It's been a few days or is it a few hours since we heard from our resident crackpot prophet in the Church of God. He is back and he is letting every single COG member out there know that He and ONLY He is the one true end-time leader of the Church of God. Even though this sad little man is only able to garner 299 white members out of 197 nations on the planet, and 3,000 - 4,000 church-hopping Africans, he believes he has the mantle Herbert Armstrong passed on when he died. Since Joseph Tkach Sr. refused to wear it and Rod Meredith was unworthy to wear it because he failed to implement all the changes Bob Thiel was asking him to do, it is only rightful that Bwana Bob inherits it, as there is no other man in the entire Church of God network more worthy, perfect, and righteous than he.
I can state for a fact that HWA would never have passed his "mantle" to Bwana Bob Thiel. To claim so makes Bwana Bob an even bigger liar than he already is.
HWA would have kicked Bob's ass out the door so fast his holistic buckwheat hull pillows would never have been able to absorb the shock as he hit the curb.
Notice that Herbert Armstrong believed that God mainly worked through the leadership of one man at a time to lead various phases of the work. Scripture, shows for example, that the mantle passed from Elijah to Elisha (2 Kings 2:9-15). The ‘mantle’ would currently be with the person/group that truly functioned as the ‘pillar and ground of truth’ (1 Timothy 3:15).
For fifty years in the second century, according to Herbert W. Armstrong, that man was Polycarp:
It is significant that after his release John trained Polycarp elder of Smyrna, a city near Ephesus in the province of Asia. … At neighboring Smyrna, Polycarp presided over the Church of God for half a century after John’s death. Polycarp stood up boldly for the truth while many fell away and began having fellowship with the Catholic bishops of Rome. History relates that following the example of Peter, Paul and John, Polycarp wrote many letters to congregations and individuals, though all these have perished, save one in an edited version. (Armstrong HW. The Church They Couldn’t Destroy. Good News, December 1981)
For over 50 years in the 20th century, it was Herbert W. Armstrong.
No, he wasn't.
And in the 21st century, that one man is not in any of the independent or more structures Laodicean groups.
299 guesses as to just WHO that "one man" is?
It's that little "man/boy" who threw a temper tantrum when Rod Meredith rejected him and so he started his own little group. He lied about having dreams and double blessings and self-appointed himself as a minister, prophet, and leader of one of the most pathetic COG's to ever exist.
Support the remnant of the Philadephian era and God’s work today.
By all means support any independent COG that is taking care of their neighbor, helping the poor, widows, and orphans but please don't support liars like Bwana Bob.
Do not delay (cf. Zephaniah 2:1-3).
16 comments:
Lots of rejection history here! Gilbert Cramner, founder of the COG 7 was rejected by Christian Connexion and the SDAs by 1861. His church rejected HWA in the 1930s. HWA rejected Rod Meredith in the 1980s. Meredith rejected Thiel in the 2000s.
Thiel is the culmination of a long line of REJECTS!
And then the ENTIRE Church of God movement rejected Bob Thiel. That has to be the most humiliating thing ever!
Hey, give Bob some credit for creative (if loony) exegetical skills. Regarding Polycarp, for instance, I'm waiting for Bob to tell us that poly is Greek for many and that carp are a species of fish, therefore Bob is the end-time Polycarp because he lives in Arroyo Grande, right near the sea where there are many fish.
And then the ENTIRE Church of God movement rejected Bob Thiel.
Bob reminds me of an advertising slogan from John West, a big UK fishmonger. Their ads would usually show someone at the fish markets, unhappy to find only "the fish John West rejects". That became my catchphrase referring to someone who wasn't hired or given the promotion...
Going down the reject avenue Tonto/Hoss is wrong angle to take. After all Joseph was rejected by his brothers and Jesus himself was rejected by all, most noticeably the religious establishment. Being rejected by those than swim down the tide isn't always a bad sign.
eh, it's all based on the premise that God works through one man, which is not true....Elijah, Polycarp, quite a stretch to say that they were the only ones in their time.
it is an effort to prop up they erroneous belief that the Church is God's government on earth....
Almost arrested for Sabbath keeping, Doubly Blessed, mail order degree Dr. little Bobby Thiel wrote: "Notice that Herbert Armstrong believed that God mainly worked through the leadership of one man at a time to lead various phases of the work".
MY COMMENT - For those of us who remain alive and well remember what Herbert Armstrong actually taught before "1975 in Prophecy" failed prophecy, Armstrong did not teach "one man at a time to lead various phases of the work" when it came to his Philadelphia era of the Church of God. There were no "various phases of the work". And it is my understanding that at the end of his life based on a video clip I have seen of Armstrong from the 1980s, Armstrong himself taught Matthew 24:14 (the Work of preaching the gospel into all the world) was completed and finished by him. Armstrong made no mention of future "various phases of the work" lead by one man.
