Sunday, October 6, 2013

Mr. Diehl Muses:

New Announcement Coming Next Week Due to post-Feast time constraints, Mr. Pack is unable to post what will be his last announcement for some time about the Haggai/Zechariah prophecy. This long, important announcement will bring three final elements to the prophecy, and includes helpful excerpts from an extraordinary 1972 article by Herbert W. Armstrong about how Christians should view matters of prophetic timing. Next week’s announcement, to appear some time between Monday and Wednesday, will carefully explain additional matters about the prophecy’s timing that came to light a month ago. Readers will find it fascinating. No next “date” will be set, but the reader will be able to conclude for himself what may happen. Mr. Pack will explain what had not been understood.

Upcoming Announcements Mr. Pack will be posting two or three more “Friday Announcements” in the coming weeks. These will explain in detail additional expansive elements of the Haggai/Zechariah prophecy. They will open your eyes to things that God has long intended to do in His end-time Work that no one ever understood before, and you will see that His Word is plain!
The first will be this Friday, and will cover interesting points and scriptures everyone should keep in mind now. The next one or two will bring clarity to certain questions about “dates,” and how brethren should now view the “when” of the prophecy’s fulfillment."

Personally, my sense is that this is actually Dave writing the announcements and shifting them from a first person view to the third.  I could be wrong but this is the same way Bible Scholars endeavor to discover who actually wrote or who did not write books in the Bible attributed to specific persons.

For example, most ministers assume and are taught that the Apostle Paul wrote Hebrews.  No real scholar believes this for very good reasons.  While there are many technical reasons, one of the more obvious ones is that in Paul's genuine writings he refers to himself very very often.  In Hebrews, this is just not the style and people don't change their styles.  I might say something anonymously in a posting but those who know me can easily say, "that's Dennis."  I can write something as "M.T.Hall" yet it takes not genius to see, "that's Dennis".  :)

From:http://www.judaismvschristianity.com/paulthe.htm


"I wanna talk about me!"

No other epistle author in the Bible wrote like Paul. This would be true on a number of levels, but one aspect is of particular interest when we are considering how Paul views himself. He had a way of drawing attention to himself with his usage of personal pronouns. When it comes to how often he uses words like, "I", "me", "my", or "mine", the overall rate in his epistles is almost three times that of his next closest rival. There are a number of reasons why many scholars today believe Paul was not the author of the book of Hebrews. One obvious reason is, in the other epistles credited to him, Paul doesn't hesitate to identify himself along with his supposed credentials. The author of Hebrews is strangely silent on these matters. Many scholars believe Barnabas was the author of Hebrews, but I think Apollos is a far better candidate... but that's a different subject. The point is, no one knows for sure.  But Paul certainly couldn't be in the running as the author of Hebrews when one also considers the statistical rate of the personal pronoun usage. The author of Hebrews refers to himself only 9 times, which is approximately 1.3 personal pronouns per thousand words. To help put this in perspective, let's compare the book of Hebrews to the book of Romans. They are both relatively large books of similar length, divided into 13 and 16 chapters respectively. Yet in only the first half of the first chapter of Romans, which is 16 verses worth, Paul uses twice as many personal pronouns as the author of Hebrews uses in his entire book! In the book of Romans, Paul refers to himself 103 times, which is rate of about 18.2 per thousand! That is 13x greater than Hebrews. In 1 Corinthians, Paul refers to himself 175 times, in 2Corinthians 103 times again, and in the relatively short book of Galatians, he refers to himself 69 times which is a rate of 25 personal pronouns per 1000 words!"


In most professional ministries you simply do not employ this style of speaking when teaching about the Gospel, Jesus and all associated  (balanced and genuinely Biblical)  topics.  Paul had a bad habit of saying he would boast in Christ and then boast in himself.  It's why scholars get suspicious of Paul when he says, "I lie not..."   They think he must be lying.


Anyway...this switch form the first person to the third person is interesting.  Dave's "authorized biography" also gives the impression it is written by another about Dave's life.  Even Herbert Armstrong wrote his autobiography in the first person.  Dave chose not to.


Why do people speak in the third person anyway?  I'd feel awkward if  I said, "Mr Diehl believes that Dave writes everything on his site and no one touches it," if it was me telling you this.  Maybe it's just me. But why the third person?

From Esquire:
 

Why the F%$# Do People Refer to Themselves in the Third Person?

Esquire magazine is going to discuss the proper use of the third person, and Esquire magazine doesn't think you're going to have a problem with that.

Major Human Flaw: Some people refer to themselves in the third person. 

