Prophet Thiel jumps out the door with his firsts jab at Rod Meredith, Global and Living Church of God. Now that these lost souls are the true Laodiceans, prophet Thiel is quick to point out to them that he alone now runs the worlds most important ministry that will reach more people in it's first 30 days than Global Church of God ever did under Meredith.
Prophet Thiel's message is more mind boggling than Dave Pack's beliefs. It is more important and far reaching than Dave Packs new and improved web site and Church. God apparently is now only working through the one and only TRUE end time prophet.
As far as gospel proclamation, I will make a prediction right here and right now. The Continuing Church of God will reach more people in its first 30 days of existence with the COG message than any COG that came out of the old Worldwide Church of God or old Global Church of God did in their first 30 days. This will be accomplished with various internet websites, radio interviews, and personal contact. I expect to report the results in case any want to see proof by the end of next month.
Dave Pack must be shivering in his boots right now. Poor guy!
Prophet Thiel is also quick to point out that he is now accepting tithe money. Since he is the only one in charge he will use the money as he sees fit for trips and prophecy warnings.
Some have wondered about tithing and what the Continuing Church of God plans to do with any donations. First, let me state that unless anyone is hired (and no one, not me, is on the payroll), all monies received will be used for gospel proclamation, feeding the flock (which may include travel to various regions), and necessary administration expenses (which should be fairly low).
For those that thought prophet Thiel could not gain followers, he just says he has. It goes to prove that there are true morons in the world that will fall for anything.
Why am I calling Theil a prophet? Because he is coming out claiming he has 100's of proofs that he is a prophet! Ho hum.................................
Various ones have asked for a listing of prophetic fruits, which would be one valid way to help determine (according to Jesus per Matthew 7:15-20) if one may be a prophet of God.
In my case, there is a listing of 32 related to my 2012 book at the beginning of the article End of Mayan Calendar 2012--Might 2012 Mean Something?; 7 related to Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg in the article Might German Baron Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg become the King of the North?; 1 related to China and Australian Prime Minister Julian Gilliard is mentioned in the article USA and Australia Concerned About Chinese Military; Chinese Concerned about Australia-USA Military Co-operation. And if one goes through the details of past news and other articles at the COGwriter.com website, the total seems to be in the hundreds.The prophet Thiel also wants you to know he will be ridiculed and laughed at for proclaiming himself a prophet.
While many would be considered common COG beliefs, many were more specific than the COG has tended to proclaim (and without the errors that some in the COG have tended to have had). And of course, some will try to pick at them and discount them in the near future--so yes, I am making that as a specific prediction. I will also predict that some who will be quick to jump to improper conclusions, as opposed to doing in-depth study and prayer into the truth, will ridicule me reporting about all of this.
Prophet THiel is barely out the door with his new cult and he is already suffering "persecution addiction."
Prophets have long been ridiculed and doubted by the political and religious establishments (e.g. Isaiah 57:4; Lamentations 3:14), including claimed believers (Jeremiah 42:22, 43:1-7), and this will continue until the end (cf. 2 Peter 3:1-7). Do not be surprised when false statements appear about me (Matthew 5:10-12) even from ones who claim to be COG (Acts 20:30). Jesus warned that evil things would be said against those who truly follow Him (Matthew 5:10-12) (see also the news post Persecution and the article Persecutions by Church and State). Some are more comfortable making improper accusations or staying on the sidelines than they are in standing for the truth and/or further investigating the truth, but those approaches come with a cost of at least reward forfeiture (cf. Matthew 10:25-41).
He boasts again about his prophetic abilities:
12/29/12 p.m. Based upon some of the emails that I have received, let me make it clearer as to why I left LCG. 1) It had nothing directly to do with LCG not sufficiently recognizing my prophetic abilities/role.
29 comments:
Z-z-z-z-z.
We've heard it all before, Bob.
I predict we'll hear it all again. So there.
Christ warned about many false prophets in the end. Here we go again!
As far as gospel proclamation, I will make a prediction right here and right now. The Continuing Church of God will reach more people in its first 30 days of existence with the COG message than any COG that came out of the old Worldwide Church of God or old Global Church of God did in their first 30 days. This will be accomplished with various internet websites, radio interviews, and personal contact. I expect to report the results in case any want to see proof by the end of next month.
Ho, hum. Another "Internet ministry" with a kook running around giving interviews.
LCG was broadcasting a telecast on WGN as soon as GCG gave up its old WGN slot, and was both reaching hundreds of thousands and receiving well over a thousand inquiries from new contacts each week. Of course, that took about six weeks or so to get started, not 30 days, so maybe Prophet Thiel chose his "30 days" measure advisedly.
