Why Trotting Out The Words Of A Discredited Global Church of God Board Member Still Does Not Make You A Prophet

 

Bob Thiel is back at it again — because apparently one self-appointed “ordained prophet” title wasn’t enough ego inflation. He’s once more wheeling out the dusty corpse of an article by Norman Edwards (yes, that Norm Edwards from the old Global Church of God… the group that dramatically imploded into nothing, that Thiel himself joined after apostatizing from the Worldwide Church of God in a glorious fit of rebellion, then repeated the performance at Global when he apostazied into Living Church of God which he later apostaized from to start his own group). 

Norm, that self-styled theological giant who thought he was too smart for the rest of the imploding COG wreckage, now runs Nashville Christian and gets quoted like he’s some kind of authority. Thiel loves him because Norm wrote a long piece arguing that God still wants prophets today. That article alone discredits him. 
Edwards’ article consists of cherry-picked verses, emotional appeals about “pride,” and the usual “if you disagree with me you’re judging and God will judge you back” guilt trip. Thiel adds his own multi-thousand-word commentary and a sprawling “55-point list” (bullet points of “look how wrong everyone else is about current events”) to “prove” he’s the only legitimate prophet left in any “real” Church of God group.
This entire exercise is peak COG drama. Thiel is desperately trying to justify his self-appointment with the exact same playbook every self-proclaimed prophet has used since the New Testament closed: “The Bible says there were prophets back then, so there must be one now… and surprise, it’s me!”
Here’s the part Thiel and Edwards conveniently gloss over while racking up those endless word splatters of special pleading.
The New Covenant is not a continuation of the Old Testament prophetic office. Hebrews 1:1-2 makes it embarrassingly clear:

God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son… 

 

God used to use prophets. Then He sent Jesus. That’s the upgrade. The foundation of the church was laid by apostles and prophets (Ephesians 2:20). Foundations get laid once. You don’t keep pouring concrete forever or the building never gets built.
Jude 3 tells believers to... 

contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. 

 

Once for all. Not...

once for all until Bob Thiel needs to feel important in 2026.

1 Corinthians 13:8-10 says prophecies will cease when “that which is perfect has come.” The completed New Testament canon is that perfect revelation. We don’t need new words from God when we already have the full written Word. Anything claiming to be new revelation gets tested by the existing Bible—and most of it fails.
The New Testament is full of warnings about false prophets in the last days (Matthew 24:11,24; 2 Peter 2:1; 1 John 4:1). It never promises a steady supply of true ones running around giving personal prophecies and correcting entire church groups. The only future prophets the Bible clearly points to are the Two Witnesses—and they show up during the Tribulation with actual signs and wonders, not blog posts and 55-point lists of other people’s mistakes.
Even Herbert W. Armstrong, the man Thiel claims to follow, repeatedly said he was not a prophet and that there was no need for prophets in the church during his time. Thiel conveniently ignores that while quoting everything else.
Thiel’s big evidence that he’s the real prophet? A massive list of how every other COG group misunderstands prophecy, followed by claims that only he gets it right. 
It’s not prophecy. It’s commentary on the news mixed with old doctrinal arguments. Russia doing something? Prophecy! Europe uniting? Prophecy! Debt crisis? Prophecy! Someone in another group changing their mind about the King of the South? Double prophecy!
This is not “God revealing His secret to His servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7). This is a guy reading the same headlines everyone else reads and then saying, “See? Only the true prophet understands this.” It’s the theological equivalent of claiming you’re psychic because you predicted the sun would rise tomorrow after it already came up.
The entire 55-point list is an exercise that boils down to: “Everyone else is Laodicean and wrong. Therefore, I must be the Philadelphian prophet.” It’s circular reasoning dressed up as deep insight. No specific, testable, future predictions that only he got right. Just after-the-fact “I told you so” on things that were already happening or obvious.
Thiel spends endless paragraphs accusing others of pride for not accepting prophets… while claiming to be the only ordained prophet in the entire COG world. That’s not humility. That’s the spiritual equivalent of walking into a room and announcing, “I’m the most humble person here.”
He quotes a guy from a dead splinter group to prop up his own splinter group. He left three organizations in rebellion and now positions himself as the faithful remnant. And he has the gall to lecture everyone else about not recognizing true prophets while ignoring that the Bible’s actual test for prophets (Deuteronomy 18:22) involves 100% accuracy on future events—not compiling long lists of other groups’ mistakes.
The New Covenant doesn’t need modern prophets because we have something better: the completed revelation of Jesus Christ in the Scriptures. Everything else is either repeating what’s already written or making stuff up.
Bob Thiel can keep writing his 8,000+ word defenses and his endless “everyone else is wrong” lists. The rest of us will stick with the faith once for all delivered—without needing a self-appointed narcissistic prophet from the wreckage of failed COG groups to explain it to us.
Pride really is the biggest problem for end-time Christians. Especially the kind that looks in the mirror and sees a prophet staring back.

