Dave Pack Declares Petra Is No Longer The Place of Safety

A while back Dave took a large group of his HQ staff to Petra to scout it out as the "place of final training."  At great expense to the tithe paying members of the Restored Church of God it was all expenses paid as Dave wined and dined his fellow travelers.

A problem arose when Dave and crew got there; they were appalled at the number of people that also knew about the place.  It was over run by hoards of unclean unconverted people.  Hotels outside the entrance, food vendors and restaurants.  Hundreds and hundreds of buses and travel vans vomiting out thousands of the unwashed masses.

Those unwashed masses don't even take into count the supposed tens of thousands of COG members from hundreds and hundreds of splinter groups who will also be gathering there.  Can't you just see it now - out side the narrow passage way will be Pack, Flurry, Meredith, Franks, et all,  fighting over who gets to go in first and who is going to be the grand leader for the next 3 1/2 years.  There would be no need to be sent to the lake of fire, this would certainly be 3 1/2 years of pure hell with all of these buffoons there together.

It was sooooooo appallingly disgusting to Dave that he has decided the Petra is no longer the place of safety.  He hasn't quit yet figured out where it will be, but you can be assured it will be the most incredible place on the planet.  God's most incredible super-duper COG can't be relegated to some over-trod place like Petra anymore,  It's faaaaaaaaaaar too common.    God's most superfantabulous COG ever, has to have a special place beyond all expectations.   Is Wadsworth prepared for Dave's super enormous and spectacularly large group of 1,200 all gathering at RCG's HQ for 3 1/2 years?

Dennis Writes: "On Eagle's Wings"

The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, 

so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, 

where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, 

out of the serpent's reach.

Revelation 12 : 14

Even as young pastor in the WCG and with a young family, I had no plans to ever "flee" to the Petra, Jordan when the end of the age became official.  "Hide me in the grave," was going to have to suffice .  I did not give sermons on Petra that I recall and doubt I would.  It would have been short. 

It didn't take long for "probably" to change over to for sure and of course "for sure" quickly moved on to topics of how shall we live? , what will we do for that time and how can this or that be?  It was fertile ground , as we know, for Evangelist Gerald Waterhouse who made things even worse.  After every pass through any church I pastored he caused a stir.  Of course there were the groupies around whom even I had be careful to just smile when they speculated even more about Petra after he left the area and say "uh huh."  But also there were those brave souls who probably represent the silent majority for whom this topic caused fear and anxiety.  What about my kids?  Can I take the dog?  How will we eat?  Why would we go there where it is very dangerous especially with Armageddon and all going on just up the street when we can stay here?  Waterhouse had evolving answers for all these and I referred their questions on to him since he started it.  All the OT stories were used to encourage us about food and protection. Proof-texting at it's best!  A small number of people thought it malarkey from the start and I got along best with them.

This teaching, though I did not buy into it much at all, was always troubling to me.  The message in Revelation seemed for those of that time in that place under those conditions but maybe it was just me.  I think the picture at the top of this article will stir memories for most of just how we were to get there.  Once it was established that Petra was not speculation but where God would protect his church, we had to get there and since the symbol of the United States was the Eagle, it was probably, no for sure, going to be the USA packing us all up and sending us there one American Airlines.  HWA had grace and favor, and bribed, world leaders who love us so they would be sure we got there safely.  Just shoot me I recall thinking. 

Southerners would have to take a different flight. :)

At any rate, I worried consciously or subconsciously about the topic for years.  HWA was getting old now and you know how crazy some old people can be when they have never considered the fact that they too would die like everyone else .  I had visions of HWA dying and drooling out ,  "Tell the Brethren it is time to flee..."  Gerald Waterhouse would be in charge of the details.  Money stashed by HWA would be used to have us flown from every corner of the planet to Petra.  I was concerned most when HWA had to leave California for Arizona and he might get used to the heat and Waterhouse would tell us God was acclimatizing HWA for the change.  I have a vivid imagination.  Did Jordan have good airports?  How many buses would it take to get to the site.  Please don't tell me we have to walk from the airport!  Is it hot?  Will I be able to bring my Nintendo?  What do I tell my family?  What if my husband won't let me go?  Do I need a passport?     And so it went and while it seemed absolute rubbish to me as time went on , people actually believed this stuff.  How much more insane it seems to me now knowing more about the actual story behind the Book of Revelation, but at the time, it seemed something in the Bible for the church today to have to figure out.  Of course it has NOTHING to do with us today but we'll let that go for now.