Prophet Thiel has done a bunch of radio interviews in the past, and no doubt assumes he can go on doing them. But now there's a big difference. Before, Thiel was an energetic guy promoting books about 2012 and the dangers of electing Barack Obama. Now, it will be 2013, Obama was reelected, and the guy hawking his book is claiming to be God's End-Time Prophet. Most reputable radio hosts don't put religious crazies on the air unless they plan to tear them to shreds.
Of course, anybody can purchase Google clicks, and now that Bob's tithes won't have to fund the wide range of LCG activities for which they were used, he can pour them into Internet advertising that will dwarf the other ACOGs, but have no effect other than to impress the gullible as to the scope of Prophet Thiel's powerful work.
Monday morning, Prophet Thiel posted the following clarification:
12/31/12 early a.m. As soon as I went to bed last night, I realized that related to the first 30 day proclamation prediction that I should have mentioned that I in my mind had excluded Garner Ted Armstrong and the re-groups he formed, which in my view were not new in the sense that I intended (it is not that the Continuing Church of God may not reach more than he did back then, but statistics related to him are harder to estimate and he already was a significant celebrity--I even remember seeing him as a television guest on the old popular show Hee-Haw, which for those who do not remember it, it was not a religious show. Also I recall hearing that at least one national network, and there were really only about three plus PBS back the, had wanted GTA to be a news anchor).
Yes, Prophet Thiel has been at it for just a day or two, and already he is backpedaling from his prophecies, Ron Weinland style.
The Prophet now tells us that in his earlier prophecy he did not FORGET the work done by GTA in his first 30 days apart from WCG. Rather, he had deliberately excluded it "in my mind" but hadn't told us so, but as of this morning wants us to know that he wasn't WRONG or FORGETFUL or making a FALSE PROPHECY -- he is just clarifying his prophecy so we will be able to appreciate how wonderful and prophetic he is.
I have a feeling that Rod Meredith has been coddling this guy for so long that he will be eaten alive by his critics once they start holding him accountable for mistakes like this.
The most amazing thing about this guy is his overweening great swelling narcissistic ego.
Finally, the "man of quality" Herbert Armstrong looked for all his life and could not find except in the mirror.
So, Dr. Bob, I guess it's cold showers for you so you don't steam the mirrors so you can see that "man of quality".
Also, it would be good to stand between two mirrors facing each other, so you can have an infinite you, looking back at you.
Group photos of yourself are optional.
Just remember, we can prove British Israelism is a kook fool's Key to Prophecy. Keep that in mind as we proceed to mock you for it.
I guarantee it.
Why don't prophets self fulfill
Zechariah 13:3-4. Their accuracy rate is about 0%.
And it shall come to pass, that when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of the LORD: and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he hath prophesied; neither shall they wear a rough garment to deceive:
Prophet Thiel posted the following clarification:
12/31/12 early a.m. As soon as I went to bed last night, I realized that related to the first 30 day proclamation prediction that I should have mentioned that I in my mind had excluded Garner Ted Armstrong and the re-groups he formed, which in my view were not new in the sense that I intended (it is not that the Continuing Church of God may not reach more than he did back then, but statistics related to him are harder to estimate and he already was a significant celebrity……..”
MY COMMENT – Who really cares about this ancient WCG history other than Bob Thiel? And why is it important to Thiel that he beat some artificial self imposed 30 day proclamation prediction? What happened to faith and letting God make those decisions? And what are the fruits of 700+ splinter groups of the WCG? Why does God need another splinter group to do his/her/it’s Work?
Here is The Plain Truth – all the splinter groups including this latest one of Thiel’s are PISSING IN THE WIND with NO Fruits to show. My definition of poverty – a lot of time and effort yielding little or no results. Whether you like Herbert W. Armstrong or not, he fits my definition of wealth – little time and effort yielding HUGE results. The Work and Church died when Herbert W. Armstrong died, and it’s been an amusing mad scramble of idiots trying to grab as much of HWA’s legacy and inheritance as possible (Note: The 1960’s movie “It’s a Mad Mad World” comes to mind with the money ironically buried under “a big W”). An exception is little Joey Tkach who inherited the WCG assets and is now a multi multi millionaire absconding with the wealth and sacrifices created by all of our parents combined – it was like stealing candy from a baby.
