The COGs and Netanyahu's "Mouthpiece" Israel Hayom

Israel Hayom is a right wing Israeli newspaper heavily funded by Las Vegas casino mogul, Sheldon Adelson. Currently it is the most popular newspaper in Israel not least because it happens to be given away for free.

Back on August 30, 2015 it was mentioned in a previous post that an article in Haaretz that described the newspaper Israel Hayom as serving as Netanyahu's mouthpiece.

We can assume that in the coming days we’ll see much more of Netanyahu and the blue pen in that photo. His spokesmen will tell us how busy he is making last-minute changes. His mouthpiece, the newspaper Israel Hayom, will probably trumpet this address for the umpteenth time as “the speech of his life.” (March 1, 2015.) 

Here's more evidence that Israel Hayom is widely perceived to a partisan supporter for Netanyahu. This time it is from The Times of Israel.

To get the other side of the story, one must only look at Netanyahu-friendly Israel Hayom. Its front page quotes a source in Netanyahu’s office: “It’s essential that the prime minister speaks to prevent a bad deal” on Iranian nukes. The source says that Israel’s security concerns trump the elections. “The speech is to Congress is a speech about diplomacy and security only,” the source said.  (The Times of Israel, January 25, 2015. )

Adelson, the largest donor to Republican causes in the US in 2012, is considered to be Netanyahu’s close ally and patron. He owns the Israel Hayom free daily newspaper, known for its support of Netanyahu. (The Times of Israel, February 6, 2015.)

In the Netanyahu-friendly Israel Hayom daily, Obama’s much longed-after phone call is mentioned in passing, and the paper notes that officials in Washington have indicated that the White House is considering a “reevaluation” of its relations with Israel, due to Netanyahu’s rejection of a Palestinian state ahead of the general elections. (The Times of Israel, March 20, 2015.)

During her interrogation, Sara denied all charges, Israel Hayom, the Bibi-loving tabloid, reports, employing its beloved technique of putting headlines in quotation marks, despite no one actually saying them in the article. (The Times of Israel, January 1, 2016.)

Israel Hayom, oft considered a blindly pro-Bibi publication, buries Netanyahu’s victory deep in the paper, leaving front page room for a local story about an Israeli grocery chain, Mega, that stands to close and put some 3,500 people out of work. (The Times of Israel, January 14, 2016.)

The COGs at present seem rather uninterested with Israel Hayom. But they never appear to have bothered to mention to their readers the political leanings of this newspaper.

PCG has quoted Israel Hayom eight times in their articles. UCG, LCG and RCG have quoted from Israel Hayom once each so far.

Let's see what they say when they quote from Israel Hayom.

PCG Quoting Israel Hayom

So far PCG have quoted Israel Hayom eight times in their articles. This use of Israel Hayom by PCG's writers possibly reflects PCG's involvement with the archaeological digs in Jerusalem.

At Israel Hayom, another columnist wrote: “The difficulties that Morsi faces will emerge gradually. When he finds it hard to bridge the gap between Egypt’s political and economic interests and the disappointment of the masses, he may be forced to take populist measures. And in the Middle East this usually means inciting against Israel .… It is easy to envisage Morsi emulating the Islamic Republic [of Iran].”  (Stephen Flurry, Egypt is Lost, June 29, 2012.)

Even still, there’s a huge risk in accepting a last-minute, nuclear threshold strategy, as Gold points out. “If all that is left to complete an operational nuclear weapon is a few more weeks of work, then letting Iran reach a threshold capacity is very dangerous for obvious reasons: When nuclear breakout occurs, Iran can quickly build a substantial nuclear arsenal,” he wrote (Israel Hayom, August 31). (Stephen Flurry, After America, Where Will Israel Go for Help?, September 3, 2012.)

The bottom line, as Israel Hayom’s editor in chief Amir Mizroch wrote on December 9, is that things in the West Bank are changing—and fast! According to Mizroch, the Palestinians have seen what Gaza’s rulers have achieved by standing up to Israel and now they want change too. (Stephen Flurry, Hamas Sets Its Sights on the West Bank, December 23, 2012.)

An article titled “A Quiet Intifada in Jerusalem” claims it’s been taking place for a few months now. “It’s quiet,” the article says, “because the media isn’t telling you about it.”
“There have been thousands of incidents of attacks on Jews, with rocks thrown, fireworks show as weapons (the newest thing), and Molotov cocktails hurled at Jews where the east and west of the city meet, as well as dozens of cases of frustrated Jews attacking Arabs. Not to mention isolated cases of shootings spattered throughout the city reported on the back pages of newspapers,” Nadav Shragai wrote in Israel Hayom (September 3). (Daryle Hochstetler, A Third Intifada in Jerusalem—Happening Now?, November 10, 2014.)

The attackers were reportedly affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, according to Israel Hayom, although no terrorist group has claimed the attack. (Brent Nagtegaal, Four Jews Savagely Murdered in Jerusalem Synagogue Attack, November 18, 2014.)

“In moments like these, facing a terrorist, you act mainly by intuition and do what anyone would be expected to do—take out the terrorist,” wrote the mayor in Israel Hayom on Monday. Later, he wrote, “Anyone who tries to attack us will pay dearly. You can’t hesitate in the face of terrorism.” (Brent Nagtegaal, Mayor of Jerusalem Takes Down Terrorist, February 25, 2015.)

According to Israel Hayom, “Herzog, who now vows to protect Jerusalem’s ‘strength,’ made it clear after he was elected as Labor chairman (in an interview with Yedioth Ahronoth) that he sees Jerusalem serving as two political capitals—the capital of the Jewish state on its west, and the capital of the Palestinian state on its east.”  (Brent Nagtegaal, Netanyahu Wins Israeli Election, March 17, 2015.)

Yedioth Ahronoth’s headline said, “Jerusalem: Soldiers to Guard Buses.” Israel Hayom said, “Army to enter cities.” Haaretz’s main headline said the Israeli “Cabinet Is Considering Cutting Off East Jerusalem.”
These are the early stages of the division of Jerusalem—the once united capital of Israel.
Another Israel Hayom article said, “As terrorism mounts, Israelis take security into their own hands.” It noted a sharp increase in Israeli civilians purchasing pepper sprays, stun guns and clubs to protect themselves. Jewish citizens are enrolling in classes where they can learn to fight like the Israeli military.  (Stephen Flurry, How the Jerusalem Awakening Is Prophesied to End, October 16, 2015.)

PCG has also cited articles from Israel Hayom in the February 28 and August 15 issues of The Trumpet Weekly as noted in a previous post: Notes from PCG's Trumpet Weekly (2015).

LCG Quoting Israel Hayom

In contrast to PCG the other COGs have only quoted Israel Hayom once in their writings. This is the case with LCG, UCG and RCG alike.

The Vatican has long desired to gain control of Jerusalem and is patiently working towards this end.  Now, “Israel has granted the pope an official seat in the room where the Last Supper is believed to have taken place, on Mount Zion in Jerusalem” (Israel Hayom, January 30, 2013). (Vatican invited to sit on Mount Zion!, February 18, 2013.)

