Partial screen capture of LCG member page
In addition to being read in all churches, the letter from Rod Meredith concerning Bob Thiel is now post online for all the world to see.
Exposing the underbelly of Armstrongism in all of its wacky glory! Nothing you read here is made up. What you read here is the up to date face of Herbert W Armstrong's legacy. It's the gritty and dirty behind the scenes look at Armstrongism as you have never seen it before! With all the new crazy self-appointed Chief Overseers, Apostles, Prophets, Pharisees, legalists, and outright liars leading various Churches of God today, it is important to hold these agents of deception accountable.
I think there are several threads converging on this.
1) Bob has made very many enemies in the general COG clergy including LCG; and COGWA may want him defanged. Larry Salyer may want to take note and keep his head down for a quid pro quo request from LCG.
2) The LCG leaders may think that Bob has too much influence among the brethren [not the elders who dislike him] and are moving to cut him down a few notches.
3) Enough of the LCG elders are finally so fed up with Bob’s presenting his personal speculations contrary to LCG teachings, as fact, and are pushing for action. Bob is seen as a kind of Absalom.
4) In his personal circle Rod has made it clear that he is not comfortable with Bob and his blog.
All these things are adding up, and Bob’s monumental conceit is preventing him from taking it and saying that most certainly people should prove all things. Bob just cannot take being questioned.
Please forgive me for laying this out openly but I have had long dealings with Bob in personal correspondance and in his wilfull bearing of false witness against me. I am well aware of the nature of this man and it is NOT godly by any stretch.
If he gets the boot from LCG no one else will likely take him [maybe Dave Pack].
It is my prayer and mny hope that Bob will repent and turn to God, and away from his fascination with catholicism and paganism. James
Baptized and confirmed into the Catholic faith as a youth, Michigan native Bob Thiel is one of the world's foremost authorities on prophecy writings, a published Ph.D. and a highly regarded researcher with multiple awards to his credit. He holds a Bachelor's degree from the University of LaVerne, a Master's degree from the Unversity of Southern California, and a Ph.D. from the Union Institute and University. Throughout his academic and professional career he has studied philosophy, religion, science, and prophecy; in recent years, has had scores of articles published on these subjects in magazines, newspapers, trade publications and scientific journals. Married to his wife Joyce since 1981, the two have made multiple trips to ancient sites around the world, including Fatima, Portugal. Dr. Thiel's articles and commentaries are wildly popular online with visitors to www.cogwriter.com, his philosophy and religion website, where he is known as “COGwriter.” “When I heard in 2010 that Pope Benedict XVI changed his views about the future of the Fatima messages,” explains Dr. Thiel, “I was immediately interested in why and what would be included. When someone I knew gave me a Fatima publication shortly thereafter, I was inspired to write a book about what Fatima really would mean for the 21st century.” As an award-winning researcher, Dr. Thiel took his work seriously, traveling to Fátima, Portugal as well as other places he identifies in his book. He and his wife have visited scores of sites of religious and prophetic interest around the world. After endless months of compiling and analyzing the Fatima messages and various other prophecies, Dr. Thiel now presents them in a clear, straightforward language, explaining what was said, what was seen, what will likely happen, and what has already occurred.
Lawsuit: Former Pasadena City College officials sought $250,000 bribe
Lighting company alleges executives facing criminal probe sought kickback. Van Pelt, Hutchings deny claim.
Two former Pasadena City College administrators facing a criminal bribery probe offered a lucrative campus contract to a lighting company in exchange for a lavish visit to India and $250,000 in payoffs, a lawsuit claims.
A countersuit filed Tuesday by former PCC Vice President Richard van Pelt and then-campus facilities chief Al Hutchings acknowledges the pair traveled to India, but denies they sought a bribe.
Los Angeles-based LED Global LLC, a manufacturer of energy-efficient light bulbs, alleges in a suit filed July 26 in Los Angeles Superior Court that van Pelt and Hutchings solicited kickbacks in 2011 after promising the firm a $5-million contract to upgrade campus lighting.
The company refused to make the illegal payments, was denied the contract and contacted law enforcement authorities, according to a related claim LED Global filed July 30 against PCC with the city of Pasadena.
On July 7, investigators with the L.A. County district attorney's office seized computers and documents from the homes and campus offices of van Pelt and Hutchings. The men have not been charged, and the investigation remains open, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. David Demerjian, who heads the office's public integrity section.
PCC fired van Pelt after the raid and removed Hutchings from his job pending an administrative hearing.
LED Global's lawsuit claims that the company's owners met with van Pelt and Hutchings in January 2011 to discuss a contract, and that in February 2011 the firm examined the college's lighting needs.
The suit claims that the company received a $5-million purchase order for LED lighting from van Pelt and Hutchings on March 17, 2011, after agreeing to pay for the men to travel to Mumbai, India, from May 1 to May 6 for a factory tour.
During that trip, van Pelt and Hutchings twice asked for a 5% kickback on the proposed PCC contract and on future contracts they would broker for LED Global at other community colleges, according to the suit.
The lawsuit also claims van Pelt and Hutchings made “unusual and expensive” requests during the trip, asking for company-paid stays at luxury hotels in Mumbai and New Delhi, an excursion to the Taj Mahal, access to prostitutes, limousine rides, lavish meals and $2,000 worth of Cuban cigars.
LED Global owners Robert Das and Salia Smith claim the company paid for most of those demands but refused to hire prostitutes for the men. They allege that Hutchings — a former Los Angeles Police Department officer — made veiled threats after they refused to make the payoffs.
Van Pelt and Hutchings did not inform the college about the trip to India, said PCC spokesman Juan Gutierrez.