David Pack
has now unveiled to his
members that he is a
God-appointed, official "Apostle" of the 21st century.
First, let's examine some background
information on Pack:David C. Pack was originally a
minister of
Worldwide Church of God. After WCG, Pack went to
Global Church of God (Rod Meredith's
first group). In May 1999 he founded Restored Church of God, located
in Wadsworth, Ohio. At this writing, Pack
pays himself approximately $125,000.00 per year, tax free, and
lives a luxurious lifestyle.
He
publishes The Real Truth, a magazine that looks like a
clone of The Plain Truth
and offers The Bible Introduction Course, 30 lessons
patterned after Herbert Armstrong's Ambassador Bible
Correspondence Course. His audio program is The World to
Come.
In 1985 WCG members distributed a
13-page open letter alleging that David Pack
"constantly intimidated members, used threats and mind-control
methods, was given to extreme emotional outbursts, believed in
winning at all cost, disfellowshipped members for trivial faults,
enjoyed putting down women" and other such horrific abuses. This
letter quoted Pack as saying, "Everyone who has challenged me has
either died, been seriously injured, or has been eliminated from
the Work." And, "God backs me even if I am wrong."1
Pack
is reported to still be very harsh and controlling, plus others
have testified that he
has been caught in lies.2
David Pack
teaches Herbert W. Armstrong's doctrines and believes RCG is "the only true extension of Mr. Armstrong's
ministry—the Church in which Christ is now working." (Read: Pack's
"all or nothing statement")
RCG claims to trace its roots "directly to the first century
church."3
He has rewritten all of the major booklets of Herbert
Armstrong, and his literature for children is patterned after the same; i.
e., The Story of the Bible and
Children's Bible
Lessons. These "lessons" have their focus in the Old
Testament and emphasize the Ten Commandments ("God's Law"). Stories about Jesus,
especially as personal Savior, aren't included. In
fact, the New Testament isn't even covered.
Pack's sermon, dated February
26, 2005, "21st Century
Apostle" can be listened to on Restored Church of God's website. So important was this message,
that Pack hoped the members
wouldn't mind the
4-1/2
hours that
he was going to use to deliver this special sermon. He states
that "extraordinary
circumstances" justified its length. It's in two parts,
needless to say, and is filled with mind control tactics. He says what he’s
doing, "Is not without Biblical precedence" and gives the example
of the apostle Paul (Acts 20) teaching all night until Eutychus
fell from the balcony and died. Paul healed him and continued to
preach and "nobody stopped listening." Pack states that the
people who listened to Paul preach all night were "willing to go
that long." One can't imagine elderly members, members with
children, or people with medical conditions, sitting through this. Pack said he spent over 60-70 hours and parts of
three months
composing this sermon. He claims that the message designed to
benefit those "outside of the Restored Church of God" as well as
those "inside."
He sets up his members to accept his claims by
asking them:
I wondered when I gave those
sermons, now 8 weeks ago, would anybody leave? Would they say
"this guy is copying the fellow in Oklahoma [referring to
Gerald Flurry], he's taking
offices to himself," no matter how thoroughly I taught it?
They would just follow an impulse, a feeling…they would
just "knee-jerk" themselves right out of the church? And say, they
can’t discern difference between a man taken through "self-promotion"
as an imposter, or Christ giving an office? I'll just report
to you that not a soul quit.
Pack belittles those who may have
considered leaving RCG as "following feelings" and being reactive. He
uses the absence of resignations (after giving a precursor
sermon two months ago) from his organization as proof that he’s
on the right track. He emphasizes that, "no man can claim
the office of apostle" and he will spend an inordinate amount of time
convincing his followers that this particular office must be given. In other words, it is a divine appointment by Christ. He claims
the undeniable evidence is the "fruits" of his accomplishments. Naturally, when Dave Pack is finished, he will ensure that members
believe that Christ gave him that office.
Pack tries to convince his
followers that Herbert Armstrong was humble and never saw himself
as an apostle:
Mr. Armstrong thought for 22
years that he was an evangelist until the end of 1952.
