Restored Church of God: "All Is Not Well In Wadsworth"

 

A Cautionary Tale

The Restored Church of God is a mere shadow of what it once was, thanks to the corrosive narcissism of Pastor General David C. Pack. His inept mismanagement and insatiable desire to prove he is God's mouthpiece have driven the once-thriving religious organization into dark financial waters.

All is not well in Wadsworth.

For decades, the abusive conditions at Headquarters were kept secret behind locked doors. Former ministers privately tell harrowing tales of manipulation, coercion, deception, puppeteering, and back-stabbing. The wrong types of people thrive on the Campus now, jockeying for positions of authority while walking on the backs of the brethren.

The Restored Church of God operates in a growing religious police state. Brethren snitch on other brethren. Field mollusks enforce edicts from Headquarters that betray their conscience to save their own skin and win favor with the powers that subjugate them. Eager enablers in Wadsworth leap at the chance to prop up their human idol, David C. Pack.

It is hard to fathom how this organization touts itself as the one-and-only “God’s True Church” on earth today. The Restored Church of God claims it has all “the truth” and holds to the traditions and teachings of Herbert W. Armstrong of The Worldwide Church of God. Yet, as the Series rolls towards its ninth year, RCG looks less like WCG and more like PCG.

Some believe the entire modern Church of God system was bankrupt from the start, and even the "golden age" of WCG was just a front for a clever marketing man who found a niche for creating a self-insulating “government is everything” system to capitalize on.

My good friend Peter Baerg is a former RCG member who lives in Canada. He found this video of Herbert W. Armstrong on YouTube. You can see where David C. Pack attained his preaching style.

Monkey see. Monkey do.

 

During “The Greatest Unending Story! (Part 493)” on February 17, 2024, David C. Pack made massive changes to the Plan of God structure. 1-7-1000 was replaced with 4-100-1000. That was the less compelling content.

If exrcg.org has proven anything, it is that Pastor General David C. Pack of The Restored Church of God is a hypocritical, blaspheming liar, false prophet, false apostle, and false teacher. God is not using him to end the Mystery of God. He is not and will never be Elijah. He is not the Branch.

David C. Pack is not moved by the Holy Spirit to teach revealed knowledge from God to His people about the soon-coming Kingdom of God. If that statement is false, I have again committed the unpardonable sin.

His opening statement during Part 493 exposed a verbal fraud.

Part 493 – February 17, 2024
@ 00:10 Well, we’re down from when we used to have messages twice a week to once every two weeks. So, that’s a little better.

This is a manipulative spin throwing shade on the unannounced two-week gap. The change in speaking cadence was not planned or intended to be “a little better,” but he tries to frame it that way.

Flashback Part 492 – February 3, 2024
@ 1:29:11 And you'd rather see the Kingdom than me up here anymore. But you now (at least) have an advanced summary of what could be covered if we’re here next Sabbath. I'll speak next Sabbath, and that'll be the way it is.

But two weeks later, the Kingdom picture changed, and he did not explain the Sixth King, how there are two different 144,000s, that third tithe begins at the Feast of Tabernacles, and what God's Holy Temple really is. Only fools take David C. Pack at his word. None of that was covered in Part 493.

Let his own words expose who and what he is.

 

The more David C. Pack molests his own delusions, the more he departs from what he learned fifty years ago in Pasadena, California. Buy Dennis Diehl or Gary Leonard a beer and ask them what they think about the value of an Ambassador College education. Hilarity will ensue.

The theological heyday of The Worldwide Church of God holds no warm place in David C. Pack’s heart. He dismantles its doctrinal integrity brick by brick while performing political theater by publicly kissing Herbert W. Armstrong’s ring.

I wonder if Dave privately resents having to fake his continued respect to avoid upsetting the “old timers” slowly dying in their chairs. After all, they could be sitting on life insurance or inheritance funds that are promised to RCG if they “die in the faith.” He must be careful not to upset the WCG Legacy apple cart.