UCG Quoting Israel Hayom

Speaking to the Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom , prominent Harvard legal expert Alan Dershowitz, not one known for conservative views, drew similar comparisons, saying that Barack Obama might go down as another Neville Chamberlain if Iran gets hold of a nuclear weapon. “It would be better to have no deal at all than a bad deal,” he said (Feb. 18, 2015). (Michael Kelley, Are We in a Dangerous Age of Appeasement?, May 1, 2015.)

RCG Quoting Israel Hayom

(Note: Due to reports that RCG's websites adds browser cookies to one's browser when visiting their website causing their advertising to appear while one is elsewhere on the Internet I do not link to this website.)

Another source revealed more about Mr. Netanyahu’s plan: “A day after world powers and Iran reached a comprehensive nuclear agreement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched an international media campaign against the deal, highlighting its flaws. ‘Iran has here two paths to the bomb,’ Netanyahu said in an interview with NBC News on Wednesday. ‘One is if they keep the deal, and the other is if they cheat on the deal. They can cheat on the deal because inspections are not instantaneous, anywhere, anytime, as Foreign Minister of Iran [Mohammad Javad] Zarif said correctly. In fact, you don’t have inspections within 24 hours; you have 24 days before you can inspect any site that you find suspicious in Iran. Twenty-four days. Can you imagine giving a drug dealer 24 days’ notice before you check the premises? That’s a lot of time to flush a lot of meth down the toilet.’ In an address to the Knesset on Wednesday…Netanyahu said he plans to apply pressure on the U.S. Congress to thwart the implementation of the deal” (Israel Hayom). (David C. Pack, World News Report: August 2015, August 13, 2015.)

So we see that at present the COGs do not seem to be too interested with Israel Hayom, except possibly PCG, but even in that case their use of Israel Hayom seems marginal. Israel Hayom's political leanings are never mentioned by the COGs to their readers.

RCG Quoting WorldNetDaily

As seen in previous posts UCG, PCG and LCG have all quoted from the far right wing media outlet WorldNetDaily without ever bothering to mention to their readers that it leans far to the right politically speaking or criticizing anything quoted from them.

Dave Pack's group, the Restored Church of God, has also quoted WorldNetDaily. It is never even mentioned that WorldNetDaily happens to be far to the right in regards to politics. Just like UCG, PCG and LCG it is never even mentioned WorldNetDaily is right wing and is never criticized.

I have not linked to the articles in question because of reports that RCG's websites use cookies to make advertising for RCG appear on one's Internet browser. Consequently these articles are not linked to here.

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Ohio newspaper the Canton Repository reported that 65 out of 490 female students—13 percent—at a Canton high school are pregnant. ...  Source: Canton Repository; NewsNet5; WorldNetDaily (65 Girls at Ohio School are Pregnant, August 31, 2005.)

In the Netherlands, a government health official has called for a controversial debate on whether to force abortions and mandatory contraception in order to, in her view, solve a “crisis of unwanted children.” ... Source: WorldNetDaily (Mandatory Abortion in Holland?, March 3, 2006.)

John Williams, an econometrician who tracks the broadest measure of U.S. money supply (M3) after the Federal Reserve stopped reporting it in March 2006, told World Net Daily, “You’re dealing with mass psychology here. The central bankers around the world know they are going [to] take a hit on their dollar holdings. None of the central bankers want to start a dollar panic, but none of the central bankers want to be the last out of the dollar, either.”
Mr. Williams said the M3 is growing at a 9.6% rate and trending higher as opposed to an 8% rate earlier in the year. The Federal Reserve, meanwhile, is in a bind. “Raising rates would kill any chance of avoiding a recession, but in terms of the dollar, we can’t raise rates fast enough when the dollar starts to slip quickly,” he said. (A Crushing Mountain of Debt, January 2007.)

Another famous minister asserted, “If one depends on the Bible as a guidepost for living, it is readily apparent that war is sometimes a necessary option” (“God is pro-war,” Jerry Falwell, WorldNetDaily). (David C. Pack, The Red Horse – “You Shall Hear of Wars…”, 2008.)

RCG Quoting Arutz Sheva

Arutz Sheva is a news organization from Israel that caters for national religious Israeli Jews, is closely associated with the religious Israeli settlers in the West Bank and is trusted by PCG, UCG and LCG. All three organization have quoted Arutz Sheva without ever bothering to inform their readers that Arutz Sheva happens to be far to the right in regard to politics or criticizing anything that they quote from Arutz Sheva.

Dave Pack's group, the Restored Church of God, has also quoted Arutx Sheva. It is never even mentioned that Arutz Sheva happens right wing in regards to politics and closely associated with the religious right in Israel. Just like UCG, PCG and LCG it is never even mentioned Arutz Sheva is right wing, happens to be linked to the Israeli religious right and it is never criticized by RCG.

I have not linked to the articles in question because of reports that RCG's websites use cookies to make advertising for RCG appear on one's Internet browser. Consequently these articles are not linked to here.

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Ms. Rice’s comments were met with severe criticism by Israeli Industry and Trade Minister Eli Yishai.
“I would like to know how it would look if someone would say that the U.S. has no right to develop Washington,” he said. “Rice doesn’t consult with anyone before approving a new city in the U.S.” (Arutz Sheva, Israel National News). (Housing Project Threatens to Harm Israeli-Palestinian Relations, June 18, 2008.)

Despite its population being 98 percent Arab, Jordan is one of the only Middle Eastern nations to oppose the Palestinian Authority’s September bid to gain United Nations acceptance as a state.
According to Israeli newspaper Arutz Sheva, “Jordan is continuing its efforts to convince the Palestinian Authority leadership to abandon its attempt to secure membership as a new country at the United Nations this September.” (Jordan--Old Meets New, September-October 2011.)

So much has happened in just one month in world events. Surely everyone is aware by now that the U.S.-mediated peace talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis have essentially collapsed. A very serious matter is developing on the world scene. Late last week, Israel halted the final (fourth) release of 26 Palestinian prisoners after hearing that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas was only staying in the negotiations to manipulate Israel and get what he wanted. A report in Arutz Sheva stated, “Much of the objection to the fourth release came after the PA chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, admitted earlier this month that…Abbas was staying in talks solely for the sake of the terrorist releases.”
Israel had already released 78 prisoners in three rounds of 26, but decided not to free more convicted murderers in light of the doubt cast on the motives of the Palestinians. Arutz Sheva went on to report about the Palestinians’ response to Israel’s decision: “The Palestinian Authority (PA) said Friday that Israel would regret its decision not to go through with the release of the fourth batch of terrorists it undertook to release as a ‘gesture’ to the PA…” (David C. Pack, World News Report: April 2014 -- Inside the Mid-East Crisis, April 4, 2014.)

It was in 1994 that Gerald Flurry Labeled Iran the "King of the South"

PCG's thetrumpet.com has released an anonymous column (June 22) that, while trying to "prove" that Iran is the King of the South, states that Gerald Flurry first labeled Iran as the King of the South in 1994. Not even Gerald Flurry's booklet, The King of the South, reveals that fact.