Pack will continue in this sermon
to build a case for "hind site." Insisting that HWA never knew he was
the Elijah until "others pointed it out to him," he will justify his own
apostleship in the same manner.
He promises incredible future
growth of "the Work":
We are going to grow
really—I wish I had a bigger adjective—really
big!
This great growth will be used as
evidence that God is "behind them, blessing them, proving that they are
on the right track." Of course, all the other splinters make this
very same claim, but Pack will assert that he, only, is doing
the "true end time Work." But now he has to change his story and say
that the door wasn’t closed after all, and that the greatest Work still
lies ahead:
In
1998 I thought the door would be closing, or closed. I was wrong. The New Testament has more to say about a final office than we
thought. I was wrong. It was not closed. Why did Mr. Armstrong say
that the greatest Work lies ahead? …Was somebody going to come along
and later finish the Work?
Pack introduces the "short
big
Work" that must be completed right before the end comes. Previously, Pack stated that,
"pastors are not to take the gospel to the world." So where does that
leave him? He continually outlines his qualifications throughout
the sermon while stating that he "loathes flattery." With the highest
office remaining unfilled, he continues with the set up:
Do I ignore that and say "I’m
not an apostle"? Binding and loosing is apostolic. What do I do?
What happens if an evangelist comes with us? We’ll talk about what
happens when the two witnesses appear because they're going to appear
in this church. Now get that straight—because I’m going to prove it
to you later. [His later proof revolves around his position as an
apostle, and that the two witnesses must be personally trained by
him.]
Pack questions whether he has the
authority to ordain anyone at all, and asks how would he ordain somebody
"above his rank" [presently he holds the rank of a pastor while
also claiming the position of "Watchman" and "Messenger."] This
question is designed to lead his followers to his premeditated
conclusion—he must be granted the apostleship, or he cannot
ordain members into higher ranks. He adamantly states that every single
ordination in the splinters is invalid since they occurred
"outside the body," meaning the Restored Church of God. After this
brash pronouncement, Pack understands the position that he has placed
himself in. He knows that Roderick Meredith
(Living Church of God) outranks him (Meredith's an evangelist), and even
Gerald Flurry (Philadelphia
Church of God) has been a senior minister far longer than Pack, so Pack
must ensure that he is elevated to the ultimate rank—nobody can rise
above him, and everyone will stay below him.
Pack will continue his diatribe of
the two witnesses, and how they "must be trained" before they can
be revealed to the world. Pack emphasizes these two men will hold the
second highest position in the church. This naturally leads to
the clever arrangement that somebody needs to fill the number
one position in the church. Since Pack will personally train these
two witnesses (they’re coming from his church after all and none is more
qualified), he will make the members believe that it is imperative that
he ascend to this highest-ranking position:
Some day
Christ will pick two prophets from this church. It will be
obvious who they are. They have to be trained here. We knew
they would be coming from the church…[Begins to shout] They certainly
aren’t going to come from an era that's wretched, miserable, poor,
blind, naked, lukewarm, lacks zeal on Tuesday, and they start their
ministry on Thursday. On Tuesday, they're attending some splinter,
fouled up in doctrine, don't even understand the body of Christ,
and on Thursday, they're breathing fire out of their mouth against
their enemies, drying up the heavens, when necessary, bringing
plagues—holding the second highest office in the New Testament or
in the Old. And I would add, that's the second highest office
in the body. I Cor. 12:27-28. It's in the
body, not outside the body, that's what Christ said.
Performing the greatest Work any prophets ever performed. They're
going to come from the sickest church era in all history? Who's kidding whom??
Think about that!
They're not going to come here at the last minute. They may be here
or they may not be here—yet. I don’t know. But they'll be here
long before they begin their duties. And Christ isn't going to tell
them Wednesday night: "By the way, you’re the two witnesses, take off
tomorrow morning at sunup for the 3-1/2 years."
What?!?
They’re going to need to be trained!!
