Privilege and Power: The Idols of the Church of God

Concretized Christianity has a blog entry about privilege in the Churches of God.

Anyone who has been around the churches of God for any length of time knows about privilege. First, we see it in action in every one of the church of God organizations. There is a pecking order – a hierarchy – and privilege is layered throughout that until you get to the people who just fill the chairs every week and fawn over and idolize those with privilege, while in the organizational sense, they have no privilege and aren’t even, legally, members of that church of God organization (only the organizational privileged are).

However, those people know they have privilege compared to others (the world) because they are told that over and over. They’re special. They’re the elite. One day, they will be resurrected first and they will rule with Jesus Christ as kings and priests for 1000 years.

While the substance of this is true, the implication of it is false. The first resurrection will include those whom God and Jesus Christ have both called and chosen, but they are being resurrected to serve, to help, to repair, to restore, to coach, to guide, to agape – just as God and Jesus Christ do with us. None of that is ever discussed because these things don’t sound power-filled.

Power is an idol in society and an idol in the churches of God. The lust for power is often the sole motivation for what these man-made organizations do and say.

Privilege and power often go hand in hand. Whether the power is real or imagined, organizations and people who believe they have power manifest the corruption of the idea of privilege.

People who have not suffered and who also cannot see, relate to, nor empathize with the suffering of others is a symptom of privilege. James discusses this in the second chapter of his letter. Privilege creates a bubble of illusions that is solely focused on self: what I want, what I need, who I am, and what I think or believe.

The bubble of privilege is opaque, so that anything that is outside that bubble is invisible. Jesus discussed this bubble of privilege in Matthew 25 in His parable of the goats and the sheep.

The sheep had no bubble of privilege. They were looking for needs among the people around them and meeting those needs, no matter where they found them. They weren’t doing it because someone was “important,” or because other people would see them and applaud them, or because it made them feel good or superior.

The sheep were doing it because it was the right thing to do. They were following God’s word (read Deuteronomy sometime if you want to see what loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength – about the first third of the book – and loving your neighbor as yourself – approximately the last two-thirds of the book – looks like in action and ask yourself if this looks like you) and they were following the example of Jesus Christ.

The goats had the bubble of privilege. Inherent in their response was, “well, Jesus, if You personally had come to us and asked us, of course, we would have done these things for You.” In other words, if the Son of God had made the first move, knocked on the door of their bubble of privilege, and said, “I need…,” they would have done it. Otherwise, they didn’t see, know, or care to seek out the needs they could meet right outside their bubble.

See:  Privilege and the Churches of God

Gerald Flurry: Get Ready For The Famine Of The Word!!!!!

 

Have you ever noticed when fledgling Church of God ministries start suffering financially because of abusive policies and teachings and  as members stop giving and leave their little fiefdoms, that they start screaming that the end is nigh and the famine of the word is imminent?

These blustering buffoons think that their words are so significant that humanity can not gain salvation without their utterances. The deep state and corrupt churches are out to destroy them because they "dare" to speak boldly about perceived/imagined problems in the country and the world.

It doesn't matter if it is Bob Thiel, Dave Pack, or Gerald Flurry, they all vomit out this nonsensical diarrhea.

Flurry has the following up on his Trumpet site:

If you knew a famine was coming, wouldn’t you prepare for it? You would feverishly take action to provide your family with enough food to survive. You would fear the consequences of not taking action quite soon enough or strong enough. The consequences are devastating sickness, starvation and a terrible death. 

 

But did you know the Bible prophesies that a spiritual famine is coming? 

 

“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord” (Amos 8:11). 

 

There is only one way to prepare, and you must take drastic action!

How many guesses as to where this is going to lead...Flurry spews out the same silliness that Bob Thiel, Dave Pack, Gerald Weston, Ron Weinland, and most of the COG crew love to say:

Right now, God’s word is readily available. You are holding it in your hands: a message in plain language unlike any other that shows you how to understand the teachings of the Bible based on revealed and provable truth, and that shows you how to apply the Bible to understand and even thrive in this insane world. It makes life understandable, workable, hopeful. 

 

God’s work is diligently broadcasting and streaming the message of God and the truths of the Bible through the Internet, over cable tv and television and radio airwaves. It is publishing regular magazines, books and booklets. It is sending out all kinds of literature, including a Bible correspondence course. It is operating at full capacity, virtually unrestricted and unhindered. And people the world over can easily access this truth and receive it freely, at no cost.

Never have we had so many DIFFERENT groups all proclaiming that they and they alone are the one true faith with the one true Word, that was hand delivered by God's one true apostle, Herbert Armstrong.

