Commercial Break: The Game is on! The Math is Absolutely Correct!

The 302

"Ok, so what? It's still on the tracks mostly."

 Impressions of Sermon 302  (I don't believe it can be posted but I did take the time to listen as agonizing as it was)

Dave Pack is currently on sermon 302 continuing to show how easy and simple it now is to see where "they" didn't understand but now "he" does, the details of when Jesus will return. Currently it is this coming Fall for many reasons that Dave pulls out of his....mind.  

Dave notes that it was five years ago that he actually dreamed he would be giving 302 or 303 sermons on this.  I'm sure he noted that to subconsciously tell himself and the congregation this is normal and was actually shown to him to be the path to truth from God.  Shades of Bob Thiel.

Clearly Dave is running out of material and is focused on rambling around in the NT scriptures making them clearly mean whatever he needs them to mean. And I do mean rambling. From Joseph of Arimathea to the nuances of Greek words that prove it really means this and not that, the sermon is a mess. I could not imagine sitting through it in real time without wanting to simply leave and find better things to do. But that's just me. 

Dave sounds more like he is trying to convince himself than others. In one particular reference to 2 Peter , he mumbles , almost to himself, his way through the "in the last days there will be scoffers.. saying "where is the promise of his calling" to get on to a verse past that he liked.  He either didn't mean to run into that verse or it irritates him because, of course, scoffing is all he deserves at this point. He seems to do a lot of talking to himself at times. My sense is that down deep, his confidence is waning and he is asking himself, "where is the promise of his coming...?"  

His use of NT scriptures on how soon the NT portrays Jesus return in those days and to whom it was actually written is tortuous and scripture mining and proof texting in the "now lets go over here, now lets over here" in classic WCG mix and match style when they don't actually.  Dave sees obvious connections to his ridiculous views where there are none and never could be. But we knew that. 

So, the Good News for RCG is that "the math is absolutely correct" (I have stated in the past that real sermons should not have math in them) and his Jesus is coming in the Fall of '21.  I suspect it "absolutely has to be Trumpets..." , "We missed it but now I clearly see it's Atonement", and "How could we miss it?  It's so simple and now I see it. Last Great Day!  That's because, brethren, it's a "Great Day!  It's so clear!"

However, fudge factor is in place as he does note several times and with several NT examples we all know that we wait no matter when as others did. God doesn't count or see time as we do. And things have to go longer than supposed so there can be scoffers. I would remind us that it's scoffers to the mistaken ones and observations to those who notice Jesus has not returned as advertised. 

I prophesy that in the end and when it is time to pass on, and it will come, Dave will say  "I have fought a good fight. I have kept the faith. Therefore there is laid up for ME, a Crown of Righteousness....  I can't speak for YOU!"

The views expressed are mine. Others may have found themselves gyrating in their seats 1 hour and 50 minutes later...

Mark Armstrong Is Leading A Sinking Ship Thanks To His Political Stances

 

If you thought the political crap from Bill Watson and Bob Thiel was mind-numbingly tiresome, Mark Armstrong has exceeded them by miles. Every single thing he writes is a political crapfest of Republican against Democrat, liberal against conservative, and doom and gloom. Everything is wrong with the world he lives in and he is MAD! Like Bob Thiel and other self indulgent COG leaders, he cannot find anything good to write about. He would do better to channel his opinions into writing for Newsmax or some other ultra right site than pretending to be spiritual by spiritualizing politics when god is brought in at the last sentence, but that is how COG leaders have operated for decades.

His entire financial existence is built upon rebroadcasting his dad's videos and republishing his writings and expecting people to still support a dead guy. 

Check out some of his weekly updates here.

From Church of God News:

The church is in the midst of a major make-over of its old websites for The ICG and the Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association – but will there be any changes to reverse the decline of the ICG itself? 

 

When Garner Ted Armstrong died in 2003, the ICG had around 90 congregations and was on around 30 television stations and cable outlets. His son Mark took over the day to day operation of the church and the production of the television outreach program. He was not ordained, and had no interest in ministry. 

 

Tom Kerry and a number of other ministers considered him unqualified for leadership and left in 2004 to form the first split in what eventually became known as Church of God Ministries International. 

 

Under Mark Armstrong’s leadership, two-thirds of the congregations have now been lost, and there has been no television outreach program for years. His personal involvement is a weekly blog and an occasional article for the quarterly magazine, both of which have little or no Christian content.

PCG: Come to the Dark Side, they have cookies!

More craziness from the Philadelphia Church of God. It is all about control.

 

A couple years after my wife died my two sons and I signed up to attend the PCG “family weekend” in GA.