For the record, Mr. Thiel is correct about Garner Ted Armstrong. He immediately purchased nightly radio time on the 50,000 watt powerhouse WOAI San Antonio which blankets the USA west of the Mississippi River. Having once been an Ambassador College reject (thank God), I was working on my MBA at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa when Herbert Armstrong ousted his son from the Church for the final time. I had already stopped attending the WCG when I moved to Iowa from the east coast, but the rest of my family were still in the Church and told me about the events that were occurring in the Church at that time. I often listened to GTA at night on WOAI. The local Des Moines church also published classified ads in the Des Moines Register.
In retrospect, GTA’s reach and notoriety was greatly diminished after his father finally put him out. It was reduced even further when his Church of God, International threw him out of the Church he founded after his sex scandals became known. On his own, GTA was PISSING IN THE WIND. That is my prediction for Mr. Thiel, He will be as effective as PISSING IN THE WIND. And I don’t pretend to be a prophet.
Richard
Wow!
He might be almost as good as all the jerk-off Asshole Christian "prophets" asking for money on 'Mainstream Christian TV'!
What a bunch of nutcases.
neither shall they wear a rough garment to deceive
Well, at least that prophecy has come to pass.
They all wear expensive comfortable wool suits to be wolves in sheep's clothing -- none of this 'rough garment' stuff!
It's called, "Dress for success"! (Although I think Thiel would look a little funny in a dress).
Hey, maybe Bob Thiel is two of the two witnesses!
On reading the differences between LCG and CCOG, I couldn't help but laugh at #19 as found here:
http://www.cogwriter.com/gnews.htm
"Do not believe that any in the ministry should promote the sport of American Football (the Bible, in Romans 13:9-10 clearly teaches "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law"). There are other "love" issue matters."
SO ranked with D&R issues (!!!), and a host of other issues that Thiel did not agree with, is FOOTBALL.
Attention, preachers and teachers of Thiel-land! It seems that football will be a BIG issue! You are, so it seems, not supposed to talk about or promote the support of American FOOTBALL! This huge thielogical issue is important enough to be ranked with all the other issues in BobLand.
So, my apologies, Packers, Steelers, and Lions fans - if I had to guess, I would say that Football watching will be a banned sport in BobLand. After all, football promoting is not showing "Love" - never mind the fact most COG's in the COG sphere LOVE to condemn all people not affiliated with the COG's as not "Christian" condemning them to the Fiery Lake. That's not an issue, and football is.
Oh, the crazy, wacky, messed up world of COG drama which is so sad and hilarious at the same time.
TENHUT!!! HIKE!!!!!!
Douglas Becker wrote: "The most amazing thing about this guy is his overweening great swelling narcissistic ego."
Which, of course, accurately characterizes many other COG fanatics, among both leaders and members.
It's absolutely mind-blowing the amount of narcissism oozing out of a religious group that claims to humble the self and exalt God. The COG universe is absolutely rife with such ultra self-centered lunatics.
I read an article recently that talked about sociologist studies which documented that heavy users of FaceBook, Twitter, etc. have very deep and pronounced narcissistic tendencies.
It's quite apparent that the COG's have many of the same problems: the "it's all about ME" syndrome.
I really do think that extreme ego-centrism can lead to more serious forms of mental illness, Bob Thiel being one of the more recent and public victims of this sickness.
It's pretty much a foregone conclusion that he'll go on to spectacularly make an absolute fool of himself, much like Ron Weinland, Gerald Flurry, M. John Allen, etc. have already.
It seems that NONE of these folks are capable of stepping outside the nutty worldview they inhabit and see how ridiculous they appear to the very world they claim to be trying to reach.
As I've said many times before, I'm astonished that academics interested in furthering their understanding of mental illness do not seriously study such groups as the WCG and all their subsequent splinters. It would seem to me to be a goldmine of useful information.
Anyone who is truly a Philadelphian would never boast about being one. "Humble yourselves and let God exalt you."
Excellent points. I would point out that Narcissism is a mental disorder as described in the DSM-IV.
Of more concern is the propensity of these nanocult leaders to have highly variable and eccentric social values associated with extremely flexible conscience.
This is defined in the DSM-IV as the mental disorder of a sociopath.
We've just graduated from eccentricity to serious social problem in a single bound.
Trust this: It is to your very great advantage to avoid both narcissists and sociopaths, which means that you will have to stop attending services with the Armstrongists, if you want to do so.
So does Prophet Thiel exhalt NASCAR over NFL Football?
Is there a "Prophet Thiel" NASCAR car?
Or will Tim Tebow be writing Mr. Thiel's prophecies on his face for the next big football game?
