COGWA (Church of God a Worldwide Association) recently published an article to instruct their members on how to distinguish real prophets from false prophets - False Prophets by Chris Moen. If there has been anything that the Church of God has been good at it, it is pumping out false prophets over the last 8 decades.
The article lists the following things that distinguish true prophets apart from all of the liars:
Given what COGWA wrote above, did you feel that it describes any of the countless prophets that have plagued the COG over the decades?Four tests to prove whether a prophet is true
We need to carefully consider God’s Word—the Bible—in order to discern between false and true prophets. The Bible provides four tests to determine the genuineness of a prophet.1. Does the conduct of the prophet reflect godly character?
Jesus and the apostles warned many times about deceptive prophets. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:15-17).These prophets can be identified by their “fruits”—a term used metaphorically by Jesus to describe one’s actions and character. The law of God is the only standard we have to determine whether someone’s fruits are good or bad. True prophets will live in accordance with God’s law.2. Do the predictions of the prophet come true?
Moses instructed ancient Israel: “When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him” (Deuteronomy 18:22).The Bible gives a few exceptions. It shows that God has the prerogative to change His mind, as was the case with Jonah’s prophecies about Nineveh (Jonah 3:10). Also, this does not mean that God’s true servants couldn’t be wrong about timing, as Paul was in assuming he would be alive at Christ’s return (1 Thessalonians 4:15).Except in circumstances like these, if a prophet’s predictions do not come to pass, then he or she is not a true prophet.3. Are the words of the prophet consistent with Scripture?
God explained to those who foolishly seek knowledge from mediums and wizards, “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isaiah 8:19-20).Peter declared that the apostles could truthfully attest to many fulfilled Bible prophecies concerning the life and deeds of Jesus Christ. “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. ... And we have the prophetic word made more sure” (2 Peter 1:16, 19, Revised Standard Version).Peter also stated that true prophets do not speak their own words. As Peter wrote, “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20, emphasis added).4. Do the people benefit spiritually from the prophet’s ministry?
God’s desire was that ancient Israel would serve as a model nation and represent Him to the nations around them. Israel would be blessed as it fulfilled God’s expectation.With this background, God warned His people, “‘Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,’ says the LORD, ‘and tell them, and cause My people to err by their lies and by their recklessness. Yet I did not send them or command them; therefore they shall not profit this people at all,’ says the LORD” (Jeremiah 23:32; also read verses 13-14).The results of a prophet’s ministry can also indicate whether this person is a false or true prophet.
Most of those false prophets fall under the conditions listed below:
Another reason given in the Bible is that some people speak from their own imagination. God says, “Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing!” (Ezekiel 13:3-4). Throughout the centuries, numerous false prophets have arisen because of their own desires and Satan’s influence.Every single prophet we have had over the decades has arisen because of their own desires. Never once was God involved, but their pathetic narcissism was.
Well, that is until now!
There is one Church of God splinter cult leader who actually claims to fit every single description listed in the four categories above.
I will give you four guesses as to who it is but will give you two hints first.
It is NOT Gerald Flurry, Ron Weinland or Dave Pack!
So WHO could that possibly leave?????
Yes, Ethel, it is our very own Almost-arrested but not-arrested, Elijah, Amos, Joshua, Habakkuk, Bitter Bawana Bob Thiel! Who knew??????
Bawana Bob writes:
Although COGWA left out some criteria, even based upon the above criteria, there is one person in one of the COGs that meets all those criteria, and he is not part of COGWA, but physically heads up the (Improperly named) Continuing Church of God (CCOG). Yet, despite what COGWA is teaching, its members do not take proper action.Bawana Bob continues:
The Bible teaches:
And here we go again with the dreams. Bawana Bob's nightmares do not constitute revelations from God. I know for a fact that God has NOT spoken to Bawana Bob and he is a liar when he says he did.6 “Hear now My words:
If there is a prophet among you,
I, the Lord, make Myself known to him in a vision;
I speak to him in a dream. (Numbers 12:6)
I had at least two such dreams, and others had dreams, essentially concerning those about me.Bawana Bob, the false prophet to Africa continues stating that Church of God members need to heed the fact he is a prophet and leave their organizations and join up with him. But alas, the members of the various Churches of God still laugh at him and refuse to join him or send him money.
Consider also that Jesus taught:
41 He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. (Matthew 10:41)
Jesus is telling His followers that if a true prophet is out there, that they need to follow. Yet, in this Laodicean time (Revelation 3:14-18), most real Christians will not listen to what Jesus said on this and many other matters.No real Christian in the Church of God would EVER follow a narcissistic lying fool like Bawana Bob Thiel! COGWA had no more intention of revealing Bob Thiel as a prophet than Gaylyn Bonjour secretly set aside Bawana Bob as another COG leader.
There is NOTHING that Bawana Bob claims as truth to support his office that is truthful. God did not appoint him as a new COG leader. Bad dreams do not validate him starting a new group. He is just as big a liar as Dave Pack, Ron Weinland and Gerald Flurry.
Anyone that joins forces with Bawana Bob is seriously putting their salvation at risk! Run as fast as you can away!
