Pack Goes After UCG Members

Just saw this from Mr. Gavin Rumney, Scavenger Stalks UCG.

Dave Pack has sent an open letter to UCG ministers and members encouraging them to join his group.

To any UCG member considering leaving UCG over what has happened (or any other reason) here's some free advice.

Be very weary of this. Many seem to be highly agitated over what happened. Pack is taking advantage of this turmoil to convince more people to become members and pay tithes to him. And that includes the third tithe.

By all reports it is more dictatorial than UCG. While UCG operates by committee Pack is firmly committed to one man dictatorship. There is even less avenues of dissent in his than in UCG.

Once this group even tried to ban blogging, except for business reasons. Thankfully they backpedled on this due to widespread revulsion. But that is the sort of group you will have to deal with if you join.

Pack presents himself as perfectly following HWA's WCG. This is not true.

He has added his own distinctive doctrines, such as teaching that he is an Apostle.

He even teaches that he is the Angel (Messenger) of Laodicea, as HWA was the Angel of Philadelphia, thus unconsciously imitating Charles Taze Russell, founder of the Watchtower Cult (Jehovah's Witnesses) who was also claimed to hold that title as it is written on his tombstone which declares Russell to be "The Laodicean Messenger".

Pack contradicts HWA's WCG concerning the King of the South. It is a clear fact that HWA's WCG taught that there is to be a future King of the South. This has been taught since 1963 at least, as LCG apologist Bob Theil shows here. Also see this 1979 Plain Truth article by Keith Stump which also states this. Pack his contradicted HWA on this matter by insisting that the King of the South was fulfilled with Ethiopia under Haile Selassie and that there will be no future fulfillment. He does not teach HWA's doctrine on this matter.

Furthermore he has a reputation as a particularly demanding minister. As early as 1985 Dave Pack was noted as a particularly demanding minister. Even then he had provoked some congregation members to write a twelve page letter insisting that he was conducting a 'reign of terror'.

His overbearing attitude has not changed through time. Observe what is said about him from a former colleague of his based on experiences dating 1993-5:

"Dave Pack has been a wolf in shepherd's clothing and should not be any kind of minister or servant among the people of God....I base this conclusion on direct personal experience and the testimony of dozens of witnesses....

"to those he opposes, he seems to have an unending ability to recall minute details of years-old conversations and twist them into the greatest of sins. Many witnesses claim that he simply made up lies about them and spread them to others in a most believable fashion. Several people have specifically said that they did exactly what Dave Pack asked-unjust as they thought it was-only to be disfellowshipped for it later....

"Soon, complaints of Dave Pack's abuse began to make their way into the GCG office. He disfellowshipped far more members than any other GCG minister. Dave Pack asked me (head of the computer department) for names and addresses of people outside of his own area of responsibility. After I refused to give him any special treatment, he began telling Rod Meredith that he needed another computer manager who would get the ministerial reports out on time. (None of the other ministers complained about receiving late reports-Mr. Meredith assured us that he knew that it was one of our lower priorities and that he was not taking Pack's threats seriously)....

"When I left the Global Church of God and started Servants' News in 1995, I probably heard as many abuse complaints about Dave Pack as I heard about all other ministers put together. They are recorded as hundreds of pages of call logs, letters, e-mails, etc."

And then there was the time in 2007 he demanded RCG members to hand over assets worth tens of thousands of dollars in a widely condemned and vicious exploitation of his followers.

Let the UCG members beware.

Be wary of Dave Pack.

Many UCG members are going through a hard time. Be careful. Don't act rashly and just take his offer. Don't rush yourselves into a decision you might regret.

RCG Press Release on Hutaree Militia

RCG's been paying attention. On April 4 RCG released a press release disavowing any connection with the Hutaree militia.

"Regrettably, some have fostered the impression that The Real Truth is affiliated with a dangerous militia group, or advocates violence. Even a cursory sampling of Real Truth articles or a perusal of RCG’s website demonstrate that this is a gross mischaracterization of The Restored Church of God and The Real Truth."

I never did that. I never imagined that there was such a connection. It is clear that Hutaree did not seriously follow COG doctrines, a point I made in both previous Hutaree articles. For instance most COGs, including RCG, are strict pacifists, a practice of theirs which stems from the Jehovah's Witnesses.

