Bob Thiel, the non-ordained self-appointed Chief Overseer of the Continuing Ed Church of God, is waxing eloquent today about past COG feast sites he has been to, starting in the mid 70's. At that time ten's of thousands would be attending feast sites. Those days are looooong gone since the Worldwide Church of God split into hundreds and hundreds of little personality cults. The church used to mock Christianity for its many different denominations and yet Armstrongism has turned into the same thing.
Every single one of these splinter groups claim their group are the only ones keeping it properly.
Thiel, in his ever present arrogance, make such a claim. His group and only his group are reading ht law this feast. There will be no talk about Jesus or anything he did and accomplished, but plenty of bull about the law.
The only Feast of Tabernacles’ sites that I am aware of that are following the biblical instruction to read the law every seven years at the Feast of Tabernacles for 2013 are those of the Continuing Church of God.
18 comments:
The Bible really screws these folks up big time...I bet he skips a few of the "laws" along the way.
Gospel Jesus is a mere afterthought to these deluded leaders. If it's law they want, it's law they'll get.
Bob needs just at least to attend a year of 8th grade Sunday school lessons at a local Presbyterian Church and have at least some credentials.
M.T.Booth
There's that ego centric, "That I am aware of" thing again in Bob's personality. He simply needs to be special where he is not. Actually this personality stuff is quickly not becoming all that funny. Bob Thiel has the same theologically based mental problems as does Dave Pack, Gerald Flurry and Ron Weinland. A very average man with huge ideas about himself.
Bob..with all due respect, you're a theological fool, untrained and way off base in your view of the meaning of Jesus as presented in the New Testatment. You are the old wineskin that new wine bursts. Do you enjoy that role in religion?
Don't forget these "laws" in your off base Church of God
Any person who curseth his father or mother must be killed
~Leviticus 20:9
If a man has sex with a woman on her period, they are both to be cut off from their people
~Leviticus 20:18
People who have flat noses, or are blind or lame, cannot go to an altar of God
~Leviticus 21:17-18
Anyone who dreams or prophesizes anything that is against God, or anyone who tries to turn you from God, is to be put to death
~Deuteronomy 13:5
(The funny thing about this is that it goes against one of the ten commandments..."thou shalt not kill")
The eating of fat is prohibited forever
~Leviticus 3:17
Entrance into the assembly of the Lord was granted only to those with complete testicles
Deuteronomy 23:1
Stubborn children were to be stoned, and the stoning was to be instigated by their parents
~Deuteronomy 21:18-21
False prophets are to be killed by their own parents
~Zechariah 13:3
If a man beats his male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies as a direct result, he must be punished, but he is not to be punished if the slave gets up after a day or two, since the slave is his property
~Exodus 21:20-21
A rape victim must marry the rapist.
Deuteronomy 22:28-29 (King James Version)
28If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found;
29Then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel's father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife; because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all his days. "
Bob, go back to being whatever kind of doctor you are. Leave the world of New Testament theologyto the big boys who actually do the hard work of homework and would never in their wildest dreams show up at some meeting and declare themselves a "prophet". You'd be laughed to scorn and thrown out on your ass.
Dave Pack, while entertaining is equal the fool of a Ron Weinland or a Gerald Flurry. Bob has not risen to the status of these kinds of fools and probably won't being too unknown and uninspiring. But a fool none the less in theology and being one with special insights which he also is not.
I hope you stop by Banned during this FOT Bob and read this. Perhaps you still have time to switch over to some New Testament concepts before you take the six people in the audience's money. If you are going to law folk to death you may as well join James Malm and you can be the two bafoons of Elevations.
If there really was and is a Gospel Jesus somewhere he is no doubt slapping his forehead wishing he had his writers, since he actually wrote nothing, be much more clear in what they had to say about him.