22 comments:
Godly character? A snake-oil salesman whose day job is to sell people a pagan alternative to evidence-based medicine?
Google "naturopathy" and you will find that much of it is pagan quackery. The ancient Mayans would have been very happy to follow this practice which places, in the words of its 19th century founder, “absolute reliance upon the cosmic forces of man’s nature.”
I'm sure Bob is a nice guy...but I've never known of a prophet to go to such great lengths trying to "prove" that he's a prophet.
those that I know of simply stated their case and moved on...that anyone believed them is not their concern.
Take note Bob Thiel:
True prophets do not look to the prophecies of demon-inspired pagans, or watch fake news on television, to help them try to guess the future.
Maybe, Possibly, Potentially, Hopefully, Somehow, Could, Might...
Bobby , Davey, Gerry, Jimmy, and the rest of the "Prophet" bunch EVER become genuine human beings?
Take note Gerald Flurry:
Biblical prophets like Malachi said that God hates divorce, while false prophets like yourself in your plagiarized and revised Malachi's Mess. book come up with a “new commission” to break up families and promote sexual immorality under the guise of “warning the Laodiceans.”
Take note Ronald Weinland:
The Two Witnesses mentioned in Revelation will be given power by God to stop the rain, turn water into blood, strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want, and have fire devour their enemies who try to harm them, while all that false witnesses like you have is the demonic power to write prophetic fantasy fiction novels full of wrong date guesses about when the end will be. Big difference.
Take note David Pack:
True prophets do not start off teaching one thing but then totally change and suddenly start to vomit uncontrollably all over everyone like you did with your lengthy “First Dominion” series of demon-inspired prophecy mangling that even you yourself do not remember or believe.
We’ve learned of the written records and the oral records of the ancient Israelites and Jews. Those of us who were around back in the day have verified that the Armstrong movement also had its written and oral records. They were of course inferior to the records kept by the ancients. The problem now is, in the era of Spokesmen’s Club failures and defrocked ministers as ACOG leaders, we now also see a rectal record or tradition blowing out. Because, let’s face it. Most of the ridiculous stuff coming from the current crop of rank amateurs is coming straight from the back door!
Even this list of COGaWA criteria has been created specifically as a sort of proof text of its own, to resemble the original thought processes of Herbert W. Armstrong regarding modern day prophets and their prophecies. COGaWA is using ancient Armstrongism to correct the wannabee prophets of today, and ironically, Thiel, arguably the worst and saddest, claims to meet the criteria! What a cartoon!
BB
Wow, the hunger Bob has for recognition. If a person has been growing, they know that they have recognition from God. That's more than enough for everyday living.
While Pauls timing was mistaken, he didn't go off like Herb with his 'in the name of the living God, I tell you that we only have 3-5 short years left.' And doing so for 40 years, which proves that he knew that he was lying.
Setting up "proof" criteria, getting your victims to agree to the validity of the criteria and then revealing that what you are selling fits the criteria (and implying that no one else fits the criteria) is a common marketing ploy. After I "proved" that the R(adio)CG was the "true" church, Mormons used this method and "proved" to me that they were the "true" church.
Bob never made firm predictions that could be verified. His own dreams have not, it appears, revealed anything he didn't already know or felt. In the case of the apocalyptic president, he wrote two books, one on Donald Trump, one on Hillary Clinton, not knowing who would win the election, but that either would make "apocalyptic" decisions. He may still "have his eye on" Guttenberg, but he made no firm predictions. He uses what I call the Monte Carlo Prophecy Method, named for a random point method of numerical analysis.
Over and over and over again, Jesus taught a life of simplicity - and not looking for the recognition of others in the things you are doing. He also taught not to covet position or title. He gave a parable concerning the custom of eating - that when you dine, you do not go to the head of the table, where you can be pushed back. You go to the very back of the table where you can be moved forward. (Luke 14:7)
Bob seems to spend so much of his time trying to convince people that he is so special, and so appointed, that his dreams were divinely inspired, that he holds a special rank, that he is leading the final phase of the work - that it is absolutely revolting and sickening. In my opinion, he is absolutely dripping with pride and ego that it counteracts any "work" he is trying to do! The really sad thing is, so many can see it, and either he doesn't recognize it, or he's just blind to it! He was puffed up by certain people to such a point where the yeast just went out of control! If anyone needs to recognize the need for "unleavened" Bread (with a capital B), it would be Bob.
I don't doubt Bob's belief that he's such a big important hot shot in the COG world. But that's just a delusion, it is not reality. Jesus taught that if you want to be a big shot, you become the least. You don't try to convince others of your position, you show others Christ in you through your actions. You reflect humility, not hubris. Every single time he gets on there boasting about "Oh, I'm a prophet, nobody believes I'm a prophet, these scriptures reference me, I'm leading the end time work, no one else gets it, I get it, I'm the one who... the only thing it proves to so many people out there reading this is that he seems to have been puffed up by the leaven of the need for RECOGNITION, fueled by pride, ego, and the desire to be someone IMPORTANT in the COG world, IMO.