Though the problem with all of that silliness is that each and every one of these men has ADDED to the stuff Herbert wrote, so much so that he would not recognize them as legitimate followers of God. He would find each of them so offensive he would disfellowship and mark each of them as the deceivers they are.

Flurry sets up a great horror story as to what he sees happening to his cult:

Yet the time will come when Philadelphia Church of God headquarters in Edmond, Oklahoma, and its regional offices in other countries will close, permanently. The broadcast, the websites, the e-mails, the magazines, the books will cease. 

 

The people who have watched the programs and read the literature will find themselves suddenly cut off. 

 

God says His word will become scarce. The life-giving truth will be as hard to find as a morsel of meat in a wasteland. 

 

People will panic. “And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it” (verse 12). This message, so freely available, so abundant, so nourishing today will be gone in just a few more tomorrows.

Who in the hell will panic when Flurry, Pack, or Thiel are silenced? 

Will it really be a satanic attack against them or the fact that they said and did something so incredibly stupid that people had to step in and shut them down? It is no grand conspiracy of censorship, either.

Here is Flurry's hilarious scenario of the start of the famine of the word:

It’s 7 a.m., Sunday morning, and you turn on the television. But instead of that familiar introduction, a different program is on. You pick up your Trumpet from a side table and find a phone number on the back cover to call and find out what channel and time The Key of David moved to. But instead of a friendly voice, you hear a busy signal.

Now this issue has your attention. You open up your laptop and type in theTrumpet.com. 404 error. You type in pcg.church. 404 error. You check your inbox. It loads, but you have to scroll down a bit to get to the last Trumpet Brief or Signposts e-mails.

A sinking feeling takes hold. No. There’s got to be a way! It has to be somewhere. It has to be—doesn’t it? It was right there the whole time. There’s got to be a way.

This is the famine of the word.

 

God vs Satan - Which in the COG is more powerful?

On Exit and Support Network yesterday there was s letter from a person detailing a sermon Gerald Flurry of the Philadelphia Church of God gave recently about how awesome his "college" is. After detailing many points of Flurry's sermon, the author has this:

If the WCG was “the Work of the Living Creator, God” as HWA so often said and God was “opening new doors in television and in the PLAIN TRUTH distribution,” why was Satan seemingly more powerful than God? Why was Satan able to overthrow everything after HWA died? If we’re honest, we have to admit that GF is not doing a work like HWA did. 

I have been saying the same thing here for quite some time now that the most powerful entity in the Church of God movement is Satan himself. Not God the Father as so many claim to follow, but Satan, Lucifer, the devil, or whatever else you want to call it. At every instance and chapter in the so-called work, the devil is wreaking havoc and thwarting God's plan. The God of Armstrongism is unable or totally incompetent to stop the great adversary.

How could the “lamp start to go out” if God was behind His “Work”? Wasn’t God powerful enough to stop it? Isn’t God more powerful than Satan? 

The excuse is that the god of Armstrognism gave the devil free reign to "test" the true believers. Our entire earthly life is a test by God to see if we are worthy of just the slightest bit of mercy. Apparently, the church has been inept of ever winning that test and is in a constant state of disarray because of that ineptness. In Armstrongism, God the Father is constantly being one-upped by Satan. 

We can see how decades after HWA first started writing these co-worker letters that GF’s words attempt to pattern HWA’s words in many places. Every co-worker letter of HWA’s was a begging for money and for readers to “send the largest offering possible” because “time was short” or “time was running out.” 

Never in the modern-day history of the Church of God have the members ever been able to do anything right. Every single issue in the church stemmed from problems with the membership. Even when Loma Armstrong had an obstructed colon it was the fault of the church members. Members so sinful that they had to kneel in church services that week and BEG God to heal her. When she died it was the member's fault.

When income dropped it was the member's fault that their support of the church was lacking in faith and thus the church has to suffer and be persecuted.  

The only thing GF can’t do is copy HWA’s charisma and style of writing. GF will never measure up to HWA. He will never be a second Herbert Armstrong, no matter how much he yearns to be. This does not mean that HWA was not a con artist, or was not a compulsive, psychological liar. He was, and a very good one at that. But GF is no more carrying on “God’s work” than other splinters who came along and say they are doing the same thing. 

There is not one single COG leader today that will ever capture HWA's charisma or writing style. Not one single one of them, including Bob Thiel, will EVER be able to do mighty work. It will never happen, no matter how much they currently lie to their followers that they are doing that now. 