The Trumpet identifies the king of the south as radical Islam, led by Iran. Editor in chief Gerald Flurry first made this connection in 1994, just six years after Iran emerged from its devastating eight-year war with Iraq—a time when few paid any attention to this rogue Islamist nation.

This idea is total nonsense. Iran is east of what is now the State of Israel. Biblical writers viewed geography as centered upon the Holy Land. If an area is labeled "south" that means south of the Holy Land. Iran is not south of the Holy Land. It is east of it.

(Also it needs to be stated that many people have always paid close attention to Iran the whole time since its revolution in 1979. It may not have grabbed newspaper headlines in 1994 as easily as now but many people were always watching it, not least officials in the US government.)

But Gerald Flurry has simply changed this doctrine, proclaiming this to be "new revelation" that supposedly prove that God is with Gerald Flurry and no one else.

His first "new revelation" was Malachi's Message. Many of the ideas within Malachi's Message were plagiarized from The Letter to Laodicea by Jules Dervaes, written December 1986-January 1988. It was sent to 237 WCG ministers including Gerald Flurry and John Amos. In fact on September 26, 1990 Jules Dervaes sent a letter to Gerald Flurry in which he denounces Malachi's Message as "a direct and clear plagiarism" of his work.

However it must be said that this doctrine of the King of the South has changed a lot over time. First HWA labeled Ethiopia to be the King of the South in the days before World War II. He did this anticipating that Mussolini (and later he said Hitler) would be the feared European Beast Power who would conquer and enslave America and Britain. Even after the spectacular failure of this false prophecy and the fall of Mussolini and Hitler HWA continued to teach that the King of the South prophecy was fulfilled in Ethiopia.

But over time some within WCG, such as Garner Ted Armstrong and Keith Stump, speculated that a future King of the South would arise. But they usually assumed that it would be Arabs who would fulfill this role. They did not get specific and say Iran is the King of the South but it was left vague. Although HWA himself did not write of this (as far as I know), he never tried to stop such talk.

Some, on the other hand, like Dave Pack (he who falsely said the COGs would unite under him in 2013), have decided there will be no future fulfillment of the King of the South and simply say it was Ethiopia.

More on this topic may be seen in the post concerning Gerald Flurry's booklet, The King of the South.

(In this booklet Gerald Flurry predicts Christ's return as "probably within 10 or 15 years or less." He wrote that in the 2003 version and those words are still present in the current version.) 

Dave Pack's Latest Announcement

Banned by HWA has reported (here and here) that Dave Pack has released another letter (about 7779 words long) insisting his church is the one true church.

I was amused when he said

great numbers of brethren have become content to let their leaders do their thinking for them—and with ETERNAL LIFE at stake! This letter will not help such ill-informed, easily seduced, “obedient” people.

What a blatant example of projection. The COG members were taught to behave obediently by HWA and the leadership in old WCG, including Dave Pack, and are simply faithfully following what HWA and Co taught.

I was disgusted when I saw this. 

United’s leaders are now working in a “cooperative” tandem with a large group that Mr. Armstrong’s son led away in rebellion over 35 years ago [Church of God International] is merely the latest outrage they commit against God, Mr. Armstrong’s legacy and their docile membership who are so willing to let them get away with their deceit.

It is disgusting that Pack wishes to incite that old hatred against those who courageously resisted HWA's tyranny out of loyalty to HWA's teachings. It seems to me many COG followers have moved on from that feud.

At present, despite his humiliating prophetic failure last year, there is no hope that RCG will be moving in a positive direction or that Pack will be moving away from his authoritarian way in the foreseeable future.

Dave Pack's Followers Discouraged from Using Medicine

Kerwyn Rand, a commenter at Silenced, has reported a most disturbing trend that seems to be happening within Dave Pack's Restored Church of God. (Hat tip Banned by HWA.)

the recent sermons are also (yet again) reminding the chosen fools that they are not to use modern medicine under any circumstances unless it is a dire emergency. “Pray on it, and God will take care of you” is their suggestion. I suppose if the flock really adheres to this mandate there will be far fewer of them in the next few years since many are elderly and infirm.

This is a most disturbing development. How dare Dave Pack spread anti-medicine superstition! As if what he has already done was not terrible enough.

The COGs have a long and shameful history of preventing people from getting necessary medical treatment. It is tragic that Dave Pack willfully chooses to continue this shameful and deadly superstition.

The Pompous Narcissism of Bob Thiel

Recently I saw this posting from Banned by HWA which shows the sad narcissistic delusion Bob Thiel has thrown himself into. The highlighted portion shows quite clearly the dangerous delusion Bob Thiel is now in.

In my case, in November/December 2011, I prayed that if I truly had a prophetic role from God that He would have something happen during a planned mid-December 2011 trip to Charlotte, North Carolina to confirm it or deny it if that were His will. As it turned out, on 12/15/2011 hands were laid upon me in Charlotte by ordained minister Gaylyn Bonjour. He prayed that I would be granted a “double-portion” of God’s Holy Spirit. He told me that he had not ever done this before but he felt that it was reminiscent of the time that the prophetic and ecclesiastical leadership mantle passed from the Prophet Elijah to Elisha (2 Kings 2:9-13). This minister had been unaware that I had prayed that God would have me anointed or somehow identified for a prophetic role on that mid-December 2011 trip if that were His plan for me and I had never discussed my possible prophetic role with him prior to this anointing. This 12/15/11 anointing appears to be the first biblically-appropriate prophetic anointing in the Church of God in many decades, if not many multiple centuries. And the legitimacy of this anointing has been proven by subsequent events–though many do not seem to understand how God works at times. And yes, I will add that I believe that I do have the appropriate prophetic fruits that Jesus discussed (Matthew 7:15-20) and that those truly interested in the truth can see this if they truly wish to prayfully look into this.

What astounding pomposity.

HWA condemned anyone claiming prophetic authority without being ordained by a minister from HWA's group.

Now suppose God did NOT have these various officers ordained by the hand of man. What would happen? One man in New York [or maybe California?] would APPOINT HIMSELF, and come up and say, "I claim equal office and authority with those ordained from Pasadena. I wasn't ordained by the hand of man, but direct by the hand of God."...

And then this man carries on his own independent work. [Like the Continuing Church of God.] Such a work CANNOT be a PART of the work of GOD'S TRUE CHURCH, for the simple reason that sooner or later it will start pulling off in an opposite direction -- unless there is DIRECTION from Christ on down, in ONE CHURCH ORDER OF GOVERNMENT...

So you see, Brethren, WHY God always ordains men to office THRU HIS OWN CHURCH, THRU HIS OWN ESTABLISHED ORDER...! ... Any such claims to ordination or office are WITHOUT A SHRED OF SCRIPTURAL AUTHORITY! (Source.)

Bob Thiel conveniently ignored this teaching of HWA's. Bob Thiel contradicts HWA on this matter.