Now this may fall on deaf ears, but in the spirit of Galatians 6:1:
Bob, you want to be important? You want to be recognized? You want a really nice title? Here's a suggestion. Read Matthew 25. Apply Matthew 25. Rinse. And Repeat.
And don't just take the chapter to mean the people who agree with your Armstrongism biases and dogmas. Look at the world with the same love Jesus has. (John 3:16). Prophet, Schmophet. Forget the delusions of grandeur and let Christ live in you for EVERYONE you come in contact with. He who desires to be the greatest must become the least. God loves you as He loves everybody. But I don't believe he loves you trying to convince everyone of something that is so obviously prideful and covetous (and so easy to refute!!!)
Bob, you can (I'm guessing) quit sneering at this and internally mocking this - because you probably are going to dismiss this immediately as "persecution" or something. But if there's even the LEAST bit of a prick in your spirit that anything in here makes even a tiny bit of sense? Might be something to ponder on.
There is something odd about COGWA's article. It presumes that there are so many prophets around, false and genuine, that we need to set up an assessment process with criteria to work through the volume.
Doesn't this seem florid for our actual conditions? There have been no genuine prophets since NT times - only regrettable pretentions. Everyone since NT times has been a phony. I would collapse the four principles that COGWA gives into one pragmatic truism:
"If a Millerite stands up and claims to be a prophet, know that he is a phony. And check around to see if your wallet (or in the case of Vernon Howell, your wife and your wallet) is in a safe place."
Warning- The following Dr Bob video contains graphic scenes of flailing arms and crooked bookcases...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1vfPOzkGXU
Anon 1134 - you brought up some good points.
Jesus said that John the Baptist was not only a prophet, but Elijah. John had no dreams or delusions of grandeur about himself, and even denied his own importance. And once he realized the Messiah had come, he wasn't even sure he still had a role to play. In contrast, Bob appears to put too much work into promoting his own importance.
HWA insisted that he was preaching Christ's message, rather than a message about Christ.
The splinters now preach a message about HWA, even as they change the details of HWA's message about Christ's message.
A few splinters, like the Bobites, preach a message about their splinter leader, rather than a message about Christ or about others who have preached Christ's message.
There is plenty of evidence in Scripture that Christians could reject a leader, even an Apostle, and still be Christians in good standing. Paul had his critics, as did the Jerusalem church. Nowhere in Scripture are people commanded to accept a particular teacher, be he Diotrephes or Apollos or Cephas or Paul. People are commanded to repent, be baptized, and obey the law of Christ.
The Bobites, then, have a problem. Is Bob adding anything to Christ's message? If so, he is a false prophet and must be rejected. If, however, his message is "follow Christ," people can follow that message without following Bob. Bob is superfluous at best, and a ticket to the Lake of Fire at worst. Avoid. At. All. Cost.
if there's even the LEAST bit of a prick in your spirit that anything in here makes even a tiny bit of sense?
Bob is certainly the least bit of a prick, maybe more!
William Luther Pierce has a better track record of predicting the future than any C.O.G. "prophet" ever had.
All these COG prophets need to do is perform a few miracles like Jesus did to prove that he was the Messiah. What are they waiting for?
Why doesn't "Almost Arrested for Sabbath-keeping Doubly Blessed Elijah Ezekiel Mohammad" Dr. Bitter Bob Thiel trot out Matthew 13:57 which reads "A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his own family" (New Living Bible Translation). Perhaps deep down, Thiel knows the truth that opposite is true in his case - the Armstrong Churches of God do NOT honor him. No one has ever heard of him outside his own very small circle of followers let alone his own hometown or nation. Who knows what his family thinks?
How is that laughable Dating animation working out for you in your prophetic message "Almost Arrested for Sabbath-keeping Doubly Blessed Elijah Ezekiel Mohammad" Dr. Bitter Bob Thiel?
Richard
There are some exceptional contributions here on Banned By HWA. Anonymous April 12, 2018 at 11:34 AM is one of them. Amen 11:34. I agree 1000%. Unfortunately, it will probably fall on deaf ears with Bitter Bob. He is so delusional in his own mind and has convinced himself that he is a true Prophet of God that your excellent words of advice will probably be in vain. Sorry, it ain't going to happen IMHO.
Richard
NEO makes a good (The) point: There is something odd about COGWA's article. It presumes that there are so many prophets around, false and genuine, that we need to set up an assessment process with criteria to work through the volume.
Is COGWA losing members to other COGGs headed by bold prognosticators? Are they laying the ground work for their own in house prophets to be revealed? Or are they trying to bring in people from the other splinters by holding to HWA's no prophets in the modern age standard?
I have a strong sense that the volume will get much louder from the many leaders who have given their minds over to being the biblical entities immortalized forever more, now and in their picture of the fulfilling the future. These men are prime candidates for the principalities and wicked spirits in high places to make them their playground and amusement park. Then how will that volume be received by the many who are desperate for a renewal and a excitement of the senses?
11.34AM
Go to the back of the table so that you will be moved forward?? This assumes that the host has a sense of Justice, which is often not the case. So it's not that simple.
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