 
Response No. 1, by Elsa Ronningstam, associate clinical professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School and author of Identifying and Understanding the Narcissistic Personality: Referring to yourself in the third person creates distance between "I" and "he." So if you have an exaggerated view of how great you are, you could be using this distance to make yourself even bigger. Or, if you've achieved major success suddenly, using the third person could be a way to adjust to the bigger role that's been assigned to you. It's a way to enlarge yourself to fit that role.

Response No. 2, by Mike Birbiglia, stand-up comedian who currently stars in the off-Broadway show Sleepwalk with Me: People love to rip those who refer to themselves in the third person, but they don't understand the power that comes with it. The third person is how you indicate that the topic is not open for debate. You are speaking about facts that just so happen to include you. Like when Alonzo Mourning says, "Alonzo Mourning has to make the best business decisions for Alonzo Mourning," everyone steps back a little, and somebody hands him $15 million a year for seven years. But that same sentence in the first person would have sounded like, "I just enjoy playing basketball with my friends and all the free Gatorade." See the difference? ....

Speaking in the third person rather than the first is an odd habit.  It has deep roots in a kind of distancing oneself from what one says .  If I say "I did a really stupid thing..."  that sounds like I am involved with it  and both accept and take responsibility for it.  If I say "Mr Diehl did a really stupid thing..."  it sounds like I want to admit it but I don't wish to be associated with it or take responsibility for it.   It's somewhat like saying that I am not the author of a prophecy or a prophet but I am just telling you God's prophecy.  This way, if it goes wrong, I can remind you it's not me that came up with this stuff.  If it goes well, I will reap some form of power or credibility from the weak minded for it however, but if it goes sour, not to worry.  God has given us more time and there are new things to reveal that we never before could have understood. 

Why do I care about this?  I care because these types of personalities hurt people to the core in the name of religion which is supposed to free .Thirty Five years on in life, I still am cleaning up after Dave Pack and his Trail of Tears. I don't kid myself either.  Dave Pack and his Restored Church of God reminds me all to well of the kind of theological mistakes I made as a kid that resulted in me ending up in the ministry of Church that was a doomed personality cult.  I did not recognize this as a kid and young minister.  Once deeply embedded in it, I just wanted to encourage my churches with the hope given in scripture and help them get through the stinky stuff of real life.  I could not have cared less about "HQ" after just a few short years.  It was like the question in Fiddler on the Roof.  "Is there a proper blessing for the Czar," the peasants asked the Rabbi.  "Yes...May God bless and keep the Czar....far away from us!"

  These types major in the minors as if the minors mattered and get folk off the track of a genuine and encouraging spirituality.  Aside from the FACT that Dave Pack's view of himself as being spoken of by the very minor prophet Haggai is pure fantasy and a gross misapplication of scripture,   this kind of egoism can lead to disaster for all concerned as I suspect it will again.
 



Saturday, October 5, 2013

Online Dating In The Philadelphia Church of God



Leave it to the legalistic Philadelphia Church of God where the young adults are forced into such a ridiculous position.  Instead of being able to date friends in other COG's or even school/college friends, these young adults are restricted to the miniscule field of Armstrongite worshipers who look at Gerald Flurry as one step below Jesus.  As they worship HWA so do they worship Gerald Flurry.


In my case, this relationship led to the point where, under the direction of our respective local ministers, we began dating each other exclusively. Two months ago we began marriage counseling. Our relationship to this point has been built almost entirely online, across an ocean!

Online dating requires time out of our busy schedules. But it’s not as much time as in-person dating may take! One benefit of online dating is that it allows you to come home from work, log onto your computer and dial up the individual you want to speak with. This definitely beats having to undertake a potentially hours-long drive to someone’s home—or, in my case, a flight across the Atlantic!

The Bible contains plenty of examples that demonstrate the need to sacrifice: Abraham sacrificed Isaac; Ruth gave up her entire way of life to follow God through Naomi; Hannah gave her firstborn son to a life that would not be his own; and many more.

Sacrificing a small portion of my time each day to serve my friend has helped me to be less selfish.

Another example is dancing. Believe it or not, dancing is not just about two coming together and spinning each other round and round. There are many types of dancing, just as there are many types of music, with individual preferences. One may like dancing more than the other. But if one of you likes it a lot, make it a part of your life—step out and give that individual time to show you what they can do.