Part 493 – February 17, 2024
@ 1:52:23 I just, you know, I guess we were prophetically dyslexic. [chuckles] We put the hundred after the thousand. But Mr. Armstrong was a great servant of God. He saw the 1335 but said it's gotta be the Eighth Head. And believed he was Elijah. So we're not very far away from that picture, are we? Pretty close. Pretty close.

They call that "lip service," and it is ironically comical on a few levels. One could argue that Catholics are "pretty close" if that is the yardstick Dave measures with.

Herbert W. Armstrong was wrong about being Elijah, about the Eighth Head, and the 1335 of Daniel 12. How does that make him "a great servant of God?" If anything, it makes him a great arrogant fool. What kind of lunatic wrongly believes he is in the Bible? ::wink wink:: Dave.

According to The Restored Church of God, HWA got more things wrong about prophecy than he got right. How does that make him "a great servant" of anything? He is so great, RCG scrubs their books, booklets, and videos from their websites that reference most of what WCG once stood for.

Since Herbie proclaimed God was using him to preach the “good news of the coming Kingdom of God” and was utterly deceived on that front, would that not mean he was also a false apostle who served a lying god?

@ 1:52:50 And I thought you’d wanna hear that about the man who is, for some of you, your Father in the Gospel. I’m not. He’s mine.

David C. Pack knows how to play politics by pandering to his audience. Not of the world, indeed.

With the radical changes David C. Pack has made to the Gospel revealing WCG to be entirely in error, to be honest, he would have to refer to Herbert W. Armstrong as his "Father in Another Gospel." But honesty is not one of David C. Pack’s defining character traits.

@ 1:56:34 So many questions are answered. There is simplicity in Christ, brethren. There is an it’s it’s even simpler than what Worldwide taught. You just get these, you know, get these [4-100-1000] straightened out. A hundred and a thousand.

Yeah, but do not get too attached to that latest Kingdom structure. Heh heh.

Following the WCG Grand Pattern, Dave savors the taste of fantastic claims of imminent world calamity without the unfashionable threats of nuclear war tossed in.

@ 1:58:46 We live in a time of terrible news and dangerous times. I haven’t spent time. It wudden’t the purpose here, but we’re going into what I believe is breakout. I think it’s gonna be infinitely worse these next weeks than you can imagine.

The safest position on the planet is to be a David C. Pack contrarian. Based on his statement, rest assured that the opposite will prove to be more accurate. I would not be shocked if world peace and tranquility broke out with things being “infinitely better” within the next few weeks.

@ 2:04:25 But every day, it's getting worse.

I think Dave should turn off the news and head over to Netflix. I am loving the sixth season of “Love is Blind” and wish they would return to releasing the entire season all at once.

 

A former minister commented that “evangelist” Bradford G. Schleifer is not the man he used to be. I had the same observation, noting that Brad is just nasty now. He must have a deep-rooted bitterness that surfaces in ways he probably does not realize.

Poor Andrew Holcombe now looks older than me. And I have almost twenty years on the guy. Andy has an amazingly wonderful wife who still holds my professional respect. That whole situation makes me sad for them. And for the others who choose to remain in The Restored Church of Another god.

I lay those transformations at the feet of David C. Pack. The more in proximity you are to him, the quicker your mental and emotional state deteriorates. The man radiates crippling toxins.

There is an extensive “Angry Apostle” Playlist on YouTube, and Part 493 is now part of it.

The authentic David C. Pack steps forth from time to time to issue condemnations ex-cathedra. He is a blend of arrogance and insecurity blanketed in self-righteousness and victimhood.

@ 1:34:58 We got wicked people who attend with us. And they'll pa– they'll send this note out, and as I like to say, they're dead people walking.

Wicked people are those who allow the sermons to be released publicly. Hmm. How exactly is that wicked? If Dave is preaching the truths of God, what about “freely you have received, freely give?” I thought nobody owned the truth. Jesus said the Gospel should be preached into all the world as a witness. If what David C. Pack preaches is the good news, then how can distributing that good news be considered an unrighteous act?

