COG Evangelist Rails Against "Queers" & "Hippie" Bill Clinton

Wes White writes:

I can’t believe i once thought GTA was a great speaker!  Just listen to the nonsense in this clip!  The old Ambassador Report once rightly labelled Ted’s preaching style as “hallucinatory braggadocio.”  I don't remember ever hearing any Christian love in his messages.  Just prophetic warnings that, if you don't heed my message, you will be killed or taken into slavery by the German beast power.  That is, if disease and pestilence don't kill you first. (Remember the Basil Wolverton pictures of people with boils all over their bodies?  And the guy with a spear thru his neck?) 

Looking back, i now find Ted’s nastiness and negativity unsettling.  I now find his name-calling repugnant.  As i recently watched this clip, i was reminded of Joe McCarthy’s drunken rants that included half-baked accusations against “all those communists” who had supposedly infiltrated the US State Department during his time.   Both practiced demagoguery. 

Yes, politicians and preachers love to create boogeymen for us to hate and fear.   

And the false prophecy in this clip is hilarious.  Ted spoke these words in 1992 during the Clinton Presidency.  In this message, he falsely claimed that America would never again win some conflict and then proudly wave the Stars and Stripes as was done in the First Gulf War.  

Apparently, the evil spirit that inspired him to utter this false prophecy was not aware that the second George Bush would soon — not only defeat Saddam Hussein — but that Bush II would also topple the Iraqi dictator from power.

Finally, it is public knowledge that Ted served in the US Navy.  However, after his subsequent conversion to the WCG and promotion to being one its top leaders, he presided over an organization that forbade the young men in the church to join the armed forces.  While enforcing this prohibition, Ted had the audacity to preach military saber rattling and military action.   You can’t have it both ways.

What was wrong with me for falling in with this group led by people with so much personal, religious, and corporate dysfunction?  Call me namby-pamby, but i find more helpful teachings in Matthew 5, 6, and 7 than in Ted’s sermons.

It is clear to me that, when i read the hateful rants of Mark Armstrong today, his teachings are an almost carbon copy of his dad’s futile blusterings.   Until recently, i had forgotten how messed up Ted’s messages were.  

May God forgive us for supporting men like this.  For those of us who claim to be Christians, it’s time for us to repudiate these twisted prophetic teachings.  It’s all done for financial gain.  These teachings appeal to our basic instincts. They bring out the worst in us.  

Instead, let’s embrace the wonderful teachings of the Word of God — remembering that while Armstrongism’s teachings and Bible teachings would often converge, the teachings in this clip are NOT biblical.  They are not of God.  

Wes White has a self-funded ministry called dynamicchristianministries.org that does not ask for and does not accept donations from the public.  Wes may be reached at wdwhite49@yahoo.org.  

Blast from the past: GTA Sings "My Way"

That song pretty much sums up GTA's life and the life of most all of the splinter group leaders. In 2018 they are still doing it their way.

Dave Pack: "I am a clay pot that God is using to accomplish the impossible"

Dave starts Chapter 1 of his biography off with this deceptive myth that Dave likes to foster off as if Herbert had Dave constantly by his side in order to exclusively train him. That is an absolute impossibility that anyone in Pasadena could verify as never happening in the last 15 years of HWA's life and particularly the last 6 years or so.

David C. Pack was personally trained by Mr. Armstrong during the last 15 years of his life. (This was in addition to four years of Ambassador College.) In part because of this unusual training, Mr. Pack was in a position that God could use him to restore everything that had been lost. Today his ministry is a continuation of the same Work.

It took ever so humble Dave 2 1/2 years of intense humbleness and examination of his godly soul to determine that his story needed to be told.

The idea of a biography of Mr. Pack’s life first arose in late 2003 or early 2004. It took Mr. Pack a long time—about two and a half years—to come to grips with the fact that the book needed to be written.

Dave is God's chosen human and imperfect vessel.

Many fail to comprehend that God works through flesh. While all people are imperfect and all people make mistakes, it is vital to recognize that God has always chosen to work through human beings—flawed “clay pots.” But when a man determines to yield himself to Christ—when he dedicates his life to following the will of God no matter what—God can use that man to accomplish the impossible (Matt. 19:26; Phil. 4:13).

Dave has been tested by his god to be chosen for his extraordinary and difficult assignment.

As you read this biography, you will see that God tries, tests and proves His servants time and time again—over and over and over—and He has to do this, not only because trials both reveal character and build it, but He must know and understand the heart and mind of the human instrument through whom He is working.