I got permission from my local minister to go and was told to contact the local event coordinator.

I emailed the man, he sent a list of instructions for the campout weekend. I was told to bring a few dozen extra cookies. I had just lost 160 pounds and had lots of health problems so I said that perhaps there would be a more healthy snack I could bring. A couple days later I got a call from my local minister, Aaron Eagle. He got on me for making the remark about cookies not being a healthy snack.

This is what had to happen for me to get that call:

The event coordinator contacted his local minister about my comment.
The local minister had to contact the regional director (Craig Winters) of the southeast.
The regional director of the southeast had to contact the regional director (Cal Culpepper) of the northeast.
The regional director of the northeast had to contact my local minister (Aaron Eagle).
My local minister contacted me about the comment.

WOW, all that over cookies. (On Facebook and Exit Support Network)

Gerald Flurry On A Proper Marriage

 

Women in the Philadelphia Church of God need to know their place! They are nothing without their husband shining their light upon them

Flurry has to be the dumbest COG leader ever! Even worse is that his followers swallow this crap as truth.

A Fool and His Money...: Foolish and Dangerous Nonsense From Reverend David C Pack in "The Clarion Call"

" If you send funds, or a great deal is sent collectively around the world, let’s be careful that we don’t grow a voice suddenly in how it should be spent…When you give, it belongs to God. It’s like tithes. You don’t come after you give and tell God and His servants how to spend it. The church has to be the judge of how to do that."

(This posting was too long for the comments section in the current/previous posting on tithing but is intended to be in conjunction with it)

"Malachi 3:10 10Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it."

================================

"Oh we're so sorry. You must have misunderstood the blessings of tithing and who opens the floodgates of heaven upon you.   The Double Dog Dare You is between you and God not the church and certainly not us! Just trust and obey for there's no  other way so... "

Reverend David C Pack knows how this works.

Reminders from The Clarion Call Sermon: 

The Clarion Call-David C Pack

"We’re not talking about a special offering here…This is different…This is in faith— making the decision with you and your wife on your knees with your Bible open, asking for faith and strength, the faith to liquidate certain existing assets and give them to the Work! We are ready to trumpet now! Will you copy my wife? Will you be followers of her and me?…

If you hold those riches, I’m telling you, you trust in them! [chastising voice]…I am charged by God, reading this verse to charge all of you out there in the Work, in the church, who have assets. You have a home that’s paid off? [yelling] Go get a big chunk out of your home and put your money where your mouth is and send it here! And I’m not talking one, two, three thousand either! How about ten, twenty, thirty, fifty, a hundred thousand dollars— Go do it!!" 

"If you’re not “ready to distribute,” you’re not “willing to communicate” to Headquarters about it then obviously, you don’t care what God says! You have rejected the scriptural charge given! [Says with disgust] Have the courage to admit you don’t believe that God’s government is here. You don’t believe the flow of prophecy... But what this is, is a sea change in thinking in effect in the 2000-year history of the church. It’s not a call to simply sacrifice from month to month by reducing your cable bill or turning your air conditioner off a little bit. This is liquidating assets. This is going to where you keep your earthly treasure, wherever it is and liquidating it! I have the authority to tell you to do it because I did it myself. I’ll reiterate that again. I have the moral and spiritual authority and ecclesiastical authority to tell you to do what I’ve already done!"

"Others may say that “I’m going to tap my 401K and I think I can get “X-amount.”…Now it may not be convenient to your life to give now. Some will say, “If I wait five more years until I retire I could do a little more, I could leave a little bit more for me.” Here’s what you should say: [shouting] The Work needs the funds now, not when I can maximize personal benefit and help the Work! Now there could be penalties. That’s life! It’s better that the Work gets 75% or 50% of something, as opposed to waiting 3, 5, 7, 10 years, or never getting it at all— but getting 100% of it— which could be 100% of nothing! One percent of something beats a 100% of nothing, or even getting it too late to do anything. “Well, I’ll lose to taxes.” Well, if you die, or all kinds of ways you can outlive the time left, waiting to save on taxes. But even if you die a couple of years before dying, there’s Probating the Will, and then we haven’t time to spend it. [Instructs them on giving some of it in 2007 and then more in 2008 for tax purposes.] Think big! Don’t just squander the money! Or pay penalties as you pull a 401K, or whatever, or other assets— don’t squander! Pull big triggers! Think big! A little bit of planning can help."

 [Speaking of IRA’s and pension funds] 

"What would you need those funds for? If you believe the things from last week. [meaning they won’t be able to use them since they will be fleeing in the near future."