Hutaree also linked to other Christian websites which are unrelated to Armstrongism, as I stated earlier, further showing how unrelated Hutaree is from RCG or other COGs.

There is one paragraph from this press release that I would like to bring up:

"RCG is neither a “Fundamentalist” nor “Evangelical” church. The Restored Church of God is non-proselytizing [Nonsense. It does proselytize.] and non-denominational [It is part of a religious movement that originates with Herbert W. Armstrong, whose distinctive and heretical teachings are often called Armstrongism.], and not affiliated with any other group. We do not actively solicit funding [Members are required to pay three tithes], and our materials are offered free of charge in the public interest."

Pack, Nostradamus and HWA

Here's Pack on Nostradamus. Did God Send Nostradamus?

In this article Pack identifies Nostradamus as a false prophet because of his failed predictions.

"It is widely acknowledged that many of Nostradamus' prophecies failed. One author outlined five:

"(1) Venice would have great power and influence by 1792. False.

"(2) The Catholic clergy would fall in 1609. False.

"(3) Persecution would arise against the Catholic Church in 1792. False.

"(4) Astrologers would be persecuted in 1607. False.

"(5) And China would subdue the northern part of the world by 1700. False....

"These events clearly did not happen. Based on number and seize of failures, Nostradamus is a particularly poor prophet. Among false prophets he falls into extra false."

I cannot argue with that. That seems to be a perfectly reasonable conclusion.

But what about Herbert W. Armstrong?

HWA preached from 1953 onwards that the Great Tribulation would begin in 1972 and that Christ will return in 1975.

Predictions based on this false prophecy are clearly evident in many writings produced by the Radio/Worldwide Church of God in the 1950s and 1960s.

HWA predicted that Christ would return in 1936. (See page 3.)

HWA predicted that Mussolini was the Beast who would fight Christ at His coming.

HWA predicted that Hitler was the Beast.

These facts are deceitfully hidden by HWA who never mentions these things in his Autobiography. He remembers to tell us such obscure things as the fact that he first heard of Pearl Harbor while on his first flight on a airplane, yet deceitfully refuses to make any mention of the fact that he taught these fear inducing false prophecies in that book.

HWA predicted that Christ would return by 2005 in his last book, Mystery of the Ages, the book which so many in the COGs so highly regard. (Those words were removed in PCG's version. See page 3 onwards.)

HWA predicted that Marxist Leninist Communism would sweep through Asia, take over India, outlast the USA and only come to an end a few years after Christ's return.

"But Communism, prophecy indicates, will continue to make gains in the East-Probably in Indo-china, Malaya [wrong], Japan [wrong], India [wrong]. For more than ears [sic] I have been telling the radio audiences that Communism will engulf and control the manpower of the yellow races by the time of the swift-approaching crisis of world upheaval." (HWA, 1975 in Prophecy, section 'Germans Pioneered Nuclear Development'.)

HWA predicted that the 200 million strong army would be Communists.

"The sixth of these punishing plagues will be a military invasion of Europe by the Communist forces from Russia and the Orient. By that time, the Red Armies of Russia, China and allies will number TWO HUNDRED MILLION!" (HWA, 1975 in Prophecy, section 'The Terrible DAY OF THE LORD'.)

HWA made many other predictions which simply did not happen.

It is quite safe to say, "Based on number and seize of failures, [HWA] is a particularly poor prophet. Among false prophets he falls into extra false."

These false prophecies prove according to Dave Pack's own standard that HWA is a false prophet.

RCG Disparage "British Israelism"--Why?

Recently I read an article from Dave Pack's RCG about racism, Jeffrey R. Ambrose's article Racism--Is There a Solution? It contains a fascinating section on British Israelism which is designed to cause RCG members to be incurious about other forms of British Israelism, and effectively hide the fact that HWA stole this idea from them and taught it in a way he liked.

Richard Brothers (1757-1824), John Wilson (1799-1870), Edward Hine (1825-1891) and J. H. Allen (1847-1930) all taught this long before HWA. Original British Israelism, although completly inaccurate, was not noticeably racist, unlike other forms of it which have arisen in recent times. It was this gentler British Israelism which HWA adopted and fostered upon his followers.

Let us now see what Jeffrey R. Ambrose's article Racism--Is There a Solution?, has to say about "British Israelism":

“British Israelism”

British Israelism is a corruption of the biblical truth regarding the modern descendants of the “Lost Ten Tribes” of Israel. So-called British Israelists often equate the now-antiquated British Empire with the kingdom of God. This is at odds with Scripture, which clearly states that Jesus Christ will establish this kingdom (government) at His Return, still in the future. (See II Timothy 4:1.)