It is because Dave knows remembering his own words makes him look bad. The entire exrcg.org website would come to a screeching halt if David C. Pack preached what the Bible really taught. Or if they caught the “leaker(s).”

The leaker(s) getting caught is more likely than David C. Pack ever preaching anything sincerely from the Bible. If it does not further his agenda, it is not worth teaching. He lets Mike and Frank cover that kind of fluff in their sermonettes.

@ 1:34:58 We got wicked people who attend with us. And they'll pa– they'll send this note out, and as I like to say, they’re dead people walking.

David C. Pack freely admitted he likes to say that. Eat my shorts, bro.

@ 1:35:08 ‘Cause God iddn’t gonna hold people back for four years and put ‘em to death. They’re gonna die quickly. I can name some names.

Are those the concerned words of a loving shepherd or a wolf?

David C. Pack is itching to name people he believes God will execute at the beginning of his imaginary kingdom. However, the Pastor General lacks the courage and moral fortitude to follow through with his convictions.

Little Davey making she-she in the toilet and not in his pants is all bark and no bite.

Hey Brad, I will donate $100 to RCG if you tell me what names Dave is referring to. I will absolutely donate $100 to your failing organization if you grant me that one tidbit of inside baseball. I would be willing to drive across the street to the Campus and hear those names in person so there is no paper trail for you to deny later.

Everyone now wants to know what names are on David C. Pack’s Marked-For-Death List.

@ 1:35:19 So, I realize this message is gonna get out. And it’s gonna probably cause some trouble.

Part 493 is no more or less stupid than all the others. I have no idea what kind of "trouble" paranoid Dave is referring to. Trouble for who cause by whom? That will remain one of the mysteries locked behind the gates of The Restored Church of Another god.

 

After Dave was warmed up by his vague death threats spoken on his god’s behalf, he was ready to assassinate the character of another former minister.

In December 2023, Vidal Wachuku was fired and smeared via email. In January 2024, two field ministers resigned of their own accord. I served with both men at Headquarters and am delighted at their departure.

I will not name who they are. They have a platform to do so if they want to tell their stories publicly. I understand that they and their families are beginning a healing journey, and casting stones as they walk away is not how I roll.

Those who know them know who they are. Those in the Ex-RCG private Facebook group know who they are. Despite identifying them by name in previous articles, I always liked both of them personally.

From the information I received about this next story and given David C. Pack’s long-standing penchant for stretching the bounds of truth, take his words with a shaker of salt. At worst, it is riddled with flat-out lies that are up to the man and his wife to refute. At best, it is a gross distortion of the facts by omitting key elements that obscure proper context.

@ 1:59:09 Stay close to God. I wanna tell you a cautionary tale. It wudden't, you know, too long ago, but a while back, we were working with a minister. He'd been on a stipend. He had his own job. 'Cause people can just absolute live a lie and just brazenly steal and lie from the church. …and said he needed a stipend to be able to make ends meet. So, we gave him a stipend. And didn't check his tithe record. And for two years, he didn't tithe a dime on his own income or what we gave him. Then, we took his stipend back. We were, that's what brought this out. And eventually, he said, "I made a conscious decision two years ago not to tithe." He knew it was a law of God. His exact words. "I made a conscious decision two years ago not to tithe. I knew I would be caught, and I knew there were consequences." Do you know what he was calling and asking for? Hoping we wouldn't catch him so we could steal and lie more? This minister? He was asking for third tithe, "So I don't have to tithe on it." He it and hoping we wouldn't check. So, we checked and found out. And that outrageous lying thief of a man who no one could possibly tell was a minister.

@ 2:01:20 That man sold his eternal life knowing he was stealing, hoping he could steal third tithe at the end of it and remain a minister. And I'm telling you, if you met him, you'd say it's not possible that it's true. But it is true.

David C. Pack is a documented hypocritical, blaspheming liar. He has been spinning heretical tall tales for over eight years, ever-changing the story of what his god revealed to him. Keep that in mind when that very same man declares what is true or not.