Bob Thiel loves to criticize Dave Pack for the pompous statements he makes. Here is Dave Pack claiming his prophesied reunification of the COGs on August 30, 2013, was prophesied 3000 years previously in some of the Psalms.

3) Also related, if God waited 2,500 years to reveal the prophecy’s meaning (3,000 years when various related much older Psalms are considered), is not His waiting done? Does His revealing it not signal that He has reached the time to fulfill it rather than having reached a point one, two or three years out? (Dave Pack, as quoted on Banned by HWA.)

How is Bob Thiel's own claim to authority any different from Dave Pack's boasting?

There is no difference. Bob Thiel is just as pompous and deluded as Dave Pack. 

This Novel, Kremlin Devils (1988), Predicted August 1991 Failed Soviet Coup

This is my 700th post. Thank you, readers, for inspiring me to share what I know in order to help any reader better understand the history and circumstances of Armstrongism. I hope what I have written have been of benefit to you.

My thoughts are with the people of the USA, especially the poor, as they are forced to endure the House Republicans' petulant shutdown of the Federal Government because they still cannot accept they lost the argument over health care reform in the Congress, the Senate, the Supreme Court and the 2012 election. This shutdown is not a legitimate way to discuss legislative matters. I hope this shutdown ends soon.

For this post I wish to show an largely unknown example of predicting future events and see how it compares to the predictions of COG leaders.

The various leaders of Armstrongism claim to be able to foresee with great accuracy events which will occur in the near future. Let us see how they compare to this other person I discovered.

Awhile ago I went into a second hand bookstore. I went and looked around for about an hour. I felt it would be rude to stay so long and not buy anything so I bought a book entitled Kremlin Devils by Jack Hild. It was printed January 1988. It is the twenty third book in a series entitled Soldiers of Barabbas.

Early in the book one of our heroes, Nate Back, has a mysterious meeting with some Russians in a house out in the wintry countryside outside of Moscow. These Russians show him a doctored video which appears to show the wife of the "first secretary" (Mikhail Gorbachev, who is left unnamed in the book) conducting an adulterous affair. 

One of these Russians, Nikolay Popolov, is here speaking to Nate Beck.

"...This videotape circulates underground in Moscow and Leningrad, and the capitals of some of the other republics. An earlier video showed the first secretary's wife using a credit card to buy jewelry and fashionable clothing on state visits to Western cities. But this is much worse. It is intended to embarrass the new leader. To undermine his authority. To remind him that there are others in the Soviet state who are also powerful."

"KGB?" He [Nate Beck] ventured. "A campaign against glastnost." He used the Russian word that had become a clarion call for a new Russia. Roughly it meant openness. In fact, it meant much more--the accelerating release of dissidents and political prisoners, films and books freed from the censors' files, economic revival in a country where people lined up to buy meat and bread, and even a Communist version of democracy in elections.

"Is it your own production, Nikolay?" [Nate Beck asked.]

"There are many who stand to lose their privileges. They will do anything to stop it, " Popolov said...

Nikolay turned to Nate. When he spoke, his voice was urgent. "There is going to be a coup d'état."

Nate looked at him.

"A military takeover of the Soviet Union." (pp. 31-2.)  

Shortly afterwards Popolov further discusses his knowledge of this reactionary conspiracy to overthrow the government to halt the glastnost reforms. 

"The reforms in our country have threatened many party members and bureaucrats who have become accustomed to the pleasures their privileges have brought them. And some of the generals still remember with fondness the steel fist of Marshal Stalin. They fear the first secretary is growing weak with concessions for disarmament. A small group has banded together, calling itself the Committee of Nine. They have formed a counterrevolutionary leadership tribunal. They have an apparatus of disaffected and threatened bureaucrats everywhere. Their aim is to overthrow the present regime. We know this--"...

"I know these people. They will stop at nothing. I myself was one of them. But no longer."(pp. 32-3.)

Needless to say this conspiracy is a major plot point for this novel.

How amazing!

In 1988 an American writer presented a scenario in a fictional book of bureaucrats staging a coup to overthrow the reformist government of Gorbachev. Just three years later, in August 1991, that is exactly what happened. A faction within the Communist Party arrested Gorbachev and tried to overthrow him, but thanks to the heroic resistance by the people of Moscow this plot was thwarted. 

This book has presented theories and speculations that are much more accurate and prescient then what the leaders of Armstrongism have devised and propagated.

I remember hearing how after the fall of the Iron Curtain in Eastern Europe Garner Ted Armstrong complained that he predicted that and was being vindictively ignored.

That is total nonsense.

HWA also predicted the Communists would conquer Asia, including India, and that the Communist system, including the Soviet Union, would outlast the United States to be destroyed by the returned Christ a few years after Christ's return. HWA did not at all foresee the fall of the Soviet Union before the return of Christ.

HWA also predicted and promoted all kinds of other absurd and ludicrous predictions. To cite one example in 1965 the Plain Truth preached that Hitler was still alive and insinuated he would play a role in creating the European Beast Power.

Despite this some COGs, such as Roderick C. Meredith's LCG, continue to deceptively insinuate that HWA had remarkable insight in predicting events before they were apparent. Nothing could be further from the facts.

Jack Hild's novel is certainly far more accurate than Dave Pack's recent prediction that the other COGs would miraculously disintegrate and by August 30, 2013, the COGs would be unified under Dave Pack.

Also it turns out Jack Hild is just a pen name. The author is one Robin Hardy. And he also wrote this book in 1999, The Crisis of Desire: AIDS and the Fate of Gay Brotherhood. So this remarkable prediction was provided by a man who struggles for greater acceptance by society of LBGT people. Meredith will not be impressed.

A Tragic Report Regarding RCG

Just saw this horrifying report from Banned by HWA.

Restored Church of God Abuse Contributes To Suicide. 

The following is highlighted at Banned by HWA.

I have had several dear dear friends completely ruined by this church. One eventually committed suicide because they had nothing at the end. The church took everything from them, demanded more and provided no support, no help, no love, and was only interested in deconstructing them and turning them into something I could not even recognize any more. One dear sweet lady is now convinced that she betrayed God and is just a tortured soul who will likely never again know any sort of hope or peace with God. 

This tragic testimony is from a comment at Networks of Doom, which was posted June 20.

At present it is impossible to know what precisely happened but it must be said that Armstrongism has always left behind a trail of ruined lives, not least due to the severe triple tithing impoverishing COG members, neglect of medical treatment due to HWA's anti-medicine superstition, disfellowshipping of ex-members, etc. Sometimes these abuses even lead to death, in this instance suicide. The baneful influence of Armstrongism continues to wreck peoples' lives in striving to maintain their system of exploitation of COG members.

Dave Pack's Prophecy Fails

For months Dave Pack has been blasting out his message that God will kill three major COG leaders and this will cause the other COGs to disintegrate and thousands of their members will rally to Pack's banner and "God's Church" will be reunified under Dave Pack.

This prophecy has failed, as everyone outside of Dave Pack's information bubble knew would be the case.