Then
you have this great
problem, brethren. The two prophets—all prophets—so
said Mr. Armstrong in multiple places—have to report to a
living apostle. So how do we figure that?....They have to
have absolute, miraculous power—power
never
given, ever in history. Are those going to be given to people who
didn’t even understand who and what the church was? Didn't understand
the rank of the prophet because they're out in the splinters where
they’re confused about that and everything else? Didn’t understand
they report to a living apostle? Didn't understand any of
the offices in the body or that Christ gives them? It absolutely makes
no sense.
The
set-up is complete. According to Pack, all prophets must
report to a "living apostle" (which he will soon reveal is him).
He invokes the "Korah threat" toward those who engage in online chat
rooms and talk about their "knee-jerk feelings." He continues
with the two witnesses, stating that even they would have to
yield to the 21st century apostle:
If
two men, somehow, think they’re prophets, they would
have to yield to whatever the apostle taught—not in the 1st
century, but the 20th century. And if there's one in the
21st century, to
that man.
.... Now HWA taught, "God has to choose and designate
by fruit." .... [Goes on to say that HWA used the words
"look back" and "fruit" when he came to understand his office].
Now Pack begins to magnify his
past achievements as proof of his qualifications:
You look at the growth,
you look at the fruit, you look at the miracles, you look at
open doors.4 Are demons
cast out? Are there healings? Extraordinary protection we could add
in this age; even the fact that the church survived. Explosion of
income… [Talks about HWA and Peter Waldo, and that nobody ordained
Waldo to his office, and that nobody ordained HWA to his office of
apostle. From these examples, Pack
will conclude that he does not have
to be "ordained" by anyone to ascend to this office].
Brethren I am teaching this as I understand the doctrine and looking
at the fruits. I would ask, "Do I have the authority to
take the gospel to the world?" Either I do, or I don’t. Do I not
have authority? I look and the evidence is clear. The tools are in
place. No one else is doing the Watchman or Messenger
roles—they’re both "sent" positions. I have to ask, “Why would I
not
qualify as "one sent with authority"?
Pack
continues to declare that, "Christ gives that office" meaning the
apostleship, and that it is impossible to declare that office
upon oneself, as he insists that Joseph W. Tkach did. He says that he
simply continued the Work. "I just did what the successor [JWT] was
told to do but didn’t do." To not acknowledge his position is
to "be faithless and dismiss it"—and "to shrink back" is to "deny
Christ’s name" and be "men pleasers." [Pack is manipulating fear and
guilt feelings of members, which is
considered psychological abuse.]
Pack
must continually remind members that he is special and given
special powers from above:
I
was forced to write more than any man in any age…And
brethren try to figure out at any age "who" was writing more or
nearly as much…I was literally driven to do what others would not.
For a long time I fought a bad attitude, I think I said this two
months ago. I really wrestled. I mean I got angry. Why is no one
coming to help me? Think how fast we could do this. I could rest
once in awhile. And I thought, "Why is no one coming?" And the
answer is, I had finally realized, "No one was sent." I was driven because I was sent. I understand it was put in me—a
tremendous, frankly brethren, supernatural,
I'll just say—miraculous energy—was
placed in me to finish things I don’t know how I would have done if
I was 30, when you consider the speed in having to write nearly
twice as much as Mr. Armstrong had to write in vastly less
time, and under ferocious attack, including people in the
office—it couldn’t be "of a man."
Later, on the second tape, he once again brings up his achievements
and special powers that he insists are undeniable signs of his
apostolic status:
Why
did I pastor 19 churches? I don’t know if any man pastored 19
churches…I may have baptized more people in the last century than
any man in the ministry of God—over 600. Was there anybody who
baptized more than that? I’ve raised up literally scores of
churches in the splinters.
Let's look at the matter
of miraculous power...remember, an apostle carries miraculous power.
When I was as young as 27 years old, ministers used to call me when
they dealt with demons because they knew I had experience in
it…Casting out demons…apostles do that…There are healings
here. They flow from the presence of apostolic authority…An apostle
is inseparable from miraculous power…[Talks about these miracles not
occurring in the splinters]…We’ve had people healed of every
conceivable thing—instant healings—dramatic!