Personally, I stand with the former minister and his family on this. The details I received paint a very different picture than what Dave presents. Let God judge between them.

There is no point for Dave to give a cautionary tale without inserting the money angle.

@ 2:01:37 So I'm telling you, some people are afraid to sell all. They won't. They don't have the faith. I'm telling you, you got 51 days. If you are sitting on funds, extra houses, or cash, you are commanded by God to sell all. Or, at best, you will face four years of sore trial.

RCG’s Business and Accounting Office knows that the man and his wife already “sold all,” which is what put them in the financial peril they are working to get out of TODAY. That is how their faith was rewarded.

@ 2:01:59 Now, I’m I don’t mean to be strong ‘cause I don’t need it. The church is doing fine. But you need to do it.

The church is doing SO fine, they announced layoffs of some of the Headquarters ministers and their wives in June. Dave discontinued the release year for third tithe in November and instructed everyone to pay it monthly. They stopped paying the field ministry in mid-December. Then, a “Pretty please, send in your tithe of tithe right now” notice went out to the brethren. Notifications of fundraisers still appear in Member Services.

That does not sound like the church is doing fine.

Dave added, “But you need to do it,” as a show of outward love and concern for his fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. He does not have the massive Campus bills on his mind. Nope, it is all about wanting more brethren to make it into the God Family.

@ 2:02:14 The first thing is sell that you have. The rich young ruler wouldn’t do it. And some brethren won’t do it. Now, the best that can happen for such people who've been told blew it off, the best that can happen is they get four years, and they will not escape in the end of the four years.

@ 2:02:54 They ignored God's command. Don't do it. Don't do it. I did it, and others did it. Many have paid that their Common and their lives have been fine.

Well, except for the recent former minister, whom Dave just accused of lying and stealing.

And let us not forget the faithful sacrifice of Manon Chaisson before she died.

 

The occurrences in The Restored Church of God are a cautionary tale for those seeking the refuge of God’s True Church. Where it is today is the real mystery, but what is clear is that it does not have a Worldwide Headquarters based in Wadsworth, Ohio.

David C. Pack cannot sit still or shut his mouth for an extended time. The prophetic picture constantly shifts with blame fingers pointed in every direction except the Pastor General.

The organization is spiritually corrupt, supporting vile doctrines based upon perverting the Scriptures.

For those inside looking for a way out: You are not alone. Life goes on quite nicely, post Mr. Pack.

For those outside pondering if they should enter: Listen to the words of David C. Pack and allow him to reveal what you should do.

Ignore all these cautionary tales to your own peril.

Marc Cebrain

See: A Cautionary Tale

 

Dave Pack: "These are things I've been wrestling and wrestling with for years now - consoling myself when I'm frustrated, and I'm up at night.

Eating More Words

David C. Pack of The Restored Church of God must be a secret fan of the exrcg.org website. “The Greatest Unending Story! (Part 493)” on February 17, 2024, was further validation of the reporting here.

The self-assigned apostle has a proven track record of being consistently inconsistent. The occasional Elijah is predictably unreliable as he re-re-re-invented the prophetic wheel after taking another two-week break from accosting the brethren’s Sabbath.

The end of the sermon serves as a proper introduction.

Part 493 – February 17, 2024
@ 2:05:46 We got 51 days. I won't speak every week, but I will next week, and we'll see what God wants for the time that remains. Enjoy your dinner.

Brethren, Pastor General David C. Pack is unavailable to dine with you because he just spent 125 minutes eating his own words.

The Kingdom of God framework is now 4 Years, 100 Years, and 1,000 Years.
Jesus Christ IS the Messenger of the Covenant. Not David C. Pack.

It was no surprise that Dave reset the prophetic table after the standard introduction while tucking a bib under his chin.

@ 00:19 We all know that we can’t have too much longer to go.

@ 00:37 This will be an astounding sermon. Even though we’ll cover just two things that no one ever saw. No one (even through this long Series) ever dreamed that we could come this far …but you really don’t expect either of the two things that I’m gonna tell you now.