Let’s face it. GF is an abysmal failure. He is carrying on a con, but not quite as effective of a con as HWA had going. He is losing members more as time goes on and he is not able to draw in the numbers HWA did due no doubt to the extensive exposure on the Internet today. All he can do is limp along, holding the few deceived members he has under his spell by claiming to be a Prophet, and appropriating many other titles, plus throwing out new revelations every so often like a carrot on a stick. That and his “important” work in Jerusalem. 

Every COG leader today is leading a con job on their members. Jesus is dismissed and shoved to the background, except when it is convenient to drag him out as a pissed-off god who is just waiting to come down and fry the sorry asses of ex-members and the world, or who has to begrudgingly forgive sins on Passover night.

It’s time to realize how we have been taken for a long bumpy ride and it’s time to get off this gravy train and see things for what they truly are. GF’s downfall may be delayed but it is certain to come. –S. O.

In Armstrongism, Satan is always angry, God the Father is always angry, Jesus is always angry, and the spirit is always vexed. All seemingly impotent in the presence of Satan.

Instead of following a Christ who sits on the bank by the side of the river with people restoring their souls, where they never have to be fearful again, where justice, mercy, and grace flow like sacred anointing oil over their forehead, instead COG members are instead subjected to the darkness of the souls of the present leaders.

Dave Pack: Ramps Up The Damage Control As He Tries Condemning the "Whisperers"

Damage Control (Part 2)

“Whispering”

 

The following text was inserted into The Restored Church of God Announcements Bulletin for the Sabbath of August 20, 2022. This has been recycled over the years when the time was ripe for a reminder about “big bad meanie people” who leave and then leave garbage at the front gate of the Campus.

 

“Those Who Leave and Whisper”: On occasion—no doubt for the rest of the age—and for a variety of reasons, people will leave the Church. A few of these, upset or disgruntled, and ignoring natural bounds and protocol, will violate your trust and contact you via email, telephone, social media, or even post mail to voice criticisms, generally having to do with the way “things are done”—or “taught”—by Headquarters, the ministry or Mr. Pack. The obvious purpose, in order to justify and strengthen their position, is to get you to join them. Of course, misery loves company—and seeks validation. Bear in mind that by remaining in contact with those who leave, we blunt the sting of God’s natural correction (in the form of no fellowship), intended to teach lessons that may save their eternal life. Doing so also helps them in their effort to divide or injure the Church. It also opens you to dangerous influence. In such cases, politely, but firmly, inform the sender that no contact is desired.

 

In August 2003, Mr. Pack gave a sermon titled “Those Who Leave…and Whisper.” He explained that, because of many unique circumstances in this age, we only rarely disfellowship or mark those who leave and attack Restored with lies and distortions. In effect, when they do this (leave and whisper, thereby sowing division), they disfellowship themselves—it is up to the “brethren” to “mark” them (Rom. 16:17-18)—and they invariably do. This and several other related sermons, such as “Unity Binds the Church,” should be reviewed by those who may be confused when some, for whatever reason, “go out from us because they are not of us” (I John 2:19).

 

 

I know you did read all of that. But I did.

 

Seeing this with the new eyes given to me when I joined Club Antichrist causes me to notice a few key phrases.

 

“…will violate your trust and contact you…”

 

This implies that when someone leaves, you TRUST they will not reach out to you. When I was a member, I never assumed such a thing. The people who leave that you care about are your friends and…you care about them.

 

Departing from RCG and contacting a friend still attending is not some kind of unspoken mutually-understood contract breach. I wanted to know if someone left. I do remember severing connections with some to obey that protocol. When I left, I took no offense when friends dropped off my Facebook list or stopped texting me back. I did it to others when I was “on board” and expected some to do that as well.

 

The wording "violate your trust" implies victimhood. You are wronged if someone contacts you. That angle would be laughable if it were not sad at the same time.

 

“…those who leave and attack Restored with lies and distortions.”

 

I breathed a sigh of relief when I read this because it is not talking about me. I do not need lies to expose what David C. Pack and the enablers at The Restored Church of God are doing. The truth is damaging enough.

 

If I am lying or distorting, then I request that Bradford G. Schleifer or Edward L. Winkfield, or Kenneth M. Orel please reach out to me and let me know where I did this. You would be doing me a great service because I do not see it. My intent is to be as honest as possible while presenting an analysis that is accurate and fair. The nicknames are all done in “fun” and without malice.

 

Or if there is some therapist out there that can diagnose me as bitter, angry, resentful, or vengeful, please contact me because I am as calm as a Hindu cow when it comes to what I report about RCG. 

