The most highly favored prophet to ever exist in the history of the Church of God, the first doubly-blessed Germanic/Native American, the end-time Elijah, Johsua, Amos, Habbakuk, and the Great Bwana to Africa, is asking if a good tree can bear bad fruit. Perhaps he needs to rethink that phrase and ask himself like everyone else already has, "can a bad tree bear good fruit"? Thankfully, due to this critical thinking, the overwhelming majority of COG members have determined that there is nothing appealing about the guy.
Can a good tree bear bad fruit?
The New Testament teaches that the “full number” of the Gentiles are prophesied to come in before Jesus returns and we have seen growth in Gentile congregants in Asia (India and the Philippines), Africa and other places. Furthermore, our upcoming radio broadcast out of Italy should help us reach more European Gentiles (as well as some Israelites) starting next month.
As far as reaching those of Israelitish descended backgrounds, most of our video views come from them. Most of the listeners to the Genesis Network program I frequently am a guest on and most of the multiple millions of computers our online campaigns reach are also those with Israelite heritage–so we are not ignoring Gentiles nor Israelites (cf. Matthew 28:19-20).
Because of obeying Jesus’ commands to go to all nations, along with God’s blessings, the CCOG has been the fastest growing x-WCG COG in the 21st century. We have used tithes and offerings to pay for trips, literature, radio, videos, internet support, online campaigns, visits, building materials, youth camps, festival assistance, equipment, seeds, work projects, and other things to reach people around the world, and including the Gentiles and Israelites.
We have also added more congregants without a prior WCG-related background than any other Church of God who leaders had ties to the old WCG than any we are aware of.
Why mention that?
Because Jesus said:
18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them. (Matthew 7:18-20)
The fruits are there, for those with eyes to see and ears to hear.
Yet, the great Bwana is incapable of attracting the British Israelite followers like he so desperately needs in order to keep his money stream flowing. Try as he might, he has been an epic failure in the U.S., Canada, England, Europe, Australia, and elsewhere his mythical so-called British Israel potential members are. Never one to accept responsibility for having the most boring COG ministry ever to exist in human history, he places the blame on prejudices against him and his message. The Great Bwana and Chief Overseer believes that his Gentile hoard needs to come from black Africans and other people of color, ignoring the fact that there is no racially pure race on earth today, particularly here in the United States. Armstrongism has always treated people of color as Gentiles, the unwashed masses.
Yet, sadly, many people are affected by prejudices and other factors which stop them from acting on the truth and more directly supporting the reaching of the Gentiles. The Jews of the Apostle Paul’s day were not particularly impressed with Gentiles becoming Christian, but that was part of God’s plan. Most Laodiceans do not understand how God is working at this time, and they also ignore and/or discount aspects of His word. Jesus taught that the end does NOT come until the ‘Gospel of the Kingdom of God‘ reaches enough nations (Matthew 24:14) and, based on Paul’s writings, we also see that “the full number” (as the NIV, NLT, BSB, CEV, GNT, HCSV, ISV, and NET Bible, put Romans 11:25) of Gentiles is something God wants in this age come in. This is something that must be done and we in the CCOG have a lot of fruits related to that.
Although God is the one who calls (cf. John 6:44), we in the CCOG seem to be having major success in assisting with getting the message out to many that are responding to God’s calling.
What Bob needs is the same thing that every other ACOG needs: He needs a dynamic, charismatic front man, someone who captivates listeners or watchers, someone whom they automatically trust and want to follow. That would be the correct person, the effective one to lead in his evangelistic efforts, yielding an acceptable harvest.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how old he is, but I do know that at his current growth rate, he's going to run out of time before his "work" is even noticeable to the world at large. We have not yet seen any growth or honing of his personal skills that would suggest that anything great might suddenly happen, even if circumstances caused him to receive mass notice. While he has not butted up against his own glass ceiling to the extent of beginning to deteriorate, as Dave Pack has very visibly done, Bob does seem to have reached the barrier of his own limitations.
Unfortunately, (or fortunately as the case may be), the current crop of ACOG leaders are nothing more than marginally effective stewards, who are at best simply maintaining their parts of the franchise. Their personalities derive from the teachings of HWA, whereas HWA himself had a completely different education, motivation, and mentors which were never available to the men participating in WCG/AC. They received a distilled version, in which HWA carefully limited what he knew, suppressing them so there could never be any serious upstarts dethroning him. They actually believed that HWA's skills were a special gift from God, imbued because God chose HWA as the great restorer. However, as is the case with all of the industrialists of his era, HWA accomplished what he did using his own innate skills. It was his amalgam of ideas, his marketing skills, his personality, which drove the WCG. It is a useless exercise for his wannabe successors to be wishing to be gifted or imbued with the abilities and talents which HWA naturally had so that they might continue "the work" with great power. They would be wise to heed the words of Gamaliel.