[lists all kinds of serious and terminal illnesses, hurricanes
changing course, and God sending $10,000 to him after praying for
it]
I've
been used to write more
literature for the church and the world, including to two eras of
the church, than any man that’s ever done it before.
Then
Pack pretends to be so humble5
by stating that it was "the members" who
pointed these things out to him (and he just couldn't ignore it
anymore). We need to ask whether a "humble
man" would spend 4-1/2 hours speaking about his qualifications, beating
down the other offshoots, while promoting himself to the highest
office?
One must go to the second tape (over two hours long) to hear
about all the "undeniable evidence" that points to his conclusion of
being an "Apostle":
Why would...listing apostles first
not include me? Would Christ expect me to ignore that? ...The
responsibilities Christ expects me to do...While I have apostolic
authority, ... Mr. Armstrong was a
Apostle. Yes brethren I hold that
office. I do...
If the highest office in Restored Church of God is not an apostle, then
I was not sent by Christ.
Pack
comes across as so smooth, so sincere. Then when he got to the part
quoted above, he started stammering, so you knew he was trying to pawn
off a lie. He wants his
followers to believe that this position was given
to him by God, and that he had no choice but to take it because of all
the fruits were clear evidence that he was the "only
one" doing
the Work.
Pack
has also prepared his members to be on guard since he's made this
public proclamation,
and that attacks will come, and people on the Internet will quote him
out of context. He tries to shame them by yelling, "How do God's
people listen to this
stuff?!" He insists that he, next to Herbert
Armstrong, is the "most accused man on the face
of the earth." He also claims to know who the 144,000 are and what
the "1335 days" means, but it's "not time" for him to reveal it. In
other words, he's stringing his followers along like HWA did. If members question Pack’s claims, then they're going to "lose out" on
knowing who the 144,000 really are, or "lose out" on being one of the
two witnesses,6 and "lose out" on divine revelation to other such
prophecies that only he knows,
but can't tell them at this time.
Ironically, a few years ago, Pack gave a sermon, "Where the Vultures are
Gathered," where he declares he would not pronounce himself the
title of "Apostle." This tape is still listed on the RCG site
(click
on "sermons"; then scroll down to the bottom. It’s the 6th
one from the bottom of the second column). I listened to this sermon.
It is one hour and 23 minutes long, but if you fast forward to one hour and
16 minutes into the tape, you will come to the spot where he declares:
I’m not going to claim to behold
some high office, or I am some kind of "secret apostle" in waiting.
Baloney. I don't think that way.
Those
who reject this appointment to Pastor General/Apostle and who pointed
out this discrepancy are told, "Those people have never met the living
Jesus Christ—they do not know the true God." He insists that people
who won’t accept that he (or HWA) has made mistakes are "carnal" and
that "men grow." He insists he didn’t know what God was going to do. He also states that members "personally offend God" if they think
everything that Pack has accomplished was only "mere human effort." No human can do what they've done, he maintains.
If one blames Pack
for teaching this, he is "questioning God," and of course, neither he
nor Christ can "reach these people." To reject this appointment is
equal to rejecting Herbert Armstrong and is expecting Pack to reject
Herbert Armstrong (which he won't do). Pack is certainly banking on
the loyalty that his followers hold toward HWA.
He directed the last of his sermon
toward the disenchanted people and
leaders in the splinters, inviting them to join his group.
Herbert W. Armstrong was a false prophet. David Pack takes pride in
emulating HWA in every way, even surpassing his achievements. Continuing the teachings and methods of a known false apostle easily
makes Pack a false apostle himself.
Finally, Pack asks his followers:
Could a man, or could any human being do this on his own? Then,
of course, comes the most sinister question: Would the devil
direct such a project in order to yield and field a
false apostle? Does the devil hate the truth
enough, that he would find one of his own and have him rewrite it
all? You better come to grips with these questions! There
are only two spirits out there—the spirit of error and the spirit
of truth—the god of this world and the true God. You’ve got to
figure out which one empowered the writing of all this truth. Do
any of the devil's agents work 20,000 hours just to do that and to
get it right?