For this occasion and in the hope that readers will find this useful here is Pam Dewey's article When Prophecy Fails which discusses what many RCG members are probably feeling at the moment. 

COG Alexa Rankings (August 2013): Dave Pack is Down, so is Weinland

Here is the latest Alexa rankings for various COG websites.

UCG: 53,212
Philadelphia Trumpet (PCG): 108,171
RCG: 115,494
CGI/WCG (Tkach): 180,125
Tomorrow's World (LCG): 221,574
Cogwriter.com (Bob Thiel): 254,811
LCG: 289,043
CGG: 297,561
Real Truth (RCG): 456,355
Cogwa: 459,539
PCG: 474,649
Life, Hope and Truth (Cogwa): 568,546
COG-AIC (Hulme): 961,873
CCOG (Bob Thiel): 988,725
Herbert-Armstrong.org (Don Tiger): 1,184,914
Shining Light (James Malm): 1,217,186
CGI: 1,262,806
Plain Truth Ministries: 1,387,565
Triumph Prophetic Ministries: 1,596,464
CBCG (Fred Coulter): 1,721,171
Banned by HWA: 1,909,673
Cogl.org (LCG): 2,369,667
RonaldWeinland.com (Weinland): 2,571,463
COG Faithful Flock: 2,589,573
Hold Fast to All Things: 2,886,795
COG Seventh Day: 3,331,291
The Journal: 3,438,877
Intercontinental COG: 3,083,017
CEM (Ron Dart): 3,112,823
Kubik.org (UCG): 3,614,706
TheEnd.com (Weinland): 3,706,064
Foundation Institute (Cogwa): 4,866,520
COG the Eternal: 6,148,762
COG-PKG (Weinland): 6,529,070
Faithful COG in Laodicea: 11,640,910
CGOM: 12,156,111
Biblical Truth (Weinland): 19,721,535
COGAIC.org (Hulme): 22,313,502

Dave Pack's websites have dropped their Alexa ranking since last month. Both RCG.org and the RealTruth.com have stayed in their previous positions and have actually dropped in Alexa ranking.

RCG.org was 105,715 last month, now it is 115,494.

RealTruth.com was 435,144 last month, now it is 456,355.

One would think that if the COGs were about to be reunified under the rule of Dave Pack there would be a surge of activity. However, as everyone outside of Pack's information bubble expected, this has not happened. 

Also notable is how Ronald Weinland's websites have plummeted since last month.

TheEnd.com was 830,376 last month, now it is 3,706,064.

RonaldWeinland.com was 1,047,506 last month, now it is 2,571,463.

COG-PKG.org was 2,137,763 last month, now it is 6,529,070.

It would appear many have been drifting away from him now that he is less able to control them. I wish these brave and courageous defectors well. 

Regarding Bob Thiel's Article On Dave Pack

Banned by HWA has a post about the unordained, self appointed false prophet Bob Thiel's article regarding Dave Pack and the Restored Church of God. That article or a related version of it, has been on his web site for as long as I have been aware of Bob Thiel's web site. In fact that article was how I first heard about Dave Pack and the Restored Church of God.

Dave Pack's Account of the 1979 Receivership Crisis

The following is how Dave Pack and Bruce Ritter describe the crisis of the receivership to RCG members and co-workers in Herbert W. Armstrong - His Life in Proper Perspective.

Chapter 7:

In the fall of 1978, a group of conspirators hatched a sinister plot to attack and destroy the Church. They armed themselves with a class-action lawsuit. Mr. Armstrong explained, “This resulted in an ex parte order by a judge. Secretly without prior notice, deputies on order of the [California] Attorney General’s office swooped down on the Church on the morning of Jan. 3, 1979” (“Recent History of the Philadelphia Era of the Worldwide Church of God,” Worldwide News, June 24, 1985).

That accusation is complete nonsense that simply regurgitates HWA's self serving propaganda at the time. The six who initiated the lawsuit were not trying "to attack and destroy the Church." They were trying to stamp out corruption within WCG HQ.

The ecclesiastical affairs of WCG were not to be affected by the State of California's receivership. WCG was never in danger of being dissolved because of the receivership. The receivers never threatened to forcibly change church doctrine.

The receivers were concerned over financial matters, fearing that the leaders of WCG were misusing church funds for their own personal benefit instead of using that money for the welfare of church members.

In fact the conspirators were so reluctant to initiate the lawsuit they seriously contemplated presenting the facts they had gathered to Stanley Rader and use it as an ultimatum to force him to leave WCG's leadership and get him away from influencing WCG's leadership. What sort of "conspiracy" is that?

The state dropped the case months later, and an appellate judge ruled that the lawsuit was groundless.

Just like HWA they bring up this detail but neglect to mention that the court case ended because the State of California passed a law forbidding law suits of that nature to be used against a church. WCG was not vindicated in court, as is implied here, but simply persuaded the law makers of California to change the law to WCG's benefit. 

Chapter 8:

The crises of 1974, 1978 (when Garner Ted Armstrong left), and 1979 (the attempted coup bringing the State of California against the Church)

Here it is implied that C. Wayne Cole was trying to lead a coup against HWA. Nothing could be further from the truth regarding C. Wayne Cole. As has been seen previously, at first HWA decided to co-operate with the investigation. In pursuit of this he appointed C. Wayne Cole his number two man. Cole was so reluctant to accept this position he was physically sick. But in the end he chose and tried to execute his new duties in fulfillment of HWA's wishes. Unfortunately for him HWA soon changed his mind, apparently under Rader's influence, and decided to resist the receivership and hinder the investigation of misappropriation of funds. Behind Cole's back he appointed others in his place and kicked Cole out of the church and he and his minions demonized C. Wayne Cole as an enemy of God who had attacked the work of the living Christ, falsely implying that he was trying to lead a coup and seize power for himself. In fact C. Wayne Cole was callously betrayed by HWA.

It is sad that RCG's leadership continues to perpetuate misleading information regarding these events to its members in order to idealize HWA as a man of noble character and ignore the many terrible flaws about the man which caused so much trouble to WCG members and to WCG as an institution.

The authors of this book, Pack and Ritter, may be sincere, but if so, they are badly misinformed about what really happened in those turbulent days and, alas, are continuing to misinform people within RCG about these events.

Was 1980s WCG Really a Golden Age?

Many HWA sectarians hold the nostalgic idea that all was rosy and good within WCG once those pesky "liberals" had been purged. A golden age for "God's Church".

Notice how LCG's John Ogwyn describes it in God's Church Through the Ages.

Mr. Armstrong, from Tucson, Arizona (where he was still recovering from heart trouble), named Dr. Meredith to his old job as director of the ministry, seeking to restore stability to the Church and the ministry during this troubled time. At the same time, Mr. Armstrong sought to "set the Church back on track" doctrinally after the liberal, watered-down doctrinal approach of the 1970s. By the time of his death in January 1986, The Plain Truth had a circulation of more than eight million copies printed in seven languages. Attendance at the Feast of Tabernacles approached 150,000 worldwide.