Sadly and of course...there are many today who are Clingons.  They still cling to some one man show's vision of what this still means for their personal church today.  Everyone wants to be protected in bad times right?  Times are bad, right?  So, the game is still on.  Plainly however, this is really bad teaching and a totally speculative and bogus use of scripture.  Again, and if this phrase gets burned into you head my purpose will be done.  A scripture can never mean what it never meant.  However, many religiously ignorant  and unstable types seem to make every effort to make this not so.  With proof-texting and speculation , usually designed to keep people in line and  in an appreciative mood for the safe feeling the dance through scriptures was supposed to give,  the ignorance went on and still does.  If it causes fear and anxiety in some then we can make that the sermon for next week.  You can be sure that sermon will have something to do with your lack of faith and insight, not to mention the problem you might have with following God's chosen Apostle.   

Will it be safe?  Will God squish the passage in the rocks together like the closing of the Red Sea?  ("Yes"  Gerald Waterhouse)   Can't helicopters and bombs get dropped from above?  ("Hmmmm...God will put clear bulletproof dome over us maybe..no for sure!")  Where will we go potty since we can't do it in the camp?  Who will take out the garbage?  Will there even be garbage because what will we eat???  Can I open the first "Petra Hut" and make money of the brethren?  Can I have the toilet paper franchise?  

And on and on and on.  Had I known the pun back then I would have "kidded" Gerald about his long sermons on Petra or "Mr. Urmstrong," qualifying him for "On and On Anonymous"!  My humor is passive aggressive , or sooooooooooooo I am told...excuse me for livin'    :)

This is not an article on fleeing or not fleeing to Petra today.  If you can't settle that historical context and theological foolishness for yourself, I can't help you.   This is a short reminder of the kind of foolishness the self appointed can get themselves into and the anxiety you can feel when you are stuck between wanting to believe and voting with your feet.  It's why I say "when your head tells you one thing, especially on this topic, and your stomach tells you something else,  your head is lying and your stomach is telling you the truth.

        Proceed with such speculative and ultimately false and foolish teachings and those that teach them at  your own risk....

 Proverbs 11:14 - "in a multitude of counselors there is safety"

Unfortunately and in my experience, those who stand up to stupid and offer advice  or caution are shown the door.  Those that kiss up to stupid get ordained.  

contact Dennis at: denniscdiehl@AOL.com

Memorial Day

Brittany American Cemetery France

New Movie On Laodicean-Palooza

All you have to do is change "rapture" to Laodicean and you have 

Bob Thiel, Dave Pack and Rod Meredith's 

end time  scenarios made into a comedy movie.

Dale Schurter: Can You Help Us Find Him? He's Missing, AGAIN

Can you find Dave Schurter?

Several months ago Dave Pack made the most starting announcement ever  in the history of the Church of God.  Dave announced that Dale Schurter had defected from UCG to Dave's group.  Dave considered this to be the greatest thing to happen to the RCG since its creation.

Dale immediatly went into Dave's reeducation camp.  Several months later Schurter was allowed to make a pubic statement and even produced a booklet on agriculture.  Then, he disappears again.  Dave has no more use for the guy and as usual he is cast aside or sent to the neither regions of god's most superfantabulous Church of God ever built in the world.

Schurters experience in the RCG should be a wake up call to all LCG, PCG and UCG ministers.  If you plan on going over to the dark side be prepared for the consequences!

