The Rodney Dangerfield of the Churches of God says he is the only known ordained prophet in any legitimate Church of God group

Have you noticed a pattern in the Churches of God over the years? Those who constantly demand respect often lack character and can’t stop talking about it. True men of integrity don’t need to question why they aren’t respected—they earn it through their actions. Respect is given to those who are respectable, and Bob Thiel falls far short of that standard. In fact, he embodies the decline of Armstrongism.

In a lengthy post on Friday, June 27, 2025, God’s self-proclaimed greatest gift to the world once again cited Norm Edwards to argue that God intended prophets to lead the Church of God in these end times. Naturally, Thiel claims he is the one and only true prophet today.

Norman Edwards was the editor for Shepherd’s Voice magazine. He is not part of the Continuing Church of God, where I function as its human leader (and am an ordained prophet; the only known such ordained prophet in any legitimate Church of God group). 

 

While Norman Edwards and I have long disagreed about aspects of church governance and various matters of doctrine, we both agree that many who are in or claim to be in the Church of God (COG) wrongly do not accept that God has any prophets today and that Laodicean pride gets in the way. We also agree that most have severe difficulty identifying one who really is a prophet because of various unscriptural biases and improper criteria that they have. 

 

Bwana Bob, steeped in Armstrongism, has mastered the art of blaming others—especially when the Worldwide Church of God, Global Church of God, and Living Church of God completely rejected him. Of course, someone must take the blame, and it’s certainly not Bwana Bob!

In his latest rant, he lists 55 reasons why every Church of God group is heretical and overrun with Laodiceans who dare to reject him. I won’t bore you with the full list—most are absurd, rooted in Armstrongite mythology and shaky doctrines.

He even drags the United Church of God and Living Church of God into his desperate attempts to legitimize himself.

Some will come up with their preferred rationale as why not to agree with the position of the Continuing Church of God (CCOG) on these matters. Yet not only is CCOG’s position biblical, it should be noted that leaders in the Living Church of God and/or the United Church of God confirmed to me personally that I was biblically correct on nearly all of the above points, despite the fact that their respective churches hold to several of the errors pointed out above. Those who rely too much on a compromised ministry (Ezekiel 34:7-10) to teach them prophecy, that is not truly in accordance with scripture, need to realize that according to Jesus’ words in Revelation 2 & 3 and Luke 21 only relatively few Christians will be protected from the hour of trial that will come upon the whole world.

Both the United Church of God (UCG) and the Living Church of God (LCG) have outright rejected Bob’s narcissistic self-promotion, dismissing him as irrelevant to their mission.

The Great Bwana even goes after independent Churches of God and smears them:

There are also independents do not accept that God has been fulfilling prophecies of Acts 2:17-18. Laodiceans do not accept God’s standards, but prefer their own interpretations on how God works.

Then, once again relying upon Norm Edwards:

As Norman Edward’s article points out, it is scriptural to now have prophets according to the New Testament. But many who truly believe that they live by the word of God have discounted or overlooked what the Bible actually teaches and/or have been influenced by others who have done the same or worse. The COG has at least one demonstrably true prophet today, yet most in the greater COG world seem to be able to ignore the truth about that, like most ignored John the Baptist and others in their day. 

 

Norm Edwards' views on prophecy in the church today are irrelevant. Citing his Armstrongist perspective doesn’t make Bob Thiel any more a prophet than it does Dave Pack or Gerald Flurry.

Did you know your PRIDE leads you to reject the Great Bwana Bob? How dare you, you ungrateful wretches!

Pride is a bigger problem for Christians than most realize. People, including Christians, have a hard time admitting that they are wrong. 

 

If anyone in the Churches of God reeks of pride, it’s Bob Thiel! Holy manna!

The Great Bwana, self-proclaimed as the most perfect prophet in church history, then drags out Herbert Armstrong and bashes him for a false statement:

Now, let me add that because Herbert W. Armstrong said there were no prophets in the old Worldwide Church of God when he was alive, many have falsely concluded that there could not be any legitimate prophets in the Church of God beyond New Testament times. But that is wrong.

If Herbert Armstrong were alive today, he’d boot Bob’s sorry self to the curb so fast that even the trash collector would struggle to pick up the pieces.

The Great Bwana searched long and hard for a quote from Herbert Armstrong about prophets in the church today, and—surprise, surprise—he found one that conveniently points straight to himself. According to Bob, Herbert Armstrong foretold his rise to prophetic greatness:

Furthermore, notice a conversation Herbert Armstrong had with a WCG minister in late 1984 or 1985:

“Mr. Armstrong went on to say, ‘I have come to realize there will be an even greater work to follow—to go again, to “prophesy again” to all nations tongues and peoples (Rev. 10:11) before the work of the two witnesses—but with more power and with a stronger warning message. But that will be for others to do.’ He continued, ‘It will be a short work (Rom. 9:27-29), compared with the longer time to complete the work I was given, and it will be cut short. That’s when the Great Tribulation will begin, as will the work of the two witnesses. These will last for three and one-half years, at the end of which Christ will return in glory.’” (Schurter D. “The Greatest Work Lies JUST Ahead…” conversation with Herbert W. Armstrong 1984/1985 as stated in RCG letter of May 31, 2013)

So, Herbert Armstrong felt that there would be a prophet BEFORE the two witnesses were given power, hence the need for one or more prophets.

The New Testament (e.g. Acts 2, 1 Corinthians 14, Revelation 11) makes it clear that there would be prophets in the latter days.

Specifically, Acts 2:17-18 which has already had fulfillments in the Continuing Church of God.

He ends with this:

Do not let pride or preconceived ideas get in the way of you accepting biblical truth. That, according to Jesus, is actually the biggest problem for most Christians in the end time per Revelation 3:14-22–most Christians refuse to fully “hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Revelation 3:22).

Will you truly hear and take the proper steps related to matters such as prophets? 

 

The biblical truth is clear: Bob Thiel is a liar and a false prophet. He was not sent by God, nor was he doubly ordained or blessed to start a rebellious splinter group. He is unequivocally a false prophet—a prideful, narcissistic upstart rejected by the Worldwide Church of God, Global Church of God, and Living Church of God. No Sabbath-keeping church in Africa ever ordained him as a prophet or even ordained him as a legitimate minister with apostolic succession.

Stay far away from him—your very salvation may depend on it!

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