A plethora of enjoyable online dating options exist. Here are just a few to consider:
  • Wine and cheese tasting
  • Online shopping (link sharing)
  • Have a fashion show with the items you purchase from online shopping!
  • Share in exercise routines and goals
  • Share in dietary preferences, nutritional information
  • Have a movie night
  • Go to the park (virtual)
  • Go on a walk through your town (also virtual)
  • Share articles from the pcg and Trumpet websites
  • Have Bible studies based on these articles
  • Show one another how you garden
  • Perform such tasks as showing each other how to do plumbing, electrics, painting, etc. (I did this recently when my friend was decorating her living room)
  • You might be able to even show your date what you do for a living, bring them to work, or show them what you do through video conferencing!
From:  Calling All Singles To Online Dating!

Dennis Muses: I'm just sayin'....

Too Much Future-Too Much Past
(Why It's OK Not to Give a Rat's Ass About Haggai)
 
Classic Mahogany
I bought a home...
 
“All negativity is caused by an accumulation of psychological time and denial of the present. Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry - all forms of fear - are caused by too much future, and
not enough presence. Guilt, regret, resentment, grievances, sadness, bitterness, and all forms
of non forgiveness are caused by too much past, and not enough presence.”
Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment    
 
 
Could anything describe the COGs and especially the self proclaimed Apostles and Prophets that sunk to the bottom more than men who live with too much future or too much past?
 
 
Every sermon Ron Weinland ever gave found him going back to "the Apostasy" where it didn't take a Psychiatrist to see how much it warped him and set him on his own path to greatness in the name of heading the one true church left.   He then spent a number of years with way too much future on his mind and ended up living in the present now not quite as he had thought.
 
 
Dave Pack lives with way too much past and future.  He worships the style, success and memory of Herbert W Armstrong.  He longs for the old days of control over lots of people, clubs, sermons, festivals and church  boundary lines. He misses the Ambassador Campus and electric carts.  Then he got way too much future into his system with his "soon to be united" malarkey.  Now he is stuck in the only real thing there is, for now, the present reality and moment.
  
 
                        “It is not uncommon for people to spend their whole life waiting to start living.” 
                                 Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
 
 
“Time isn’t precious at all, because it is an illusion. What you perceive as precious is not time but the one point that is out of time: the Now. That is precious indeed. The more you are focused on time—past and future—the more you miss the Now, the most precious thing there is.”  
 
 
If it one thing I have personally learned from my youthful decisions to study the past and believe others knew the future is that it's all in the head.  The past is simply memories in the head.  The past is merely a present moment that is over with and replaced with a new present moment.  The future is a present moment  not yet here and when it comes and goes to be replaced by another present moment. 
 
 
The more anger you hold towards the past | Feel My Love
 
The Church of God and Fundamentalism has taught me to abhor the terms, "time is short,"  "soon,"  and "It won't be long now..."  There is no truth in any of it and it is a good way to miss the moment you are actually having for one that has no meaning.  Humans have to deal with anger because we have memories and anxiety because we have fears of the unknown and unknowable future.  Prophecy is the illusion that one can know.  Every prophecy, no matter the "thus saith the Lord" attached to it is just human construct and speculation to resolve, if even for a time, the fear and and anxiety humans have because they are aware that they are aware.   Prophecy in the Old Testament is not near what it is cracked up to be.  Much of it is failed and much of it that seems to be prophetic, such as the Book of Daniel, is not at all.  It is written in such great detail because most of what it predicts has already happened.  Empires have already come and gone and dramas well known acted out.  As I have said in the past, the reason Daniel 11 is such an amazingly detailed "prophecy" and chapter 12 goes all swishy and generic is that the events in chapter 11 had already occurred and those hoped for in chapter 12 had not but no one really knew much more what to say.  A common writing style which most emotional bible reader types have never heard of. 
 
The New Testament stories of Jesus fantastic birth are not fulfilled prophecy from the Old.  They seem so because the authors mined the Old Testament for the very scriptures they wrote the story around.  They often took only the parts they liked and often grossly out of context.  People don't want to hear that.
 
The Book of Revelation, as noted in the past, is not a book for today.  It was for them and it was generally a failed prophecy when history unfolded as it actually did. 
 
The point being that under trained, emotional and perhaps a bit too ego centric and delusional men like __________ and ___________ and __________ make a great living off others by reminding them of the past which is now gone and unreal and pointing them ever into the near future.  Pointing people into the far future does not motivate.  These things MUST happen soon and in our lifetimes or who cares...  It was the same way in the Old Testament and in the New.  And they were wrong.   Repeating the fears and anxieties of others and acting out their lives as if their times were more special than all times, the lead people into missing the only real time they have in life...this present moment.
 
 
“As soon as you honor the present moment, all unhappiness and struggle dissolve, and life begins to flow with joy and ease. When you act out the present-moment awareness, whatever you do becomes imbued with a sense of quality, care, and love - even the most simple action.”
 
 
“Your outer journey may contain a million steps; your inner journey only has one: the step you are taking right now.” 
 