Prediction Addiction: The Addictive Art of Moving Goalposts in Jesus’ Name

If there is one addiction Armstrongism has never managed to kick, despite decades of spectacular public failures and personal wreckage, it is prediction addiction. The symptoms are easy to spot: compulsive headline-scanning for “signs of the times,” breathless “prophecy updates” that imply the end is weeks or months away, quiet date-setting followed by loud goalpost-moving when nothing happens, and a steady stream of new literature and appeals to keep the faithful alarmed, loyal, and tithing. It is the same spiritual opioid that has hooked large segments of Evangelical fundamentalism, and it is the polluted well from which Crackpot Bob Thiel draws much of his daily “prophecy junk.”

Herbert W. Armstrong’s 1950s–70s output, especially the booklet 1975 in Prophecy!, painted lurid pictures of drought, disease, atomic war, a United States of Europe smashing the Anglo-Saxon nations, and Christ’s return with the church safely tucked away in a “place of safety” (often speculated to be Petra). When 1975 arrived and departed with no Great Tribulation and no miraculous flight, the cognitive dissonance was managed the usual way: reinterpretation, blame-shifting onto the members’ lack of faith or zeal, and a quiet burial of the most embarrassing literature. The human cost was real—shattered expectations, financial strain from years of “emergency” giving, and a lingering trauma that many ex-members still describe decades later. The habit, however, survived intact.

The post-1986 splinters simply updated the dosage. David C. Pack’s Restored Church of God in Wadsworth, Ohio, has compiled a remarkable record of more than 140 failed or abandoned prophetic timelines and date implications for Christ’s return or key Danielic events. Each failure is followed by fresh “greatest story ever” installments and renewed calls for support. Ronald Weinland had his own prophetic miscalculations and the added spectacle of federal tax troubles. And then there is Thiel, who turned his self-appointment into a near-daily content operation. On cogwriter.com and the Bible News Prophecy program, he analyzes every geopolitical twitch, European defense initiative, Middle East flare-up, or technological development as potential fulfillment. Much of the raw material and interpretive framework comes from the same sensationalist stream that fuels large parts of Evangelical prophecy media—blood-moon tetrads, Shemitah-year financial warnings, Gog-and-Magog speculations tied to current conflicts, and the general “everything is a sign” hermeneutic. Thiel simply runs it through an Armstrongist filter of British Israelism and his own “watchman” authority, producing a slightly different flavor of the same addictive product.

Evangelical fundamentalism suffers from its own advanced case of the disease. Harold Camping’s multiple rapture predictions (including the widely publicized 2011 fiasco) are only the most cartoonish examples. Hal Lindsey’s Late Great Planet Earth generation was told the end would come within their lifetimes; when it didn’t, the genre simply mutated into new bestsellers and conferences. Modern variations include tying every U.S. election, pandemic, or Middle East war to the final countdown, complete with fundraising appeals and “urgent” teaching series. The pattern is identical to Armstrongism: when the prediction fails, the leaders rarely repent or shut down the machine. They declare that God was mercifully giving more time, that the signs were “near” rather than exact, or that the faithful simply need to study harder and give more. The prediction industrial complex—books, newsletters, YouTube channels, radio programs, and special offerings—remains remarkably resilient because fear is a reliable product.

