Damage Control (Part 2) “Whispering”
August 21, 2022 | by Marc Cebrian
*I am not endorsing this boy’s hair length.
The following text was inserted into The Restored Church of God Announcements Bulletin for the Sabbath of August 20, 2022. This has been recycled over the years when the time was ripe for a reminder about “big bad meanie people” who leave and then dump garbage at the front gate of the Campus.
“Those Who Leave and Whisper”: On occasion—no doubt for the rest of the age—and for a variety of reasons, people will leave the Church. A few of these, upset or disgruntled, and ignoring natural bounds and protocol, will violate your trust and contact you via email, telephone, social media, or even post mail to voice criticisms, generally having to do with the way “things are done”—or “taught”—by Headquarters, the ministry or Mr. Pack. The obvious purpose, in order to justify and strengthen their position, is to get you to join them. Of course, misery loves company—and seeks validation. Bear in mind that by remaining in contact with those who leave, we blunt the sting of God’s natural correction (in the form of no fellowship), intended to teach lessons that may save their eternal life. Doing so also helps them in their effort to divide or injure the Church. It also opens you to dangerous influence. In such cases, politely, but firmly, inform the sender that no contact is desired.
In August 2003, Mr. Pack gave a sermon titled “Those Who Leave…and Whisper.” He explained that, because of many unique circumstances in this age, we only rarely disfellowship or mark those who leave and attack Restored with lies and distortions. In effect, when they do this (leave and whisper, thereby sowing division), they disfellowship themselves—it is up to the “brethren” to “mark” them (Rom. 16:17-18)—and they invariably do. This and several other related sermons, such as “Unity Binds the Church,” should be reviewed by those who may be confused when some, for whatever reason, “go out from us because they are not of us” (I John 2:19).
I know you did not read all of that. But I did.
Seeing this with the new eyes given to me when I joined Club Antichrist causes me to notice a few key phrases.
“…will violate your trust and contact you…”
This implies that when someone leaves, you TRUST they will not reach out to you. When I was a member, I never assumed such a thing. The people who leave that you care about are your friends and…you care about them.
Departing from RCG and contacting a friend still attending is not some kind of unspoken mutually-understood contract breach. I wanted to know if someone left. I do remember severing connections with some to obey that protocol. When I left, I took no offense when friends dropped off my Facebook list or stopped texting me back. I did it to others when I was “on board” and expected some to do that as well.
The wording "violate your trust" implies victimhood. You are wronged if someone contacts you. That angle would be laughable if it were not sad at the same time.
“…those who leave and attack Restored with lies and distortions.”
I breathed a sigh of relief when I read this because it is not talking about me. I do not need lies to expose what David C. Pack and the enablers at The Restored Church of God are doing. The truth is damaging enough.
If I am lying or distorting, then I request that Bradford G. Schleifer or Edward L. Winkfield, or Kenneth M. Orel please reach out to me and let me know where I did this. You would be doing me a great service because I do not see it. My intent is to be as honest as possible while presenting an analysis that is accurate and fair. The nicknames are all done in “fun” and without malice.
Or if there is some therapist out there that can diagnose me as bitter, angry, resentful, or vengeful, please contact me because I am as calm as a Hindu cow when it comes to what I report about RCG.
I looked up the word “distort” to see how that could apply here.
distort
1. pull or twist out of shape
2. give a misleading or false account or impression of
3. change the form of (an electrical signal or sound wave) during transmission, amplification, or other processing
Again, I was able to wipe the sweat from my brow because what I have said in interviews and written publicly is neither "misleading" nor giving a "false account or impression of.”
The great irony is that David C. Pack is the one who “pulls or twists out of shape” the Bible he claims to revere as God’s word. His endless sermon series demonstrates his penchant for creating “misleading or false account or impression of” prophetic understanding.
Does one need to go beyond the “not-really-a-50-day-count to Trumpets” as an example?
To the “ministers” inside The Restored Church of God: Did I just lie or distort?
If I could personally do #3 on that list, I would be making way too much money to be sitting here at my computer thinking up fun ways to pull Dave’s pigtails on the playground.
“Those Who Leave…and Whisper.”
I do not think I could categorize what Kevin Denee and I have been doing as “whispering.” We are doing just a little bit more than that.
For those just tuning in, Kevin Denee was an evangelist and the son-in-law of David C. Pack who left RCG with his wife in 2016. He recently participated in Dr. Tricia Jenkin’s podcast, “Worldwide: The Unchosen Church,” featured in Episode 6.
Dawn Blue of WCTV's "How It's Done" based in Wadsworth, Ohio has been conducting a series of interviews regarding my experiences with The Restored Church of God.
So far, we have done five interviews focusing on RCG and three with Dennis Diehl focusing on the topic of cults.
Her full list of WCTV videos can be found HERE.
On another topic, we will not have to wait another full 12 days before David C. Pack unfinishes the series. This was posted in Member Services:
Greetings Brethren!
We trust everyone had a profitable Sabbath.
Mr. Pack plans to deliver a message of similar length to Part 387 early in the week.
No doubt, just a few small “clarifications” regarding why nothing happened at the beginning of the 40-day count to Trumpets this past Tuesday.
The world may still be collapsing, but at least we have Part 388 to look forward to.
How Dave sees whose who attack him with facts.
