces. Not tithing 30%? Zap!, Eat some pork or shrimp? Zap! Skip church one week? Zap! Hold a Bible Study in your home with friends? The flames of the lake of fire will soon be licking at your feet.

Dave Pack has his few remaining diehard members anticipating the return of their creature called "christ" and those that dare to question that live in fear of getting kicked out of the church and losing their salvation. Dave makes that clear to all of his followers that is what will happen.

Gerald Flurry keeps his followers living in fear of Irish Dance and church government. Rebel against church government and the lake of fire with it's 24-hour-a-day Irish Dance will be your destination.

Then we have the Great Bwana Bob Mzungu Thiel, the greatest fearmonger the church has in the 21st century. Endless stories and sermons are made about fearful events happening around us today or shortly in the future. Most of his African members could not give a rat's ass about 99% of the stuff he posts on his blog. These are topics foreign and irrelevant to their society. Living safely, avoiding raging Muslims, feeding their families, and providing shelter is far more important than any of the useless crap the Great Bwana finds important.

Some of his latest fear topics: 

  European military leadership role for Germany’s Bundeswehr?  

• WND: ‘Sleeper cells in almost every American urban area’ 

• Vatican excommunicates Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò who responds with a warning about Freemasonsry and the WEF’s influence on the Vatican 

• Kamala Harris getting consideration and criticism as a potential replacement for Joe Biden 

• Does the European Union actually use Babylonian symbols? 

• Zechariah’s Plague: a brain-eating amoeba? Bird Flu vaccine push? 

• French vote gives leftists most seats over right, but leaves hung parliament and deadlock 

• The Great Tribulation cannot begin before 2028! 

• AP: Scammers are swiping billions from Americans every year. Worse, most crooks are getting away with it 

• White Buffalo: Hopeful sign or lying wonder? 

• BibleNewsProphecy: Cyborg Abominations! 

• RT: Are traditional international Institutions viable in the New World Order? 

• Worldcoin setting up for the 666 Beast? 

• CNN: Earth’s core has slowed so much it’s moving backward 

• Sermon: Jesus and God’s Plan for Muslims 

• ‘King Charles Appoints Sir Keir Starmer as His Third Prime Minister’ 

• An LCG ‘whiteboard’ helps demonstrate why it will not know when the Great Tribulation starts until basically after it does 

• ‘The Houthis’ Hypersonic Missile Is a Game-Changer in Red Sea’ 

• Egypt Teeters On Brink Of Economic Ruin As Public Debt Mounts, Poverty Rate Soars and Overhauls Cabinet, but the Bible and Islam Point to Temporal Wealth

• The USA is not like its founders envisaged 

• ‘Norway to stockpile 82,500 tons of grain to prepare for famine and war’ & ‘If The High Cost Of Groceries Makes You Feel Sick, You Are Not Alone’ 

• Democrats concerned as ‘Only Michelle Obama bests Trump as an alternative to Biden in 2024,’ and at least 25 Democratic Congressmen want Joe Biden out 

• Herbert W. Armstrong and Laodicean ‘independence’ 

• Harbinger Daily: Gog of Magog: Who Is The Russian Leader At The Center Of The Ezekiel 38 Prophecy? COGwriter: They are wrong about that and other prophetic matters
  

Without fear, the Church of God would cease to exist. That's why you rarely find any COG leader ever talking about living in the peace of Christ. Living in grace is so upsetting to most of them that they constantly have to bad mouth grace at any chance they get. Their utter contempt at the possibility that their followers could be justified and sanctified and immune to their idiotic rants and fear-mongering pushes their buttons to no end. So they do everything in their power to keep members enslaved by fear. 

Sadly, many of the people sitting in their groups need that fear. It is a scary concept to break free from fear and revel in grace and freedom and not have to worry about so much of the useless crap COG leaders spoonfeed their members with. Structure and control are safer than unfettered grace.

Relax Everyone! Crackpot prophet says tribulation CANNOT start before 2028!

Never has the Church of God movement been so blessed to have so many self-appointed prophets in its midst. 

We have Dave Pack with the imminent return of Jesus in a couple days to Wadsworth Ohio. Gerald Flurry has Jesus coming to sit on a throne prepared for him in Edmond Oklahoma. Then we have the greatest prophet to ever exist since the dawn of humanity, our very own self-appointed prophet, the Great Bwana Bob Mzungu Thiel. Never have we had a prophet so attuned to God's wavelength than we have in him. All the things Flurry and Pack say are just baby pablum compared to the astounding knowledge we receive from the Great Bwana Bob.