This has been an abject, repeated failure in Armstrongism for a simple reason: it produces the opposite of genuine Christian maturity. Instead of the peace that passes understanding, it manufactures low-grade apocalyptic anxiety. Instead of unity in Christ, it creates endless division over whose prophetic timeline is correct. Instead of freedom, it reinforces authoritarian control—only the “true church” or the “true apostle/prophet” has the inside track, so stay loyal, keep quiet, and keep paying. The 1975 disappointment did not discredit the system; it merely taught the addicts how to manage disappointment more efficiently. Every subsequent splinter has repeated the cycle because the claim to exclusive truth requires an urgent, exclusive message about the end. Failed predictions are not treated as evidence against the system; they are treated as evidence that the leaders were spiritually ahead of schedule or that the members were not zealous enough.

New Covenant followers of Christ have no business participating in this nonsense. Jesus was blunt: “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Matthew 24:36). He commanded His disciples to watch and be ready, not to turn every newspaper into a prophetic codebook or to live in perpetual fear of missing the correct escape hatch. The New Covenant is not an improved version of old-covenant date-keeping or works-based anxiety; it is the announcement that the decisive event has already occurred in the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus. Our security is not in correctly interpreting the latest European army proposal or blood-moon tetrad. Our security is in union with Christ, sealed by the Spirit, and lived out in ordinary faithfulness—loving God, loving neighbor, making disciples, and resting in the finished work.

This prediction addiction is, at root, a distraction from the gospel and a return to the very bondage Christ came to end. It keeps people scanning the horizon for the next crisis instead of living as citizens of the kingdom that is already breaking in. It fuels leaders who need an endless supply of urgency to justify their authority and extraction of resources. It turns Christianity into a form of spiritual hypochondria where every headline is a symptom and the only cure is more “truth” from the same source that has been wrong for decades. When the predictions inevitably fail, the damage is not merely intellectual; it is pastoral—broken trust, disillusioned faith, families strained by fear and financial pressure, and a cynicism that makes genuine good news harder to hear.

The addiction continues because it is profitable on multiple levels. Fear sells books, fills seats, and loosens wallets far more effectively than the scandalous message of unearned grace. Bwana Bob and his Evangelical counterparts keep the content pipeline full because there is still an audience hooked on the rush of “this time it’s different.” But for those who have tasted New Covenant freedom, the game is over. We no longer need to feed the beast with clicks, tithes, or emotional energy. The end of the age will arrive on God’s timetable, not on the schedule of any self-appointed watchman or dispensationalist author. When it comes, the people most shocked will likely be those who spent their lives addicted to predicting it rather than living ready in the present reality of Christ.

So the next time another “urgent prophecy update” lands in your inbox or feed—whether from Crackpot Bob's daily machine or from the latest Evangelical doomsayer—feel free to do what recovering addicts eventually learn to do: recognize the old trigger, chuckle at the familiar sales pitch, and walk away. Go plant something in the garden. Play with your grandchildren. Serve someone in quiet faithfulness. Worship in spirit and truth without the overlay of apocalyptic dread. 

The real story was never about our ability to decode the times. It was always about the One who holds the times in His hands and has already secured our future in Himself. Prediction addiction is just one more old-covenant habit that New Covenant people are finally free to quit.

Shepherds of Tiny Pens: The Armstrongist ‘Little Flock’ Delusion and Why It Should Be a Giant Red Flag

How Bob Thiel, Gerald Flurry, David C. Pack, and the rest of the Armstrongist remnant industry turn one verse of comfort into a divine right to look down on every other Christian alive - including those in other COG groups.

Luke 12:32 contains one of the kindest things Jesus ever said: “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

He was calming a small, frightened group of disciples. “You’re vulnerable, but the Father delights to give you the Kingdom anyway. Stop worrying.”

That’s it. No prophecy about 21st-century church corporations. No license for spiritual superiority. Just reassurance from the Good Shepherd.

But in the hands of Armstrongist leaders, this verse becomes something very different: proof that their tiny group is the special, chosen remnant while almost everyone else who claims the name of Christ is deceived, compromised, or simply irrelevant to what God is really doing.

And the scam isn’t limited to one man.

