In Personal Hindsight

 

In Hindsight...

Only after leaving a Cult does, one realize they were in one. When one is in it, it is a "True Church".  In politics, of course, one has the "True Views".

Pointing out that one might have been in a cult can make those who were also in it angry for making the observation as the process of admitting it is different for everyone concerned. Some can never admit it because we all feel we are "smarter than that" and never would or could have been taken in by any such thing.  

But in my own hindsight, I was. It was the 60's after all!  Civil rights riots, American cities on fire, Cuban Missile Crisis, Wars in the Middle East, Political assassinations, Viet Nam, Hippies and Woodstock. Jesus simply had to be on the way!  Prophecy Comes Alive!  I suppose today is not much different with only the topics shifting around that need to be "fixed", however one thinks the fixing needs to done. 

It was embarrassing and humbling to admit to myself that not only was I in a cult but I was a pastor in a cult. I was a salesman for the leader. My education in "theology" only matched that of the leader and forsook all other realities about the Bible that did not fit the program or what I may have personally need to believe whether it was true or not. When I believed it, I thought it was true or I'd not have believed it.  But I admit it to myself. I was in a cult. Others views of their own experience may differ. 

Being in a cult is not the "fault" of the member. It is the fault of the authoritarian leader whose personality disorders, need to control and self absorbed behaviors manifest in the lives of others as they inflict their personal form of chaos on those they attract.   It is also very profitable for the authoritarian.  

There cults can form in any environment where people find commonality, community and need to belong. Cults can be as innocent as collectors who obsess over their Action Figure and Star Wars Collections and are harmless, except maybe to one's finances. Cults of concern usually develop in both religion and politics. It is most often in religion and politics that cultic personalities survive and thrive.  History is strewn with them and the chaos they bring to society. 

In my view and experience, I naively joined a cult when young. I became a salesman for the cult. And only after stepping out of it was I able to see that I was drawn to it for all the classic reasons and the leadership had all the classic symptoms of cultic leadership. 

My only personal reconciliation with the issue as it presented itself in my own experience is that I could not now be here, if I had not then been there. 

Reasons People Join Cults

(and don't know it)

Seductive Recruitment Processes

Post Breadk-up Blues

Striving for "Perfection"

Finding a Higher Purpose in Life

Low Self-Esteem and the Need to Feel Special or Chosen

The Need to Feel "Taken Care Of"

Trying to Save the World

Fed up with "The World"

Ignorance of the Fact One is in a Cult

Cults Explained-Netflix

A remarkably insightful presentation

I will be participating in a second interview with WCTV Public TV in  Wadsworth, Ohio on the Restored Church of God and it's WCG roots as well as my own perceptions of my personal experience with it on Monday. I can post it or not depending on sensitivities here but I it will be easily found after posted by WCTV on YouTube when it is available. 

COG Groups To Add New Hymn to Their Hymn Books For The End Times

 

This new COG hymn is sure to send Bob Thiel, Gerald Flurry and Dave Pack into Endtime orgasmic fits. What a perfect scenario!

Crackpot Prophet Claims You Can Overcome Fear By Watching His Videos And Reading His Literature

 

The greatest theologian in the history of humanity is back telling us how to overcome fear. The world is a dangerous place right now and people are running around scared and fearful...at least in Elijah, Habbakuk Amos, Bwana  Bob Thiel's hometown.

After quoting Herman Hoeh and Selmer Hegvold as some kind of authorities over something, the great Bwana continues with this:

Add to virtue knowledge. Study the word of God, study CCOG literature, pay attention to sermons (ContinuingCOG YouTube sermon channel) and sermonettes (BibleNewsProphecy YouTube sermonette channel).

After giving you different methods of casting fear out of our lives, he goes on by adding this craptastic nonsense, stirring up more fear and anguish in people.

Is the USA prophesied to be destroyed by 2028?
Are there prophetic reasons to believe that the USA will not last two complete presidential terms? Yes. There is a tradition attributed to the Hebrew prophet Elijah that humanity had 6,000 years to live before being replaced by God’s Kingdom. There are scriptures, writings in the Talmud, early Christian teachings that support this. Also, even certain Hindu writings support it...