Boy howdy! Every single chief overseer of every single personality cult in all of COGdom is soooo proud of themselves for the tiny crumbs of law they've noticed (and blown completely out of proportion) that nobody else is paying undue attention to. And yet, if you were to put two chief legalists in one room together, man are sparks gonna fly! The room would fill up so fast with mutual judgment, condemnation, and smugness, they'd suffocate within minutes if it weren't for all the air of superiority.
I don't think I could handle 22 hours of blather and nonsense from these self-important religious hacks and their goon squads in eight days anymore. The thought of it makes me shudder.
It would be one thing if this were to be presented as a history lesson regarding the state of worship and plight of humanity leading up to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That would provide members with appreciation as to how it must have been to live under the Old Covenant, and gratitude to Jesus for fulfilling it all and bringing us a much better covenant.
However, this is an ACOG splinter we are talking about, so they will be discussing Leviticus as if it were intended to be current events!
BB
My Comment:
Hey! I think spending the eight days reading biblical law is a great idea if they couple it with respectable Jewish and Christian theological commentaries that reveal how it can be applied in the life we live in today’s world. They might discovered that the greatest value of the bible is its revealing of the historical development of religion and its contribution in the development of morals and human relationships that exceeds that of lower forms of animal life.
They may even discover why the story of Jesus and his teachings drew people together in following the teachings of a person called Paul.
Of course I doubt eight days would be enough time, even if they were dedicated enough to try to get clearer understanding of the true picture the bible presents.
A. Boocher
An old man with Alzheimer's shows up at the Big Sandy campus a day early and drives on over to the campground and sets up his tent.
Later that night, he notices that no one else has shown up...I wonder if I got the date wrong? he mumbles to himself as he checks his Holy Days card in his billfold.
I guess I'm just getting too old for this he mutters as the police escort him back to the rest home. "We all are", says the officer, "we all are".
Read the law? I almost fell down from my seat laughing. These mental cases pretending to be ministers of God are just selective in reading the law, especially those they know could not just be easily obeyed. Yeah as Dennis said, they should quote those verses that false prophets are to be stoned to death by their parents first and the congregation next. To facilitate, stones should be provided by deacons when their congregations enter the assembly hall. Why don't they read that there should be no fire kindled on the Sabbath? Their assembly hall should be as dark as possible, no lights, no sound system, nothing. These people are just law breakers as the rest of us, they are hypocrites to read only selective law verses that apply to us but don't apply to them.
We always note that these groups only know to do the same old stale things that HWA intituted, and never do anything indicative of fresh thinking. Thiel, as a new prophet, has an opportunity to really set an example at his first independent F/T.
Here would be some of my suggestions for great new traditions which Thiel could institute:
1). Foreshadow the wonderful multiculturalism which will take place in the Millennium by having internationally themed social activities. I would suggest for openers, a Haitian dance night, for which reggae music is played, "clean" Haitian foods are served pot luck style, and attendees wear dreadlocks and Rastafarian costumes.
2). Community service Sunday. Members take a day to give back to the communities which host them, with some Christ-like activities, such as cleaning up parks, painting over graffiti in the community, taking food and clothing to some of the homeless or battered women shelters, and visiting forgotten ones with no families in the hospitals and jails. Mandatory participation by ministers, elders, deacons and deaconesses!
3). Plan a "green" feast, by reducing the carbon footprint left by members. Encourage car pooling from the temporary living quarters to the meeting hall, or plan in such a way that most attendees can walk to and from services, or use public transportation such as light rail.
4). Have an "alcohol-free" feast, setting a better example for the surrounding community, while displaying compassion towards those in the congregation who suffer from alcoholism or are genetically predisposed towards the disease. This will also increase the safety of the event.
5). Be silent about offensive shibboleths. If the local chamber of commerce puts up signs saying, "Welcome Church of God" and depicts a cross on the signs, understand that they mean well, and don't correct them!
6). Actually keep the feast as it was described in the Bible. Build sukkoths! Dwell in them! Plan the feast in locations which are sukkoth-friendly. How difficult would it be to find places with massive camping grounds?