Bob Thiel of the Continuing Church of God loves this verse. He repeatedly uses “Fear not, little flock” to comfort his followers while positioning CCOG as the current “Philadelphia remnant” — the most faithful continuation of the true Church. According to Thiel, his group alone traces the unbroken line back to Acts, restores “all things,” and represents the humble little flock that God is truly pleased to give the Kingdom.

Never mind that his group is still tiny on a global scale. Never mind the endless splintering. Never mind that he left the Living Church of God claiming they had lost the “mantle.” The message is clear: recognize CCOG as the faithful remnant or risk being outside the circle of God’s special favor.

The sheer arrogance is breathtaking. While pretending humility, Thiel and his followers look down on billions of sincere Christians — and even other Church of God groups — as less faithful, less Philadelphian, or simply not “the work” God is using today.

And, it's just not Bob, it's the entire Armstrongist splinter industry.

Gerald Flurry and the Philadelphia Church of God do it with even more authoritarian flair. Flurry claims his group is the true continuation of Herbert Armstrong’s Philadelphia era. PCG literature and The Key of David program hammer the idea that only they are faithfully keeping the truth while the rest of Christianity (and most other COGs) have gone astray.

Disfellowshipping and shunning are common tools to keep the “little flock” pure. The message to members: stay inside this tiny, tightly controlled group or you’re risking your eternal future.

David C. Pack and the Restored Church of God take the arrogance to cartoonish levels. Pack has declared himself the final Elijah, “Joshua the High Priest,” and various other end-time titles while setting (and failing) dozens of dates for Christ’s return to Wadsworth, Ohio. His group remains minuscule, yet he speaks as though God’s entire plan hinges on his tiny work. The “little flock” language fits perfectly into his narcissistic framework: only the truly faithful (i.e., those still following Pack after every failed prediction) are part of the real remnant. Everyone else — including former members and other COGs — is dismissed as Laodicean or worse.

United Church of God presents a more polished, “reasonable” face, but the underlying theology is the same. They teach that the true Church of God is the remnant that understands and keeps the Sabbath, Holy Days, and other distinctive doctrines. Other Christians are viewed as part of false or incomplete Christianity. While UCG is larger than some splinters, they still lean on the “faithful remnant in a deceived world” narrative to justify separation and a sense of special calling.

Living Church of God plays the same game. After Roderick Meredith’s death, the group continued the pattern of positioning itself as the faithful continuation of the Philadelphia work. Ironically, Bob Thiel left LCG precisely because he believed they had lost the mantle — proving that the “we are the true little flock” claim is infinitely splinterable. Each new group simply declares the previous one compromised while anointing itself as the real remnant.

The pattern is identical across the board: take a verse about Jesus comforting scared disciples, turn it into proof of organizational exclusivity, and use it to devalue every other believer on the planet.

This should be a giant warning flag.

When any religious leader or group repeatedly tells you:

“We are the little flock / faithful remnant”

“God is only really working through us”

“Everyone else is deceived or second-class”

“Leaving us puts your spiritual life in danger”

…that is not biblical humility. That is a control tactic dressed up in sheep’s clothing.

It creates fear. It discourages critical thinking. It justifies authoritarian leadership, financial demands, and the shunning of anyone who questions the narrative. And it directly contradicts the New Testament picture of the Church as the diverse, worldwide body of Christ — not one tiny, self-appointed “remnant” corporation.

Jesus never said the true followers would always be a small, obscure group led by whichever man currently claims the “mantle.” He said His sheep would hear His voice and follow Him.

As New Covenant Christians, you do not need any of this nonsense.

Under the New Covenant, your standing with God does not depend on which Armstrongist splinter you managed to find or whether you recognize Bob Thiel, Gerald Flurry, or David Pack as the current leader of the “true work.”

Salvation and a relationship with God come through faith in Jesus Christ alone. The Good Shepherd knows His sheep personally. He does not require you to read cogwriter.com, watch The Key of David, or stay loyal to whichever group currently claims to be the Philadelphia remnant.

The Father’s good pleasure to give the Kingdom belongs to everyone who belongs to the Son — a much larger and more diverse flock than any of these leaders want to admit.

So let them keep fighting over who gets to be the “little flock” this month. You can follow the actual Good Shepherd without their permission slip, without their fear, and without their arrogance.

The real flock is far bigger — and far more gracious — than their tiny pens.