Oh my God.....not the multiple millions of computers reached again! In case you don't know this, Bob, computers don't tithe. Nor are they anymore likely to believe the crap you preach than the measly 100 suffering whites in your littlest group of all.
ReplyDeleteFor goodness sake, Bob, grow up!! Do you realize the seriousness of what you are doing trying to convince people you are a prophlet? Do you know what awaits you and those people for believing your nonsense? Their blood will be on your tiny little hands. Don't say you weren't warned. While many here may not like you, it isn't the root cause of the negative comments you receive. While I cannot speak for everyone here, the greatest concern about you is twofold. First, you are a liar and a know it all. Second, you are leading people (including yourself) astray with false teachings and false prophecies. Please, just stop. Nobody believes you and the incessant "I finished Loma Armstrong's dream and I'm a prophet" is patently absurd.
How about just becoming a Christian? That is more than enough for those of us who believe. Why is Christ never enough for you? You are nothing. I am nothing. He is everything. Enough said. Grow up.
What a Christian like you ? One who types God's name in vain as an comment opener.
DeleteAnon @ 12:09. Wow. You wounded me big time with that! Looks like Bob has some company. You both need to grow up. I am a born again believer and it would take a whole lot more than your whiny little comment to hurt me.
ReplyDeleteThiel takes God's name in vain every time he preaches his garbage and takes out his crystal ball to "prophecy" but you don't go after him for it? Your name wouldn't be Bob by any chance? Nice try. Lol.
not the multiple millions of computers reached again! Bob, computers don't tithe.
ReplyDeleteLike a story I heard about Henry Ford II and the founder of the United Auto Workers, Walter Reuther. Ford took Reuther on a tour of an automated vehicle assembly plant. Pointing to a row of assembly machines, Ford said "I can't see these guys joining your union!" Reuther replied, "And I can't see them buying Fords!"
For the millions of computers Bob claims to reach, his website should have a CAPTCHA "I am human" box to check.
Those 10 million computers and even those 1 million computers Bob likes to brag about are deceitful lies that Bob tries to foster off on us as actual viewers. Sure an online broadcast might have the potential impact of reaching millions but the number of people clicking on Bob Thiel's church is in the 10's, not the millions, the thousands, or even hundreds that he lies about. We cannot trust him about his legitimacy for starting a new splinter group so why should we trust him with his numbers. The chances of him having 7,000 African followers are also not truthful. Bob's so-called ministry has been one big lie after another from the day of its very inception.
ReplyDeleteThe COGs have often misused stats with gross hyperbole.
ReplyDeleteOne that was/is common is to announce that some new network , that they are on , reaches 100 million households , or the like.
Sure the signal might reach that many, but how many are actually watching that channel , at that given moment, and for how long?
About 63% of the world today has internet access. BANNED BY HWA could make the claim (using Thiel numerology) that BANNED "reaches" 5 Billion people around the world, and indeed, that would be exactly true!
The COGs have often misused stats with gross hyperbole.
ReplyDeleteOne that was/is common is to announce that some new network , that they are on , reaches 100 million households , or the like.
Sure the signal might reach that many, but how many are actually watching that channel , at that given moment, and for how long?
About 63% of the world today has internet access. BANNED BY HWA could make the claim (using Thiel numerology) that BANNED "reaches" 5 Billion people around the world, and indeed, that would be exactly true!
"..I finished Loma Armstrong's dream.."
ReplyDeleteHow fortunate was Loma, according to the Des Moines huckster, having a "hotline to heaven", able to slip in a trivia question like "is it okay to go to the movies?" The 'heavenly' answer: "there will be no time for that". Looks like there has been time: that was almost 100 years ago, many more dud Millerite false "end-time" guesses would follow...
Matthew 7:18 quotes Jesus as saying, "A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit."
ReplyDeleteIf Jesus were God, don't you think he would have known about grafting? How do Bible literalists get around this absurdly incorrect statement put in Jesus' mouth?