Obviously, the word "delusional" comes to mind.
This stuff has been going on for years. I recall a young man who was an Imperial Schools and Ambassador College student during the height of the hippie rebellion of the 1960s. Many, unfairly or fairly (and in fairness, WCG members nearly always stereotyped others) had pegged this young man as a hippie wannabe. Suddenly, (if the stories which circulated are to be believed) he began telling others that he had been called by God to warn the world. He took a Nazirite vow so that he could grow long hair, and apparently then set out on his mission. Obviously, he never gained public recognition, and I don't know anyone who ever heard any more from him.
Armstrongism is weird to start with. It comes as no surprise that offshoots will be progressively more bizarre, and it would be extremely unusual if one of them actually succeeded in "catching' and ended up producing a more widespread or visible "work".
HWA learned the advertising business from people who actually knew it and were writing the book on it. That was his craft. That's part of why he was as successful as he was. Garner Ted somehow managed, for a time, to take it to the next level. Then, he screwed up, and failed to have the same impact apart from his father. These people who are starting splinters now learned from people who learned from people who learned from people who were ultimately taught by HWA. Some of the people doing the teaching nowadays passed over because nobody seemed to grasp marketing in the same way HWA did, except GTA.
BB
Building on that Bob...
His style of "marketing" was geared toward the emotional movement post-war of the 40s through the 70s. I am very doubtful that using the same techniques (i.e. Radio power voice, bully pulpit, begging and pleading, all capital letter emphasis, complete power, spiritual abuse, lack of accountability, etc.) could stand up to today's freedom of information (internet, non-trust of theological types, hatred of televangelists, and most importantly, decades of history freely available on the movement). The formula worked incredibly well at the time, but marketing has changed, and that formula, even if followed exactly, has only a tenth of a tenth of the impact it had back then. There is absolute proof Armstrongism is hogwash now (failed prophecies, refuted theories, lies and scandals, accurate inside information that was not available then, etc) - there wasn't back then, just blind trust and faith of the theories of a man who got it wrong, except for those who had the intelligence to actually see the scam for what it was.
Dr. Bob Weinland laments:
"For the past year or so I have wondered if perhaps the Living Church of God had lost the mantle that the Philadelphia remnant should have. To be 100% certain, I have been trying to resolve many matters with those in Charlotte and telephoned Dr. Roderick C. Meredith every day this week"
I'm thinking that had LCG embraced Bob, given him a bit of the limelight, brought him into the inner sanctum etc, he miraculously would not have detected the "losing of the mantle" and would have yet been singing its praises.
In other words, it is obvious that for him to be 100% sure they had dropped it, he had to see if his ideas, views and perspectives were received or dismissed. Once he got a bit of a rebuff, 'yep, they dropped it."
I imagine RCM had already wondered if Dr. Bob Weinland was dropping the mantle but to be 100% sure would want to call him to see if some issues could be resolved.
M.T.Hall
Dr Thiel notes:
"A few minutes ago (it is still not sunset here), I bought the URL for the Church and expect to go live with that sometime next week."
Poor guy, just like he just could not stand for anyone putting out crosses in the Milwaukee snow without telling everyone LCG does not believe in the cross...so we see here the poor guy doesn't want anyone to think he bought something on the sabbath.
Reading Prophet Thiel's "doctrinal differences" statement, something occurred to me. Note where he wrote:
Richard Ames prayed, with “Amen” concurrence from Dr. Meredith and Dr. D. Winnail, that I would continue to do the work that God has had me to do, etc. He also specifically called my writings/work “an additional witness.” Hence, there was a broad top-level concurrence with the evangelical and prophetic fruits of that work.
Is it possible that Prophet Thiel is in fact Asperger's Syndrome Sufferer Thiel?
Aspies have a notoriously difficult time interpreting social cues that others take for granted. Reading between the lines of the above meeting description and many other similar descriptions by Prophet Bob Thiel, it's easy to picture those meetings transpiring as follows:
Thiel: "Here, along with my supersized tithe and offering check, are my latest amazingest corrections for you, plus some new truths for you to teach!"
LCG Evangelists: "Thank you for sharing, Bob! We appreciate your zeal, and will look more closely at your ideas when we have time to do so."
Thiel (to himself): "Obviously, if they disagreed with me they would have made it perfectly clear, so it's obvious that they agree with me and will do what I told them to do!"
If that's what's going on, we can refrain from assuming that either or both LCG and Thiel are lying.
