One thing you can say about the Great Bwana Bob Thiel is that he almost always engages his mouth long before his brain decides to show up to the party. Picturing himself as God's duly appointed prophet for these perilous end times—and convinced that no one else on this earth is quite as flawless a Christian as he is, or even a real one—he just keeps flapping his callous, holier-than-thou gums, mocking the persecutions and killings of Christians around the world. Sure, those so-called Christians' deaths are a tad sad to hear about, but it's nothing compared to the epic tragedy of the Great Bwana and his loyal flock suffering from his imagined shadow ban by Google over his brilliantly researched books on aberrant theology. And don't even get me started—it's going to be peanuts next to the heroic showdown when he takes on the Beast power, Baron Karl von Gutenberg, right there in the streets of Jerusalem.
God's greatest gift to the world and the church got his sacred, holistic knickers in an Arroyo Grande twist today over President Trump threatening the Islamist filth currently slaughtering Christians in Nigeria and elsewhere. How dare he! After all, those aren't real Christians; their deaths are regrettable, but hardly as catastrophic as what he and his followers might endure as the only true Christians gracing this planet today.
He used to dismiss any Christian outside his tiny cult as "so-called" Christians or "Christians in name only," and now his genius new trick is to downgrade real Christians around the world as "Greco-Roman." Because, you know, that's totally not a desperate way to make himself feel superior. And, as usual, every news story and world event must be twisted into a thrilling tale all about him.
He starts right off the bat with people who "claim:" they are Christians:
Is persecution for people claiming Christianity over?
Sadly, no.
He then quotes some facts from a news article:
More than 380m Christians suffer high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith
1 in 7 Christians are persecuted worldwide
And then writes this gem:
That is horrible; that is so wrong. People should not be killed, imprisoned, or otherwise persecuted for their faith.
Then he turns the story of persecution of people who "claim" to be Christians into one all about himself:
That said, as far as governments and persecution go, the Continuing Church of God put together the following video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel...(hyperlinks removed)
New Religious Persecution
Are we seeing new forms of religious persecution popping up? Did Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sign a law on August 24, 2024 banning the Orthodox Church in Ukraine? Did Rwanda recently shut down over 5,100 churches, including house churches? Was this really about safety or perhaps also politics? Did Rwandan President Paul Kagame state that he is considering implementing a tax on church donations? Did the Nicaraguan government, under its President Daniel Noriega, change laws on August 22, 2024 that could allow it to impose taxes of up to 30 percent of a church’s annual income? Did the Nicaraguan government recently shut does 1,500 non-governmental organizations, including 678 religious associations? Is Burundi causing issues for the churches of God because of some of its rules? Did Jesus prophesy about persecution? Will some Christians be beheaded and others burned according to biblical, as well as Greco-Roman, prophecies? Is economic 666 persecution also prophesied? What should the faithful do? Steve Dupuie and Dr. Thiel address these matters.
Bwana Bob's putridness continues with this:
Yes, there is also persecution through suppression, shadow-banning, implied threats to careers, etc. for many who dare speak on behalf of biblical standards of morality.
And, of course, it is not just those who claim to be Christians that are being persecuted. Various people around the world are being persecuted for their religious beliefs.
In Western cultures, persecution is often subtle and is more directed to those who espouse biblical ideas.
Big Tech and various governments have taken steps to “suppress the truth in unrighteousness” (Romans 1:18) as the Apostle Paul warned.
Cancel Culture and Christian Persecution (note: all of the stuff below is in ONE rambling sermon without a clear focus)
- What did Jesus teach about persecutions?
- Should Christians expect name calling and being falsely taught against?
- Did the Apostle Paul warn about this as well as evil deceivers increasing in the end times?
- Were early Christians ever murderous persecutors?
- Did Emperor Constantine stick to his religious tolerance ‘Edict of Milan’ in 313? What about his edict against heretics in 331?
- What types of persecution did Emperor Theodosius implement?
- Has there been a history of attempting to cancel Christian speech and practices, which were sometimes followed by physical persecution?
- Have Greco-Roman Catholics been involved with persecutions against believers?
- What about Protestants like Martin Luther or John Calvin?
- What about Big Tech?
- What about actions from Facebook Google, YouTube, and Twitter?
- Is shadow banning consistent with cancel culture?
- Is more persecution coming?
- Do Greco-Roman prophecies about the ‘Great Monarch’ look forward to Christians being persecuted?
- Could the European Union’s Digital Services Act and European Public Prosecutor’s Office be factors in future persecution?
- Will faithful members of the holy covenant instruct many?
- Will indentifying the coming King of the North trigger persecution?
- Will there be more persecution of the Philadelphian Christians prior to the start of the Great Tribulation?
- What will happen to the Laodiceans?
- Which Christians will be protected from the coming hour of trial, which starts with the Great Tribulation?
- Will the persecuting Beast, False Prophet, and those with the mark of the beast be punished?
