Herbert Armstrong's Tangled Web of Corrupt Leaders

Friday, December 14, 2018

Bob Thiel's Prophetic Style




  A prophet that relies on question marks to state his case is no prophet like any prophet we have ever seen in history. Of course, straight out prophecies in the OT have failed time and again if one has eyes to see it. But at least the prophet stuck his neck out.  "Could it be?" "Perhaps this is it?" "Might this be important?"  "Is it possible I might be a prophet?" simply does not qualify as rough and tough prophet speak.  

Could it be that Bob Thiel is not a prophet?
Does a Double Portion bump you up from the common cold to Prophet?
My Dreams...Could they be the key to my prophetic self?
Does time really tell?

We'll see.....perhaps















27 comments:

  1. Is it possible that someone who ordains you to have a double portion does not know what he is talking about?

    Is it possible God is not obligated to respond to that silly request?

    Is it possible the person would need to have a double (at least) portion himself?

    Is it possible the guy wasn't even converted, for all we know?

    Is it possible that humans err and the guy made a mistake?

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  2. Perhaps Bob was never converted. Two times zero is still zero.

    How would we know? We all thought Tkach was converted. How did that turn out?

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  3. I thought Bob was anointed because he was sick. Don't believe I have found the Bible verse that says the prayer of faith will make the sick man a prophet.

    Plus God appoints prophets, not man.

    Doing world analysis makes you a news commentator, not a prophet.

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  4. The title of this thread misspelled the word "Pathetic."

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  5. The assortment of topics brought a few hearty chuckles. Bob follows HWA's theme of fringe and wedge issues, ignoring the generalization that when a headline ends with a question the real answer is generally No.

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  6. Anonymous said...
    Perhaps Bob was never converted. Two times zero is still zero.

    I am and always been cautious or more than cautious about the phrase "never converted." Over 50 years of COG experience, the idea of being or not being converted was to me a very ill advised judgement that as always made by those who for sure just knew they, however, were completely and legitimately "converted." My experience is that people don't change all that much over the course of their lives. This I mean with respect to personality, tendencies and outlooks. Of course, one can stop catastrophic drinking, drugs and habits that, if not addressed, will probably kill them.

    I virtually am no different in personality, outlook, thinking, likes, dislikes and such than I was a kid. Is that because I was never converted? Some will scream YES! But that's also bullshit theology and judgment. What we often mean if disposed to the need to judge another's life is "they are not like me and don't see things as I do." Pardon the reality of the NT but you see this in the Apostle Paul a lot. It was his gospel not yours, his visions not yours, his Christ not yours and when "all Asia forsake" him , he was incapable of asking why? Rather he asked that God not lay it to their charge for doing so. In other words, those folk, for some reason, and I think it was that they simply tested those who said they were Apostles and found them not to be and false.. (Rev 2:2 Ephesus is in Asia of the day). So Paul simply charges all of Asia with probably not being converted as we say and for God to go easy on them. In reality we are dealing with Paul's personality. Perhaps a touch of narcissism and self absorption as well as a driving desire to be someone. Galatians 1-2 make it VERY CLEAR he was no team player with the Jerusalem Apostles, Peter, James and John as he cracked off that they were "pillars so called" and that "I learned nothing from them." I imagine they considered him unconverted as well.

    Anyway, labels and judgements of "not ever converted" are subjective and irrelevant in my view. I think we all play at the fruits of the spirit as they are called because we are obligated to once we go thru the ritual of baptism seeking "conversion". In our basic selves we change not much.

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  7. Dennis your up pretty early this morning.
    Interesting that you comment about being “converted”. I woke up this morning thinking about the same subject. What does it mean to be converted? Converted from what to what. When I counciled someone, back in my ministerial days, the subject was, do you agree with the doctrines of the WCG? No one really knows what someone else is thinking or what dark side they might be hiding. If someone keeps the “Sabbath” and shows up for services weekly, then they are converted. Of course making sure you never ate pork was a sure sign of conversion. Checking the ingredients on the can of beans to make sure there was no lard was a key test of conversion. As Dennis has stated many times, we were never taught to “study” the bible, rather we were taught to read certain scriptures and to study our sermon notes and read the articles published by “the church.” Most of of the people I dealt with were sincere people doing the best they knew how. I have been out of the WCG now for over 25 years. I no longer believe that Herbert was inspired by God to reveal anything new to any of us. He inculcated ideas he got from various books and from the Church of God, 7 day into his ideas of the true church. Does accepting someone’s ideas mean your converted?
    Dennis hope your having a nice morning, as for me, I just got a nice steaming cup of coffee, salude everyone.
    Jim-AZ

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  8. WCG group sizes: CCOG appears to be number 4
    4th out of nothing is no biggy

    If the true COG prophet wants to continue to trumpet the bigness of his true church maybe he had better once again read his bible where he would find the words of Jesus Christ in Luke 12:32 where he said: Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

    Strong's dictionary has the following for "little": Small (IN size, quantity, number or (figuratively) dignity): - least, less, little, small.

    I would think a true prophet of God would be more in line with what Jesus Christ said and what was recorded in the bible. So the day he proclaims that his church is in relation to size, 596 out of 596 COGs thereby fulfilling the "least", "less", "little", "small" - will be the day he got his first thing right.

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  9. Dr. Thiel realizes people are asking questions. Sometimes really weird (to us) questions. He tries to lure them in by posting those as headlines.

    It's not necessarily "prophetic." It's simply marketing.

    It's called "teasing" in the world of television and radio. And it's common: "Should you wear a winter coat to work today?" etc.

    It's also called "clickbait" in the web age - like the headlines this year saying "goodbye" to Kelly Ripa and Vanna White. (I haven't clicked on those things, so I don't know where they're going.)

