David Pack and the Restored Church of God

I'm aware of David Pack, Pastor General of the Restored Church of God. I also remember clearly how he didn't even know me when he was with the Global Church of God (that I visited once) but said most people who change their names are off-the-wall (something to that effect) and felt I should take my former name of David Hoover back and should seriously consider it as he contacted his superiors (they must have told him to back off as he never brought it up again).

After I thought and prayed about it - rejecting David Ben-Ariel for David Hoover as David Pack sternly suggested - I rejected the notion and questioned how anybody inspired by the Holy Spirit would make such a demand, as I honestly consider David Ben-Ariel my God-given Name, as I've written.

I also remember clearly how David Pack said to me, when I was being honest about my past, troublesome times when I was backslidden in some areas, that he thought I was never converted! Unlike Jesus who offers constructive criticism, who encourages you with the good and calls upon you to change for the better and overcome the bad, all David Pack did was tear down and seek to destroy! That was not the Holy Spirit of God working through him. The Holy Spirit of God inspires us: Don't give up! and overcome in Christ daily!

Before this experience, David Pack had come at my request and visited with me and several other friends who had gathered to hear what he had to say in Toledo, Ohio. We were invited to the one service of his we attended in Ohio. He brought a box of materials the Worldwide Church of God no longer printed to make a statement. We all felt Gerald Flurry had already made that statement and was the first to do so, even though we hadn't yet attended with the Philadelphia Church of God in Akron, Ohio.

When four of us visited with the Global Church of God, my friend Carl gave him a copy of his booklet against abortion and I gave him one of my booklets (either God and the Gays - the first of its kind in the Church of God, or "Religion in America - the REAL Danger" now incorporated into Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall) he acted very interested, but later told me he never met a more proud person than Carl! Carl didn't appear proud at all and was merely happy to do whatever he could to help expose and end the evil of abortion.

When David Pack said something to the effect that the Global Church of God was not for me, I asked him why he invited me then and he then acknowledged he only invited me along with the others because he felt they were good candidates for membership. In other words, he was being deceitful. Since then I've heard horrible stories about his pack of lies and hope it's not true but suspect that it is, due to my own eye-opening experience with him.

I trust there are true Church of God members among the Restored Church of God flock, as with the other groups of scattered brethren, and I hope God spares them from such wolves and that they maintain, first and foremost, a personal relationship with the Shepherd of our souls, and not trust in any man for salvation.

I've seen some of the attractive literature the Restored Church of God offers, but it's more important how we treat one another than merely offer glossy material. I hope David Pack has repented of his sins that God may restore him and help him heal those whom he's sickened and be reconciled with both God and man.

David Ben-Ariel is a Christian-Zionist writer and author of Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall. With a focus on the Middle East and Jerusalem, his analytical articles help others improve their understanding of that troubled region. Check out the Beyond Babylon blog.