We all can now relax and party down for a couple more years because the Great Bwana Bob says the trib cannot start before 2028! Woo Hoo!  Party down, Garth!

Is the end of the world near?

Yes!

When is the earliest year that the Great Tribulation can begin?

Various ones seem to feel that it can begin in 2024 or 2025 or that it already started some time ago.

Those who believe and understand what the Bible actually teaches realize that the Great Tribulation cannot begin before 2028.

Whew! Buy that house, pay for your children's wedding, and let your children graduate from high school or college. Save that tithe money for something more important!

Should we see an escalation in the Middle East this Summer, to the point that Israel will agree to the biblical peace deal of Daniel 9:27, then we would expect Jesus to return in 2031 and the Great Tribulation to begin in early 2028.

Poor Dave Pack, wrong again.

Not only is Dave wrong, but all splinter COG groups and the COG7 are wrong, too! They are Sardis and Laodicean anyway, so why should we expect anything less?

That being said, please understand that the COGs associated with the Sardis and Laodicean churches cannot possibly know when the Great Tribulation will begin unless they change. 

 

CG7-Denver, for one example, believes that most events in the Book of Revelation have already been fulfilled, so they are not officially looking for it. And the Laodicean churches have added extra, non-biblical events/requirements to precede the Great Tribulation, that are not necessary and hence those who believe them will NOT believe that the Great Tribulation will start until it is too late. 

 

Here is a listing of some of the wrong prophetic views of real and claimed COG groups: 

 

Many COG groups (ICG, CGI, UCG, COGaIC, CG7-D, CGG, CEM, etc.) do not officially teach and/or do not believe in the idea of Church eras (The Churches of Revelation 2 & 3), though they sometimes teach about the churches of Revelation. They tend to take more of a preterist (past) view of those churches, despite the fact that many statements made to them had to have future prophetic ramifications (e.g. Revelation 1:19; 3:3; 3:10). Because of that they do not teach certain prophetic aspects of this, most do not see their own problems and will have to go through the Great Tribulation.

The Great Bwana Bob Mzungu then goes on to list 54 more points as to why EVERYONE is wrong except him. Everyone is too stupid to understand the signs of the end times like he does.

He is particularly ticked off at the United Church of God and the Living Church of God. Both of these groups REFUSED to listen to him and accept the truths he gave them. The butthurt from Rod Meredith rejecting him still burns like crazy.

Yet, it should be noted that leaders in the Living Church of God and/or the United Church of God have confirmed to me personally that I was biblically correct on basically all the above points, despite the fact that their respective churches hold to several of the errors pointed out above. Those who rely too much on a compromised ministry (Ezekiel 34:7-10) to teach them prophecy that is not truly in accordance with scripture need to realize that according to Jesus’ words in Revelation 2 & 3 and Luke 21, only relatively few Christians will be protected from the hour of trial that will come upon the whole world.

How can we trust anything Bob Thiel says when he says they all confirmed to him personally that he was right? Rod Meredith said that Bob's delusional mind makes things up.

This is just more made-up junk from Bwana Bob. So, enjoy life. Enjoy the beautiful world around you and the amazing things in it. Don't let these demonic pigs masquerading as ministers of righteousness rob you of the beauty around you.

Dave Pack: RCG News Flash – July 9, 2024. Jesus Returns Tomorrow!

RCG News Flash – July 9, 2024

 

David C. Pack of The Restored Church of God said that the Bible teaches Jesus Christ will begin the 7-Year Kingdom of God on Tammuz 5, which starts at sunset in Jerusalem at 12:47 PM ET on July 10, 2024.

 

Yes, that is tomorrow afternoon.

 

During “The Greatest Unending Story! (Part 523)” on July 6, 2024, Tammuz 5 was “proven” from the Bible by reading verses in Habakkuk, Ezekiel, and Zechariah. The Pastor General said he was certain and does not believe he can ever teach any other date.

Too bad he has said that before.

 

Jesus Christ returns on Tammuz 5 
(July 10, 2024 at 12:47 PM ET)

Dave had to admit he knows the Bible since he has studied it for 25,000 hours during the Series. So, he might be a Bible expert. Failing since August 2013 does not seem to be a factor in that reasoning.

 

David C. Pack might be a Bible expert. Wink-wink.

More importantly, the brethren of The Restored Church of God cannot hide behind “Well, Mr. Pack said.” They must take ownership of what is being taught and accept it as God’s word of truth. It is faithless and foolish for them to say, “Mr. Pack said.”

 

No more hiding behind “What Mr. Pack said!”

Golly. Dave is not the only one “rushing to call this out.”

 

Article forthcoming.

 

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