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  10. Dennis wrote:

    I virtually am no different in personality, outlook, thinking, likes, dislikes and such than I was a kid.

    Looking back on my own experiences, I doubt that this is really true of you. Yes, I am the same "me" that I was as a teenager, with the same basic aptitudes and ineptitudes. However, when I was a kid, I hadn't been through the experience of gaining and losing loved ones. I hadn't learned to weather failure and to be truly appreciative (but not cut-throat covetous) of success. For that matter, regarding likes and dislikes, most of my childhood dislike of certain foods has given way as I have traveled and experienced the world as an adult. There was a time, as a kid, when I thought and acted as though death would never come, then there was a time as a young adult when I didn't expect to live to age 50. Now, I expect to die in the next 20 years, and do my best to embrace each new day.

    You write eloquently (and sometimes loquaciously) of your life experience, such that I cannot believe that it hasn't changed you from the person you were as a kid. Just because you see the common thread between the now-you and the then-you doesn't mean that your experiences haven't made the now-you a much-improved version of the then-you.

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  11. Perhaps Bob was never converted. ... How would we know?

    Well, Dennis that was the point. In general, we don't really know who is converted or not, even if spiritual conversion is a real phenomenon.

    If you believe the bible, conversion is possible though. But for an atheist there is no such thing as a true spiritual conversion.

    Conversion is not about changing one's personality or temperament. It's more about changing beliefs and attitude. People can change beliefs. Attitude is harder. A change of spirit cannot happen though if there is no such thing as spirit.

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  12. Anyway, labels and judgements of "not ever converted" are subjective and irrelevant in my view.

    It depends on how well you know the person and their fruits. Fruits are not very subjective and certainly not irrelevant.

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  13. A Christians most important question is (Have I received the Holy Spirit and is it evident in my life?)

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  14. Anonymous said...
    A Christians most important question is (Have I received the Holy Spirit and is it evident in my life?....


    No, no, no.
    It is if you have the right prophecy and the right prophet don't you know!

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  15. I find that "SIRI" carries on a better conversation and spiritual discussion than does Bob Thiel!

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  16. Well, my beverage report is that it’s nearly 2:30, and I’m at my kitchen table with a can of Bud.

    The Armstrongs always used the term “converted”. I prefer a more encompassing term, “transformed”. I do believe that people can be converted in this lifetime, but the bulk of transformation occurs in the Kingdom, or Heaven, or the Kingdom of Heaven as it is variously called. The Armstrongs taught (the famous seal with the lion, lamb, and child is evidence) that the nature of predators will be changed in the Kingdom. Man is the most efficient of all predators. Will power can help one avoid predatory actions, but will power resists rather than changes our predatory nature.

    So, again, what is “converted”. What of survival instincts, and natural reaction to a taxis? It’s only when these natural reactions are transformed that a person could be said to be converted in the strictest sense of the word, and that is unobtainable in this life even with the gentle promptings of the Holy Spirit.

    BB

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  17. Connie, someone stole my phone at the beginning of this month so I had to use my Christmas money to buy a new one. I chose the iphone 6. I gyess I haven't learned to talk to SIRI that well yet. Loved your comment.

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  18. Here is the new "what kevin denee said video" after dave claimed a copy write on the last.

    Please like and share get the word out. Thanks

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ej6r7bFTso

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  19. Sorry the last one was also copy write disabled. Here is the Un-censored kevin denee video, I hope.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xUmX-KdJuI

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  20. Kevin Denee,

    Your journey is just starting. Do not dismay. It will be difficult as it was for many. If you persist, you will find freedom and peace. Something the die hard armstrongist never can find.

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  21. HWAS mos powerful preaching was when quoting, "be ye transformed by the renewal of your mind", specifying that the church was not to be "different" by appearances pointing at specific bonnets worn by women in his youth.

    A different mind a sound mind, I can still here him yelling that phrase.

    "Conversion" I only heard when someone had left the church. Then the compassionate religion of armstrongism immediately opened the safety valve for those persons claiming that most likely by our estimation they had not really been converted, thereby leaving any repercussions involving eternal life to the discretion of god the eternal as they called him. Armstrongism was quite good and so much fairer than most religions or the one where they decapitate you when you leave the fold.

    Nck

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  22. Nck
    Here you go with your Herbert whitewashing again. When I started attending services in the 1970s, I was on several occasions shown group photographs of spokesman's club. They all had the same neo military haircut, and a uniform comprising dark blue suits and white shirts. So HWAs church WAS different by appearance.

    "Be transformed by the renewal of your mind"? Ha, ha, ha. What a joke. I remind you that Herbert kept repeating to "beware of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps," which is a negation of renewal of the mind. Which in practise amounted to member growth along narrow corridors which kept members in his church, maximized minister power and minimized member independence and overall growth.

    Do you have a secret shrine of HWA in your basement?

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  23. Bob, like the other Armstrong cult ministers, must admit that their man-made movement is dying a slow & agonizing death.

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  24. 2:21

    You are right too. (except for the shrine, perhaps if you replace the shr with W)

    nck

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  25. I don’t have a basement, nck, and am not really into wine. But if you walk into my living room, the mantle above the fireplace looks like a shrine to Native Americans. My ex wife and I put it together from authentic stuff we got from pow wows to honor her Native heretage, and I always thought it was cool so preserved it after we broke up.

    BB

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  26. BB

    That is very cool.
    Interesting that you got to keep it. Closest I have to a shrine is my privately gathered closet of items, sand and rocks from the 4 corners of the earth. Or pieces of concrete as in, "tear down this wall mr gorbachev" or sea shells in rock from the birthplace of jeanne d'arc, if we are talking saints.

    Nck

    Nck

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