No Smooth Talking From Me! I Speak Boldly Therefore I MUST Be A Prophet

I Speak Boldly Because Isaiah Said People Hate Hard Truths – Therefore, I Am the Prophet

Look at him. Hands raised. Eyes locked on the camera. Mouth moving with that special brand of urgent conviction. This is Bob Thiel in full “bold speaker” mode — the living embodiment of someone who has read Isaiah 30:8-14 and decided it was written specifically about him and his ministry.

Here’s how the logic works in Bob’s world, and it is a thing of twisted beauty.

God told Isaiah to write down that the people were rebellious because they said to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us right things; speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits.” 

Bob reads that ancient complaint and concludes: “The people who reject my warnings must be the same rebellious crowd. Therefore, I am the one speaking the ‘right things.’ Therefore, I am the true end-time leader God has chosen.”

It’s the theological equivalent of declaring yourself the winner of an argument by writing both sides of the script. Disagree with Bob’s latest prediction about world events or find his constant drumbeat of impending catastrophe a little manipulative? Congratulations — you’ve just proven Isaiah 30 was talking about you. You wanted smooth things. Bob, by contrast, bravely refuses to coddle you. He speaks the hard, non-smooth truth.

And just to make sure no one misses how bold he is, Bob reaches for the New Testament. 

Jesus said, “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves… beware of men.” 

Paul asked for prayer “that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel.”

Bob takes these verses — verses about courage in the face of real persecution for preaching Christ — and uses them as divine endorsement for his particular style of end-time fear delivery. “See?” he says, in effect. “The Bible commands boldness. I am bold. Therefore everything I say about the collapse of society, the King of the North, or whatever the current crisis is this month, carries the weight of scripture.”

The manipulation is almost elegant in its simplicity.

He positions himself as the courageous truth-teller who refuses to “speak smooth things.” In reality, he has perfected a very specific kind of smooth talking: the smooth talk of perpetual alarm. It’s the verbal equivalent of a fire alarm that never stops ringing. It keeps people anxious, dependent, and tuned in for the next update on why everything is about to get much worse unless they stay closely aligned with his particular interpretation of events.

This is not the boldness of the apostles, who were bold about the gospel even when it cost them everything. This is the boldness of someone who has discovered that scaring people is an effective way to maintain influence — and then baptizes that tactic in selective Old Testament quotes so it feels prophetic rather than controlling.

Under the New Covenant, boldness looks different. It looks like speaking truth in love. It looks like pointing people to Christ as the answer rather than to an endless cycle of “the end is nearer than you think, and only my warnings can prepare you.” It looks like comfort and edification alongside any necessary warnings — not using warnings as the main product.

Bob’s version flips the script. He uses Isaiah’s ancient rebuke of people who rejected hard truth as a shield against anyone who questions whether his version of “hard truth” is actually helpful, accurate, or even particularly biblical in its application. He uses Jesus’ and Paul’s calls to courage not to embolden people with hope, but to justify a ministry style built on keeping followers in a state of low-grade dread.

And when the predictions shift, when dates come and go, when the “imminent” events keep getting rescheduled, the same Isaiah 30 shield comes out again: “See? The rebellious people always reject the true warnings.”

It’s a closed loop. Fear is the product. Scripture is the marketing. Boldness is the branding.

The raised hands in the photo aren’t the hands of a man fearlessly proclaiming good news in the face of opposition. They’re the hands of someone working very hard to keep the spotlight on his own dramatic delivery — while hoping no one notices that the actual content is mostly recycled alarm dressed up as prophecy.

In the end, Bob Thiel hasn’t escaped “smooth things.” He’s simply discovered a smoother way to sell fear: wrap it in selective Bible quotes, call it boldness, and dare anyone to disagree without proving they’re the rebellious ones Isaiah warned about.

That, apparently, is what passes for non-smooth leadership these days.

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The prophet Isaiah was inspired to write the following:

1 Cry aloud, spare not;

Lift up your voice like a trumpet;

Tell My people their transgression,

And the house of Jacob their sins. (Isaiah 58:1)

That is something we in the CCOG do.

The Bible teaches:

8 Now go, write it before them on a tablet, And note it on a scroll, That it may be for time to come, Forever and ever: 9 That this is a rebellious people, Lying children, Children who will not hear the law of the Lord; 10 Who say to the seers, “Do not see,” And to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us right things; Speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits. 11 Get out of the way, Turn aside from the path, Cause the Holy One of Israel To cease from before us.”

12 Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel:

“Because you despise this word, And trust in oppression and perversity, And rely on them, 13 Therefore this iniquity shall be to you Like a breach ready to fall, A bulge in a high wall, Whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant. 14 And He shall break it like the breaking of the potter’s vessel, Which is broken in pieces; He shall not spare. So there shall not be found among its fragments A shard to take fire from the hearth, Or to take water from the cistern.” (Isaiah 30:8-14)

Since we do not despite (sic) the word of God nor trust in oppression and perversity, we do not restrict our teachings to “smooth things.”