The “two things” of Part 493 were that the First Kingdom is now four years instead of one. The Second Kingdom is now one hundred years instead of seven.

The contradiction potluck dining table was piled high with words for Dave to feast upon.

 

@ 24:40 We could wonder, Would God tell us how many years there are in the First Kingdom? And it’s gonna you’re gonna be just stunned at what what those abundant days called “the last days” and “the last years” how long that is. Would He tell us that?

If God were legitimately involved, the human conduit would only need to ask and answer the question once. That faithful servant is not David C. Pack.

@ 25:10 First, I’m gonna show you how long the First Kingdom of God is. It is not seven years. In fact, it’s over seventy.

@ 25:46 So, any idea that there’s a Seven-Year Kingdom from the Day of the Lord is utterly destroyedbecause we’ve got punishment on Tyre for ten times that long.

@ 29:01 So, the idea that there is a Seven-Year Kingdom is as dead'n gone as yesterday. I mean, that’s gone with the wind.

@ 33:24 So, this Kingdom is one hundred years long. If it’s longer, well, then it is, I guess.

So much for proving certainty from the pages of your Bible. The one-hundred-year waffling already comes with its own padding upon installation. That must fill the brethren with bold assurance.

The Seven-Year Kingdom is now "destroyed" and "dead," according to David C. Pack. The man who invented them. He also authored the One-Year Kingdom idea, which does not survive Part 493.

@ 31:03 …in the First Kingdom, which we now know is not one year. It’s not one year. I’m gonna tell ya exactly how long it is. And you’re gonna be shocked. You’re gonna you’re gonna be in awe of what it means to go first. And many, many, many questions you have are gonna just die. They’re gonna go away. They’ll be gone with the wind when we understand these things.

Dave really knows how to run out the clock. Brevity and conciseness are not his strengths. Neither are integrity, trustworthiness, credibility, and legitimacy.

@ 1:11:59 Wow, the saints have to wait four years? Okay. Well, let’s pause. Let’s put that in context. How long have we been waiting? We’ve waited over twice over two times four years through this Series. And there a lot of brethren who said, “I won’t wait.” And so, they kill themselves. So to speak. We’ve had to wait a long time. I’m just talking about the Series.

David C. Pack often repeats that suicidal brethren leave The Restored Church of God because we all grew tired of waiting. We left because David C. Pack is a hypocritical, blaspheming liar and false prophet teaching antichrist theology. Toe-may-toe, toe-mah-toe.

@ 1:57:02 It’s simple. 4-100-1000. Not 1-7-1000. 4-100-1000. Maybe it’s a thousand every time after that. Simple. No Elijahn period other than a man who would be here explaining all of this. There is simplicity in Christ. The picture is easy. It wudden’t easy getting here. It took patience, and we're the people that kept God's patience. But this was always in the Bible.

He suggested Part 493 was part of an Elijahn period after recently denying he was Elijah yet. See. Even David C. Pack does not believe his own words or remember what he just said.

@ 1:58:05 …but we made it even simpler. Wouldn’t be hard to change our literature if we had to go on, which we won’t.

The literature is wrong, but he will not fix it. Edward L. Winkfield III just breathed a big sigh of relief.

 

Let us not miss this precious gem of reverse blasphemy in 3…2…1…

@ 1:45:00 Yes, Christ is the Messenger of the Covenant. Not any man. I now understand that, in a way, I never did. I apologize for that. Trying to be faithful to what it said.

It was an honest mistake, folks. Dave was trying to be faithful to what he believed in the moment because of reasons. As if that makes it all okay.

What an excellent excuse to store in your lunchbox for each time you accidentally commandeer a title belonging to the Son of God. I suppose all is forgiven on this, and we can just move along. 

 

After I resigned from The Restored Church of God in March 2021, I did not listen to a single message until the spring of 2022, so my records are spotty around then. The plan of God alphabet soup changed so many times it is hard to find where it all began.

Spotting through the archives, I found glassware and labels on the Tammuz Cooking Table for a 3.5-11-2,580 Kingdom plan during Part 376 on June 13, 2022. The debut of 1-1-7 appeared on April 10, 2023, during Part 434, even though the Seven-Year Kingdom was established long before that.