When Joseph Tkach took the helm of the Worldwide Church of God upon the death of Mr. Armstrong in January 1986, the Church was a seemingly unified body. It appeared focused on the Work of God that lay ahead and committed to the Truth. There were problems beneath the surface, however. They became increasingly obvious, at first faintly and then more clearly.

Notice how PCG's Stephen Flurry describes it in his article The Legacy of Herbert Armstrong.

Herbert Armstrong was systematically getting the Church “back on track,”...

The attack did nothing to weaken Herbert Armstrong or the WCG. The Church was cleaned up, and the members who stood by Mr. Armstrong through the battle against the state were strengthened by it. The fruits of cleaning up the Church became clearly evident over the next several years.

Greatest Growth in Church History

The WCG had its greatest spurt of growth during 1980 to 1986—right after a tremendous amount of turmoil both inside and outside the Church, at a time when many ex-members of the WCG were claiming Mr. Armstrong was incompetent and senile. The surge forward by the WCG in the last years of Herbert Armstrong’s life proves, without refutation, just how powerfully he was being used by God.

Contrast the Church in the late 1970s to the year Mr. Armstrong died: the annual income went from $75 million to $200 million; Plain Truth circulation went from 1 million to peak at over 8 million; the television stations carrying The World Tomorrow, numbering 50 in 1978, grew to nearly 400 worldwide at the end of Mr. Armstrong’s life.

Notice how RCG's Dave Pack and Bruce C. Ritter describe this time in the booklet, Herbert W. Armstrong - His Life in Proper Perspective, Chapter 8.

In 1981, a youth magazine (Youth 81, 82, 83…) was launched. Each issue offered articles that pointed teens in the Church in the right direction, while helping them prepare for life’s challenges. Y.E.S. (Youth Educational Services) lessons and activities were established for young children and preteens, teaching them God’s ways.

The Feast of Tabernacles became the largest annual, multi-site convention on earth. Live services conducted by Mr. Armstrong were beamed via satellite into most festival sites, enabling tens of thousands of brethren in countries around the world to hear the same sermon and sing the same hymns in unison.

The Plain Truth magazine matched, and even surpassed, the quality and excellence of the world’s leading news magazines. It reached almost 8.2 million subscribers, translating to approximately 25 million readers. Along with The World Tomorrow programs on television and radio, this resulted in record numbers of phone calls requesting literature.
Mr. Armstrong’s book The United States and Britain in prophecy, which had been gutted to one-quarter of its size, was returned to its full size and strength.
Full-page ads were published in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times, among others. ...

Congregations that had stagnated or diminished in size for years suddenly bounced back to life. The Church was again growing at almost 30 percent per year. Many thousands of Plain Truth readers and millions of World Tomorrow television viewers and radio listeners responded to the gospel and were moved to live a new way of life!
Statistical growth soon returned to the near-explosion level that had been enjoyed by the Church in nearly every category in which they had so recently been declining.

The book also describes HWA's resumption of activities, list some of the numerous assets HWA acquired (which are presented as evidence of God's favor), and his writing of Mystery of the Ages.

Now we see how some COGs remember that time it is time to ask the following question:

Was it really a golden age?

Many within the COGs deeply yearn to return to that glory. Dave Pack has recently been trying to exploit this yearning among many within the other COGs to get them to join his group and get their three tithes and extra offerings.

What really happened in 1979-86?

The unity everyone loved was created by destroying friendships and relationships with anyone who failed to conform to WCG's demands or were accused of being in league with the "dissidents" and "liberals". One example of this may be seen in     Pastor's Report.

Many WCG members continued to fear going to doctors or taking medicine because of HWA's anti-medicine superstition which he stole from the Jehovah's Witnesses.

HWA banned racial interracial marriage. It is very hard to get more racist than that.

Women were not allowed to wear makeup. In one article HWA even accused the problems of the 1970s were caused because WCG allowed women to wear makeup. HWA banned makeup because he saw his daughter Beverly wearing too much makeup one day and he disapproved so strongly he banned makeup. HWA reimposed this ban partly to coerce his wife, the former Ramona Martin (nee Crittenden) hoping this measure would compel her to divorce him. It did not work. He had to divorce her.

HWA claimed that Jesus Christ would return within the 20th Century. He even said this in Mystery of the Ages, a book so greatly revered among those who wish to follow HWA. It bears useless fear inducing false prophecy. (PCG erased those words in their copies so you will not find it there.)

HWA told WCG children that Jesus Christ would soon return, before 2000.

HWA was a divorced man.

In December 1984, HWA belittled a TV ad for a charity trying to feed staving children as "an emotional appeal for donations". Unlike most people he could have done a lot to help that charity but, not only did he choose not to help but he unfavorably compared it to The World Tomorrow program and praised himself as the only one really working to solve the world's problems.

HWA claimed the Plain Truth had eight million issues in circulation. Actually it was never higher then "slightly over six million." (Larry Nichols and George Mather, Discovering the Plain Truth, p. 39) Why did HWA lie about this?

What sort of golden age is this?

Here in WCG people are forced to adhere to vicious Jim Crow laws forbidding interracial marriage while the United States had banned that form of racial discrimination in 1967. Women were forbidden to wear makeup while just about every other woman did so without a moment's thought. (And, no! They were not trying to seduce men as HWA accused them of doing.) People lived in the false fear that Christ would return before the year 2000. The children were taught that very soon, probably before they grew old, Christ would return, causing them to fear falsely and ignore planning for their lives.

This golden age does not seem very pleasant, just or godly.

Despite all this many in the COGs wish to remember only what they wish.

Pack's Surname Deriaved from Easter

Joe Miller has this fascinating comment at Banned by HWA regarding the etymological origin of Dave Pack's surname.

According to this surname genealogy database...

http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Pack

The surname "PACK" has this meaning...

"The medieval given name may also have derived from the Middle English "paske", Old French "pasque" meaning Easter, and would have originated as a nickname for someone who was born at Easter"

Pack is therefore, by name, the Pagan Birthed Messiah!

Joe Moeller
Cody, WY

COG Alexa Rankings (July 2013)

Here a new list of COG rankings.