That said, Jesus said:

16 Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. 17 But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues. (Matthew 10:16-17)

And the Apostle Paul added:

18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints — 19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. (Ephesians 6:18-20)

Yes, pray that we will have the wisdom and proper discretion to boldly speak as God wants us to.

From Fear of Men to Fear of God: Leaving the Living Church of God for Christ Alone

On June 25, 2026, a former member of the Living Church of God (LCG) wrote a short but powerful letter to The Exit and Support Network explaining why he walked away. He did not leave in anger or rebellion. He left because he saw the same spirit of control he had once rejected in mainstream Christianity now operating under a different label.
“I do not fear the doctrines of men,” he began. For years, he had believed that joining an Armstrongist group meant escaping “Babylon.” Instead, he found “heavy-handed lordship, failed prophetic fear-mongering, and a corporate machine making merchandise of the brethren.” Most damning of all, he concluded that LCG teaches members that leaving its specific roster means losing salvation. The fear of God had been replaced by the fear of men.
This is not an isolated complaint. It is the predictable result of the system Herbert W. Armstrong built and that his spiritual descendants — including the Living Church of God — continue to operate.The Armstrongist Control SystemArmstrongism rests on a few interlocking doctrines that together create a high-control environment:

1. One True Church / One True Work
   Only the organization descended from Armstrong is “God’s Church” in the end time. All other groups — Catholic, Protestant, or other Sabbath-keeping fellowships — are considered part of “Babylon” or at best incomplete. Loyalty to the corporate structure is therefore equated with loyalty to God.
2. Hierarchical Government “From the Top Down”
   Ministers are not simply servants; they represent God’s government on earth. Questioning decisions, doctrines, or leadership is often framed as rebellion against God Himself. Disfellowshipment is presented as the biblical equivalent of handing someone over to Satan (1 Corinthians 5), with the clear implication that the person’s spiritual life is now in danger.
3. Fear-Based Prophetic Speculation
   For decades, members have been told that world events prove the end is near and that only those inside the “right” organization will be protected in a “place of safety.” When predictions fail (and they routinely have), the response is usually not repentance for false prophecy but intensified calls for greater loyalty and more sacrificial giving. The letter-writer called this “failed prophetic fear-mongering.” It functions as a powerful retention tool: leave and you risk being unprotected during the coming Tribulation.
4. Salvation Tied to the Organization
   While most Armstrongist groups are careful not to say in print “leave us and you lose salvation,” the practical teaching is unmistakable. Baptism into “God’s Church,” the laying on of hands by its ministry, regular attendance, tithing, and submission to its government are presented as the channel through which the Holy Spirit and truth flow. To walk away is therefore portrayed as cutting oneself off from God’s protection and truth.
5. Financial and Social Pressure
   The system requires significant financial sacrifice (first tithe, second tithe, holy day offerings, building funds, etc.). Social life, friendships, and often family relationships revolve around the congregation. Leaving means losing community, identity, and, in many cases, the only support network the person has known. This is what the letter-writer meant by “a corporate machine making merchandise of the brethren.”

These tactics are not accidental. They are the logical outworking of a theology that places an earthly hierarchy between the believer and Christ.The New Covenant: Freedom, Not Another HierarchyThe New Testament presents a radically different picture.
Under the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 8–10), God writes His law on hearts rather than stone tablets. Every believer has direct access to God through Jesus Christ, who is the one Mediator (1 Timothy 2:5). There is no longer a separate priestly class or physical temple that must be maintained by human organization. The veil has been torn.
Jesus Himself said:

No one will snatch them out of my hand 

(John 10:28). 

 

He did not add, 

unless they leave the right organization.

Paul was equally clear:

Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall (Romans 14:4).

The command to “come out of her, my people” (Revelation 18:4) is not a call to trade one human religious corporation for another. It is a call to come out of any system — religious or otherwise — that replaces the headship of Christ with the headship of men.
The writer of Hebrews urged believers to go to Jesus “outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore” (Hebrews 13:13). That “outside the camp” language is precisely what the former LCG member embraced when he wrote: 

I am stepping completely outside the camp to follow Christ alone.

This is not lawlessness. It is the liberty Christ purchased:
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery (Galatians 5:1).
The New Covenant does not require a 501(c)(3) corporation, a top-down hierarchy, or the threat of losing salvation to keep people in line. It produces sons and daughters who serve God because they love Him, not because they fear what men will do to them if they leave.The Real ChoiceThe former LCG member’s letter is ultimately not an attack on Sabbath-keeping or holy days. It is a protest against spiritual abuse dressed in biblical language. He rejected trading one form of Babylon for another.
Many who have walked the same path have discovered something liberating: the same Jesus who promised that no one can snatch His sheep from His hand is perfectly capable of leading individuals without the constant supervision of a religious corporation. The New Covenant does not need a middleman organization to validate a person’s relationship with God.
Christ alone is enough.
Outside the camp is where many are finally finding Him.