Flashback Part 373 – June 7, 2022
@ 1:27:03 Because I know when it starts. And I know it ends at the end of the month, or you don't have two evenly-halved parts of a big kingdom, Seven-Year Kingdom. It's perfect. Can't be argued with.

These are merely an appetizer of the words David C. Pack ate during Part 493.

Flashback Part 432 – April 1, 2023
@ 19:53 Could the plan of God be so simple that there’s seven days before seven years?

Why does an unordained non-prophet/non-psychic care more about the “immovable” words of the Pastor General of The Restored Church of God than the people still paying tithes to that spiritually corrupt organization?

To be fair to Dave, most of these words were already partially eaten. But now that the "firmly established and utterly proven beyond all doubt" One-Year Kingdom and Seven-Year Kingdom have been replaced with a Four-Year Kingdom followed by a One Hundred-Year Kingdom, they are more ripe for consumption.

Eat up, Dave.

Flashback Part 434 – April 10, 2023
@ 00:02 Well, much (maybe most) of everything we’ve learned and heard has been correct. But, it was lacking a year in front of it.

Flashback Part 443 – May 18, 2023
@ 1:51:55 …’cause you cannot change 1-1-7 and 1000. You can’t do it.

Flashback Part 444 – May 20, 2023
@ 04:32 But, lemme just tell you, just for the record, you know, 1-1-7 and 1 iddn’t gonna change. It can’t change. We should be settled on that.

@ 29:41 I knew I had the month right. I knew I had 1-1-7 and 1000 right.

Flashback Part 447 – June 6, 2023
@ 1:56:16 10-1-7-1000 is immutable. I will die on that hill. That’s the hill I die on.

Flashback Part 448, Part 1 – June 11, 2023
@ 58:07 1-1-7-1000. You can book it. Don’t ever never be challenged again.

Flashback Part 458 – July 8, 2023
@ 1:27:52 I just wanna say to the church, if this is wrong, I’m not there, no way that's wrong. You've got Bibles. 1-7-1000's not wrong.

Flashback Part 468 – September 9, 2023
@ 1:26:01 The problem is it's full, complete, and right. But, I'm just saying, if you had another year, you'd sit and think, “What did we get wrong?” That’s awfully simple. 1-7-1000.

Flashback Part 470 – September 23, 2023
@ 23:58 I want to just absolutely destroy all idea that this year does not sit exactly from one Feast of Tabernacles…to the start of the next Feast of Tabernacles. As surely as 1-2-3 Kingdoms or 1-7-1000…

Flashback Part 487 – December 23, 2023
@ 1:13:19 I’m just gonna tell you absolutely on God’s authority (I’ll tell ya this much), and I’ll tell you abso–I mean, just I I I will stand on this on this date: The Kingdom of God comes Abib 1.

The Whoopsie Daisy with Part 487 is that when Dave believed the First Kingdom was one year long, he was referring to Abib 1 on March 30, 2025. Gobble gobble.

Flashback Part 489 – January 6, 2024
@ 35:48 But, we do know, and this is impossible to argue. This is impossible to argue because it's literally going forward. It's the the we know that the next one thousand and seven years all begin with a season. The seven years and a thousand absolutely, immutably impossible to argue those begin on the first night of Passover.

The Passover was previously de-clarified, but the Seven-Year Kingdom has been expanded into one hundred.

Flashback Part 490 – January 13, 2024
@ 30:14 These are things I've been wrestling and wrestling and wrestling and wrestling with for years now. And, you know, consoling myself when I'm frustrated, and I'm up at night. Often, Sabbaths for me end around two to three in the morning because I’m thinking about all the things that I covered and other things. 

Dave thought he reached the end of the tunnel of his self-consoling. Being up late at night in January proved to be just as pointless as the sleep-deprived nights of today. The prophetic picture in The Restored Church of God will never settle because David C. Pack will never be right.

His own words tell that endless story.