The truth is HWA stole what Ambrose calls "the biblical truth regarding the modern descendants of the “Lost Ten Tribes” of Israel" from British Israelism. The COGs' understanding of this doctrine is based on HWA's spin of this doctrine.

It is true that the Jewish inhabitants of the modern state of Israel on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean, as well as the Jewish Diaspora around the world, do not represent all of the 12 tribes of ancient Israel. They are primarily descended from Judah, one of the 12 tribes.

Ed Koch, the Jewish mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989, was quoted in U.S. News and World Report as saying, “The 10 Lost Tribes of Israel we [Jews] believe ended up in Ireland.” In fact, the British Isles are among a number of places to which these tribes migrated.

Europeans are not descended from Israelites. It is not true regardless of whatever Koch is alleged to have said. I am also disappointed to see that this quote of Koch's is not properly referenced. Where precisely did he say this?

But many British Israelists exclude the Jews altogether, portraying them as scheming impostors. They also apply the “master race” idea to Anglo-Saxons—conveniently, since most of them are of this background. In its worst forms, it closely resembles neo-Nazi white supremacist thinking.

British Israelism is a particularly dangerous and repugnant form of racism because it claims to be justified by the Bible. This causes some people to accept its validity without close scrutiny and pushes others to recoil from the Bible under the false assumption that the idea is found within its pages.

Here the article discredits British Israelism by linking it with its virulently racist manifestations. That will cause RCG followers to be incurious in regards to this movement. Then they will never discover how similar old pre-HWA British Israelism (J. H. Allen, etc.) is to what is taught by RCG. Ambrose is referring to various truly vile racist ideologies, such as so called 'Christian Identity', which also use the idea of British Israelism, but he simply labels it all as British Israelism. This helps to hide the truth about the origins of British Israelism. HWA did not get it by just studying the Bible.

Those racist ideologies, by the way, are very dangerous and scary. Although when most people hear it most of us, quite rightly, think it is crazy, but some people still fall for it as may be seen in the link provided here.

John Tuit's The Truth Shall Make You Free Online

John Tuit's book, The Truth Shall Make You Free is online.

Here's the first chapter. http://www.keithhunt.com/Hwaexp1.html.

There are 27 chapters here.

It runs for literally over 200 pages.

For those of you who might not know Tuit was a former member of WCG who brought the suit against WCG which resulted in its forced receivership by the State of California. WCG only managed to get itself out of the receivership by convincing the State of California to pass a law that made it impossible for the State to do this to a church. Contrary to what HWA said WCG was not proved innocent.

I have not read yet so I do not necessarily agree with everything he says here, or the website hosting it. The book seems to enter into some conspiracy theories, something that happens all too often in the (ex-)COGs.

But it's definitely worth checking out.

Pack, Nostradamus and HWA

Here's Pack on Nostradamus. Did God Send Nostradamus?

In this article Pack identifies Nostradamus as a false prophet because of his failed predictions.

"It is widely acknowledged that many of Nostradamus' prophecies failed. One author outlined five:

"(1) Venice would have great power and influence by 1792. False.

"(2) The Catholic clergy would fall in 1609. False.

"(3) Persecution would arise against the Catholic Church in 1792. False.

"(4) Astrologers would be persecuted in 1607. False.

"(5) And China would subdue the northern part of the world by 1700. False....

"These events clearly did not happen. Based on number and seize of failures, Nostradamus is a particularly poor prophet. Among false prophets he falls into extra false."

But what about Herbert W. Armstrong's false prophecies?

HWA preached from 1953 onwards that the Great Tribulation would begin in 1972 and Christ will return in 1975.

Predictions based on this false prophecy are clearly evident in many writings produced by the Radio/Worldwide Church of God in the 1950s and 1960s.

HWA predicted that Christ would return in 1936. (See page 3.)

HWA predicted that Mussolini was the Beast who would fight Christ at His coming.

HWA predicted that Hitler was the Beast.

These facts are deceitfully hidden by HWA who never mentions these things in his Autobiography. He remembers to tell us such obscure things as the fact that he first heard of Pearl Harbor while on his first flight, yet deceitfully refuses to make any mention of the fact that he taught fear inducing false prophecies in that book.