[Speaking of Home Equity Lines] 

"The worst that can happen, and I’m prepared for this— is that you run it all the way up, and then you have to amortize it in a term loan after 10 or 20 years. It requires some faith, but not a lot. Now you just have a second mortgage instead of an Equity Line. It’s converted into a term loan, paid over a period of 10 or 20 years, starting in 10 or 20 years. It’s what I’ve done. I’m prepared to do it. And then, frankly, we flee before most of it ever comes due. That’s just the way it is."

"There are others who don’t pay third tithe. The church is not obligated to spend third tithe caring for the brethren that we do not receive. You are required— it is a command to you— every third and sixth year in a seven-year cycle, to send third tithe in and care for your brethren…"

" I’ve talked about using a Home Equity Line that I’ve used many times. And there are ways to do this. This is not something that’s pie in the sky. Home Equity Line is for people who have a lot of equity in their home, or maybe have their home paid off. It’s a great way to advance funds to the Work. You can also leave enough in the Equity Line, which could, in affect, for years – make your payment for you – so you literally don’t feel it. For instance, you can get 20, 30, 40, 50 thousand dollars— or much more— and never feel a payment for years because you’re also making your payments out of the Equity Line. I have done that. It allowed me to give a lot and never feel it. It takes faith…"

"I have no equity essentially in my home. My Home Equity Line is basically maxed. I have a huge payment, [but it] doesn’t bother me. I’m in the middle of an appraisal. I literally have no money. I have no debts except that Home Equity Line which is colossal in size.

"I’m left with a great big, many hundreds of dollars a month, coming out of my pocket that I will be stuck with for the rest of my life— no health insurance, just remember, lost my wife’s salary same time I had to borrow every dime to bury her. I don’t want a dime…I’m not asking for any. I’ll be fine."

"Wives, you can be independent in this. You have half the worth in whatever is there in your house. I’m officially telling all of you, read verses 17, 18, 19 and focus on it. Wives you have an independent voice. Legally you have half the funds. What are you going to do about it? [Pack begins a tirade and stutters heavily] Husbands, your wife, [speaks as if quoting] “Well, my wife isn’t in the church. She doesn’t want me to do it.” You know what? [starts raising his voice] Tell her, “You don’t have a voice, woman.” She might say, “Well, I disagree” and she might fight ya, but, well then, that’s what happens…Your wife doesn’t agree that you don’t eat ham, doesn’t agree that you believe God isn’t a Trinity, doesn’t agree that you keep the Sabbath, or it could be other way around. Well, what does she agree with? Of course she’s not going to agree with your tithing, or contributing on Holy Days or anything else. Or that there’s a place of safety or that the whole world is coming to an end."

"Now some would say, “Well, I have to leave everything to my husband or my wife.” Again, my question is, “Why?” Leave enough so that they’re cared for, whether in or out of the faith, “Well I just feel that I should leave my Lutheran wife everything,” somebody might say. [Shouts] Why??? Get over that feeling!!! That’s what Satan wants you to do!!! He [Satan] would absolutely agree with your decision. God wouldn’t agree with it. “Well my wife’s in the faith. I’ll just leave it to her and trust her.” Well, wait a minute! She’d be the first to tell you to “Give it now— don’t leave anymore than what I need.” If she doesn’t say that, then she’s not in the faith, she’s just sitting here warming a seat. The wife, in the faith, will say, “Give everything we can. Leave just enough for me.”

" Now let’s talk about Wills. Naming the Restored Church of God in your Will sometimes might cause an individual to think they’re doing the right thing. That’s good, that’s wonderful. But they feel comfortable that they’ve done their part. Think about it. How much faith does that require? The Church gets everything when you die and you don’t need it anymore? Where did you sacrifice anything?? Now again, that’s a nice thought. But all you’re saying is since you’re dead you don’t need anymore financial security. No faith. Get it now— When it requires faith. When you’re dead you don’t need it. We have people who have hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of dollars— some even millions— they’re telling us they’re going to give us in Wills. We’re kind of put in a funny position when you think this through. Do we pray that people die so we can get it? We can’t do that! I’m going to get an inheritance from my uncle some day. I don’t pray that he dies— I can’t do that…Don’t put God in the position where you have to die, where He must say “I need that money” and you won’t turn loose of it now. If you named us in your Will, it could take months or years, particularly if there’s litigation before we have it. Think it through"

"We live in a strange, different, final generation—final generation. Don’t look for excuses to hold on to your treasure! We don’t have the luxury of waiting years…Today, leaving everything in your Will doesn’t work!"

"Your faith is being tested. Think about that."

We just did....

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