How Bob Thiel, Gerald Flurry, David C. Pack, and the rest of the Armstrongist remnant industry turn one verse of comfort into a divine right to look down on every other Christian alive - including those in other COG groups.
Luke 12:32 contains one of the kindest things Jesus ever said: “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
He was calming a small, frightened group of disciples. “You’re vulnerable, but the Father delights to give you the Kingdom anyway. Stop worrying.”
That’s it. No prophecy about 21st-century church corporations. No license for spiritual superiority. Just reassurance from the Good Shepherd.
But in the hands of Armstrongist leaders, this verse becomes something very different: proof that their tiny group is the special, chosen remnant while almost everyone else who claims the name of Christ is deceived, compromised, or simply irrelevant to what God is really doing.
And the scam isn’t limited to one man.
Bob Thiel of the Continuing Church of God loves this verse. He repeatedly uses “Fear not, little flock” to comfort his followers while positioning CCOG as the current “Philadelphia remnant” — the most faithful continuation of the true Church. According to Thiel, his group alone traces the unbroken line back to Acts, restores “all things,” and represents the humble little flock that God is truly pleased to give the Kingdom.
Never mind that his group is still tiny on a global scale. Never mind the endless splintering. Never mind that he left the Living Church of God claiming they had lost the “mantle.” The message is clear: recognize CCOG as the faithful remnant or risk being outside the circle of God’s special favor.
The sheer arrogance is breathtaking. While pretending humility, Thiel and his followers look down on billions of sincere Christians — and even other Church of God groups — as less faithful, less Philadelphian, or simply not “the work” God is using today.
And, it's just not Bob, it's the entire Armstrongist splinter industry.
Gerald Flurry and the Philadelphia Church of God do it with even more authoritarian flair. Flurry claims his group is the true continuation of Herbert Armstrong’s Philadelphia era. PCG literature and The Key of David program hammer the idea that only they are faithfully keeping the truth while the rest of Christianity (and most other COGs) have gone astray.
Disfellowshipping and shunning are common tools to keep the “little flock” pure. The message to members: stay inside this tiny, tightly controlled group or you’re risking your eternal future.
David C. Pack and the Restored Church of God take the arrogance to cartoonish levels. Pack has declared himself the final Elijah, “Joshua the High Priest,” and various other end-time titles while setting (and failing) dozens of dates for Christ’s return to Wadsworth, Ohio. His group remains minuscule, yet he speaks as though God’s entire plan hinges on his tiny work. The “little flock” language fits perfectly into his narcissistic framework: only the truly faithful (i.e., those still following Pack after every failed prediction) are part of the real remnant. Everyone else — including former members and other COGs — is dismissed as Laodicean or worse.
United Church of God presents a more polished, “reasonable” face, but the underlying theology is the same. They teach that the true Church of God is the remnant that understands and keeps the Sabbath, Holy Days, and other distinctive doctrines. Other Christians are viewed as part of false or incomplete Christianity. While UCG is larger than some splinters, they still lean on the “faithful remnant in a deceived world” narrative to justify separation and a sense of special calling.
Living Church of God plays the same game. After Roderick Meredith’s death, the group continued the pattern of positioning itself as the faithful continuation of the Philadelphia work. Ironically, Bob Thiel left LCG precisely because he believed they had lost the mantle — proving that the “we are the true little flock” claim is infinitely splinterable. Each new group simply declares the previous one compromised while anointing itself as the real remnant.
The pattern is identical across the board: take a verse about Jesus comforting scared disciples, turn it into proof of organizational exclusivity, and use it to devalue every other believer on the planet.
David C. Pack and the Restored Church of God take the arrogance to cartoonish levels. Pack has declared himself the final Elijah, “Joshua the High Priest,” and various other end-time titles while setting (and failing) dozens of dates for Christ’s return to Wadsworth, Ohio. His group remains minuscule, yet he speaks as though God’s entire plan hinges on his tiny work. The “little flock” language fits perfectly into his narcissistic framework: only the truly faithful (i.e., those still following Pack after every failed prediction) are part of the real remnant. Everyone else — including former members and other COGs — is dismissed as Laodicean or worse.