HWA predicted that Christ would return by 2005 in his last book, Mystery of the Ages, the book which so many in the COGs so highly regard. (Those words were removed in PCG's version. See page 3 onwards.)

HWA predicted that Marxist Leninist Communism would sweep through Asia, take over India, outlast the USA and only come to an end a few years after Christ's return.

"But Communism, prophecy indicates, will continue to make gains in the East-Probably in Indo-china, Malaya [wrong], Japan [wrong], India [wrong]. For more than ears [sic] I have been telling the radio audiences that Communism will engulf and control the manpower of the yellow races by the time of the swift-approaching crisis of world upheaval." (HWA, 1975 in Prophecy, section 'Germans Pioneered Nuclear Development'.)

HWA predicted that the 200 million strong army would be Communists.

"The sixth of these punishing plagues will be a military invasion of Europe by the Communist forces from Russia and the Orient. By that time, the Red Armies of Russia, China and allies will number TWO HUNDRED MILLION!" (HWA, 1975 in Prophecy, section 'The Terrible DAY OF THE LORD'.)

HWA made many other predictions which simply did not happen.

It is quite say Based on number and seize of failures, [HWA] is a particularly poor prophet. Among false prophets he falls into extra false.

These false prophecies prove according to Dave Pack's own standard that Herbert W. Armstrong is a false prophet.

LCG and That Spanking Report

I am sorry to report this but LCG has also promoted this story.

Study: Spanked Children May Grow Up to Be Happier, More Successful – Children's Health – FOXNews.com.

This LCG Youth article cites this Fox News report.

It concerns the same scientific study which PCG cited earlier from another report by a pro-life website.

I must say LCG is more honest in their presentation of this report than PCG was. As QuesterUK commented, PCG neglected to mention some of the caveats towards spanking which were made in the post PCG cited. LCG includes some of those qualifications here. Such as this:

"But children who continued to be spanked into adolescence showed clear behavioral problems."

If only such things were shown on the headline.

Now I am not dogmatic on this issue. I am sure that there is a time and a place for physical punishment. However such things should not be encouraged by the leadership, lest overzealous parents get too used to solving problems in that harsh manner.

Terrible Persecution in Iraq

The BBC has released a radio report on the persecution of religious minorities in Iraq, such as indigenous Christians and Yedizis.

Iraq's Forgotten Conflict.

During the war in Iraq religious minorities have suffered grievously. About half the Christians in Iraq have been forced to flee their homeland. Many to neighboring Syria.

Other minorities such as the Yedizis have also enduring terrible suffering.

HWA and 'Armistice'

Here's Herbert W. Armstrong. What is wrong with this sentence?

"It had taken Germany 21 years from the armistice bringing the end of the first round of world war -- an "armistice" is a RECESS -- to be ready to start the second round, World War II. The armistice had COME OF AGE -- 21 years!" (Herbert W. Armstrong, 'The 19-Year Time Cycles —What HAPPENED January 7th. What My Commission IS!,' Tomorrow's World, February 1972, p. 31, column 3, paragraph 2.)

Can't see it? Don't be embarrassed. I didn't see it for a long time either.

The truth is the armistice ended on...

June 28, 1919.

Why?

That's when they had the Paris Peace Conference. They made the Treaty of Versailles in that conference.

The armistice was indeed a recess. Until the leaders, the diplomats, everyone else, were able to come together and produce a Peace Treaty.

Which they did with the Treaty of Versailles.

The purpose of the armistice was complete.

That was when the armistice ended.

Not 1939.

To say that the time between World War I and World War II (1918-1939) was the time of the armistice is a lie. The armistice actually only lasted November 11, 1918-June 28, 1919 when the Treaty of Versailles was signed.

By the way, the personal in question is HWA's attempt to explain away the 1972 disappointment. From 1953 onwards HWA taught that a) the second 19 year time cycle for the church ended, b) therefore the church would be unable to preach at that time, c) the church would go to the place of safety on earth, which was widely speculated to be Petra, Jordan, and d) the Great Tribulation would begin with the European Beast Power destroying Britain and America.

That is what he predicted would happen in 1972.

To explain this colossal failed prediction away HWA. But it can't change the fact that he was wrong. It proves he was a false prophet. God could not have been working with that man. We do not need to listen to him in order to follow God.

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