Wanted: Dave Pack's "The Clarion Call" Unedited Version Tapes 1 & 5

We are looking for tapes or CD's of Dave Pack's original unedited version of The Clarion Call sermon.  The version he has up online is the one for public consumption.  He has a second version just for internal church use where he discusses his roll as Joshua and things that will be happening to him this August/September.  This is the time he  preached that three major COG leaders will die and tens of thousands of their members will come immediately to his little fledgling group.

The poor little guy just cannot gather his mind together to understand why COG members are not flocking to him already.  Even with all of his bombastic boasting he cannot draw COG members away from their groups.

Like Rod Meredith, Dave has publicly stated that he has examined himself and has not found any sin within himself.  He is struggling with this point because his Haggai interpretations, that he thinks discuss himself, says that he is covered in filthy garments.  since GTA is dead there is no one to lay the blame upon except himself.  Since he is without sin, he has not quit figured out what to do with this interpretation. Dave spent about 30 minutes in deep humility, on his knees, flagellating his self as he asked his god to tell him where he was sinning.  His god was strangely silent so Dave still has no idea where his sin lies.

We just want Dave to know we are here to help him understand where he has gone wrong.

Dave Pack's Search For The Holy Grail To Legitimize His Soon Coming Office As Joshua

Dave Pack was  on a treasure hunt a few years ago to try and find the original Elijah Cup that was produced by Steuben Crystal in the late 60's and early 70's.  This cup was given to Herbert Armstrong by the the Advisory Council of Elders in May of 1982.  The cup that was given to HWA was an original, #14 out of a series of 25.

Since Dave thinks he is the only legitimate heir to Herbert Armstrong running a Church of God, he has to have more physical things to legitimize him as the soon coming Joshua.  Despite many months of searching and pleading to the present owners of the cup, Dave had to settle on another edition.

Dave, never one to spend his own money of anything, conned a loyal church member to fork over $25,000 to buy this "gift" for Dave. A wealthy RCG members buys Dave the gift and presents it to him, instead of an Advisory Council of Elders, as an acknowledgment of his office.  What a disappointment that must have been for Dave.  How can the leader of the most super-duper Church of God ever to exist be so humiliated?  His members have had a good laugh over this one.

Leave it to Dave to also find spiritual significance in this cup.  Of course like anything involving Dave he has to be part of the equation.  Dave claims God had inspired him to preach a sermon nine days prior to the Advisory Council presentation.  Dave claims he is the one that called HWA Elijah first.  It was his sermon that brought this all to the forefront.  Dave wants you to think God was already performing a might work in him prior to his termination from the Church of God for a year.  Dave for some reason never mentions this gap in his ministerial credentials, but that is another subject for a later time.

My 1982 “Elijah” Sermon

On April 24, 1982, I first preached about Mr. Armstrong fulfilling the Elijah role. The Church had already known this since 1971, or earlier. The title drove home the point: “The Prophetic Significance of Mr. Armstrong’s Office.” It is posted on our website—and it proves that neither I nor anyone else “dreamed up,” after Mr. Armstrong’s death, what had been our long-held understanding. All who take the time to listen to this sermon will recognize there was once no doubt or confusion about who we believed had fulfilled the Elijah prophecy.

If you hear it, ask if I would have been permitted to give this sermon on my own authority. Certainly not! As mentioned, Mr. Armstrong was always uncomfortable with ministers artificially elevating him. We will later see he completely understood that a sermon like mine did not do that. Over 600 people heard it when I delivered it. (Also, I know of one senior evangelist who gave a similar sermon in 1979.)

I quote it so that you will have no doubt of its strength or clarity—or of my long-held position. Looking back, it also spoke directly to attacks that did come on Mr. Armstrong’s office, possibly even beyond what I even envisioned, and I was plain. For simplicity, an ellipse separates several short sections that are placed together:
“That office as we come to see becomes the focal point of all the prophecies about the warnings as we go through the scriptures. And because there is a two-fold authority that an apostle holds, that’s why from Satan’s point of view, all kinds of attacks have to ultimately be directed toward that office.