@ 1:43:33 …and watch everything get cleared up. So, that’s pretty obvious that we’re right on track…

Part 493 proved that to be completely false. Nom. Nom. Nom. Down the gullet, Dave.

Flashback Part 491 – January 20, 2024
@ 1:45:40 But, this is vastly more than anybody else has ever understood. I’m honored to just be able to finally see things coming together.

A fraudulent honor bestowed upon a fraudulent man.

The “things” that finally came together were changed entirely. Even Dave's declarations during Part 492 now ring hollow and foolhardy. More futile time is spent dreaming up ideas that he later denies.

Flashback Part 492 – February 3, 2024
@ 56:22 So, I want you to be clear on [chuckles]. I mean, I’ve spent hundreds of hours trying to figure this out.

Hundreds and thousands of wasted hours. And yet, David C. Pack persists because the alternative is too horrifying to consider. He cannot rest in place because the passage of time proves him false every time.

And still, the cowardly hireling enablers at Headquarters are too weak to do anything about it. Yeah, Brad, I'm looking right at you. You know what Dave is, and you choose to do nothing about it, even though I know you could.

In some ways, even Ryan Denee is better than you. At least, Ryan is naturally spineless, lacking the mental capacity to man up and take a stand for what he knows should be done. His excuse of being a slouching pushover is far more understandable.

 

David C. Pack is a builder and a destroyer of his own theories.

He defecates perverted words upon the brethren and laps them up later before an adoring audience. It is a vile, disgusting cycle that will never be voluntarily broken.

Part 493 – February 17, 2024
@ 1:24:51 So, all of this makes sense. Nobody's ever understood it. Nobody's ever understood it.

Stuffing his face without shame, the man demonstrates his insatiable appetite. He gorges on entire Parts in a single sitting without stopping to use the restroom. In easy. Out easy. Eat, eat, eat.

When there are no consequences and no accountability, that type of theological binging and purging becomes normalized and accepted. The brethren of The Restored Church of God are witnessing a religious eating disorder run amok and enable it by choosing to dine beside him.

Even a wolf can burst if it overeats. How much more can David C. Pack eat?

Marc Cebrian

See: Eating More Words

CGI Medina Didn’t Like the Jesus Super Bowl Ad Either

 

Surprise, Surprise, CGI Medina Didn’t Like the Jesus Super Bowl Ad Either!

Lonnie Hendrix

The February 24 Sabbath service in Medina, Ohio echoed the disgust of their Canadian brethren with the “He Gets Us” Super Bowl Ad which featured antagonists washing each other’s feet. Medina member Jeff Flanick delivered the broadside against the commercial. Predictably, he insisted that the ad was not Bible-based, and that it presented a “nicey, nicey” Jesus. Flanick said that the ad doesn’t get folks interested in the “right” Jesus, and it looks at Christ through a “progressive/social justice” lens – portraying a Jesus that is too inclusive!

Indeed, as I listened to the ad, I began to understand the fierce reaction of these men to this sixty second Super Bowl commercial. In short, they perceive the ad as the embodiment of “false” Christianity – that it represents all of the things that they find so objectionable about traditional Christianity. Mr. Flanick didn’t like the non-denominational bent of the advertisement. He even quoted the Armstrong standard proof-text of John 6:44 to demonstrate that “God is NOT trying to save the world now.” Flanick went on to insist that Matthew 15:22 dealt a “fatal blow” to passive inclusivity. In other words, for these CGI members, the commercial is an assault on their view of themselves as God’s chosen people – the only “true” Christians. For them, those other folks are presenting a “false” Jesus and are NOT “real” Christians.

They ignore, of course, that favorite passage of more traditional Christians: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:16-17, ESV) For Jeff and his associates, traditional Christians have interpreted this statement by Jesus too literally. From their perspective, truly believing in Jesus is a much more labor intensive exercise than simply accepting the fact that Jesus was the Messiah/Savior promised in the Old Testament. They ignore that Jesus pointed to himself as “the way, and the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6, ESV) For them, their little unique package of doctrines is “the truth.”