 

I looked up the word “distort” to see how that could apply here.

 

distort

1. pull or twist out of shape

2. give a misleading or false account or impression of

3. change the form of (an electrical signal or sound wave) during transmission, amplification, or other processing

 

Again, I was able to wipe the sweat from my brow because what I have said in interviews and written publicly is neither "misleading" nor giving a "false account or impression of.”

 

The great irony is that David C. Pack is the one who “pulls or twists out of shape” the Bible he claims to revere as God’s word. His endless sermon series demonstrates his penchant for creating “misleading or false account or impression of” prophetic understanding.

 

Does one need to go beyond the “not-really-a-50-day-count to Trumpets” as an example?

 

To the “ministers” inside The Restored Church of God: Did I just lie or distort?

 

If I could personally do #3 on that list, I would be making way too much money to be sitting here at my computer thinking up fun ways to pull Dave’s pigtails on the playground.

 

“Those Who Leave…and Whisper.”

 

I do not think I could categorize what Kevin Denee and I have been doing as “whispering.” We are doing just a little bit more than that.

 

For those just tuning in, Kevin Denee was an evangelist and the son-in-law of David C. Pack who left RCG with his wife in 2016. He recently participated in Dr. Tricia Jenkin’s podcast, “Worldwide: The Unchosen Church,” featured in Episode 6.

Dawn Blue of WCTV's "How It's Done" based in Wadsworth, Ohio has been conducting a series of interviews regarding my experiences with The Restored Church of God.

 

So far, we have done five interviews focusing on RCG and three with Dennis Diehl focusing on the topic of cults.

 

Her full list of WCTV videos can be found HERE.

 

RCG Interview Part 1 https://youtu.be/tSbHDqGWnMc

Cults Interview Part 1 https://youtu.be/_pHGaZNDorQ

 

 

On another topic, we will not have to wait another full 12 days before David C. Pack unfinishes the series. This was posted in Member Services:

 

Greetings Brethren!

We trust everyone had a profitable Sabbath.

Mr. Pack plans to deliver a message of similar length to Part 387 early in the week.

 

No doubt, just a few small “clarifications” regarding why nothing happened at the beginning of the 40-day count to Trumpets this past Tuesday.

 

The world may still be falling apart, but at least we have Part 388 to look forward to.

Marc Cebrian

See:  Damage Control (Part 2) “Whispering”

Diagnosing Dave Pack

From a reader:

EXPERT DIAGNOSIS OF DAVID C. PACK

1. Dave Pack has always suffered from a bad case of DIARRHEA OF THE MOUTH. Perhaps this just comes with the territory of being a paid babbler. Of course, it is actually Dave's hearers who will do the real suffering. What a pain in the ears! What mind-numbing noise!!

2. Dave Pack suffers from DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR as shown by all the high and mighty positions to which he humbly but eagerly promoted himself (Apostle, Joshua the High Priest, Elijah the Prophet, “That Prophet” of Deuteronomy 18:18-19, and is working on becoming Messiah).

3. Dave Pack suffers from EXTREME SELFISHNESS as shown by his earth-scorching “common” theft scam that says everyone must send him virtually everything they have (cash, savings, retirement plans, houses, possessions, etc.), “or no salvation if you don't.” It all goes to satisfy Dave's needs and wants, and does not get distributed to anyone else as they have need. Dave's followers really do suffer financially as a result of this moral deficiency of Dave's.

4. Dave Pack suffers from MENTAL INSTABILITY as shown by the Bait & Switch scam of his continually changing doctrines. Endless supposedly logical “proofs” that never really prove anything are a sign of an ugly mind. Dave's followers were originally going to be the most knowledgeable and stable church people around, but instead ended up being some of the most ignorant and messed up people around.

5. Dave Pack suffers from one of the worst cases of PREDICTION ADDICTION that I have ever seen, with ridiculous new, wrong, prophetic date guesses each week. Again, it is actually Dave's foolish followers who will really suffer from this mental health issue of Dave's. People need to be very careful not to let Dave's problems become their own problems, for there will be numerous problems and they will be BIG problems.

6. Dave Pack's various other ailments led to a major case of FOOT IN MOUTH DISEASE. Dave is simply always wrong. It was inevitable.

7. The basic root cause of all of Dave Pack's mental health issues probably is just a bad old fashion case of SATANIC POSSESSION. Satan probably gets tired of being cooped up inside his regular home in Gerald Flurry's fat old head and likes to spend some time away from home in his vacation head of Dave Pack for some really wild “fun” and mind games with Dave's unsuspecting followers.