United Church of God presents a more polished, “reasonable” face, but the underlying theology is the same. They teach that the true Church of God is the remnant that understands and keeps the Sabbath, Holy Days, and other distinctive doctrines. Other Christians are viewed as part of false or incomplete Christianity. While UCG is larger than some splinters, they still lean on the “faithful remnant in a deceived world” narrative to justify separation and a sense of special calling.
Living Church of God plays the same game. After Roderick Meredith’s death, the group continued the pattern of positioning itself as the faithful continuation of the Philadelphia work. Ironically, Bob Thiel left LCG precisely because he believed they had lost the mantle — proving that the “we are the true little flock” claim is infinitely splinterable. Each new group simply declares the previous one compromised while anointing itself as the real remnant.
The pattern is identical across the board: take a verse about Jesus comforting scared disciples, turn it into proof of organizational exclusivity, and use it to devalue every other believer on the planet.
This should be a giant warning flag.
When any religious leader or group repeatedly tells you:
“We are the little flock / faithful remnant”“God is only really working through us”“Everyone else is deceived or second-class”“Leaving us puts your spiritual life in danger”
…that is not biblical humility. That is a control tactic dressed up in sheep’s clothing.
It creates fear. It discourages critical thinking. It justifies authoritarian leadership, financial demands, and the shunning of anyone who questions the narrative. And it directly contradicts the New Testament picture of the Church as the diverse, worldwide body of Christ — not one tiny, self-appointed “remnant” corporation.
Jesus never said the true followers would always be a small, obscure group led by whichever man currently claims the “mantle.” He said His sheep would hear His voice and follow Him.
As New Covenant Christians, you do not need any of this nonsense.
Under the New Covenant, your standing with God does not depend on which Armstrongist splinter you managed to find or whether you recognize Bob Thiel, Gerald Flurry, or David Pack as the current leader of the “true work.”
Salvation and a relationship with God come through faith in Jesus Christ alone. The Good Shepherd knows His sheep personally. He does not require you to read cogwriter.com, watch The Key of David, or stay loyal to whichever group currently claims to be the Philadelphia remnant.
The Father’s good pleasure to give the Kingdom belongs to everyone who belongs to the Son — a much larger and more diverse flock than any of these leaders want to admit.
So let them keep fighting over who gets to be the “little flock” this month. You can follow the actual Good Shepherd without their permission slip, without their fear, and without their arrogance.
The real flock is far bigger — and far more gracious — than their tiny pens.
Under the New Covenant, your standing with God does not depend on which Armstrongist splinter you managed to find or whether you recognize Bob Thiel, Gerald Flurry, or David Pack as the current leader of the “true work.”
Salvation and a relationship with God come through faith in Jesus Christ alone. The Good Shepherd knows His sheep personally. He does not require you to read cogwriter.com, watch The Key of David, or stay loyal to whichever group currently claims to be the Philadelphia remnant.
The Father’s good pleasure to give the Kingdom belongs to everyone who belongs to the Son — a much larger and more diverse flock than any of these leaders want to admit.
So let them keep fighting over who gets to be the “little flock” this month. You can follow the actual Good Shepherd without their permission slip, without their fear, and without their arrogance.
The real flock is far bigger — and far more gracious — than their tiny pens.
13 comments:
But this post is not gracious though is it? Not to scripture. If you want to be in a far bigger flock, then why don't you go and stay there and leave the COG in peace?
Ellen G White was a big user of this term little flock from Luke too. She even wrote ''A Word to the Little Flock'' (1847).
A whole lot of Adventist pioneers used it - so much so it was a defining text for the movement. They applied “little flock” to the small group of believers who remained faithful after the Great Disappointment, using the verse to encourage perseverance.
They were the true remnant and taught that being so special God would ultimately vindicate them. Not surprising at all it has been resurrected by the groups that succeeded Armstrong as they too feel the right to be vindicated.