How much more and greater become these trials and tests if the man at their center has been chosen for extraordinary and difficult responsibility?

God's direct intervention in Dave's life is even more extraordinary than Herbert Armstrong's.  Dave says that HWA heard God's call at the age of 34, but Dave was even more special, God spoke to him when he was 17!  Dave says he has received an even more comprehensive and intensive training than Herbert did for the same position.

...God called Mr. Armstrong when he was already 34 years old and married for 10 years with two children. He first opened Mr. Pack’s eyes to the truth when he was half as old—a teenager of just 17. Then, Mr. Armstrong had very little time to prepare for the role of leading the Church, while Mr. Pack was blessed with many years of comprehensive—and intensive!—preparation before coming to the same position.

Dave ends Chapter 1 with this:

Finally, Mr. Armstrong was Mr. Pack’s teacher, not the other way around. Mr. Pack attended Ambassador College, while Mr. Armstrong started and led it.

However, there are similarities seen throughout the two men’s biographies, with the most notable being that both men led lives of submission to God’s will, coupled with a unique determination not to compromise any of His truth, no matter how seemingly “small” or “minor” the point.

Humility. Apparently, it is a commodity that neither man had! 

Dave Pack: "I have often thought that my entire life has been one most privileged."

The quotes below are from the introduction to Dave Pack's "Authorized Autobiography." Can there ever have been a greater human being to walk this green earth and to lead a Church of God?  Not even Bob Thiel is this superfantastic!  The narcissism runs deep!

I have often thought that my entire life has been one most privileged. Of course, living in a modern Western nation is enough in itself to make this true. Just the list of extraordinary physical blessings enjoyed is nearly without end. I had wonderful parents, an unusually productive first marriage of over 36 years, with God blessing us with three children—and many grandchildren. There has now been the very happy, and quite unexpected, blessing of a second wife, also completely committed to God’s Way. I have traveled theworld, and met many remarkable people along the way.

Obviously, the greatest blessing in my life has been God’s calling into His Church, Work and truth now well over 40 years ago. Nothing could compare to the gift of learning and understanding the marvelous doctrines of God. My calling almost immediately involved a decision that altered the course of my life more than any other: the opportunity to attend Ambassador College. This in turn led to being placed into the ministry of Jesus Christ now approaching 40 years ago. Such a life-altering additional calling meant a host of diverse assignments, always in interesting cities and regions of the country, and working with and assisting many thousands of people, including leaders, in a ministerial setting.

These became the foundation for many of the events experienced and lessons learned related throughout these volumes.

Dave's life is so supferfantaulous that his writers cannot even figure out where to start chronicling his life.  Imagine living a transcendent life like Dave!

Since an unusually wide range of experiences has enriched my life, a certain problem was created for the writers: which stories and encounters should be included in the biography. Of course, there were certain ones that had to be incorporated because of their transcending influence or impact on my life. The biography would fail in purpose if it did not contain them, coupled with an explanation of why they were important. This alone meant a lot of material needed to be included. 

For some reason, Dave fails to mention the trail of destruction and ruined lives he left behind in EVERY church area he served at.  Someone else had to come in and clean up his messes every single time.

Dave claims his god had a hand in his life just as god supposedly had a hand in Herbert Armstrong's life.

When the overall picture is seen, it becomes evident that God had His hand on me as a young man, and, as with Herbert W. Armstrong, there were times His guidance was very clear in my life. This was most obvious when looking back, rather than around from the middle of an ongoing experience or trial. Taken together, the stories and accounts chosen either carried significant lessons or in some fashion helped define me.

As the holy child of God, Dave's mother recognized his magnificence early on:

As a young boy, my mother characterized me as “a child with great capacity for enjoyment.” This personality trait probably most summarizes my approach to everything and still describes me today. I have always seen life in brilliant colors. This had an automatic effect on how wonderfully blessed I have felt myself to be during the over six decades of my life. To this day, those closest to me marvel at the enthusiasm with which I seem to embrace almost everything before me.

When one lives a life so superfantabulous, the critics come out and deliberately lie about such magnificent men as Dave.  Dave therefore had to set the record straight:

Over the years, much, in fact most, of what has been written and spoken about me is either completely false or badly distorted. Through the Internet, these stories have proliferated and multiplied. That much of this information has been negative comes as no surprise. It is human nature to pass along gossip, true or false. But it is human nature to suppose that most of the stories are true, if only because this is easy. I had to eventually accept that this may be partly because there is no factual alternative to which to turn. I also had to recognize that some in the splinters of the Worldwide Church of God could miss out on participation in the true Work and Church of God if we did not do this. 