UCG: 50,164
Philadelphia Trumpet (PCG): 89,076
RCG: 105,715
CGI/WCG (Tkach): 167,879
Tomorrow's World (LCG): 183,671
CGG: 263,048
Cogwriter.com (Bob Thiel): 309,685
LCG: 345,168
Real Truth (RCG): 435,144
PCG: 476,471
Life, Hope and Truth (Cogawa): 757,846
Cogawa: 762,263
TheEnd.com (Weinland): 830,376
COG-AIC (Hulme): 996,700
Shining Light (James Malm): 1,013,677
RonaldWeinland.com (Weinland): 1,047,506
CGI: 1,068,661
Herbert-Armstrong.org (Don Tiger): 1,087,933
Triumph Prophetic Ministries: 1,386,422
CBCG (Fred Coulter): 1,388,785
Hold Fast to All Things: 1,400,159
CEG: 1,558,095
Plain Truth Ministries: 1,585,894
COG Seventh Day: 1,762,403
Cogl.org (LCG): 1,903,097
COG-PKG (Weinland): 2,137,763
CCOG (Bob Thiel): 2,204,916
The Journal: 2,447,386
COG the Eternal: 3,062,178
Intercontinental COG: 3,213,028
CEM (Ron Dart): 3,255,385
COG Faithful Flock: 3,515,584
Enduring COG: 3,940,206
Kubik.org (UCG): 4,713,665
Foundation Institute (Cogawa): 6,057,422
FOI (Cogawa): 11,673,264
COGAIC.org (Hulme): 13,585,983
Faithful COG: 15,480,038
Biblical Truth (Weinland): 18,706,077
CGOM: 24,003,573

Compared with last month there's no sign of any great burst of activity in Dave Pack's RCG in anticipation of the reunification Pack has declared will happen August 30, 2013. Actually it has gone down from 87,220 to 105,715.

Also LCG.org has now overtaken Dave Pack's Real Truth website.

There's no sign anything astounding will happen at RCG on August 30, 2013.

The unordained, self appointed false prophet Bob Thiel has fallen behind John Ritenbaugh's Church of the Great God.

Dave Pack's Special Announcement

Dave Pack is taking an extremely long time to say what we all know already. His "Special Announcements" currently run at about 75,337 words in 97 pages at default 10 point font.

He could just say his message in less than a page. What he is saying is obvious to any one paying attention.

Therefore I have drafted what his "Special Announcement" is in essence in the hope that he will not use so many words to say simple things in the future.

Here it is:

I am the only man through whom God is working through on Earth.

You can only contact God through me.

Herbert W. Armstrong was God's end time Elijah and I am the man God appointed to lead God's Church afterwards.

To any one in any other COG:

If you do not join my church and obey me and pay me three tithes and offerings, you will go to the lake of fire.

You must leave your COG and join my church or else you will go to the lake of fire.

To convince you to do so and pay me three tithes God has revealed to me that three leaders within the other COGs will soon die and on August 30, 2013, the COGs will be reunified under my divinely ordained rule.

To convince you to join me and my church and pay me three tithes God has also revealed to me that my role as leader of God's Church was prophesied in the Book of Haggai and other Psalms and books within the Bible, some dating back three thousand years.

To convince you to join me and my church and pay me three tithes God has revealed to me in the Bible that I am a type of Joshua the priest. 

If you do not believe me you are accursed of God, unless you change your mind and believe what I say, join my church and pay me three tithes and offerings.

You have been warned.

You must make your choice and the only choice worth taking is to join my church and pay me three tithes and offerings or else you will go to the lake of fire.

There it is. That is why he has been saying all this time.

You do not need to use so many words, Dave Pack.

Dave Pack is Lying about HWA

Dave Pack is lying about HWA.

Notice what Dave Pack wrote in the first two questions in his questionnaire for ministers in other COGs wishing to join RCG that he unveiled in his twenty-second and latest "Special Announcement".

1) Retirement—Mr. Armstrong taught that retirement is not an option for a true minister. 

Did you retire? If so, when, and why did you think yourself an exception? 

(2) Non-Career—Mr. Armstrong taught that “going non-career” is not an option for a true minister.

Did you do this? If so, why did you think yourself an exception?

Dave Pack is lying.

I was reading some issues of the Pastor's Report in early 1979 and I read HWA and Meredith discussing this very issue in the May 29, 1979 Pastor's Report, page 1.

On page 1 Meredith announces HWA's decision to end "the whole concept of the non-career ministry." 

Fellow ministers, Mr. Armstrong informed me recently that he is definitely ending the whole concept of the non-career ministry. As he stated, he didn't know about it until the last few months and had nothing to do with its inception.  He feels it is wrong for a minister to resign from his calling as a minister and yet at the same time want to retain some of the benefits, prestige and authority of the ministry. And although I did not in any way bring this matter to him for a decision, I certainly agree.   

Therefore, as finances make possible, we will honor any previous financial commitments made on the 40% base salary per month per number of years served in the ministry. But, any who have resigned or do resign in the future from the active ministry will henceforth be regarded as lay members in God's Church.

If, in particular cases, the local minister in future months and years--after checking with Headquarters--wishes to use one of these men to help counsel or visit, he may do so. But they have resigned from the ministry and will NOT be regarded as elders to anoint, preach, counsel or carry on any other function of the ministry.

They did NOT say that any minister who retired was no longer a true minister as though he was shirking his responsibilities before God and his flock, as Dave Pack deceptively implies.

They simply said any minister who retired could no longer "retain some of the benefits, prestige and authority of the ministry" as well. Once a minister in good standing with WCG resigned he was to be regarded as only a lay member.

They did NOT say any minister who went "non-career" is not a true minister, as though he were some lazy man shirking his responsibilities as Dave Pack deceptively implies.

They simply announced here that that particular career option was abolished and that (after a transition period) this option could no longer be used by ministers.

Dave Pack is lying about HWA.

What else is he lying about?

Herbert W. Armstrong's Makeup Ban was Merely a Tool to Purge WCG Members

Banned by HWA has a post up about some Armstrongites still arguing over makeup and continuing to preach HWA's makeup ban.

I personally heard Roderick Meredith himself, in one of sermons online, say that HWA banned makeup because he saw his daughter Beverly wearing too much makeup one day in the 1950s and that is why he banned makeup.

Also HWA went back and forth on this issue. The Painful Truth has a very good article on this, That Darned Makeup Doctrine, which exposes why HWA's WCG decided to relax its attitude to makeup at one point.

To say that a common thing like makeup is wrong is simply a cheap way to assert one's spiritual superiority over others. How vain is that?

"Look at me," one of these men might say. "I am so holy and righteous I even hate makeup. If you want to be anywhere near as spiritual as me you need to hate makeup too."

How is that attitude not vain?

As one Anonymous commenter put it sarcastically:

Taking a bath or shower is trying to make one prettier than you are in real life. Do not under any circumstance use deodorant or brush you teeth. Crest or Colgate did not exist during the time of the apostles. Infidels.

So what is really going on here?

If one denies himself makeup he can pretend to be more spiritual than those who do not. If one can deny himself makeup because he is so spiritual, then surely he is worthy of being followed, the thinking goes.

This makeup ban was simply a way for HWA to claim to be more spiritual than most people and have the right to rule.

HWA is quoted as saying: 

It is put on the face for one or both of two general reasons: 1) to be like the world around you -- to be CONFORMED TO THIS WORLD, in direct DISOBEDIENCE to God's command; or else, 2) "to look nice," as women express it, which means simply, to CHANGE the appearance so as to make the face prettier than it naturally is -- WHICH IS VANITY! Either is a violation of God's Law, and A SIN!

No, HWA! Makeup is not sinful. You are just using false rhetorical tricks to make your followers feel that they have no choice in this matter and that they must listen to you. You are just trying to brainwash your followers so you can exploit them by getting their three tithes and extra offerings.