- Will God reward the faithful Christians who endure persecution?
- Dr. Thiel addresses these and more in this sermon video.
Then has this:
Sadly, today, most who profess Jesus fail to truly recognize important aspects of the truth. And many want to make further compromises away from the truth for the sake of an unbiblical unity.
And continues down the path, making this all about himself:
So, we see that this began under Emperor Constantine and continued with Imperial support including by Empress Theodora of the 10th and 11th century (she was born in the 10th and died in the 11th century). Emperors Constantine and Theodosius, as well as Empress Theodora, claimed to be Christians–but they were not. Those false professors of Christ persecuted true believers–and such will happen again!
Now, the fact that literature was also prohibited starting with Emperor Constantine reminds me of shadow-banning by Big Tech as well as allegations of “hate speech” for holding to biblical standards of morality by governments in places like Europe, the USA, Canada, UK, Australia, and New Zealand.
Sadly, in the 21st century, holding to many biblical positions is considered extremist and even dangerous by various government officials.
At least two major persecutions are prophesied to come.
All the faithful will be subject to persecution and being betrayed by professing believers (Matthew 24:9-13, Mark 13:12-13; Luke 21:16-18; Daniel 11:32-35).
The Book of Daniel shows a two-part persecution coming from a European leader (I added the a and b below for emphasis):
25 a He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, Shall persecute the saints of the Most High, And shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand b For a time and times and half a time. (Daniel 7:25)
First of all (a), he shall persecute certain of the saints, which is consistent with what Jesus said was coming:
9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. 10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24:9-14)
Much of the above will affect the Philadelphian Christians (cf. Revelation 12:13), but they will later be protected (Revelation 3:8-10) in the wilderness for a time, times, and half a time. Part of why they will be persecuted is for proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and probably also for identifying the coming King of the North, who will not wish to be identified that way. This will likely result in internet and other restrictions on getting the truth of God out to the world (cf. Amos 8:11-12).
Then he says all of the Armstrongite heretics in splinter groups will then be persecuted because they were too stupid to know when to go to Petra:
Second of all (b), the remaining saints will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time. This is the portion of the COG, the non-Philadelphians, who are NOT protected in the wilderness as Revelation 12:17 shows this separation, where as Revelation 20 points to Christians being beheaded...
Then this:
While many in the Church of God have experienced economic and social persecution in their walk with Christ, future severe persecution, beginning first with the Philadelphia remnant of Christians, is expected.
Murderous persecution is prophesied (cf. Daniel 11:33; Revelation 13:15).
Persecution is a fact of history. It has happened before and we should be prepared for the fact that much more of it will happen again. And during the time of the final persecutions, the Bible records:
12 Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus (Revelation 14:12).
Thus, though the Philadelphian Christians will be subject to intense persecution first, before this, even the Laodiceans and other Christians will receive some praise if they endure the persecutions that will then come during the time of “the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world” (Revelation 3:10).
While many seem to not wish to pay attention to this subject, the reality is that persecution has existed throughout history against those with Church of God doctrines. Jesus predicted that as well as more persecution to come. Some may be shocked by certain doctrines that Christians have been persecuted for (and often persecuted by others who profess to be Christian).
Those in the true Church of God have always been on the side being persecuted and have never been on the side of the persecutors. And this will be true again in the future.
As you can see, the Great Bwana Bob, reluctantly acknowledges that, yeah, sure, hundreds of millions of "so-called" or "Greco-Roman" Christians are getting persecuted, imprisoned, or straight-up killed worldwide, which is "horrible" and "so wrong." But let's not get carried away; the real tragedy here is Bob and his tiny flock facing the horrors of Google shadow-banning his profound theological masterpieces. He twists every global news bite into a spotlight on himself, plugging his YouTube videos about "new religious persecution" (starring Ukraine, Rwanda, Nicaragua, and Burundi as mere supporting acts), and warns of Big Tech's subtle tyranny against biblical morality.
And as usual, we saw him dive into a rambling sermon on historical persecutions from Constantine to Theodosius, blaming "false professors of Christ" (everyone not in his cult) for everything, while patting his own back for being on the "persecuted" side.
Future prophecies? The Beast power and economic 666 woes are coming, but fear not—Bob's Philadelphian elite will flee to the wilderness (Petra, anyone?), while those dumb Armstrongite splinter groups get beheaded for not joining his exclusive club. Because nothing says "true Christian" like downplaying mass murders to hype your own imagined martyrdom. Patience of the saints, indeed—enduring Bob's ego must count for something!