For Mr. Flanick, the “He Gets Us” ad presented things like abortion, illegal immigration, homosexuality, and transgenderism in a positive light. For him, the ad portrayed righteous folks bowing down to sinners and washing them (their feet) while they are still in a fallen state. Once again, Mr. Flanick rejects the traditional understanding that Jesus kept company with sinners, and that he came here to minister to those who were in the grips of sin. According to him, most Christians do NOT understand passages like Matthew 9:10-13. That Jesus was only around those folks to insist that they repent and start keeping the Law. Of course, to arrive at this conclusion, he has to ignore Paul’s words to the believers at Rome: “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:6-8, ESV) They simply do not get that God’s love intervenes where we are – immersed in sin!

More particularly, Jeff didn’t like some of the images portrayed in the advertisement. He didn’t like the woman getting her feet washed in front of a Planned Parenthood Clinic. He also didn’t like the woman in a hijab having her feet washed. Likewise, he didn’t like the “amorphous” gay/transgender person having his/her feet washed. Mr. Flanick would have preferred seeing those people portrayed as repenting of their sins. He wants to see folks conforming to Christ. He doesn’t like seeing Christians serve and accept sinners where they are – none of that reaching out to those fallen folks! Indeed, when he dealt with the story of the woman taken in adultery about to be stoned (see John 8:1-11), Jeff focused on Christ’s instructions to her to “go, and from now on sin no more.” Predictably, he barely mentioned that her accusers had been forced to drop their stones, and that Christ had told her “Neither do I condemn you.”

Of course, this is all consistent with the Armstrong Church of God view that Christians are obligated to observe/keep some of the precepts in Torah/Law of Moses. In support of that view, he quoted the traditional Armstrongism proof-texts about Jesus not coming to destroy the Law or the Prophets, but to fulfill them (Matthew 5:19-18). For Jeff, there is no “New” Testament or Covenant. In his view, Christ simply “repaired” or “renewed” the covenant which was already in existence. Moreover, because of their rejection of the Trinity, Jeff insisted that Jesus was the source of Torah/Law, NOT God the Father. In effect, Christ is implementing his own will, not the will of his Father. Once again, there is no recognition of Christ’s summary and condensation of the Law into two Great commandments for his followers (Matthew 22:34-40). There is no recognition of Paul’s insistence that love fulfills the requirements of the Law (Romans 13:8-14).

Jeff then returned to one of CGI’s favorite themes – bashing gay people. To demonstrate his point about sinners, he recalled how his former church (United Church of Christ) had ordained a gay person in clear violation of God’s standards. Unfortunately, CGI itself seems to ignore Paul’s instruction to Timothy that Church leaders must be the husband of ONE wife and manage his own household well (see I Timothy 3:2-5). No awareness or recognition of removing the beam from your own eye before trying to remove the speck from your brother’s eye (Matthew 7:3-5). Without compunction, however, Mr. Flanick went on to quote some of the “clobber” passages which have been used to condemn homosexuals.

Interestingly, Mr. Flanick did reference (in passing) two of the passages which challenge Armstrongism’s theology about a Christian’s obligation to observe Torah. For example, he mentioned James 2:10, but I prefer to quote the entire passage: “If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. For he who said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘Do not murder.’ If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.” (James 2:8-13, ESV) Likewise, he referenced Romans 3:23. Once again, however, I prefer to quote the entire passage: “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3:21-26, ESV)

Mr. Flanick sees no irony or hypocrisy inherent in referencing these passages to prove his point. There is no awareness or recognition of the fact that the Armstrong Churches of God have ignored or modified numerous commandments of Torah. For him, grace is a thing that covers past sins. In speaking of believers, John said: “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (I John 1:8-10, ESV) Sorry, Jeff. I still like the ad and its message: Jesus does get us, and that’s important. Because he gets us, he was able to offer himself as a sacrifice for our sins and help us when we are tempted to sin (Hebrews 2:14-18). All we have to do is ask!

Lonnie Hendrix