As if ANYONE in ANY of the splinter groups is "missing out" on the awesomeness of Dave's life.  They know enough about his crap to not join up with him over the past three years, as he predicted they would be.

Only Jesus has been tested more than Dave's personal life.  He is such an amazing dude!

My entire life has been a series of tests of faith. There have been numerous health trials, and more than the average person. There have been almost nonstop slander and persecution, coupled with demotion and unexpected transfers. Then there has been the challenge of having been drafted into the military after God had called me, the trials and blessings of paying third tithe, in addition to tests in the workplace for one year associated with taking time off to observe God’s Holy Days. And there are the many—and often severe—financial trials that God always saw me through. I also worked directly under several ministers who did not have God’s Holy Spirit, and almost seemed to set out to prove it—their later decisions before or during the apostasy plainly evidenced this. There was of course also the long, protracted illness in 2006 and 2007, culminating in death, of my first wife.

Some will say the stories and relationships described are embellished and/or exaggerated. They are not. They come from real events. They happened! (In fact, many punches had to be pulled just to keep certain names out.) The accounts of those I met and associated with involved real people inside and outside the Church. 

Dave is so confident in his awesomeness that he has geared his story towards 6 different groups of people:

Finally, the biography has been written so that it speaks to as many as six separate audiences. First would be members of The Restored Church of God. Second are those who were once in the Worldwide Church of God. These may be in or out of the splinters today, but are trying to find where God’s Church, Work, Truth and Government continue.

The third group consists of those God is calling now who may have the same interest in my background as I and so many others did in Mr. Armstrong’s preparation and training. Fourth would be the public press. These should at least have an opportunity to read an alternative to what God’s enemies state about His Church and its leaders.

Fifth would be young people in the Church who might benefit in the same way that Mr. Armstrong felt his early life experiences benefited young people of decades ago. Many will recall he excerpted into a small booklet his “Early Years” solely for this purpose.

Sixth are all true ministers of God today. The experiences recorded here become a guide of helpful counseling tools, organizational tips, methods used and painful lessons learned involving mistakes to be avoided that hopefully can be useful for the remainder of these last days. We live in a complicated age, and any additional assistance and voice of experience that can be offered can only help.

No one in the Church of God has ever lived a life that was as extraordinary as Dave's!  Read it and weep Bob Thiel and Gerald Weston!  You apostates!  Dave's life will soon be included in scripture as a worthy life to emulate.

I believe that what the reader will encounter captures the extraordinary life I have lived, and it offers an opportunity for others to learn from my experiences. I certainly did.

The Plight of the Follower and Group Think

"The moment you follow someone, you cease to follow Truth,"

Jiddu Krishnamurti

“We are not supposed to all be the same, feel the same, think the same, and believe the same. 

The key to continued expansion of our Universe lies in diversity, 

not in conformity and coercion. 

Conventionality is the death of creation.”

― Anthon St. Maarten,

“The larger the group, the more toxic, the more of your beauty as an individual you have to surrender for the sake of group thought. And when you suspend your individual beauty you also give up a lot of your humanity. You will do things in the name of a group that you would never do on your own. Injuring, hurting, killing, drinking are all part of it, because you've lost your identity, because you now owe your allegiance to this thing that's bigger than you are and that controls you.”

― George Carlin, Last Words

"But the kingdom is within you, and it is outside of you. When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will know that you are the sons of the living Father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you are in poverty, and you are poverty. "

Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas

(No wonder it didn't make the cut)

“It was a well-known fact that humans became more addled than usual when running in herds.”
― Jim Butcher, The Aeronaut's Windlass

“There is no need for us all to be alike and think the same way, neither do we need a common enemy to force us to come together and reach out to each other. If we allow ourselves and everyone else the freedom to fully individuate as spiritual beings in human form, there will be no need for us to be forced by worldly circumstances to take hands and stand together. Our souls will automatically want to flock together, like moths to the flame of our shared Divinity, yet each with wings covered in the glimmering colors and unique patterns of our individual human expression.”
― Anthon St. Maarten

“Group Thinking” or lack of courage to ask the tough and strategic questions 
is the chief weakness on Boards today.”
― Pearl Zhu,