17 comments:
My local Jewish congregation will be remembering Kristallnacht on Nov 10th. Which lead to a genocide of European Jewry in the 1940s. My own family had 65 perish, 2 unaccounted for, 4 suicides and four survivors in three death camps in Poland and Austria. We have in our congregation children of parents who fled Nazi Germany. Their stories are sobering. I met an elderly man who was ‘operated’ on by Josef Mengele. And worked with holocaust survivors in Israel. The suffering of Nigerian and ME Christians is real Bob. As is the suffering of minorities throughout the ME and North Africa. And it is ongoing the persecution of many Christians and otherwise globally. What does the Armstrong movement know about persecution? But they are only ‘so called’ victims so I guess they don’t matter. It is truly tragic the suffering in Sudan Nigeria Afghanistan Gaza Libya and so on. Thy kingdom come I say.
Bob complains about Ukraine banning the Ukraine Orthodox church. Well, that is not the whole story. They are banning it from having ties with its mother church in Russia, obviously because Zelensky is at war with Russia and the Ukrainian church is apparently sympathizing with the Russian side.
Exactly! The Russian Orthodox branch in Ukraine is very much aligned with the Russian Orthodox Church, which blesses Putin's soldiers, weapons of war, and has built one of the largest Cathedrals ever dedicated as a shrine to the armed forces. A military mega-church- watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_e42p0IMqg and/or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VEuMwDL73M
Personally, I have found that any hard time I've been given comes not from outside the COG, not from the world, not from protestant and catholic churches who disagree with the COG teachings. It comes from the Cog itself. Yes. From what was the Worldwide Church Of God and its ministers. Later from global and now from the Living Church Of god and its ministers and its ministerbot members. I can never understand this.
[Act 26:24 NKJV] Now as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, "Paul, you are beside yourself! Much learning is driving you mad!"
[Act 26:25 NKJV] But he said, "I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason.
Seeing the big list of thought bubbles all lumped together as if meaning something brought to mind the above. The Armstrong apostles are indeed mad their words are nonsense they don't speak words of truth and reason
For a man with a diploma mill Ph.D. (and from a Trinity-professing school, no less) to complain about "false professors" is more than a little bit ironic.
Am I the only one who envisions the future persecution that Bob expects for himself as being karmic payback for his own self righteous attitudes towards others? If anyone deserves fulfillment of the old "$hit Happens" bumper sticker, it is Bob Thiel. He has generated so much negative karma for himself that I really wouldn't want to even live in the same town as he does, let alone be standing next to him!
Clearly Bob is the Persecutor. Beware of Wolves In Sheeps Clothing.
Some feel persecuted or picked on when others merely don't agree with them
Little Booby Thiel said, “Sadly, today, most who profess Jesus fail to truly recognize important aspects of the truth.”
MY COMMENT – It seems paying the ultimate price with one’s own life by being faithful to Jesus Christ until death is not good enough for Thiel. Booby Thiel marginalizes their martyrdom in direct conflict with Psalms 116:15 which reads, “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints.” Death isn’t good enough for Thiel as he sets himself up as the Judge of who is a real Christian and who is not. These Christians who Thiel considers to be “fake Christians” followed the R/WCG admonition preached from the pulpit to 1) Be brave, and 2) Die faithfully.
Thiel appears to be responding to Banned By HWA’s post of October 29, 2025. As I commented in that post, I heard R/WCG sermons on the subject of martyrdom. If martyrdom is expected to happen to members of the WCG, then why can’t we name anyone who was actually martyred for their R/WCG faith after 90 years of Armstrongism?
It’s really easy for Thiel to be an armchair, keyboard warrior from the air-conditioned comfort of his storefront California world headquarters. He wouldn’t know what “dying faithfully” by martyrdom like those Christians who are dying in Nigeria and in other countries really is. And they lay down their lives as a witness to Jesus. And Booby Thiel has the audacity to be the Judge!
Richard
An astute observation, Dennis. Wise words indeed.
Think you nailed it there Dennis. Good observation. The Armstrong movement would look at this blog as persecution, as this blog exposes them and provides counter arguments to their theology, no matter how sound and solid the counter arguments are.
If you wanted to experience persecution, you should have tried sitting in an Ambassador College BIble class or in a Bible Study in the Auditorium and dare to question the evangelist teacher/preacher that they might be wrong about their interpretations. Hell hath no fury like a COG evangelist/church leader being questioned!
Rejected after apply to AC in 1966. What a blessing!
why can’t we name anyone who was actually martyred for their R/WCG faith after 90 years of Armstrongism?
How about Terry Ratzmann's victims? Or how about the hundreds of Radio Church of God members who died without proper medical treatment because they were subjected to the rule of evil leaders who kept a double standard for themselves?
Yes, there have been R/WCG martyrs. Mostly martyred at the hand of R/WCG oppressors.
11:48 All of the things you mentioned were internal church issues that caused these deaths, not any persecution by the world, the Catholic Church or some Beast power. It was our very own people.
My fear is that we are being set up by Flurry and Pack to have another Terry Ratzmann cause more horrific deaths after someone snaps due to the abuse and lies they have suffered.
In the vernacular, some people are pussies.
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