 “Look, if you knock out a deacon somewhere or a Church elder or a pastor or even an evangelist, and we’ve lost some of those, it may be a small ripple effect in the Church. Even a pillar member locally could cause a small ripple effect in the Church, but if you can knock out an apostle, if you can knock out an Eisenhower in World War II, you know, the general of the armies, the five-star general, or a MacArthur in the Pacific Theater, you’d have far greater effect than an infantryman who dies storming Iwo Jima. The effect is not the same.

“So it will become clear as we go on why these attacks have to continue to come against that man. If there is no other thing that’s accomplished, and I’m sure there will be after the sermon is over, than just to explain that one point to us—why those attacks must come, not as single rifle shots but almost in machine gun bursts, one bullet after another flying—then I will have accomplished what I wanted to do.

“Now turn to Matthew 17. We’re going to look at a couple of lengthy verses in Matthew…And again, brethren, I think we are going to begin to see that Mr. Armstrong’s office is far, far greater than any of us realize, far, far greater…

“There is one man at this point in time—not the human form of the man, we should say, that makes him special, but that particular office that that man holds, as a great servant of God, is the one that stands between utter destruction for this world and continuing on to the Return of Jesus Christ. Have you ever looked at it in that context? Have you ever seen the office of Herbert Armstrong as that big before? Does that sound blasphemous to you? Does that sound like we’re boasting of apostolic office? Brethren, I hope not. I hope we understand it. You could say, ‘That can’t be Herbert Armstrong…’

“It’s somebody in the spirit and power of Elijah. It is somebody, by the way, who, when you ask him, ‘Who are you?’ will not say, ‘I am Elijah,’ as we have had people say. He will say, just as John said, ‘I am John.’ I don’t think John called himself John the Baptist. Maybe he did. If you ask him, ‘Who are you?’ He will say, ‘My name is Herbert’ or ‘Mr. Armstrong’ or whatever.”

Dave was able to con his wealthy church member to buy the "gift for him in 2009.

It should be noted that in 2009, The Restored Church of God was able to purchase one of the other 24 cups made by Mr. Yenawine. It now sits prominently displayed in our Executive Office. A picture is on the opposite page.

The WCG Council of Elders spent $11,500.00 in tithe money to buy HWA this cup.  Dave's wealthy member had to dish out $25,000.00.

Dave is also not happy that all of the men on the Advisory Council all left to go to various splinter cults except his. For some reason Dave just CANNOT attract people to his group.  They all go elsewhere.  They abandoned the faith.  Only Dave, God's most superfantabulous Church of God  leader in human history has the correct faith.

Some on the 1982 Council were: Dibar Apartian, Aaron Dean, Roderick C. Meredith, Raymond F. McNair, Ellis LaRavia, Robert Fahey and Leon Walker. There may have been others who also slipped into a splinter. Of course, some others, like Dr. Hoeh and Dean Blackwell, never left the WCG, and both died having left the faith.

 Think! The entire 1982 WCG Advisory Council of Elders and senior ministry have sold out to numerous false doctrines. This is a fact, not because I say so, but because history proves IT IS A FACT! Though some assert otherwise, most of these men have abandoned many doctrines that Mr. Armstrong taught.

Dave fails to mention that he did the exact same thing. Not only did he leave to teach other doctrines but he also left for one specific reason, MONEY!  Dave's lust for money is legendary in the RCG.

By the way Dave. I don't know why you have such a problem in securing one of the books you were after.  I have two that were given to me last year, including one that has many pictures of HWA's other Steuben pieces.  HWA had several pieces in his home. Are you going to buy those to also impress yourself with?

I know you read this blog, Dave.  I know it for a fact.  Please keep us informed on how that "Joshua" thing is going so that we can buy you the latest Steuben piece, "The Toilet Bowl of Joshua."