" If you want to be in a far bigger flock, then why don't you go and stay there and leave the COG in peace?" The COG??? What COG? There's only 100's of splinters... Hi Bob!
"Tiny pens"? Add one letter and you may have caught on to one of Banal Bob's greatest fears of inadequacy.
Call them what they are, Ronco. Nostalgia clubs. It's getting rarer these days, but occasionally you run across someone whose entire existence has been based on Elvis, or Buddy Holly. The Glen Miller fans have all gone to that big bandstand in the sky. All things must pass.
There is good news! Who, with the exception of us here, have ever heard of GG Rupert? If there are any modern day Rupertites hanging around, I've never encountered them. Most of us, back in the day, never heard of Rupert, because HWA didn't have the intellectual honesty to properly credit him for all the things he borrowed and taught to us as his own. He wanted us to believe that God had revealed all of that to him as "restored truth". Same antiquity thing is happening with ol' Herb. Funny thing is the rock n roll he reviled, and its stars, are vastly more popular today than a forgotten early pioneer televangelist! Praise Gamaliel!
BB
Is it a sin if people use e-pens to vape Bob's naturopathic quack remedies? Or is it a valid option if you don't like to swallow the capsule supplements he sells?
"The Glen Miller fans have all gone to that big bandstand in the sky. All things must pass."
I don't know about that, BB. Someone's been funding reruns of Lawrence Welk on PBS close to 40 yrs now.
Well, until you mentioned it, I ain't never heered it, Ronco. Welk must be like all the World Tomorrow imitations. You have to know about them and to know where to look to find him.
His was early television, and like Ricky Ricardo, Welk's broken English was often hilarious. As in 'This is a very special number, ladies and gennelmen, so I want the poys in the pand to really pee on their toes!"
BB
His followers, like all recovering Armstrongites, will probably require years of cannabis vaping therapy before regaining equilibrium!
I’m sorry, I’m going to go nerdish for a moment (I hope for just a moment). There are approximately 2.3 billion adherents to Christianity in the world today. I read somewhere, I can’t remember where, that only about 15 percent of people who profess Christianity believe that what they learn in church has anything to do with their daily lives. For 85 percent, church is just a social/cultural gathering.
If we assume an estimated nominality rate of 85 percent, this means that there are about 400 million actual Christians scattered around the globe at this time. But we have a world population of 8.3 billion. So, the 400 million Christians is less than 5 percent of the world population. That is a “little flock” of Christians even at 400 million. So, Christians can claim to be a little flock just like Armstrongists.
My guess is that the “little flock” rhetoric among Armstrongists has more to do with wanting to feel exclusive than the arithmetic. It is a means of converting the fact that they are a small, odd, unpopular Millerite denomination with sparse membership into a badge of merit. Lack of headcount is not a merit nor is it a demerit.
In the first WCG congregation I attended, there was a local elder who was an engineer who computed that if the WCG were to continue to expand at the rate it was growing back then, by 1975 the whole world population would be in the WCG. Or something like that. The growth rate in membership back then was 30 percent per annum. Somehow this was supposed to support the idea of Christ’s soon coming return. Go figure. The pitfalls of WCG math.
But would COG Christians have the same percentage result of only 15% to the same question?
You just have to laugh sometimes. Various Armstrong type leaders have cited Gideon and the small group and tremendous victory, and applied it to their own state of existence. They just completely ignore the way in which Gideon led Israel back into Idolatry, in his later life, with the gold-symboled ephod, a piece which "all of Israel went a whoring after" I never realized this until it was cited by Michael Medved on his syndicated talk show. I miss Mr. Medved. He added much Jewish wisdom and sensibilities to the narratives.
And the various Armstrong leaders probably didn't cite Gideon's many wives and 70 sons!! (no daughters??) and a concubine who bore Abimelech who later killed the 70 sons his brothers on one "stone" in his father's house........almost surreal. Talk about being "stoned" ??
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