HWA is just using black-and-white-thinking to force people to conform to his rule.

Brainwashers like HWA love black- and-white-thinking because you can easily manipulate people using such rhetorical tricks. It is easy to force people to think a certain way if the follower is tricked into taking that sort of attitude to life.

As mruscan put it:

a Christian woman who is solid in her conviction to the Lord is not trying to lure any man after her, she is just trying to present herself at her best. ... Get the hell out of our bathrooms you jerks. You have no right to tell us how to present ourselves looking our best.

It is disgusting that HWA seems to think makeup is all about sex.

In today's society, for a woman to wear makeup is considered normal and forcing women to not wear makeup places unneeded stress upon them. 

It is disgusting that some COG people are still hung up over this ridiculous makeup ban.

Any one enforcing this makeup ban is not godly or righteous but a women-hating, anti-social brainwashed person. They take HWA's words at face value and let him do their thinking for them, instead of understanding what really happened.

From 1978 onwards HWA was reasserting his rule upon WCG. Reimposing the makeup ban was a simple way to kick out anyone who dared to think for themselves and thus could be a threat to his tyrannical rule. The makeup ban was merely a means to an end: namely purging WCG of anyone who refused to conform to his brainwashing

No doubt there are some women who also adhere to this doctrine. I do not think they are women-hating, but there is no good reason to adhere to this useless doctrine.

The foolish Armstrongite wishing to impose HWA's makeup ban then goes on to say: 

Now, this is not an "I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ" type of difference of administration or difference of personality. This is a Satan vs God difference of administration. If you are sinning you are of Satan and not of Christ and are not truly a part of God's True Church unless you repent.

This Armstrongite takes HWA's words at face value and refuse to see what is beyond them, that it was a tool HWA used to impose unity.

This is "I am of Paul; and I of Apollos." Those who allow makeup are persuaded that it is not sinful and they are correct.

In an ironic twist, this doctrine that HWA used to impose unity within WCG is now a major cause of division within the splintered COGs.

How well I recall Bob Thiel, before he appointed himself a Prophet, complaining how Armstrongites were so terribly divided over makeup.

Most Armstrongites sensibly understand that HWA's makeup ban was merely a means to an end and they do not need it any more, so they wisely abandoned it. UCG and Meredith's LCG got rid of it.

But some others, ignorant that HWA's makeup ban was merely a means to an end, dogmatically insist that women are forbidden to wear makeup and denigrate any COG that do not follow them as heretics and fallen from the faith. Flurry's PCG and Pack's RCG ruthlessly use HWA's makeup ban to denigrate any COG that allows makeup and strive to stir up division among other COGs in the hope that some will convert and join them and pay them tithes and offerings.

And sometimes these legalistic people succeed in gaining converts. In 2006 Charles Bryce became persuaded that these thoughtless people were correct and left LCG to start up a legalistic COG cult which forbids makeup, the Enduring Church of God. Around that same time Syd Hull also decided to switch his position and left LCG to join RCG which forbids makeup. He later went back to LCG as a lowly member.

And this doctrine may also be an era difference defining doctrine that separates the Philadelphians from the Laodiceans but this is a doctrine that one is eventually going to have to repent of to be in God's Kingdom. Otherwise, it is a True Church vs Apostates defining doctrine, like Mr. Armstrong's administration vs Joseph Tkach administration and not a Philadelphian vs Laodicean difference.

No, it is not. This Armstrongite has simply taken HWA's black-and-white-thinking and using it claim moral superiority over those who disagree with him. HWA has made him stupid and unable to see that not everything is black and white.

HWA's makeup ban was a truly disgusting thing he imposed upon WCG members and those who seek to follow him. It is a terrible shame that some Armstrongites are still enslaved to this dogma and are trying to deceive other people into adopting this useless and shameful doctrine.

Dave Pack's Twenty-First "Special Announcement"

Dave Pack has released yet another of his rediculous "Special Announcements" claiming that many Armstrongites in other COGs will join Pack's RCG en mass on August 30.

I wish to mention just two strange things he said in this deceptive propaganda.

1) Pack absurdly claims he is not setting dates.

Upon hearing of the timing of Haggai’s prophecy, some have claimed that I am setting dates. I am not—far from it. Knowing the year of this prophecy is in no way comparable to declaring the date of Christ’s Return, which is not revealed in the Bible. In fact, Christ specifically warns not to set a date for His Return since “no man knows the day or the hour” (Matt. 24:36). 

Well, of course he is not now setting a date for Christ's return.

But he is setting a date for a highly unlikely event to occur on August 30. No doubt many RCG members will experience the same kind of disappointment when Dave Pack's false prophesy fails in misery. It would not surprise me if the resulting disappointment will cause a mass defection within Pack's RCG. That is what happened after World War II following HWA's failed prophecy that Jesus Christ would return after the end of World War II, and again after the failure of HWA and Herman Hoeh's prediction that the Great Tribulation would begin in 1972.

It is quite sad and tragic to see how Dave Pack willfully ignores what he is doing to his followers by setting a date for something that simply will not happen.

2) Bizarrely enough, Dave Pack seems to understand that if his prophecy fails those who believe his words could quit everything. But, alas, he uses this fact to instead claim that his August 30 prophecy will surely be fulfilled and uses this as proof 12 that his false prophecy will be fulfilled as he claims.

The readers of the Haggai prophecy announcements (this is #21) who believed them would be the most disillusioned and the biggest candidates to QUIT everything if God did not return His people to one House this year! This would work directly against what God is doing—directly opposite His overall purpose.

It is sad that Dave Pack is so thoughtlessly gambling with the mental health of those who follow him.

Dave Pack is thoughtlessly leading his followers into another Great Disappointment, just like HWA, Garner Ted Armstrong, Roderick C. Meredith, Gerald Flurry, Ronald Weinland and many others. It is terrible that is leading his followers into this terrible dead end.

Here is Banned by HWA's discussion of this deceptive "Special Announcement":

Dave Pack: He's Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack! Installment 21

Wadsworth's Balaam the Ass Says the COG's Will Be Reunited On August 30

Balaam the Ass (aka Joshua Pack) Says He Possesses the Hidden Code to Understand Scripture

Balaam's Ass Davey Pack Says God Planned For Him To Discover This New Truth 3,000 Years Ago

Balaam's Ass Davey Pack Says God Has Already Disfellowshipped You

Davey Pack: Jesus Was Kicked Out of the Church in 1992

Davey Pack Declares He Is Ready To Give Absolution To Wayward COG Members When They Return To His "True" Fold

Dave Pack: God's Most AWESOOOOOOME Prophet Say There Are Over 30 Reasons Why August 30 Will Happen But Most Are Too Stupid To Understand Them

Dave Pack: 24 "proofs" Regarding August 30, 2013

Dave Pack: Is He Ready To Go To Extraordinary Means To Make His Prophecy Come True?

Davey Pack: They Continue to Ridicule ME(!) as MY god is Getting Ready to Traumatize the COG

Dave Pack needs to repent and stop spreading this madness among his followers.