 
“If your mind carries a heavy burden of past, you will experience more of the same. The past perpetuates itself through lack of presence. The quality of your consciousness at this moment is what shapes the future.”  
 
Kingsly's Scribbling: Trust and Fix
 
“Watch any plant or animal and let it teach you acceptance of what is, surrender to the Now.
Let it teach you Being.
Let it teach you integrity — which means to be one, to be yourself, to be real.
Let it teach you how to live and how to die, and how not to make living and dying into a problem.”
 
 
Personally, I think my own WCG/COG experience, which I chose and could not have been dissuaded from until I allowed myself to see what I was in denial over and did not want to be as it really was, has always left me with this challenge. 
 
“Once you have identified with some form of negativity, you do not want to let it go, and on a deeply unconscious level, you do not want positive change. It would threaten your identity as a depressed, angry or hard-done by person. You will then ignore, deny or sabotage the positive in your life. This is a common phenomenon.
It is also insane.”
  
 
 
...and living today instead of in 1980 or 2020 is not just a better way, it is the only way.  Future present moments will take care of themselves. 
 
 
In my view, and it may only be my view, under trained and self absorbed men such as Gerald Flurry, Dave Pack, Ron Weinland and others thrive on too much past and future.  They attract those who do as well and it seems nothing but a path to lives not actually lived and decisions that will be bad memories of the future.
 
 
I can't imagine how those who did give up homes and monies and retirements to Dave Pack in his Clarion Call because back then it was time to pull big triggers, when it actually wasn't and now we know it wasn't,  are feeling after this feast.  Dave Pack was and is wrong.  He will be wrong again in the future when it becomes a new present reality to deal with. 
 
 
Dave Pack cannot allow his followers/church to recognize the present or they will get very angry and anxious.  Coming into their present reality will unleash anger over past promises gone very wrong and anxiety lies in the future because they actually did send it in and now Dave has to admit there are no more dates to set and no matter, he's just passing God's plans on.  He actually is not the one who came up with them.  In other words..."Don't blame me."   Ron Weinland is famous for dumping his failures on his followers.   "It was spiiiiiritual!"  
 
 
I don't think in my entire life any speculator of God who was found wanting ever uttered the words  "I was wrong."  "I apologize."  "I meant well and the Bible seemed to say that but it didn't mean what I thought it meant."
 
 
David C Pack has become the source of some serious dis-illusionment.  He has promoted illusions big time over the past year, for reasons I will never understand, but there is a price to pay for this.  Even the Apostle Paul promoted illusions about the "we who are alive" and "we shall be changed" views he had until he simply said "oh well, I fought a good fight....I'm get my reward...I'm out of here."
 
 
It's just better to take the ramblings of those in the past and the promises of some for how it all will be in the YOUR future with a grain of salt.  "Under advisement" as noted.
 
 
The Dave Packs of religion will keep you living in the past and fearing the future.  Now Dave has stuck his followers with anger over the recent past and some very practical problems for their personal futures.  It will be interesting to see how this unfolds for him with his huge plans to recreate the past and insure his success in the future.  It may be over.
 
“The word God has become empty of meaning through thousands of years of misuse... By misuse, I mean that people who have never glimpsed the realm of the sacred, the infinite vastness behind that word, use it with great conviction, as if they knew what they are talking about. Or they argue against it, as if they knew what it is they are denying. This misuse gives rise to absurd beliefs, assertions, and egoic delusions, such as "My or our God is the only true God, and your God is false," or Nietzsche's famous statement "God is dead.”
Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
 
 
Yesterday I finalized my own funeral arrangements.  I had a "death benefit" from the sale of my father's home where most of the money is to go for his end of life care.  I sat amongst the different styles and qualities of coffins and cremation urns using up all the allotted funds and arranging for my cremains to be dropped in Lake Ontario or maybe in the Adirondacks.  I asked to be cremated with a fully charged cell phone in my hand in case I needed to call out and have the gas jets shut off!   I picked out a great mahogany box and will probably have a great and ancient axe head I have in my collection also in the box to insure the box sinks and I have a bit of past history with me.  Or I'll get dropped in Tupper Lake where my best memories of being a kid are.   I already sold my gold Ambassador College Ring to the coin shop and returned the 25 year watch with the dead battery in it to WCG so they won't be with me.  I stood on the pier jutting into Lake Ontario with that watch about to throw it into the lake but then repented thinking "why pollute the lake.  I'll send it back and they'll know how I feel about it."
 
When we finished the administrator said, "Well Dennis...you're good to go.  Well, no pun intended."   We started laughing and the present now seems the best place to live.