This "various phases of the work" statement made by the deluded fraud Thiel is a made up smokescreen to justify his own existence as a HWA wannabe to garner a following. Herbert Armstrong taught there were no Prophets in the end time Church age. I agree with Gary, HWA would have thrown this Thiel out of the Church so quick if he had declared himself a Prophet while Herbert Armstrong was alive. And of course, it doesn't ever occur to Thiel that Jesus completed the Work for the plan of salvation with his death and resurrection. No "various phases of the Work" with the work Jesus' did with his sacrifice.
Richard
"Notice that Herbert Armstrong believed that God mainly worked through the leadership of one man at a time to lead various phases of the work."
I think the jury is still out on this idea. Elijah, in the still small voice incident, was told by God that he had many followers that Elijah did not know about. Elijah's governing scope then covered only a subset of God's followers at that time. Christ ordained twelve Apostles. They ranged far and wide and had only very limited contact with James at the Jerusalem Church. No cell phones back in those days.
Both Splinterdom and Christianity are broken up into many denominations - especially Splinterdom which will continue to propagate more and more splinters. Christianity has come to recognize its decentralization but the various denominations within Splinterdom seem to each claim to be the one and only, monolithic church. As Tonto points out, many of these monoliths resulted from the mundane phenomenon of internecine warfare.
The geography, lack of communications technology and the need to address local conditions all argue that the early church was in effect organized along lines of decentralization and local autonomy. I think the "one leader" concept is an idea that simply appealed to HWA's autocratic tendencies. Recall that the town wasn't big enough for HWA and GTA and Meredith.
The lesson of Buster Scruggs is that you can't be top dog forever. RIP Buster.
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Anonymous (12:10) wrote "After all Joseph was rejected by his brothers and Jesus himself was rejected by all"
No, Tonto is right. You have made a category error. Joseph and Jesus were both a part of a plan and purpose being worked out by God. We know that through the Bible. In a separate category, we have the little warring factions of the contemporary apocalyptic Millerites. Two quite different things.
You might assume that God is working out a momentous plan among these pugnacious little factions but your assumption does not elevate them to the Jesus/Joseph level. It is a common hubris for the little denominations in Splinterdom to feel that the great currents of the Bible are all about them.
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it's all based on the premise that God works through one man
Yes, the Great Commission is not restricted to a singular "Apostle" with a private jet.
After all Joseph was rejected by his brothers
Bob could have a miraculous turnabout. A great COG leader could appear, and, "Surprise! It's me! Bob!"
I can state for a fact that HWA would never have passed his "mantle" to Bwana Bob Thiel.
Well -- in a recent sermon, Bob said HWA was wrong about prophetic dates and made mistakes. Which would be worse, HWA handing the reins to Joe Tkatch, or to Bob? Or just imagine, to Garner Ted?
Bob can't even work up the nerve to say "And Yes Brethren, I AM that Prophet" Bob is the Prophet of Waffle if ever there is one, which there isn't.
8.58 AM
If HWA had handed the reigns to Garner Ted, the church would have become The World Wide Lock-Up-Your-Wives-And-Daughters Church of God.
and young men!
It would be refreshing for a change if one of these guys actually pointed to Jesus Christ as our leader, rather than constantly pointing to themselves and pointing fingers at others, within their own movement. Frankly I am tired as others are of the whole everyone else is Laodicean so therefore you should follow me mantra. It smacks of the very attitude God criticizes in that passage. "I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing."(Revelation 3:17) In other words, "I" alone am righteous." "I" alone have complete understanding, the purest doctrines, the most godly "church government" etc. Fill in the blank. The truth is these men expose themselves as an emperor with no clothes. They are poor. They are blind. They are miserable. And they are naked.
Their focus is on promoting their own name, their own imagined ecclesiastical authority, their own church, in an effort to attract or control their own "members." There is no love for one another in their writings. There is no humility of spirit. There is no thought process that perhaps they don't know as much as they think they might, and maybe they could learn a thing or two from someone else. There is no effort among any to work to come to any unity of the faith, but instead to cast blame, point fingers, and justify one's own position, or church group.
Even efforts to preach a gospel are done almost solely as a "warning" and with the idea of self promotion or preservation, rather than compassion or care for those who might be reached with such a message. If the motivation is skewed, the message won't be effective. You can scream all day about how you are the best, greatest, most mistreated, most persecuted, most favored by God, whatever. You might even attract a few people with grandiose statements of righteousness, claimed unique prophetic knowledge, etc. but if you aren't truly motivated by a love for God and a love for your fellow humans, your efforts will ultimately come to nothing, because God won't honor them, and unless God is building the house, your efforts are useless. (Psalm 127:1)
Concerned Sister
"And Yes Brethren, I AM that Prophet"
And not say it after a series of 4-hour sermons.
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