7). Collect excess second tithe until there is sufficient to fund transportation and holding of the feast in Jerusalem for all members, where the Torah actually commands that it be kept.
I, being a New Covenant Christian, will not be keeping the shadows fulfilled by Jesus. However, if they are done, they should be done right, not the same ol same ol way!
BB
Yes, that's it. Keep the feast in Jerusalem, that is what the law says. No matter how daily you read the laws, these people are still law breakers because the law says the feast should be kept in Jerusalem. How hypocrite could you get, to assume to be keeping the feast when the law says it should be kept in Jerusalem.
The original post states:
"Every single one of these splinter groups claim their group are the only ones keeping it properly."
For the sake of fairness, this is an inaccurate and bombastic statement. The UCG makes no such claim. Many of the independent COG churches which are just simply groups located in one town, cooperate quite freely with other similare groups in having FOT sites together.
The UCG is having a couple of sites that are shared keeping with the old Church of God International in some international areas.
The biggest dividers in this are found in COG groups that have hierarchical, unelected, unaccountable leaders. Malm, Pack, Meredith, Flurry, Thiel, et al. Ego driven sociopaths who just cant play well with others have been the bane to the COG. It only has taken a very few of these to create walls of judgement, isolation, and disunity.
Joe Moeller
Cody, WY
In response to Byker:
Virtually every UCG FOT site is involved in some type of a community service project.
Whether it is a business, church or organization of any type, it is always good ethics, citizenship and honor in "putting back into the community" where you live, work and play.
Joe Moeller
Cody, WY
O how love I Thy law, it is ever with me.
It is my meditation all the day in my thoughts.
I have held back my feet from the ways of this world;
Thou hast given me wisdom by Thy righteous commands.
O how love I Thy law, it is ever with me;
I have more understanding than the ancients of old.
From Thy precepts I learn ev'ry false way to hate;
I have more understanding for I dwell on Thy law.
O how love I Thy law, it is ever with me;
Thy commands make me wiser than my unfriendly foes.
O how sweet are Thy words, more than honey is sweet!
From Thy Judgments eternal, let me never depart.
Legalist? Me? What makes you say such a thing?
Was it Jerusalem that God chose to put his name? Or, was it Beth-el?
I guess it doesn't matter since "God's Apostle" can do the choosing with God's authority, right?
I agree with Byker Bob about the no drinking at the FoT. At most it's a church gathering and if there is all that wanton behavior, it will be evil spoken of. Which, even though it might be attractive to alcoholics, is not to the decent folks living nearby.
So, if they are going to have a feast of booze, it should be out in the desert somewhere away from other people.
Back in WCG's heyday, just how many feast goers were picked up on DUI, DWI charges? Anybody know?
Back in the day, it is also my opinion that the amount of alcohol abuse at the FOT was excessive and over the top.
FOT sites for the most part, in the last 15 years have been pretty mellow, with contrite parties, and limited alcohol consumption.
The demo for the COG has aged, and its a lot harder to party when you are older! The WCG in the 60s and 70s had a lot of people in their 20s and 30s.
Even divorces are fairly rare now as well. If you have made it together this long, odds are you will be sticking it out.
The graying of the COG has had some benefits!
Joe Moeller
Cody, WY
Joe,
I had no idea that any of the groups was involved in community service when I compiled my list. It is not only commendable that UCG would do this, it's also tubular and gaseous. Totally awesome!
I know some people believe it's wrong to compliment an ACOG under any circumstances, but I personally believe in encouraging goodness. Hope you are enjoying the Feast! Travel safely!
BB
(chuckle) I read Thiels followup article on FOTs in the 1990s and was very amused to see him imply that he was the ONLY one at a Feast in Eugene, OR keeping it correctly.
That is hilarious, RSK! Shouldn't he have been in a booth somewhere close to the temple mount in Jerusalem? Obviously HWA speaks much more to his soul than Moses, Jesus, or Paul. Eugene, Oregon indeed!
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