I think we find both historically and today, men of prophetic tendencies share mental illnesses as a common bond
Just as the U.S military creates psychopath's out of its recruits, the world of harmstrongism creates whack jobs who think they are someone special and who then go to start their own work of incompetence.
HWA was good at what he did. Conning stupid people like us was easy for him, but with the information age about, the job just got not only harder, but insurmountable as to the authority figure he will use for his credibility. That being Herbie and all those asinine doctrines he came up with.
My gut feeling is that this whole church thing of Thiel's will end badly. Something is amiss. It is not going to go well for him as he plots his revenge on Spankie.
Anonymous wrote: "Is it possible that Prophet Thiel is in fact Asperger's Syndrome Sufferer Thiel?
Perhaps you're onto something here. I do know of a rather odd character down in Texas who has Asperger's Syndrome, and is a "consultant" to the Living Church of God, as well as a member. He daily posts bizarre things out on FaceBook which are very symptomatic of an Aspie.
Thiel has never had much of a personal social appeal, even going back decades
A man of small stature, and a demure , very shy wife, he never was much of anything within the WCG.
His attendance in the LCG was with a video group held at his home, with at best, even on a good day, a handful of others. He does not have a significant following or direct relationship with many in the LCG other than his internet presence.
The internet can empower weirdos, and ego maniacs who hide behind their computer. Dont be fooled, when the curtain is drawn back, like in the Wizard of OZ, for it is just feeble little men. Same can be said about Malm.
There will not be too many in Thiels new "church". If he gets more than 10, and that includes his own family in the count, I would be shocked. He will use his own personal tithes to promote himself, and may glorify his web presence with about a $10 to 15k a year infusion for web promotion, but that will be about it.
When one of these so called self appointed "prophets" or "apostles" call fire down from heaven, or heal a 3 days dead man, or heal the eyes of known public blind man, or restore the missing limb from a war veteran, then I will take notice . In the meantime, I will just shake my head, and be amazed at the audacity and ego mania of some who just cannot accept the simple fact that God loves them.
No, there just is not enough love of God to go around, and they have to have the insistence that "God loves me more, and Im more special to him than others". That God "needs me" and has made me greater than his other children.
Very Sad indeed.
Joe Moeller
Cody , WY
I very much agree with you, Joe - the Internet indeed presents a public forum that can allow folks of questionable mental health seem normal, even impressive to some.
Latent megalomaniacs and ego-centrics, such as Thiel appears to be, can delude simple-minded folks because they can appear larger than life, at least for awhile.
The vital importance Armstrongites place on rank is a powerfully contributing factor in all this, and Thiel is just one of many COG'ers who are desperately grasping for their proverbial "15 minutes of fame."
Watch out Prophet Bob, Toto's coming for ya!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZR64EF3OpA
It is clear that LCG does not consider Thiel a threat. If he was, they would have ferociously demonized him. Meredith learned from the master (HWA) to attribute Satanic inspiration to anyone who is no longer with the church that might be a threat. After all, there is nothing more important to Meredith than protecting his power base. Just witness Charles Bryce. "Satan is attacking the church" after Bryce wrote a private letter to HQ.
Personally I reckon HWA was ASD too and the cultish mentality fostered throughout WCG attracted other ASD/OCD types who were then given authority over the people. This has led to such compulsive traits to dominate within the various splinter groups which then lead to various self-destructive habits and attitudes in the long term like cognitive dissonance, paranoia, depression, even sociopathy. Is it any wonder then that we see such bitter "fruits" from these groups emphasizing law above love, dogma and division above tolerance and forgiveness, rituals and rules above relationships. It's completely anal and the total opposite of Christ's Spirit who from His first public miracle, turning water to wine and thus desecrating the sacred stone jars traditionally used for ritual purification to His last sign when dying on the cross the temple curtain tears exposing the Holy of Holies, shows His real intention was to break down the very idea of religion as a way to God (Jn 5:39-40; 14:6; Gal 3:28; Eph 2:14).
Do prophets actually have to announce that they are prophets, to kind of spike things and get peoples' attention? I thought that one became known as a prophet by making 100% true prophecies, and that in time, and with increasing credibility OTHERS recognized them as being prophets.
Sheesh. All of this stupid rhetoric: I am a prophet. I am one of the two witnesses. I am HWA's only authentic successor. I am an Apostle. Isn't there anyone in Armstrongism willing to do God's work humbly so that others bestow such titles? Oops, forgot. Armstrongism never had anything to do with God in the first place, so all of this blatant crap is totally predictable!
BB
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