Good point Anon @ 2:29. Why does Bob the prophlet only garner a maximum of 150 views of his sermons on YouTube if he actually has 7k members? Even generously assuming his members in Africa are all tuning in every Saturday to hear the doubly blessed one tell them what to do/not do, think/not think and believe/not believe, his numbers just don't add up. As Dave Pack would say, it's math..You cannot argue with math!
ReplyDeleteBob is vastly pumping up his numbers in an effort to appear relevant and, as he calls himself, "a great one in the Work". His average views per video on his channel have been going down, not up. So have Gerald Flurry's. For them that magic number HWA lied about ad nauseam was 30% growth per year. They will do whatever they have to in order to meet or exceed their long dead idol's twisted notion of God's approval.
The insecurity of Bob is deep with this one and it's showing. His millions of computers and 7k African members simply does not add up to barely 150 views (at best) per sermon. Math doesn't lie, Bob...but you do!
Actually, the analogy about the fruit was a time-related figure of speech. It was spoken in more primitive times when there were not chemical pollutants, or radiation to be concerned about. Also, we are not so simple-minded today as to believe that anyone, or anything, is 100% truthful or 100% pure. You might be able to get more close or less close in your search, but there will always be grey areas. This is why you see pretenders to the throne claiming authority! Somehow, in their minds, that is supposed to compensate.
ReplyDeleteIn the context of ancient times and even of original Armstrongism, Bob Thiel might see his statements as making perfect sense, and perhaps ringing true with people of that mindset. The world has kept on turning since those days.
DW, remember the 7k members are in Africa. How many speak English, and how many have access to a computer or internet, apart from looking at the evangelists' donated laptops?
ReplyDelete@ DW @ 3:23 PM...
ReplyDeleteMost of Bob's African flock doesn't speak English. Their pastors speak to them in local languages, and most are only CCOG members when Bob is watching. The 150 views represent the 150 "family units" that form Bob's English-speaking membership. These range from multi-generational families of grandparents, parents, and children all sharing 1 YouTube connection, to quite a few Terry Ratzmann loner-types watching alone. This means that the vast majority of the 150 views come from current CCOG members, and that there is very little outreach at all.
According to Bob's latest letter he's working to get on SW in northern Italy: "the shortwave signal is at 729.0 and the AM signal is at the 1323 kHz signal location".
ReplyDeleteBob, you're a scientist- units, please! 729.0 what? kHz, MHz, GHz, ...? 7290 kHz looks right for SW, but there is no European station listed in my (slightly out of date) World Radio and Television Handbook... Details, please?
Bob is desperately hoping that the RCC will persecute him instead of just ignore him as at present. Even though his stupid programming will for sure be in English, not Italian or Latin.
ReplyDeleteThere is group called the Nexus International Broadcasting Association that broadcasts "European Gospel Radio" in English on 7290 kHz. Their website is www.nexus.org.
ReplyDeleteThe RCC may well persecute Bob Thiel. It appears that the Supreme Court has just made us the Vatican's best friend. So, when they begin to exercise their influence and we become the Beast power, Bob will probably get to live out his fantasy. I think we have a couple years yet before that happens, because we need the evil King of the North back in office.
ReplyDeleteHi, Bob! Your 1:29 PM post makes the same mistake that many ignorant commentators are making. The Supreme Court has ruled that states may set their own abortion laws, and many U.S. states have laws that are far more liberal than what we find in Europe. How would that make the U.S. the "Vatican's best friend"? Your prophetic powers are weak and Bobbylonish. Maybe you should Mayan your own business instead of making such an ignorant comment.
ReplyDeleteThe comment was not ignorant. The Supreme Court's decision killed off a woman's right to choose as a federal, Constitutional right, and, according to Republican movers and shakers that was just the first step. They plan to go after abortion on a state level now, just as they have made all of the ridiculous and unnecessary changes to state election laws. Totalitarian government is on its way, and most find that unimaginable, so are unconcerned. It will become clearer as the mid-term elections take place. Biden is screwing up bigtime, so there's most likely going to be a Trump Republican landslide in November. A backlash, with a Romney or Reagan normal Republican landslide would be a good thing. But the Republican Party is still in it's hijacked condition. They are hell bent for leather in their determination to win the culture war, and the only way they will be able to enforce their mandate is with extreme authoritarianism.
ReplyDeleteI believe that if anyone doesn't like abortions, they shouldn't get one. The wealthy will always find a way. The poor classes are now going to experience a huge baby boom.