The
answer to David Pack's question (which he doesn't answer) is
"Yes, the devil would certainly do whatever it takes to direct such
a project."
By
Kelly Marshall
Exit & Support Network™
April 4, 2005
Updated January 28, 2007
Note: It is
alleged that many groups known as "cults" are fronts for a hidden agenda
and work together to create a passive people. Is it any wonder they
have similar methods of deception, manipulation, abuse, and related goals? Author Alex Constantine has stated:
"That cults are dangerous has been proven time and again. That they are
often fronts for intelligence activity is indisputable (as anyone who has
dug into researching CIA mind control experimentation knows full well)." Read
more about this and WCG / HWA activities from OIU Newsletter #6.
Further reading:
David C. Pack is a
Madman
Dave Pack Uses Guilt and
Outright Extortion in "Clarion Call" Sermon
Starting to Heal After Thirteen
Years (Mentions Pack as abusive)
UPDATE: In 2006 David Pack
wrote that every country on earth had officially been reached by the RCG through the Internet and other means. He said this was "another
undeniable proof" that Christ was heading and directing Restored Church
of God. ("Major Milestone--All 193 Nations Reached!" - News
and Updates, 6-23-06, David C. Pack)
"Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having
their conscience seared with a hot iron." ~
I Timothy 4:2 |
Footnotes by ESN:
1
"David Pack's Reign of Terror,"
Ambassador Report #32, June 1985. (Note: Please be aware that the AR is now posted on an
agnostic/atheist website.)
2 Online article by Tom Munson:
Can Dave Pack be
trusted to tell the truth about himself or anyone else?
3 Press Resources.
(The Restored Church of God website)
4 There can be what is known as a "satanic blessing."
Therefore, one must also examine the fruit of the leader, not just
miracles or power. The good fruit of the Spirit is far more difficult
for Satan to counterfeit.
False prophets and false teachers
are full of evil works, lies and contradictions.
5 David Pack (along with certain other leaders from the
WCG
splinter groups) long for their members to think they are "humble." But is it
humble to brag about all "you" have done and then give yourself
different titles, causing your members to look to you more than to the
Lord Jesus Christ? No man--or church--should ever come between an
individual and
God, especially if it causes them to depend on that person to the extent
that they fear to leave fellowship of that group, or to even question the
authority, feeling they will forfeit their eternal life.
6
"This Church is the
only place Christ’s government can be found. This means that the
Two Witnesses will be given (Eph. 4:11) their office by Christ from
within this church! ... Let me repeat
for emphasis: I state without apology and with God’s authority that
both of the Two Witnesses will be members of The Restored Church of
God. Of this there is no doubt! (The Government of God, David C.
Pack, 2006, Chapter 17, "The Two Witnesses")
Exposé of "Clarion
Call—The Time is Now! (Pt. 2) (Includes excerpts from
"The 1335 Days—What Most Will Never Hear" - Pt. 1)
This exposé of David
Pack's sermon shows the horrific spiritual abuse and exploitation going
on in Restored Church of God.
Profile of a
Sociopath (A number of
mind-manipulating cult leaders may exhibit many of these characteristics)
Identifying
Marks of an Exploitive, Abusive Group
Where Do I Find
the "One True Church"?
Letter to author Janis Hutchinson from ESN (This
section has vitally important information regarding the history of Herbert W. Armstrong; very helpful in undoing the propaganda.)
Articles
For Those Who Were Emotionally and Spiritually Abused
Prayers
for Freedom From Spiritual Strongholds (very
effective in gaining liberation from many strongholds and oppressions due to
involvement in any harmful cult or occult practices; includes moral issues)
Back to
Information on Restored Church of God
DISCLAIMER:
Posted to facilitate researchers and others with inquiring minds
concerning David C. Pack and Restored Church of God and is for educational and informational
purposes only. Readers are
encouraged to use discernment and research widely in order to make their
own evaluation.
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