4. And if we can presume that the “last days” of a 7,000 year prophetic week began AFTER the middle day (day 4), then the last days prior to the “sabbatical” time, which some would refer to as the millennial Kingdom of God would last two thousand years.

5. And if when Peter referred to being in the last days (Acts 2:17-18) and since Hebrews 1:1-12 teaches that “God … has in these last days spoken to us by His Son.”

6. Then adding 2,000 years to a period of time leads to the end of the 6,000 years no later than 2031 (and it could be earlier than that).

7. Since the Great Tribulation is expected to start 3 1/2 years prior to that (cf. Revelation 12:14; 13:5) subtracting 3 1/2 years from the Spring of 2031 would be late in 2027.

8. Understand that the U.S.A. is prophesied to be taken over near the rise of the Beast and start of the Great Tribulation (cf. Daniel 11:39; Jeremiah 30:7; Matthew 24:21-22).

9. Therefore, since the end of two full U.S.A. presidential terms would end in January of 2029, these prophetic understandings point to the end of the U.S.A. prior to two full presidential terms.

10. This is also consistent with certain Hindu and Roman Catholic prophetic writings as well. This video gives more details and quotes which point to the destruction of the United States of America by 2028.

Never has the Church of God had a self-appointed prophet who spends all of his time reading Mayan/Catholic conspiracy crap and the writings of other religions supposedly predicting the end times.  

Being such a shallow prophet and being so afraid to ever take a real stand and go out on faith and trust this god, the Great Bwana has to spend his time in the waffle house waffling around endlessly.

 

 

LCG Members Told Only Those Who Overcome and Persevere Will Make It Into Kingdom

 

Friday Night Smackdown. LCG members apparently are not persevering or overcoming and have to be reminded about this. Oh, and many of them do not have self-control. Just once, can Winnail or Weston ever just praise the members and say, We know it's thought at times, but job well done!" Is it really that hard to practice some grace?

Importance of Perseverance: When Winston Churchill urged his countrymen to never, never, never quit, he was echoing biblical advice. When Joshua took over after Moses, God said, “Be strong and of good courage”—trust and obey Him and don’t be afraid, and you will succeed and prosper (Joshua 1:5–9). Jesus told His disciples, “he who endures to the end shall be saved” (Matthew 24:13). Paul told Christians they must control every thought, resist temptation, and finish the race to win the reward in the Kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 9:24–27; 2 Corinthians 10:5). The Apostle Peter advised early Christians they needed to develop courage, self-control, and perseverance to obtain the precious promises of God (2 Peter 1:4–8). John wrote that only overcomers who persist in their mission will receive a reward in the Kingdom (Revelation 3:7–13). Let’s remember this important advice to persevere in our calling so we can reign with Jesus Christ in His coming Kingdom.
Have a profitable Sabbath, Douglas S. Winnail

Dave Pack's Ministerial Conference Kicks Off

 

Here is a preview of RCG’s 2022 Ministerial Conference: 

“The Keynote Address” – 

Former ministers and former members are evil and want to murder the church and want you dead. Exciting new prophetic understanding is going to be explained ad nauseam. Daniel has been unsealed…again and again. Revelation has been unsealed…again and again. The series is over…again and again. The math, the math, the math. Please do not remember “the Gateway Prophecy” or the W’s or all the other rock-solid metrics from all the other theories. “The State of the Work” – Is bad. No new literature, but outdated literature is still plentifully available. No new World to Come programs, but the Media Center is now a wonderful museum of ancient history. No “Behind the Work” for the Feast, but RCG produced a whopping 9 minutes of new video content in a 12-month period. No significant social media “buzz” or new campaigns, but endless meetings still cause the day to pass by quickly. No new “Personal From David C. Pack” actually written by David C. Pack for years. No significant membership growth, but the turnover rate remains pretty high. Oh and lastly, no “actively” preaching the gospel to the world, but we’ve got hundreds of hours of Dave to enjoy.

Marc Serbian